As is the case so many weeks of the season, the top match to watch this weekend features a pair of EPL heavyweights.
Arsenal takes on Manchester United on Sunday with a precious three points on the line for both clubs. The Gunners sit a point behind United in the race for second place behind Chelsea and a defeat at home would deal a painful blow to Arsenal's title hopes. The same could be said for Manchester United, which trails Chelsea by a point for first place, with Chelsea still holding a game in hand.
Arsenal-Manchester United is the marquee match-up this weekend, but hardly the only quality tilt. Key matches in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal will give TV viewers a great variety of action to watch.
Here is this weekend's Soccer TV schedule, as well as our SBI Top Ten Matches to Watch:
TOP TEN MATCHES TO WATCH
1. Arsenal vs. Manchester United. The battle to stay on Chelsea's tail in the title race features red-hot Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas.
2. Egypt vs. Ghana. Okay, so this game isn't on TV, but you'll be able to find an internet stream pretty easily and need to find a way to watch what should be a high-scoring and exciting match.
3. Sevilla vs. Valencia. Suddenly struggling Sevilla needs a win to push toward Top Four, while Valencia can try and put heat on Real Madrid for second with its own victory.
4. Corinthians vs. Palmeiras. This Sao Paolo rivalry is one of the world's fiercest, and both teams are off to strong starts in the Paulista campaign.
5. Feyenoord vs. Ajax. With PSV and FC Twente atop the Eredivise, these rivals are locked in a battle for third, with the winner still holding out hope of a Top Two spot.
6. Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Madrid. With Cristiano Ronaldo suspended, Real Madrid will head into this match against surprising Depor in vulnerable shape. A win would push Deportivo into the Top Four in La Liga.
7. Napoli vs. Genoa. With Napoli in striking distance of second-place AC Milan, and Genoa within three points of fifth-place Palermo, this one should be a fierce contest.
8. Fulham vs. Aston Villa. No Clint Dempsey, but this is still a match worth watching.
9. Braga vs. Sporting Lisbon. Braga is trying to hold off Benfica atop the Portuguese standings while Sporting Lisbon is trying to close the gap on Porto for third place and the final Champions League place.
10. Montpelier vs. Marseille. Wondering why Montpelier is on this list? The club has quietly moved into second place in Ligue 1, with fourth-place Marseille looking to catch up with a victory.
THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV
TODAY
2:30pm- ESPN360.com- Hamburg vs. VfL Wolfsburg
3:45pm- ESPN360.com- Sporting Braga vs. Sporting Lisbon
4:30pm- Setanta USA- Celtic vs. Hibernian (Delayed)
SATURDAY
9:15am- Setanta USA- Liverpool vs. Bolton
9:25am- GoltV- Bayern Munich vs. Mainz 05
10am- ESPN2- Fulham vs. Aston Villa
10am- FSC/FSE- Birmingham City vs. Tottenham
10am- No TV- Wigan vs. Everton
11am- No TV- Algeria vs. Nigeria (African Cup of Nations-3rd Place)
11:55am- GolTV- Espanyol vs. Athletic Bilbao
Noon- ESPN360.com/RAI- AS Bari vs. Palermo
12:20pm- ESPN360.com/Setanta USA- Leicester City vs. Newcastle
12:30pm- ESPND/ESPN360.com- Schalke 04 vs. Hoffenheim
12:30pm- FSC/FSE- Burnley vs. Chelsea
2pm- GolTV- Sporting Gijon vs. Barcelona
2pm- Telemundo- Argentina vs. Costa Rica (Tape Delayed)
2:30pm- FSC/FSE/ESPN360.com- Napoli vs. Genoa
3pm- Setanta USA- Montpelier vs. Marseille
4pm- ESPND/ESPN360.com- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Madrid
4:30pm- GolTV- Santos vs. Oeste
5pm- Setanta USA- West Ham vs. Blackburn (Delayed)
5pm- FSC- AS Bari vs. Palermo (Delayed)
6pm- Azteca America- Chiapas vs. UANL Tigres
6pm- Telemundo- Monterrey vs. Cruz Azul
6:20pm- GolTV- Millonarios vs. Medellin
7pm- FSC- Wigan vs. Everton (Delayed)
8pm- Telemundo- Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Estudiantes Tecos
