It’s a Cup weekend in England and France which gives some interesting matchups but could mean some squad rotation. We’ll still go through the rundown so you can see where you might want to pop in to check the lineups. There’s also the standard rundown of action across Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands so let’s get on with it:
Saturday
Macclesfield v Crystal Palace – 7:15a on ESPN Select: Chris Richards and Crystal Palace will face sixth tier Macclesfield F.C. on Saturday morning in FA Cup action. The Silkmen
are the oldest club in Cheshire and currently sit in fourteenth place in the National League North. Given the gap between the two clubs it wouldn’t be surprising to see heavy rotation for Palace in this match.
Heidenheim v Koln – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kristoffer Lund and Koln will face Heidenheim on Saturday looking to snap a six match winless streak as they have fallen to eleventh in the Bundesliga standings. Heidenheim are in seventeenth place and coming off a 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
Freiburg v Hamburg – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Damion Downs has joined Hamburg from Championship side Southampton where he had really struggled through the first half of the year. Downs scored 10 goals last season in 2 Bundesliga with Koln before moving to Southampton over the summer but he hadn’t seen the field since before Thanksgiving, hadn’t started since September, and had not scored a goal. Hopefully a return to Germany can get the 21-year-old’s career back on track.
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Cole Campbell has joined Hoffenheim on loan from Borussia Dortmund in a search for minutes. Campbell had appeared just once for Dortmund in league play and is only taking a slight step down as Hoffenheim are in fifth place in the Bundesliga, five points back of Dortmund. Campbell’s new side will face off against 10th place Werder Bremen on Saturday.
St Pauli v RB Leipzig – 9:30a on ESPN Select: James Sands and St. Pauli drew with last place Mainz heading into the winter break and will now face fourth place RB Leipzig looking to climb out of the relegation playoff position. Sands has started all but one match for St. Pauli this season. The club had an extended loosing streak which dropped them into the relegation zone but they have picked up five points in the past three matches.
Orleans v Monaco – 9:30a on Fox Soccer Plus and Fox One: Folarin Balogun and Monaco will face Orleans in French Cup action on Saturday morning in a rare opportunity for those without beIN Sports to catch the Forward working his trade. Old Orleans is in the third tier of the French footballing hierarchy,
Fulham v Middlesbrough – 10a on ESPN Select: Antonee Robinson and Aidan Morris could face off on Saturday as Robinson’s Fulham take on Morris and Middlesbrough in FA Cup action. Morris has place in the past three matches for Middlesbrough, including last weekend’s 4-0 win over Southampton after missing six straight while Robinson has returned from his own injury struggles to start six straight for Fulham, a span in which they are undefeated.
PSV v Excelsior – 2p on ESPN Select: Ricardo Pepi went into the winter break on a four match scoring streak for PSV and Sergino Dest has added an assist in each of the club’s last two games as well as they have stretched their Eredivise lead to eleven points. The host twelfth place Excelsior on Saturday afternoon.
Atalanta v Torino – 2:45p on Paramount+: Yunus Musah has been seeing a bit of an increase in minutes lately, appearing in five straight matches though with just one start over that time. Over that time Atalanta have moved from twelfth place up to seventh and will now host Torino who themselves are in twelfth.
Sunday
Derby County v Leeds United – 7a on ESPN Select: Brenden Aaronson scored a brace but Leeds fell to Newcastle 4-3 on Wednesday after giving up a pair of goals after the 90th minute. Leeds will travel to Derby County this weekend for their FA Cup match.
Fiorentina v AC Milan – 9a on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic and AC Milan settled for a draw with Genoa on Thursday, falling three points back of Inter in the Serie A title race. Milan have lost just once this season but have drawn six matches while Inter have yet to draw (though they have lost four times). Milan’s opponent this weekend is Fiorentina who are in the relegation zone, three points back of Genoa for safety.
Borussia Monchengladbach v Augsburg – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Gio Reyna had started three straight matches and appeared in nine straight for Borussia Monchengladbach heading into the break. Joe Scally has also been a regular starter for Gladbach who find themselves in twelfth place heading into their matchup with Noahkai Banks and Augsburg who are in fifteenth, just two points ahead of St. Pauli for the relegation playoff position.
Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg – 11:30a on ESPN Select: Kevin Paredes has reportedly returned from injury and it sounds like he will be available for Wolfsburg this weekend as the team face league leading Bayern Munich. Paredes has yet to appear for Wolfsburg this season after numerous injury complications have sidelined him.
