There were a number of exciting additions to the roster for the upcoming USMNT window which is giving us a broader pool of players to watch. There is quite a bit of action this weekend including a Madrid Derby, a couple of head to head matchups, and a number of exciting young players in action. Here’s what we’ll be watching:
Friday
Monaco v Lens — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Folarin Balogun has returned to training and been named to the squad for Monaco’s Friday match where they will host Lens. Balogun has yet
to appear for Monaco this season who are coming off a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg and are tied for first place on ten points through four matches. On Friday Monaco will be hosting a Lens side who are 1-1-2 in their first four matches and coming off a 2-2 draw with Le Mans.
NYCFC v NY Red Bulls — 7:30p on Apple TV: Matt Freese and NYCFC will host Adri Mehmeti, Julian Hall, and the young NY Red Bulls side in a New York clash on Friday night. Freese, Mehmeti, and Hall were all called into the September camp and rumors are that Justin Che was called in from NYRB as well but is unavailable due to injury.
Saturday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Mainz — 9:30a on Fandango and Peacock (Spanish): Joe Scally started for Gladbach again last weekend, his second straight start, but the team was thumped 5-0 by Freiburg and are still looking for their first points of the Bundesliga season. This weekend they will face a Mainz side that are coming off a 3-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt. Lennard Maloney has just one appearance for two minutes this season.
Werder Bremen v Augsburg — 9:30a on Fandango and Peacock (Spanish): The German Football Federation has announced that Noahkai Banks has made a decision to represent Germany and will be filling a one-time switch as he had previously represented the US at youth levels in provisionally cap-tying matches. This will be the last time a Banks match is included in the viewing guide.
Birmingham v Middlesbrough — 10:00a on Paramount+: Kristoffer Lund and Birmingham will take on the Middlesbros this weekend as they host Aidan Morris, Max Arfsten, Sebastian Berhalter, and Rokas Pukštas. Lund has appeared in the last two matches for Birmingham though he just got one minute off the bench last weekend. Birmingham have just one loss on the season but have drawn four times already and are currently in tenth place. Middlesbrough are coming off a 2-2 draw with Millwall and are tied with three other teams at the top of the Championship table. Pukštas has not played much for Middlesbrough since joining the club but the other three American’s are regular features for the side.
Paris FC v Strasbourg — 11:15a on beIN SPORTS: Gio Reyna and Strasbourg drew with Monaco last weekend and remain in sixth place in Ligue 1. Reyna has yet to finish a match but has started three straight and his 81’ minutes are his longest appearance since October of 2022. Strasbourg will be facing a Paris FC side that undefeated in their first four matches and coming off a scoreless draw with Lyon.
Venezia v Lazio — 2:45p on Paramount+: Gianluca Busio was injured last weekend and will be out for six plus weeks due to a hamstring strain. Venezia will have to try to earn their first points of the season without Busio as they host Lazio on Saturday.
Lyon v Rennes — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Tanner Tessmann has not been playing many minutes for Lyon in league play to start the season but did go 90’ on Wednesday as Lyon defeated Anderlecht 2-1 in their first match of the Europa League group stage.
MLS Season Pass Matches:
- D.C. United v Charlotte — 7:30p on Apple TV: Tim Ream
- Montréal v Columbus — 7:30p on Apple TV: Patrick Schulte
- New England v Orlando — 7:30p on Apple TV: Matt Turner, Peyton Miller, Brooklyn Raines, Justin Ellis
- Houston v Cincinnati — 8:30p on Apple TV: Miles Robinson
- Sporting KC v Philadelphia — 8:30p on Apple TV: Cavan Sullivan, Quinn Sullivan, Neil Pierre, Frankie Westfield
- St. Louis v Toronto — 8:30p on Apple TV: Daniel Edelman, Damion Downs
- Colorado v Seattle — 9:30p on Apple TV: Paxten Aaronson, Cristian Roldan
- Nashville v Chicago — 9:30p on Apple TV: Brian Schwake, Chris Brady
- RSL v Vancouver — 9:30p on Apple TV: Diego Luna
Sunday
Celtic v Rangers — 7:00a on Paramount+: Auston Trusty and Celtic will host Rangers in the latest edition of the Old Firm Derby on Sunday morning. Celtic are 6-0-0 to start the season while Rangers are five points behind in league play but defeated Celtic 3-0 last weekend in Scottish Cup action.