8pm- Telefutura- Pachuca vs. Atlante
8pm- FSE- AS Bari vs. Palermo
8:15pm- GolTV- Independiente Medellin vs. Independiente Santa Fe
8:30pm- Setanta USA- Hull City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
3am- FSC- Perth Glory vs. Central Coast Mariners
SUNDAY
6:30am- ESPN360.com- Feyenoord vs. Ajax
8:15am- Setanta USA- Manchester City vs. Portsmouth
8:30am- ESPN360.com- Vitesse Arnhem vs. PSV Eindhoven
9am- FSC/FSE- AC Milan vs. Livorno
9am- ESPN360.com- Parma vs. Inter Milan
10:45am- No TV- Ghana vs. Egypt (African Cup of Nations Final)
10:55am- FSC/FSE- Arsenal vs. Manchester United
11am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Getafe vs. Racing Santander
11am- DirecTV- Tenerife vs. Real Zaragoza
11am- DirecTV- Villarreal vs. Osasuna
11am- DirecTV- Xerez vs. Mallorca
11am- Setanta USA- Auxerre vs. St. Etienne
11:30am- GolTV- Bayer Leverkusen vs. SC Freiburg
1pm- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Atletico Madrid vs. Malaga
1pm- Telemundo- UNAM Pumas vs. CD Toluca
1pm- Azteca America- Puebla vs. Queretaro FC
2pm- GolTV- Corinthians vs. Palmeiras
2:30pm- FSC/FSE- Juventus vs. Lazio
3pm- GolTV- Sevilla vs. Valencia
3pm- Setanta USA- Lyon vs. Paris St. Germain
5pm- Univision- Club America vs. Indios
5pm- Telefutura- Santos Laguna vs. Atlas
10pm- Setanta USA- Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Delayed)
11pm- FSC- Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Delayed)
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Which matches will you be looking forward to the most? Who do you see winning the Arsenal-Manchester United clash? Plan on watching the African Cup of Nations final?
Share your thoughts below.
There’s no listing for Feyenoord v Ajax @ the ESPN360 website.
Womens USA vs Mexico for top team in concacaf play tomorrow Saturday at 4:30CT.
One thing that really bugs me about this game is the fact that we have six of our American girls playing for the mexican team. Two Californian girls. That really burns me deep! If you grew up here 80% of your life than by my standards you are more American than mexican!!
Viva el futbol!
USA!
Weiss and Wilshere are much better with the dribbling aspect, but that is not what Coyle usually looks at as a manager….I think he will find a way to fit all three of them into the squad going to Anfield
Holden is a David Beckham-like crosser and he has much much better vision than weiss and better passing ability….Weiss is a poor passer of the ball. I am a long time city fan, and even though i liked his ability at city. He was so annoying, he would not get rid of the ball and when he did it wasnt a very good pass…..I think Holden could beat out Weiss, but i cant speak about the young Wilshere seeing that i havent watched him too much. I do know that Wilshere is a bit more central than Holden however
lol I was wrong. He’s a left mid. Nevermind.
Wilshere is more of a central mid, unless I’m wrong. I always thought he was more of a CAM. I think Holden’s ability to play out wide or in the center could help him potentially get (more) playing time.
WTF??? No tv for the African Cup of Nations Final???
I realize that. Hence the reason that I did not refer to them in the same dismissive manner as Liverpool and City. Not that I like the gunners, mind you, but i do respect their ability. That being said, I’m hoping for a rout.
Am I the only one that thinks Holden will beat out Wilshire and Weiss in practice? I mean, they are all on loan, but Holden is more experienced and more physical than those two. Wilshire is a lefty, so there’s that, but he won’t be fighting for a spot in the World Cup like Weiss and Holden. It won’t happen overnight, we’ll see all three of them perhaps used in the same position, but eventually Holden will see more time. It would be nice to see him used in his preferred central position, but you just don’t hand the keys over to any kid with little/no EPL experience.
