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This Weekend’s Soccer On TV

Ryan Giggs of Manchester United in action with Juan Mata of Chelsea

By MICHAEL KLINE

English soccer takes center stage this weekend, with both Premier League and FA Cup matches taking place.

Reading and Aston Villa will face off on Saturday, in a match that can have a huge impact on the battle to avoid relegation this season. The Villans are one of only six original Premier League teams to have never been relegated from the top flight, but their streak is in major jeopardy going into the last stretch of the season.

With only 10 matches left to play, Aston Villa sit just a single point above Reading in the Premier League. Both clubs sit among the bottom three in defense, while Villa is next-to-last in goals scored, with only Queens Park Rangers below them. There are sure to be goals, however, with neither squad having been able to record a clean sheet since December.

Sunday’s league action sees Liverpool host Tottenham. Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale will steal the spotlight in the match, with both players making late pushes to win player of the season. Suarez currently sits atop the Premier League scoring table, but his goal tally isn’t safe from Bale, who has bagged 11 goals in his last nine appearances for club and country. Three points will be vital to Tottenham’s Champions League aspirations, but Liverpool have been on exceptional form recently, winning their last three matches by a combined score of 12-1.

The FA Cup also features on Sunday, with Manchester United hosting Chelsea at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson will look to right the ship following the Red Devils’ midweek loss to Real Madrid at home. Los Blancos might have knocked United out of the Champions League, but the legendary club still sits in prime position to land major hardware this season, and will look to reclaim the FA Cup for the first time since the 2003/04 season. A bit of extra drama will also be added to the fixture, with Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson revisiting the bitter rivalry they shared while Benitez was still the manager at Liverpool. There are sure to be major fireworks in this one.

Here is a rundown of this weekend’s soccer on TV:

THIS WEEKEND’S SOCCER ON TV

FRIDAY

2:45pm – beIN Sport – Genoa vs. Milan

8:30pm – ESPN Deportes/ESPN3.com – Morelia vs. América

SATURDAY

7:45am – Fox Soccer Channel – Everton vs. Wigan Athletic

9:30am – GolTV – Bayern Munich vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf

10am – FoxSoccer2Go.com – Norwich City vs. Southampton

10am – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go.com – Queens Park Rangers vs. Sunderland

10am – Fox Soccer Channel – Reading vs. Aston Villa

10am – Fox Deportes/FoxSoccer2Go.com – West Bromwich Albion vs. Swansea City

11am – Univision Deportes – Paris Saint-Germain vs. AS Nancy

12:30pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Manchester City vs. Barnsley

1:30pm – MLS Direct Kick/MLS Live – Toronto FC vs. Sporting Kansas City

6pm – MLS Direct Kick/MLS Live – Colorado Rapids vs. Philadelphia Union

6pm – ESPN3.com – Cruz Azul vs. Jaguares

7pm – MLS Direct Kick/MLS Live – D.C. United vs. Real Salt Lake

7:30pm – NBC Sports Network – Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution

7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick/MLS Live – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Columbus Crew

8pm – Univision Deportes – Tijuana vs. Querétaro

10pm – Univision Deportes – San Luis vs. Tigres UANL

10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick/MLS Live – Portland Timbers vs. Montreal Impact

SUNDAY

10am – Fox Soccer Channel – Millwall vs. Blackburn Rovers

11am – FoxSoccer2Go.com – Newcastle United vs. Stoke City

12pm – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go.com – Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur

12:30pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Manchester United vs. Chelsea

12:30pm – GolTV – Stuttgart vs. Hamburger SV

2pm – Univision – Toluca vs. Atlas

4pm – Univision Deportes – Lyon vs. Marseille

4:15pm – ESPN3.com – Benfica vs. Gil Vincente

5pm – UniMás/MLS Live – Chivas USA vs. FC Dallas

6pm – ESPN3.com – Puebla vs. Pumas UNAM

10pm – ESPN2/MLS Live/ESPN3.com – San Jose Earthquakes vs. New York Red Bulls

Comments

  1. Am I missing something or does NBC Sports not have an MLS game this weekend? Why would they buy the rights and not have at least one game every weekend?

    Reply
    • Same here Charles…was thinking about that at the end of the Portland game last week. Even a 7pm Sunday night start time in California doesn’t make much sense being the next day is a school day. I will still stay up until midnight to watch the end, but some decisions just leave you shaking your head.

      Reply
      • Agree. I will also be up until midnight watching the end. Unfortunately, there’ll be few others. A jump in TV ratings is important to take MLS to the next level and 10pm Sunday starts don’t do anything to help that.

      • The 7:00pm Sunday night start doesn’t make too much sense even for San Jose. That’s pretty late on a “school”/work-night for a sport that draws families and the like. I know such a time would hurt attendance at other stadiums (I think SJ support is strong enough and the stadium small enough that its largely irrelevant). I wonder if it was driven by partially by TV–are there other major televised sports or events earlier in the day?

      • 7pm starts for night games are nothing new for teams in the Bay Area. The NASL Quakes, the As and the Giants all start(ed) their night games around 7pm.

      • I’ll admit I’m going by almost 40 year old memories. I do remember going to NASL Quake games, and the aforementioned baseball teams games at night.

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