The European action starts back up in earnest this weekend. The English Championship is already on their third matchday and the Eredivisie has cranked up as well, but the English Premier League kicks off their 2025-26 action this weekend along with La Liga and Ligue 1. Meanwhile in Germany and Italy, we have domestic cup action. It makes for a mostly full slate and there’s a lot to keep an eye on.
Since we haven’t been here in a bit here’s a refresher on the workings of the Weekend Viewing Guide:
We do our best to keep you informed about where and when you can see USMNT senior team players in action over the weekend in Europe’s top leagues. We don’t try to be totally exhaustive – we aren’t pointing out the dual nats who have never appeared for a US senior or youth team, and we’re not combing through second and third division levels. The exception to the second division rule is if a player has seen the field for the senior USMNT in the past year and their game is reasonably accessible (let’s call it the “Forwards playing in the Championship clause”). Of course, there are other games that people might be interested in and it’s always nice to see some highlights from those other players as well so drop those updates in the comments section below, this article has always been meant as a kickstarter for a community driven conversation after all. With all that said, there’s (finally!) a lot of action this weekend and here’s what we’ll be keeping an eye on:
Friday
Sonnenhof Großaspach v Bayer Leverkusen (Noon on ESPN+) – Malik Tillman will kick off his Bayer Leverkusen career as his new club take on fourth tier Sonnenhof Großaspach in dfb Pokal action. Tillman is wearing the 10 for Leverkusen this season and expected to help fill the gap left with Florian Wirtz departing this summer for Liverpool. Those are certainly large shoes to fill and Leverkusen will also need to make up a significant gap to challenge Bayern Munich for the league title. Leverkusen finished last season’s campaign in second place but they were thirteen points back of the German giants who continue to dominate the Bundesliga.
Rennes v Olympique Marseille (2:45p on beIN Sports) – Tim Weah also joined a new club this offseason and will look to make his debut on Friday as well when Marseille kick off their Ligue 1 campaign against Rennes who finished the league in twelfth place. Marseille finished last season in second place, and will be playing Champions League action as well as the season rolls along. Weah’s role with his new club is yet to be seen, he has not appeared in a preseason match and the team does have a number of attacking options.
Liverpool v Bournemouth (3p on USA Network) – Tyler Adams and Bournemouth kick of their campaign against defending champions Liverpool on Friday afternoon. Bournemouth finished last season in ninth place as Adams played in every match in the second half of the season after things got off to a slow start due to his injury. Bournemouth come into the season looking to make another move up the table but they will have their work cut out for them and it will be a difficult start as they take on an emotional and celebrating Liverpool side that has also looked to make improvements over the summer.
Saturday
Derby County v Coventry City (7:30a on CBSSN and Paramount+) – Haji Wright picked up his first goal contribution of the season earlier this week as he assisted the lone goal in Coventry City’s 1-0 EFL Cup win over Luton Town on Tuesday. Wright saw 23’ off the bench last weekend as Coventry kicked off their Championship campaign in a scoreless draw with Hull City.
Hemelingen v Wolfsburg (9:30a on ESPN+) – Kevin Paredes has suffered yet another injury setback as additional surgery on a foot injury that kept him out most of last season was required. Given the long term absence we’ll pause following Wolfsburg until he is closer to a return.
Eintracht Norderstedt v St Pauli (9:30a on ESPN+) – Jimmy Sands and St Pauli narrowly avoided relegation last season as Sands missed the final two months of the season due to injury. St Pauli will take on fourth tier Eintracht Norderstedt in Pokal action in their first competitive match of the season.
Brighton & Hove Albion v Fulham (10a on USA Network) – Antonee Robinson will miss the start of the season for Fulham though it doesn’t sound like a long term injury. Fulham finished last season just outside of the top ten and will start their campaign by visiting Brighton & Hove Albion who just missed out on qualifying for Europa League action last season.
Lens v Olympique Lyon (11a on beIN Sports) – Tanner Tessmann and Olympique Lyon finished last season in sixth place, qualifying for Europa League play though they had a bit of a relegation scare this offseason as financial troubles nearly sent the club spinning. They now open their Ligue 1 campaign against Lens who finished two spots below them in last seasons table.
Monaco v Le Havre (1p on beIN Sports) – Folarin Balogun appears to be healthy to start the season as Monaco get set to take on Le Havre on Saturday. Le Havre narrowly avoided relegation last season while Monaco’s third place finish had them snag the final Champions League position for Ligue 1.
Nice v Toulouse (3:05p on beIN Sports) – Mark McKenzie and Toulouse travel to open their season against Nice on Saturday. Toulouse finished middle of the table last season while Nice missed out on third place and automatic Champions League qualification by just a point.
Sunday
FV Engers 07 v Eintracht Frankfurt (7a on ESPN+) – Paxten Aaronson returned to Eintracht Frankfurt this summer following a loan stint with FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie last season. It remains to be seen if Frankfurt have plans to use Aaronson this season or if he will be loaned out again before the end of August. For now he remains with the club as they start their dfb Pokal campaign against FV Engers which are apparently in the fifth tier of the German soccer structure.
Twente v PSV (8:30a on ESPN+) – Sergino Dest has two goals in two matches already, the first scored in PSV’s Super Cup win over Go Ahead Eagles and his second scored as PSV’s third goal in an eventual 6-1 romp over Sparta Rotterdam as PSV opened their Eredivisie campaign last weekend looking to defend their league title. Ricardo Pepi was not in the squad last weekend as he continues to return to full fitness following his extended time out due to injury.
Chelsea v Crystal Palace (9a on USA Network) – Chris Richards and Crystal Palace open their season against Chelsea on Sunday. Richards had one of the strongest summer campaigns of the USMNT players and will look to build on that this season as he returns to Palace who finished in twelfth place last season.
Atlas Delmenhorst v Borussia Monchengladbach (9:30a on ESPN+) – Joe Scally, who was left off the summer Gold Cup squad, begins his fifth season with Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday as the team take on Atlas Delmenhorst in dfb Pokal action. Scally played over 2,500 minutes for Gladbach last season, starting nearly every match at right back.
Hallescher FC v Augsburg (Noon on ESPN+) – Noahkai Banks saw a couple hundred minutes for Augsburg in January but was unused the last two months of the season and the clubs plans for him heading into 2025-26 are uncertain. We’ll keep an eye on this one but likely not provide regular updates unless he looks to be making a breakthrough.
AC Milan v Bari 1908 (3:15p on Paramount+) – Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah could get competitive minutes as AC Milan take on Serie B side Bari 1908 in Copa Italia action on Sunday. Pulisic has missed the last couple of friendlies for Milan due to lingering health issues while Musah has been rumored to be headed elsewhere but a transfer has yet to come to fruition.
Espanyol v Atletico Madrid (3:30p on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+) – In one of the most significant USMNT moves of the summer Johnny Cardoso joined Atletico Madrid and on Sunday will kick off his career with the Spanish side. Atletico finished last season in third place, once again behind just Barcelona and Real Madrid. Despite his USMNT struggles Atletico obviously see something they like in Johnny and have plans to play him in a significant role for their side this season. The club will open their La Liga campaign against Espanyol who finished in 14th place, though just two points clear of relegation in what was a very crowded bottom half of the table.
