Some of the top US players are still dealing with injury but we have some head to head matchups this weekend in Germany and France, goal scoring rightbacks in the Netherlands and Germany, and midfielders who are making a case for a September callup. Here’s what we’re watching this weekend.
Friday
Venezia v Fiorentina — 2:45p on Paramount+: Gianluca Busio and Venezia are on a four match loosing streak across all competitions and are still looking for their first Serie A points of the season. Most recently
they fell to Frosinone 3-2 with Busio providing the assist on the teams opening goal of the season. Venezia will head back home now to face a Fiorentina side that are also still looking for their first win of the season and have scored just one goal in their first three matches.
Rennes v Marseille — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Timothy Weah and Marseille fell to Paris FC on on Sunday by a score of 3-2, failing to crawl back after giving up a goal to Paris in the first minute of the match. Weah was wearing the captains armband and starting at rightback again for Marseille. The team will travel to Rennes on Friday evening to face a side that are undefeated in their first three matches, with two wins to follow up their season opening draw with PSG.
Saturday
Dortmund v Paderborn — 9:30a on Peacock and Fandango: Mathis Albert continues to ride the bench for Dortmund though he hasn’t been sent to get minutes with the youth side either. Dortmund have won their first two league matches and will host Paderborn this weekend.
Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach — 9:30a on Peacock and Fandango: After failing to secure a move in the summer transfer window of course Joe Scally was reinsterted into the Gladbach lineup and scored a goal last weekend. Scally played 77’ and scored the third of Gladbach’s goals to put them up 3-1. Unfortunately, the team lost to newly promoted and Cole Campbell who did not have a hand in any of the four goals scored by Elversberg, two of which were scored by his replacement. Gladbach will be looking for their first points of the season when they face a Freiburg side that has won their first two matches, defeating
Augsburg v Bayer Leverkusen — 9:30a on Peacock and Fandango: Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen bounced back from their season opening defeat to Elversberg by thrashing Union Berlin 4-0 last weekend. They will travel to Augsburg this weekend where Noahkai Banks has played every minute in the teams two decisive victories. However, Banks has communicated that he is still not ready to make a decision on who he will play for at the international level and it is feeling more and more as though he is simply waiting for Germany to decide if they will give him an opportunity.
Bournemouth v Brentford — 10:00a on Peacock: Tyler Adams received his first start of the season for Bournemouth last weekend, playing 76’ against Newcastle. This time Adams was off the pitch as Bournemouth gave up the late goal to once again drop points and settle for a 2-2 draw. Bournemouth have given up a goal in the final minutes of each match they have played this season which have cost them at least five points through the first three matches. They will look to get their first win of the season on Saturday when they host Brentford who have not suffered a loss yet and are coming off back to back 1-1 draws with Sunderland and Leeds United.
Crystal Palace v Ipswich — 10:00a on Peacock: Chris Richards played 90’ but Zavier Gozo was an unused sub last weekend as Crystal Palace picked up their first win of the season 3-2 over Fulham. Place will look to build some momentum as they host an Ipswich side that won their opener but have lost to Liverpool and Manchester United in their past two matches.
Liverpool v Fulham — 10:00a on Peacock: Antonee Robinson and Fulham are still looking for their first points of the Premier League season as they’ve lost by a goal in each of their first three matches, most recently the above mentioned loss to Chris Richards and Palace. Robinson has started all three league matches for Fulham who now travel to Liverpool.
Middlesbrough v Norwich — 10:00a on Paramount+: Sebastian Berhalter is already over 500 minutes this season for Middlesbrough with Aidan Morris quickly approaching that as well. Max Arfsten has played in six out of seven matches for the team while late joining Rokas Pukstas has seen just a handful of minutes off the bench in two matches since joining. Middlesbrough are 3-1-1 through their first five matches and currently sit in sixth place. They will be facing nine place Norwich this weekend who have won three and lost three.
Strasbourg v Monaco — 11:15a on beIN SPORTS: Gio Reyna started again last weekend and scored the third of Strasbourg’s six goals as they thrashed Troyes 6-2. It was the second straight start for Reyna, Strasbourg has won both matches and his manager has had positive things to say about his impact thus far. Meanwhile, Strastbourg’s opponent this weekend are Monaco where Folarin Balogun has yet to make the bench throughout and now following his transfer saga. Monaco have won their first three, including last weekend against PSG, so Balogun has work to do to find his place.
Lazio v Milan — 12:00p on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic has also yet to appear for his club this season though Yunus Musah continues to play every minute for AC Milan, most recently in their 1-1 draw with Juventus. Milan remain undefeated heading into their matchup at Lazio who have won their first three league matches.
Paris FC v Lyon — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Tanner Tessmann has yet to start a match for Lyon though he has come off the bench in two of three. Lyon is traveling to Paris this weekend and the two teams have matching 2-1-0 records are and tied for second place early in the Ligue 1 season.
MLS Season Pass Matches:
- Colorado v Montréal — 7:30p: Paxten Aaronson
- Orlando City v Toronto FC — 7:30p: Daryl Dike, Justin Ellis
- Cincinnati v Charlotte — 7:30p: Miles Robinson v Tim Ream
- RSL v NYCFC — 7:30p: Diego Luna v Matt Freese
- LA Galaxy v Seattle — 10:30p: Cristian Roldan
Sunday
Elversberg v Bayern Munich – 11:30a on USA Network as well as Fandango and Peacock: Cole Campbell and newly promoted Elversburg have won their first two matches in the Bundesliga and will now face Bayern Munich who rebounded from last weekend’s scoreless draw with Schalke by pounding Bodo Glimt 5-0 in Champions League group play.
PSV Eindhoven v Sparta Rotterdam — 2:00p on ESPN+: Sergiño Dest scored midweek in Champions League play as PSV drew with Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1. It was Dest’s third goal in five matches across all competitions. Ricardo Pepi didn’t score midweek but did score the opener last weekend as PSV defeated Ajax 3-1. PSV will face 11th place Sparta Rotterdam who have won just once this season.
Sassuolo v Juventus — 2:45p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie was out again last weekend as Juventus drew with Milan 1-1, it was the second straight match McKennie missed due to muscle fatigue. Based on reporting out of Italy McKennie likely won’t play this weekend but is looking to return midweek when Juve start their Europa League campaign.
Real Sociedad v Atlético Madrid — 3:00p on ESPN+: Johnny Cardoso did not appear midweek in Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool in Champions League play and has just 19’ minutes across Atleti’s first five matches combined. The team suffered their first league defeat last weekend, falling to Atletic Bilbao 3-0 last weekend and will look to bounce back as they travel to face Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Real Sociedad on Sunday. Sociedad are 2-1-2 and coming off a 3-2 win over Elche.
MLS Season Pass Matches:
- Chicago Fire v New England Revolution — 7:30p: Chris Brady v Matt Turner
- San Diego FC v Philadelphia Union — 9:00p: Cavan Sullivan, Quinn Sullivan
