Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun, and Haji wright have had a great week and will look to keep things rolling this weekend while back in the States MLS regular season action kicks off this weekend including two matches that will be available on network television. The majority of MLS matches will be available only on Apple TV this season though thankfully not behind an additional paywall on the platform. For this weekend we are focused in on those two broadcast matches but moving forward we will likely
try to focus in on the matches where recent callups or likely World Cup participants are participating.
Friday
Mainz v Hamburger – 2:30p on ESPN Select: Lennard Maloney missed Mainz’s match last Friday and has already been ruled out for this weeks match as well. His team is taking on Hamburger and Damion Downs who also missed last weekend’s action due to illness but appears to be available this weekend. Hamburger has won their past two matches to move into ninth place while Mainz are coming off a 4-0 loss to Dortmund though they have won four of their last six to move out of the relegation zone.
Brest v Olympique Marseille – 2:45p on beIN Sports: Tim Weah and Marseille will be taking the field under a new manager on Friday as Habib Beye was appointed on Wednesday following the departure of Roberto De Zerbi following the teams 5-0 loss to PSG two weeks ago. Weah has been playing as a right-wingback primarily this season though last match he was the rightback in a back four. Marseille are still in fourth place in the league table though they are five points back of third place Lyon for Champions League qualification.
Saturday
West Bromwich Albion v Coventry City – 7:30a on Paramount+: Haji Wright scored a hat trick midweek as Coventry City overtook Middlesbrough for the lead in the Championship, snapping a three match winless streak in the process. Coventry now have a six point lead over Millwall for direct promotion. They will face a West Brom side that are at the opposite end of the table, just two points ahead of Leicester in the relegation battle.
Real Sociedad v Real Oviedo – 8a on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Select: Real Sociedad suffered their first loss under Pellegrino Matarazzo last weekend, falling to Real Madrid 4-1. The team remain in eighth place despite the loss.
Juventus v Como – 9a on Paramount+: Weston McKennie notched two assists last weekend and scored a goal midweek in Champions League play as he now has nine goal contributions across all competitions since the start of the new year. Unfortunately, Juventus lost both matches despite McKennie’s best efforts, falling 3-2 to Inter Milan after going down a man late in the first half and then suffering a stunning 5-2 loss to Galatasaray in Turkey in the first leg of their Champions League knockout rounds match. Juve will look to get back on track as they face sixth place Como who are four points back of Juventus and coming off a 1-1 draw with AC Milan.
Wolfsburg v Augsburg – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kevin Paredes was among the players who missed last weekend due to illness as Wolfsburg drew with Leipzig 2-2. The draw left Wolfsburg in 15th place, just a point out of the relegation playoff position. If Paredes is able to return this weekend he will face off with Noahkai Banks and Augsburg who are in 11th place following their 1-0 win over Heidenheim. Banks played the full 90’ as Augsburg kept the clean sheet.
Union Berlin v Bayer Leverkusen – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Malik Tillman came on as a halftime substitute last weekend in Leverkusen’s 4-0 win over St. Pauli and was a second half sub again midweek as Leverkusen defeated Olympiacos 2-0 on the road in the first leg of their Champions League matchup. Prior to last weekend Tillman had started all but two of Leverkusen’s past fourteen matches so the change to a substitute role, if that’s what is happening here, would be a big one.
Koln v Hoffenheim – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kristoffer Lund and Koln fell to Stuttgart 3-1 with Lund playing the full 90’. Koln have lost three of their past four and are in twelfth place now, just four points out of the relegation playoff position.
Aston Villa v Leeds United – 10a on NBCSN: Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United needed Penalties to defeat Championship side Birmingham City last weekend in FA Cup action. Aaronson game on in the 68th minute but ended up playing 52’ as Leeds gave up the tying goal in the 89th. Leeds will face third place Aston Villa this weekend.
Lens v Monaco – 11a on beIN Sports: Folarin Balogun hasn’t scored a league goal since early November but he notched a brace midweek against PSG in Champions League action. Unfortunately Monaco would cough up the two goal lead and lose the match 3-2. Moncao are undefeated in their past four league matches but will face league leading Lens this weekend who have won four straight and fourteen of the past fifteen matches that they have played across all competitions.
