It was a long international break but things are bouncing back in a big way this weekend as all the European leagues resume action. In addition to the players that were called in this window there are a number of players, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Johnny Cardoso, that look like they will be in line for some extended playing time this weekend. There is quite a bit to watch out for this weekend so let’s get to it, starting with Friday afternoon’s activity:
Friday
PSV v Heerenveen —
2:00p on ESPN+: Sergiño Dest returns to action with PSV on Friday afternoon though he is among those who played on Tuesday and could see a change in his minutes with a match already on Friday. Ricardo Pepi missed the international break due to injury and is not expected to appear this weekend. PSV fell to FC Twente heading into the break, their first loss of the season, and will look to start a new winning streak on Friday afternoon when they face tenth place Heerenveen.
Lens v Lyon — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Tanner Tessmann has been seeing spot minutes off the bench for Lyon who are undefeated through five matches in Ligue 1 play. Lyon are in second place, two points back of league leading Monaco, and will be facings 15th place Lens who have one win in five league matches, most recently falling to Monaco 2-1.
Saturday
Arsenal v Leeds — 7:30a on USA Network: Brenden Aaronson has also been coming off the bench, averaging 23 minutes in the last three matches for Leeds since getting subbed at the half in Leeds second match of the season. Leeds have won twice and drawn three times, they are undefeated but sitting in fifth place in the EPL table. They will face defending champions Arsenal who fell 3-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion heading into the break for their first loss of the season and currently trail perfect Manchester City by three points.
Mainz v Beyer Leverkusen — 9:30a on Fandango / Peacock (Spanish): Malik Tillman was an unused substitute for Leverkusen in their last match before the break, a 2-0 win over RB Leipzig. That came a week after Tillman played 14’ off the bench in a 2-2 draw with Augsburg.
Union Berlin v Elversberg — 9:30a on Fandango / Peacock (Spanish): Cole Campbell and Elversberg settled for a scoreless draw with Schalke heading into the break, they remain in seventh place in the Bundesliga thanks to the two wins they picked up to start their campaign. They are facing 17th place Union Berlin who are still looking for their first win of the season and have just one point through four matches.
Chelsea v Bournemouth — 10:00a on Peacock: Tyler Adams had started three straight matches for Bournemouth heading into the break, most recently a 1-0 loss to Liverpool. Bournemouth are still looking for their first win of the season, with the silver lining being that their most recent loss didn’t feature a collapse at the end. Bournemouth are facing a Chelsea side that won their first two matches of the season but have failed to pick up a win in their last three matches, most recently falling to Brentford 3-0.
Ipswich v Fulham — 10:00a on Peacock: Antonee Robinson and Fulham are also still looking for their first win of the season, after losing their first three matches they’ve drawn the last two with Liverpool and Manchester United. Robinson has started every match for Fulham who now face an Ipswich side that have two wins and three losses in their first five, most recently falling to Everton 1-0.
Alavés v Atlético Madrid — 10:15a on ESPN+: Johnny Cardoso has started the last two matches for Atletico Madrid including playing 90’ in their win over Real Madrid heading in the international break. Cardoso had started the season seeing few minutes while dealing with injury but usage ahead of the break and the extra time off to rest would suggest that he could see extended minutes again on Saturday when Atleti return to the field against Alaves.
Monaco v Toulouse — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Folarin Balogun and Mark McKenzie will face off in Ligue 1 play on Saturday afternoon as first place Monaco host a Toulouse side that picked up their first win of the season heading into the break. Balogun saw his first minutes of the season for Monaco heading into the break, getting 14’ off the bench in the teams 2-1 win over Lens. Meanwhile, McKenzie will be heading to Philadelphia in January but it hasn’t impacted his playing time for Toulouse yet, he has played every minute to start this season.
Real Madrid v Villarreal — 3:00p on ESPN+: Alex Freeman has started the past two and three of the last four for Villarreal who won back to back games over Malaga and Levante heading into the break. Intensity will step up a notch this weekend as Villarreal travel to the capital to take on a Real Madrid side that are coming off the aforementioned loss to Atleti heading into the break, their second loss early in this season, but are still in fourth place, just a point out of second.
MLS Season Pass Matches:
- Chicago v NYCFC — 2:30p: Chris Brady, Matt Freese
- NY Red Bulls v San Diego — 7:30p: Adri Mehmeti, Julian Hall, Caden Clark, Cade Cowell
- Philadelphia v Real Salt Lake — 7:30p: Cavan Sullivan, Quinn Sullivan, Neil Pierre, Frankie Westfield, Diego Luna
- Atlanta v Cincinnati — 7:30p: Miles Robinson
- Orlando v Columbus — 7:30p: Patrick Schulte
- New England v Seattle — 7:30p: Matt Turner, Peyton Miller, Brooklyn Raines, Cristian Roldan
- Austin v Nashville — 8:30p: Brian Schwake
- Colorado v San Jose — 9:30p: Paxten Aaronson
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg — 9:00a on beIN SPORTS: Gio Reyna started all four matches for the USMNT over the international break and had started the past four matches for Strasbourg heading into the break for a usage rate that might be a new career high for him. Given the minutes logged it wouldn’t be shocking to seem him used more conservatively this Sunday but based on reporting he had been asking US Manager Mauricio Pochettino for increased workload as he feels that is best for his ongoing health improvements to build up minutes at this point. Strasbourg suffered their second defeat of the season heading into the break, a 2-1 loss to Paris FC and they will now travel to Nice who are coming off their first win of the season, a 2-1 result over Lille.
Cologne v Borussia Monchengladbach — 9:30a on Fandango / Peacock (Spanish): After threats that Joe Scally should find another club for this season he has started three straight matches for Borussia Monchengladbach. Unfortunately, the club has been getting trounced, they’ve lost all four league matches, given up at least three goals in each, and a combined 16 goals across the four matches. They are bottom of the table and things are looking very bleak. They will be facing an FC Cologne side that themselves have just four points in the four matches and have given up over two goals per match.
Sassuolo v AC Milan — 12:00p on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic has appeared in the past two matches for AC Milan, most recently starting and scoring the opener in a 3-0 win over Lecce. Yunus Musah, who was called in to the US camp did not start that match but did see 14’ minutes off the bench and has appeared in every match for Milan early this season including three starts in five matches. Milan haven’t suffered defeat yet but have drawn twice and are two points back of a trio of teams in first place. Their opponent this weekend is Sassuolo who are coming off a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Monza.
Cagliari v Juventus — 2:45p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie started Juventus’s last match before the international break but had missed the prior three due to muscle fatigue and was not called into the US camp as a result. Juventus was victorious in McKennie’s return to the field, defeating Atalanta 2-0 to bounce back from their 3-2 loss to Sassuolo.
Troyes v Marseille — 2:45p on beIN SPORTS: Timothy Weah will be suspended this weekend as he was show red in Marseille’s last match after seeing yellow in the 32nd minute and again in the 77th as Marseille fell to Paris Saint-Germain 2-1. Marseille have lost four straight matches, and three of the four by one goal. They will look to get things turned around without their early season captain as they face Troyes on Sunday afternoon.
