It’s a full weekend of USMNT soccer including several possibilities for head-to-head matchups. We have players still looking to make their season debut as well as some who are needing to reestablish themselves after staying put despite indications that they would, or should, be moving elsewhere. There is quite a bit on, so here we go:
Friday
Olympique Lyon v Auxerre — 1:00p ET: Tanner Tessmann did not appear last weekend for Lyon as the team settled for a 1-1 draw with Le Havre. Tessmann had played midweek
for the team in their Champions League qualification match so perhaps it was just rotation as players look to gain their mid-season form.
PSG v Monaco — 3:05p on beIN Sports: After a wild transfer saga back and forth Folarin Balogun remains at Monaco, at least until January. However, he was not included in Friday’s matchday squad and apparently was left off the team’s Conference League roster as well so it looks as though he has work to do to gain back a position at the club.
NYCFC v Nashville SC — 7:30p on Apple TV: Matt Freese and NYCFC look to snap a five match winless streak on Friday night but they’ll have to do it against league leading Nashville who have won four straight and have a nine point lead in the Supporters Shield standings.
Saturday
Newcastle v Bournemouth — 7:30a on USA Network/Peacock: For the second straight week Tyler Adams came off the bench and Bournemouth conceded a late goal to drop points as Everton scored in stoppage time to draw level. Bournemouth will travel to Newcastle this weekend in search of their first win of the season as they face a Newcastle side coming off a 2-0 win over Tottenham.
Preston v Blackburn — 7:30a on Paramount+: Caleb Wiley scored a banger in his first start in nearly a year after suffering through an injury layoff. Wiley joined Championship side Preston on loan from Chelsea this summer and looks to be back on track. However, Preston lost the match and are still looking for their first points of the season four matches in as they now host Blackburn who are coming off a scoreless draw with Lincoln City.
Hoffenheim v Borussia Dortmund — 9:30a on Fandango: 17-year-old Mathis Albert made the bench, but not the field last weekend in Borussia Dortmund’s opener, and then played 90 minutes Tuesday in the team’s 5-0 dfb Pokal win over fifth tier side HEBG Hamburg. By most accounts Albert looked like he fit in on Tuesday but will find minutes hard to come by early this season in league play.
Bayer Leverkusen v Union Berlin — 9:30a on Fandango: Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen stumbled out of the gate last weekend against newly promoted Elversberg, falling 3-2 on the road. They bounced back midweek with a 4-0 Pokal win and will now host Union Berlin looking to get on track in Bundesliga play.
Borussia Mönchengladbach v Elversberg — 9:30a on Fandango: Joe Scally did not make a move before the close of the transfer window, despite strong indications from Borussia Monchengladbach that he is not in their plans this season. Scally did play 14’ off the bench last weekend but was an unused substitute midweek. Gladbach will be hosting Elversberg and Cole Campbell who got their Bundesliga debut off to a flying start with a 3-2 win over Leverkusen last weekend. Elversberg are playing in the Bundesliga for the first time in their club history and as recently as five seasons ago were playing in the German fourth division. Campbell, who scored the second of Elversberg’s three goals, joined the team this Summer on a $6m transfer from Dortmund. That amount may not seem like a lot but it was by far the highest spend in the clubs history.
Brighton & Hove Albion v Leeds United — 10:00a on Peacock: Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United drew 1-1 with Brentford last weekend. Aaronson started the match on the bench but came on as a halftime substitute as Leeds came from behind in the second half to pick up the a point. Leeds will be facing a Brighton side that lost a 4-3 shootout with Chelsea last weekend.
Fulham v Crystal Palace — 10:00a on Peacock: Crystal Palace have been soundly defeated in their first two matches of the EPL season including last weekend’s 4-1 loss to Manchester City. Chris Richards has started both matches and hasn’t been without fault in the team’s results. On a more positive note Zavier Gozo, who joined Palace from Real Salt Lake this summer, made his Premier League debut seeing 22’ off the bench in the loss. Palace will be visiting Fulham this weekend where Antonee Robinson has started both league matches but the team is also still looking for their first positive result of the campaign.
QPR v Middlesbrough — 10:00a on Paramount+: Sebastian Berhalter assisted Aidan Morris on Wednesday but Middlesbrough settled for a 1-1 draw with Burnley. Max Arfsten and Rokas Pukštas were unused substitutes in the match. Boro will travel to QPR this weekend who are undefeated in their first four matches.
