FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 11th, 2017
NBC SPORTS GROUP’S PREMIER LEAGUE 2017-18 SEASON KICKOFF NOTES & QUOTES
“Jose Mourinho has had worse squads than this Manchester United squad and won major silverware.” – Robbie Earle
“They have a miracle, it’s Gylfi Sigurðsson.” – Kyle Martino on Swansea City
NBC Sports Gold’s “Premier League Pass” Presents Three Exclusive Games Tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET & More Than 1,000 Hours of Content Throughout the Season
STAMFORD, Conn. – August 11, 2017 – NBC Sports Group kicked off the 2017-18 Premier League season today with the entire announce team on-location in the United Kingdom in advance of the first Friday night opener in the 129-year history of English football’s top tier (Arsenal-Leicester City).
Rebecca Lowe returned to her native U.K. to host Premier League Live and was joined at Emirates Stadium by the U.S.-based team of Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe. NBC’s U.K.-based announcers Arlo White, Lee Dixon and Graeme Le Saux joined coverage from three locations throughout the stadium. The full team will present nearly 20 hours of live on-site Premier League coverage across the three days (Aug. 11-13).
This afternoon marked the first season-opening “road show” for NBC’s full Premier League team. Coverage began at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN with a special one-hour season preview show and was followed by Premier League Live. Click here for today’s show open, a lighthearted look at the full NBC Sports team returning to the U.K.
Full weekend coverage continues tomorrow at 7 a.m. ET with Premier League Live from American Express Community Stadium, site of the first-ever Premier League match for Brighton & Hove Albion (v. Manchester City, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC).
Following are highlights from today’s on-location, pre-match coverage at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium:
Premier League Live (1-2:45 p.m. ET)
Graeme Le Saux on Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho putting in a transfer request: “I think it’s a game now. I think the club is playing a game by saying he’s not going anywhere. That pushes the price up…It’s all about maximizing your abilities as a player. And, from the club’s point of view, I don’t think they can keep hold of him now because he’s in that position now. Barcelona is calling.”
Le Saux on Manchester City getting big name transfers: “They went big, they went early. They identified their targets and they got them with no nonsense, and they spent a huge amount of money.”
Kyle Martino on Arsenal’s Sead Kolašinac: “This guy is a beast, he’s going to be running toward the goal like the ‘Ultimate Warrior’ toward the stage.”
Robbie Earle on Manchester United’s chances this season: “Jose Mourinho has had worse squads than this Manchester United squad and won major silverware.”
Robbie Mustoe on West Ham United’s offseason: “One of the teams that has done the best business…the excuse is now gone for manager Slaven Bilic…now is the time to deliver for West Ham United.”
Le Saux on Leicester City hiring Craig Shakespeare full time: “Absolutely it was a good decision. The dressing room was in chaos. The results were appalling. They couldn’t win away from home. And as soon as [Claudio] Ranieri was gone, the spirit of the club changed. They became more positive and you saw that commitment from the players.”
Mustoe on Leicester City: “I expect a good season from Leicester City, and I like [manager] Craig Shakespeare…I think they’ll finish easily top 10.”
Le Saux on Crystal Palace: “I’m a little bit worried…it took big Sam [Allardyce] to come in and shake that place up to save Crystal Palace, to keep them in the Premier League last season. [Current manager] Frank de Boer is going to have to get those players working for him early on.”
Martino on Swansea City: “They have a miracle, it’s Gylfi Sigurðsson. If you look at what he’s done for their team since he’s been there, he’s responsible, either scoring or assisting, for half of their goals. They absolutely can’t afford to lose him.”
Earle on the Pozzo family hiring nine managers at Watford since 2012: “I don’t think you can keep on changing the manager and expect any long-term success, but to get [Marco] Silva was brilliant… this was a club in 2017 that was going backward. They’ve got to change their way and the whole rhythm of the football club.”
Mustoe on Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner: “Don’t underestimate the guy that can get a tiny club into the Premier League…clever managers can do great things. It’s going to be really hard for them, but they have a chance with this guy in charge.’
Lee Dixon on Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger: “It’s the first time in his career here that he’s brought everything in to looking in a very short, narrow window…all of a sudden the two-year contract has brought everything into focus.”
Coverage continues throughout the season on the networks of NBCUniversal, streamed live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, and on the NBC Sports Gold “Premier League Pass.”
NBC Sports Gold – NBC Sports Digital’s direct-to-consumer live streaming product – debuts “Premier League Pass” this season, which features 130 exclusive Premier League matches live and on-demand, an extensive suite of daily and weekly news shows, plus classic archive programming never available before in the U.S. The first three matches exclusive to “Premier League Pass” are at 10 a.m. ET tomorrow: Crystal Palace v. Huddersfield Town, Southampton v. Swansea City, and West Bromwich Albion v. Bournemouth. “Premier League Pass” will feature more than 1,000 hours of content throughout the season. Fans can purchase today by visiting NBCSportsGold.com for the 2017-18 season of “Premier League Pass,” priced at $49.99. Click here for more information.
Below is the schedule for NBCUniversal’s on-site Premier League coverage August 12-13 (all times ET):
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | Network |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 7 a.m. | Premier League Live from American Express Community Stadium | NBCSN |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 7:30 a.m. | Watford v. Liverpool | NBCSN |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 10 a.m. | Chelsea v. Burnley | NBCSN, Universo |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 10 a.m. | Everton v. Stoke City | CNBC |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 10 a.m. | Crystal Palace v. Huddersfield Town | NBC Sports Gold |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 10 a.m. | Southampton v. Swansea City | NBC Sports Gold |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 10 a.m. | West Bromwich Albion v. Bournemouth | NBC Sports Gold |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 12:30 p.m. | Brighton & Hove Albion v. Manchester City | NBC, Universo |
| Sat., Aug. 12 | 2:30 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBC |
| Sun., Aug. 13 | 6:30 a.m. | Match of the Day | NBCSN |
| Sun., Aug. 13 | 7:30 a.m. | Premier League Live from Old Trafford | NBCSN |
| Sun., Aug. 13 | 8:30 a.m. | Newcastle United v. Tottenham Hotspur | NBCSN, Universo |
| Sun., Aug. 13 | 11 a.m. | Manchester United v. West Ham United | NBCSN, Telemundo |
| Sun., Aug. 13 | 1 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBCSN |
| Sun., Aug. 13 | 12 a.m. | Match of the Day II | NBCSN |
| Mon., Aug. 14 | 1 a.m. | Match of the Week | NBCSN |
For NBC Sports Group’s Premier League television schedule for the first two months of the season, click here.
–NBC Sports Group–