“The match might also come too early for Stuart Holden to make his debut after the new-signing picked up a slight thigh problem in training.” This is from Bolton’s official website.
Screw you guys; I’m watching Leicester vs. Newcastle 🙂
Unless Rooney tugs his own shirt, falls down and snags a penalty. Wenger’s crew isn’t going to be a push over.
Ronaldo Gordo doesn’t skip many meals these days, but he can still find the back of the net. They must have a churrasco pit in the locker room.
if i remember correctly its the merseyside derby on espn NEXT saturday! so call off work playa and watch LD tear it up
Not sure Ghana-Egypt is going to be a high-scoring match. Ghana’s soccer has been efficient and organized but pretty boring (lacking two of their main attacking threats). Egypt can play nice flowing soccer but can also kill a game if they want. Still hope you’re right…
He’s currently in Spain with the the Red Bulls
It is listed there as showing at 7pm Sat on FSC
ronaldo is doubtful for corinthians sadly….and!!! imagine!! watching a yank abroad in Juan Agudelo play for millionarios on golTV!! VIVA Colombia!
p.s. he hasnt decided whether to go to colombia or stay in new york which is why the cintract hasnt been sgned yet
this is a “must win” game for United at the Emirates, since Chelsea already has a game in hand. i’m hoping that there’s no letdown after the midweek beating of those wretched City upstarts (whom i’m starting to hate almost as much as Liverpool). let’s steamroll the Gunners, boys. glory, glory, Manchester United!
FSC has the Everton Match Listed at 4:00 PM Pacific on Saturday.
He could play CM or CAM, they will prob drop taylor back to LB, wilshire or weiss to LM. Lee is playing well at RM
Served!
The Club America v. Indios match will be very compelling, since I think this is America’s first match since the Cabanas tragedy.
Thanks very much for including the Corinthians x Palmeiras game in your list. That’s always an entertaining event and it’ll be interesting to see if both Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo play. It’s great to see Brazilian club soccer get some coverage in American soccer blogs.
Just for reference, the city (and state) in Brazil in which both teams play is called Sao Paulo, not Sao Paolo. The name Paul in Portuguese is Paulo. Paolo, with an “o” instead of “u”, is the Italian version of the name Paul.
Yea, he’s completely screwed now. Two of the more promising young players in the EPL, both wingers, both get loaned to Bolton.
Timing is not on Stu’s side.
Bolton has some serious depth now, training will probably be intense and meaningful…not a bad thing for holden.
Looks like CM is his best shot at breaking in, hopefully he at least gets a chance
Cohen and Muamba might be better defenders, but stu has much better control, finishing, and passing…
Wouldnt be suprised if we see Bolton rise up to mid table over the next month or two
Wilshere is a better option than Holden
The Wigan/Everton game will be shown on delay at 7 PM. Just like Ives listed it.
This is Arsenal’s year. Can’t wait to see this match.
Tony- they’ve been on TV. I can’t speak to the Birmingham game this week but I watched Donovan play against City on FSC and I believe he was on TV the week before as well. So unless you’re asking for a TV channel like ESPN to air only an Everton match any time they play, I don’t know what you’re refering to.
Everton was on FFC this past Tuesday.
Well, with Wilshere going on loan to bolton we can honestly predict minimal playing time for holden. Its a catastrophe really.
When will we actually be able to watch an Everton match on TV instead of crappy streaming video???? I think theres a lot of US supporters wanting to actually watch Donovan play and succeed over seas, I think this is a perfect opportunity for the “US soccer powers that be” to actually promote soccer here in the US by jumping on every opportunity to promote soccer here in the States. And that’s by actually showing one of the most popular US soccer players of all time playing in arguably the best league in the world…. so frustrating, not a big fan of Donovan but lets look at the big picture.
I am really looking forward to the Colombian league opening up and the Millonarios vs. Medellin matchup as well as Atlante and Pachuca.