Ajax v PSV Eindhoven – 2p on ESPN+: Sergino Dest scored for the second straight match as PSV throttled Utrecht 6-1 last weekend, scoring six straight after Utrecht scored the opener. Ricardo Pepi also started the match but was not one of the five different PSV layers to score. PSV look to be fully back on track after dropping points to Fortuna Sittard in their season opener. They do trail AZ Alkmaar by two points in the league standings but have a three point lead over this weekends opponent and their historic rival, Ajax.
MLS Season Pass Matches:
- Columbus Crew v Colorado Rapids — 7:30p: Patrick Schulte, Paxten Aaronson
- Philadelphia Union v CF Montréal — 7:30p: Cavan Sullivan, Quinn Sullivan
- Cincinnati v D.C. United — 7:30p: Miles Robinson
- Orlando City v San Diego FC — 7:30p: Justin Ellis, Daryl Dike
- Charlotte FC v Houston Dynamo — 7:30p: Tim Ream
- Toronto FC v Chicago Fire — 7:30p: Djordje Mihailovic, Chris Brady
- Seattle Sounders v NY Red Bulls — 8:30p: Cristian Roldan, Adri Mehmeti, Julian Hall
- Real Salt Lake v LAFC — 9:30p: Diego Luna
Sunday
Troyes v Strasbourg — 9:00a on beIN SPORTS: Gio Reyna received his first start of the season for Strasbourg as they defeated Lens 2-1 last weekend. Reyna played 76’ before being subbed off, his longest appearance for a club in nearly two years. Strasbourg will look to build some momentum this weekend as they face a Troyes side who are coming off a 2-1 win over Lorient after opening their season with a scoreless draw with Paris FC.
Parma v Monza — 9:00a on Paramount+: Benjamin Cremaschi has been used as a substitute in Parma’s first two matches, the longest appearance being the 22’ he saw last weekend in the team’s 2-0 loss to Juventus. The team is still looking for their first points of the season as they get set to host Monza.
Frosinone v Venezia — 9:00a on Paramount+: Gianluca Busio was an unused substitute midweek in Venezia’s 2-1 Copa Italia round of 32 loss to Udinese. Busio has played every minute in league play thus far for Venezia but the team is also still looking for it’s first points on the season. They will be facing a Frosinone side that defeated Fiorentina 3-0 last weekend but also lost in Copa Italia play midweek, falling in penalties to Udinese.
Athletic Club v Atlético Madrid — 10:15a on ESPN: Johnny Cardoso saw his first La Liga minutes of the season last weekend, coming off the bench for 5’ in Atletico Madrid’s 3-1 win over Sevilla. Cardoso had been an unused substitute in Atleti’s prior two matches. Cardoso will look to increase his impact this weekend as Atleti travel to Athletic Club.
Angers v Rennes — 11:15a on beIN SPORTS: Bryan Reynolds joined Rennes from Westerlo this summer but has seen just 2’ off the bench in the team’s first to Ligue 1 matches. Rennes defeated Le Mans FC 3-2 last weekend and will now travel to Angers.
Frankfurt v Augsburg — 11:30a on Fandango: Noahkai Banks was back in the starting lineup for Augsburg last weekend as they opened their season with a 3-0 win over Schalke. Augsburg’s defense will be tested against a Frankfurt side that scored three goals in their opener but settled for a 3-3 draw with Union Berlin.
Juventus v AC Milan — 2:45p on Paramount+: It’s an early season matchup between Italian giants possibly featuring head-to-head competition but this one seems likely to be impacted by fitness. Weston McKennie was held out of Juventus’ win over Parma last weekend due to muscle fatigue, though he has reportedly returned to training. For Milan, Christian Pulisic has watched both of the teams’ first two matches from the bench as he also looks to return from injury while Yunus Musah has unexpectedly returned to the Milan team and reintegrated himself to the starting lineup. Both teams have won their first two matches of the league season as they look to improve on disappointing results from last years campaign.
Marseille v Paris FC — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Timothy Weah has played the full 90’ and worn the captains armband in Marseille’s first two matches of the season. Unfortunately, the team was unable to back up their 4-0 season opening win over Strasbourg and fell to Monaco 2-0 last weekend. They now get set to host Paris FC on Sunday afternoon.
