There is a really solid slate of action this weekend including a vital match on Friday for a Venezia side clinging to life, and a Saturday morning matchup with significant promotion implications that features USMNT players on both sides. Add to that an Old Firm Derby, key action in Italy, Germany, and England, and you have quite the lineup this weekend, let’s get to it:
Friday
Torino v Venezia – 2:45p on Paramount+
Gianluca Busio and Venezia need to make up two points over their last four matches to catch 17th place Lecce for safety and avoid returning to Serie B next season. Venezia fell to AC Milan 2-0 last weekend and will now travel to tenth place Torino who are coming off a 2-0 loss to league leading Napoli.
Saturday
Aston Villa v Fulham – 7:30a on USA Network
Antonee Robinson was held out last weekend as Fulham defeated last place Southampton 2-1 but is reportedly available this weekend as Fulham get set to face an Aston Villa side that are one spot, but six points, ahead of them in the EPL table. Villa are coming off a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup and looking to gain ground this weekend on the top six as they currently trail Nottingham Forest by three points.
Coventry City v Middlesbrough – 7:30a on Paramount+
Haji Wright and Aidan Morris will face off this weekend with everything on the line as they look to guide their teams into the top six of the English Championship and a promotion playoff spot. Wright’s Coventry City hold the upper hand as they currently sit in sixth place. They need a win while maintaining their current +4 goal advantage over Millwall to guarantee themselves no worse than sixth place. Coventry could have already secured the spot but have lost back to back matches against teams that were in the relegation zone. On the other side, Aidan Morris and Middlesbrough are coming off a scoreless draw with Norwich and are in ninth place. Middlesbrough will need a win and both Backburn and Millwall to lose or draw, or at least one of the two, combined with a Bristol City loss. There is probably a more clear way to say that, we tried.
Borussia Monchengladbach v Hoffenheim – 9:30a on ESPN+
Joe Scally is quietly on his way to racking up over 2,500 Bundesliga minutes again this season for Borussia Monchengladbach. Unfortunately, after briefly flirting with a top five finish, Gladbach have lost three straight and currently sit in ninth place. Gladbach fell to last place Holstein Kiel last weekend and will now face a Hoffenheim side that sit just outside of the relegation zone though they have a five point advantage over Heidenheim. Scally has failed to appear in just two matches this season, one of those being due to yellow card accumulation, and has started all twenty-nine of those matches.
Arsenal v Bournemouth – 12:30p on NBC
Tyler Adams went the full 90’ on Sunday against Manchester United as Bournemouth settled for a draw and fell to 10th place in the EPL table. Bournemouth are now a full ten points back of the top six and will not be qualifying for European competition next season but it has largely been a successful campaign, particularly for Adams who returned from an extended injury layoff in October and has immediately worked his way back into being a key figure for Bournemouth including appearing in eighteen straight matches.
Borussia Dortmund v Wolfsburg – 12:30p on ESPN+
Gio Reyna made first league appearance in two months as Borussia Dortmund nearly coughed up a win by allowing a late goal before scoring an even later goal to capture the three points and move into sixth place, now just three points back of Freiburg for fourth place and a Champions League spot next season. Dortmund will face 12th place Wolfsburg this weekend where Kevin Paredes return from injury has been cut short after just two matches as he will be sidelined this weekend due to a muscle strain. Wolfsburg fell to Freiburg last weekend and remain in 12th place.
Toulouse v Rennes – 1p on beIN Sports
Toulouse snapped a five match losing streak in a scoreless draw with Nantes last weekend as Mark McKenzie was sidelined due to red card suspension. McKenzie should be available on Saturday as Toulouse host Rennes.
PSV v Fortuna Sittard – 3p on EPSN+
Richard Ledezma started and Malik Tillman played twenty minutes off the bench last week Thursday as PSV won their third straight match, defeating Twente 3-1. PSV remain in second place, seven points back of league leading Ajax though they have a game in hand going into the last few weeks of the Eredivisie season.
Saint-Etienne v Monaco – 3:05p on beIN Sports
Folarin Balogun and Monaco will travel to Saint-Etienne on Saturday looking to move into the top three. Balogun saw just 4’ minutes off the bench last weekend in Monaco’s 1-1 draw but is reportedly fully fit and being considered for the start this weekend.
Sunday
Rangers v Celtic – 7a on CBSSN
Cameron Carter-Vickers started but Auston Trusty was an unused substitute for Celtic last weekend as the team kicked off the Second Phase of the Scottish Premiership with a 5-0 win over Dundee United. They’ll now face second place Rangers in the latest edition of the Old Firm derby.
Lyon v Lens – 11:15a on beIN Sports
Tanner Tessmann played 24’ off the bench for Lyon last weekend in their 4-1 win overt Stade-Rennais, a win that moved Lyon into fifth place with a top three finish within reach. Lyon will host eighth place Lens this weekend who are coming off a 4-0 loss to Auxerre and are solidly middle of the table.
Espanyol v Real Betis – 12:30p on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+
Johnny Cardoso has started five straight league matches and also got the start on Thursday as Real Betis defeated Fiorentina 2-1 in the 1st leg of their UEFA Conference League semi-final matchup. Betis are in sixth place in La Liga, just a point back of Villarreal for fifth and qualification for next seasons Champions League play.
Bologna v Juventus – 2:45p on Paramount+
Tim Weah, Weston McKennie and Juventus deated last place Monza 2-0 last Sunday with McKennie getting the start and Weah coming on for the final thirty minutes as a left wingback. Juventus moved into the top four with the victory and will face the team they passed last weekend, Bologna, on Sunday looking to maintain that advantage and place a firmer grip on Champions League qualification.
Monday
Genoa v AC Milan – 2:45p on Paramount+
Christian Pulisic scored his tenth goal of the Serie A season and sixteenth goal across all competitions, as AC Milan defeated Venezia 2-0 last weekend. Pulisic scored five minutes into the match and Milan would never look back. However, Yunus Musah has not appeared in three straight matches for AC Milan, failing to make it off the bench since getting yanked just 23 minutes in weeks ago. Milan remain in ninth place with four matches to play and look unlikely to qualify for any European competition next season.
Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest – 3p on USA Network
Chris Richards and Crystal Place defeated Aston Villa 3-0 last weekend in the FA Cup Semi-Finals to move on and will face Manchester City in two weeks with a chance to hoist a trophy, though they will be definite underdogs. This have not gone as smoothly for Palace in league play where they are winless in their last four (including a 5-2 loss to the affforementioned Man City) and are in twelfth place, a solidly middle of the table team without real concern of either relegation or European qualification. They face sixth place Nottingham Forest on Monday who fell to Brentford last weekend and have lost three of their last four league matches, slipping out of the Champions League positions.
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