West Ham United v Bournemouth – 12:30p on NBCSN: Tyler Adams made the bench for Bournemouth’s last EPL match, a 2-1 win over Everton, but did not see the field as he continues his steps to return from an injury that has kept him out since mid December. Bournemouth are in ninth place following the win, now tied with Everton and will face a West Ham side that are undefeated in their last three matches but still sit in the final relegation spot, three points from safety.
PSV v Heerenveen – 12:45p on ESPN Select: Sergino Dest and PSV suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to 15th place FC Volendam last weekend though they still hold a fourteen point lead for the league title. The team will look to rebound against eighth place Heerenveen who have won their past two matches.
Toulouse v Paris – 1p on beIN Sports: Mark McKenzie and Toulouse have lost their last two matches, most recently 2-1 to Le Havre, and now sit in tenth place in the Ligue 1 standings. McKenzie is reportedly suspended for this weekends match with Paris due to yellow card accumulation though he did not receive a card last weekend in his start against Le Havre.
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol – 3p on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Select: Johnny Cardoso got the start last weekend but Atletico fell to Rayo Vallecano 3-0. Cardoso then saw just a minute off the bench midweek in his clubs 3-3 draw with Club Brugge in Champions League action. The team will look to get back on track this weekend as they host sixth place Espanyol.
Cincinnati v Atlanta United – 4:45p on FOX: Miles Robinson and Roman Celentano start their season on Saturday with the first of two MLS matches that will be available via broadcast over the weekend. Cincinnati will be hosting Atlanta United in their opener.
Sunday
Crystal Palace v Wolverhampton Wanderers – 9a on Peacock: Chris Richards and Crystal Palace fell to 19th place Burnley who now have just 19 points on the season. Palace still have eight points separating them from West Ham and the final relegation spot but if they keep loosing matches against relegation quality opponents they will have some real concerns come the end of the season. They get to try again this weekend as they face last place Wolverhampton this weekend who have just one win through 27 matches this season.
Atalanta v Napoli – 9a on Paramount+: Yunus Musah was stuck to the bench again last weekend as Atalanta defeated Lazio 2-0 and midweek as well in the teams 2-0 loss to Dortmund in Champions League play. Musah has failed to appear in four of the last six matches for his club. On Sunday the team will host third place Napoli who are coming off a 2-2 draw with Roma.
Sunderland v Fulham – 9a on USA Network and Telemundo: Antonee Robinson started and went the full 90’ in Fulham’s 2-1 win over Stoke City last weekend but had not appeared in the prior two league matches for his team, a surprising turn of events for a player who has been such a workhorse over the years, albeit dealing with significant injuries to start this season. Fulham are in twelfth place and can jump eleventh place Sunderland if they pick up the road win this weekend.
Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach – 9:30a on ESPN Select: It’s become unfortunately unsurprising to see Gio Reyna not included among the starters for Borussia Monchengladbach as he deals with repeated injuries. What has been surprising however is that Joe Scally has joined him on the bench recently, coming on as a substitute in the teams last two matches, most recently a 3-0 loss to Frankfurt with Scally not entering until his team was already down 2-0. Gladbach are winless in their past six matches and have fallen to 13th place. They will travel to Freiburg this weekend to face off with the eighth place side.
St Pauli v Werder Bremen – 11:30a on ESPN Select: James Sands and St. Pauli were thumped by Leverkusen 4-0 last weekend with Sands starting and playing 69’ minutes. St. Pauli need to string together some positive results if they are going to avoid relegation this season and this weekend would be a good place to start as they host 16th place Werder Bremen who they can vault with a win that would pull them at least into the relegation playoff spot.
AC Milan v Parma – Noon on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic apparently has been dealing with some injuries that are restricting his playing time but aren’t so severe to keep him out altogether. Pulisic was a substitute again last weekend in AC Milan’s 1-1 draw with Como, a result which left them seven points back of Inter for the league lead. They now face twelfth place Parma who have won their past two matches.
Strasbourg v Olympique Lyon – 2:45p on beIN Sports: Tanner Tessmann started again for Lyon as they won their seventh straight match last weekend, 2-0 over Nice, to remain six points back of PSG and seven back of the league lead. They travel to face seventh place Strasbourg on Sunday.
Seattle Sounders v Colorado Rapids – 9:15p on FS1: Cristian Roldan and the Seattle Sounders will host Zack Steffen, Paxten Aaronson and the Colorado Rapids in the second broadcast MLS matchup of the weekend. Both teams have a number of former USMNT senior and youth players with Roldan seeming the most likely to make this summers World Cup roster.