Twente v PSV — 8:30a on ESPN+: Sergiño Dest, Ricardo Pepi and PSV are on a five match winning streak heading into their matchup with Twente this weekend. Pepi took a break from the starting lineup last weekend but Dest started his fifth straight match.
Bournemouth v Liverpool — 9:00a on Peacock: Tyler Adams hast started the last three matches for Bournemouth across all competitions, including the midweek 2-1 win over Real Sociedad in Europa League group play. Bournemouth did not give up any last minute goals last weekend but settled for a draw with Brentford 2-2 and are still looking for their first EPL win of the season.
Leeds v Crystal Palace — 9:00a on Peacock: Brenden Aaronson and Leeds will host Chris Richards, Zavier Gozo and Crystal Palace on Sunday morning. Aaronson has come off the bench the last two weekends for Leeds who are undefeated through their first four league matches and currently sit in third place, coming off a 4-1 win over Newcastle. Richards, Gozo, and Palace are coming off a 2-3 loss to Ipswich Town after they went down a man 34’ minutes into the match. Gozo, who made the September roster, did come on late in the match to see a handful of minutes.
Bayer Leverkusen v Leipzig — 9:30a on Fandango / Peacock (Spanish): Malik Tillman assisted Bayer Leverkusen’s late equalizer as they drew with Augsburg 2-2 last weekend in league play and started again on Wednesday and played 61’ as Leverkusen started their Europa League campaign with a 2-0 win over Celje.
Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid — 10:15a on ESPN 2 and ESPN Deportes: Johhny Cardoso has appeared in four straight and received his first start of the season on Wednesday as Atletico Madrid defeated Osasuna 4-0 with Johnny providing a nice assist on the team’s fourth goal of the day. Atleti are two points back of Real Madrid who are in second place in the La Liga standings through the first six matches.
Schalke v Elversberg — 11:30a on Fandango / Peacock (Spanish): Cole Campbell and Elversber suffered their first lost of the Bundesliga season last weekend as they fell to Bayern Munich 2-1. Campbell started the match but was subbed at the half with Elversberg down a goal and his replacement once again scored a goal to temporarily draw the team level. Campbell is among those looking to make his senior team debut this September.
Juventus v Atalanta — 12:00p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie returned to the Juventus lineup midweek as the team thrashed NEC in Europa League play 5-0 with McKennie captaining the side and providing an assist on the second goal of the match. McKennie had missed the last three league matches for Juve and they are 1-1-1 in his absence, most recently loosing to Sassuolo 3-2 last weekend. McKennie’s return will be a welcome sight for the team as they look to get things back on track.
Villarreal v Levante — 12:30p on ESPN+: Alex Freeman has started two of the past three, and appeared in four straight for Villarreal who finally picked up their first win of the season on Thursday with Freeman playing all 90’. The team will look to build a little momentum now as they face a Levante side that are also on five points.
Marseille v PSG — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Timothy Weah and Marseille have lost four straight matches across all competitions, most recently falling to Besiktas 4-1 in Europa League play and losing to Rennes 1-0 last Friday. Weah has played every minute thus far for his team and been the captain in each match as well but they will have their hands full this weekend as they face a PSG side that is also looking to get on track in league play.
AC Milan v Lecce — 2:45p on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah provided the necessary jolt for AC Milan last weekend as they came from two down to draw with Lazio last weekend with Pulisic providing the assist on Milan’s opener. Pulisic came in at the half midweek as well and Musah started and went the full 90’ but they were unable to produce the same magic and fell 2-0 to Benfica in Europa League action.
