This Saturday morning, the lawn will have to wait.  I will be in front of my television (not DVRing this one) at 7.30 am watching ESPN2’s live broadcast in HD of the 2010-2011 Premier League kickoff game as Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City. 

Even though it is still not on the guide yet as I write this, I take solace in the words of Max Bretos’ Twitter message yesterday:

“thrilled I will be anchoring the ESPN studio coverage of the opening weekend of the EPL, check me out Saturday morning…”  

What a great matchup this first game will be.  Manchester City and Tottenham fought it out to the end of last season, with Spurs edging out City by a mere three points and getting that Champions League spot.  City will want to exact revenge on Spurs, especially since Spurs took both games from them last campaign.

For City, their manager Roberto Mancini has had a busy summer in his almost nine figure spending spree so far, thanks to the vast wealth of owner Sheikh Mansour.  Players such as Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Yaya Toure, and Aleksandar Kolarov now wearing the powder blue mean City want more than anything to obtain not only that Champions League spot come next May, but add a Premier League, Europa, or FA Cup trophy to the empty cabinet.

Tottenham have finally broken through the “Big Four” and are rewarded with being able to compete in the most prestigious European club competition.  They have been gifted a Champions League qualifier against Young Boys in the Swiss League and should make it into the group stages.  One would think that Spurs would be boosting their squad in order for the grueling road ahead.  But as of now, manager  Harry Redknapp has not made any further signings to his squad except spending several million on Sandro, a 21 year old defensive midfielder from Brazil.  Could this hurt him in the long run?  Time will tell, especially with stacked City leading the charge behind them.

So the alarm clock will ring on Saturday for the first time in a while.  Will you be watching?