By MICHAEL KLINE
The international break has come and gone, and the world’s top leagues return to action this weekend.
Bayern Munich take on Hannover 96 in their fifth league match of the young German season. Bayern trail Borussia Dortmund by two points in the league, and will have to beat an in-form Hannover 96 squad who sit tied for third-place after winning three of their first four matches. Pep Guardiola’s club sit in tenth-place in goals scored through the first four matches, and will likely depend upon their solid defense to earn three points on Saturday.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Arsenal’s new signing Mesut Özil this weekend, as he attempts to wow the Gunner faithful with a strong first showing on the road to Sunderland. He will have had only a couple of training sessions with his new teammates under his belt, and will be forced to adjust quickly on Saturday.
A little bit later in the afternoon, Inter Milan and Juventus will duel it out in the San Siro. Carlos Tevez will relish his first new test in a Juve shirt, and he will look to continue his perfect goal scoring form (3 goals in 3 matches for Juventus) by netting against The Black and Blue.
Here is a rundown of This Weekend’s Soccer on TV:
FRIDAY
2:30pm – beIN Sport – Bordeaux vs PSG
2:30pm – GolTV – Hertha BSC vs Stuttgart
8:30pm – ESPN Deportes – Querétaro vs Atlante
10pm – NBC Sports Network – Seattle Sounders vs Real Salt Lake
10:30pm – Univision Deportes – Santos Laguna vs América
SATURDAY
7:45am – NBC Sports Network – Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
9:30am – GolTV – Bayern Munich vs Hannover 96
10am – NBC Sports Live Extra – Aston Villa vs Newcastle United
10am – NBC Sports Live Extra – Fulham vs West Bromwich Albion
10am – NBC Sports Live Extra – Hull City vs Cardiff City
10am – NBC Sports Live Extra – Stoke City vs Manchester City
10am – NBC Sports Live Extra – Tottenham Hotspur vs Norwich City
10am – NBC Sports Network – Sunderland vs Arsenal
10am – beIN Sport en Español – Atlético Madrid vs Almería
12pm – beIN Sport – Inter Milan vs Juventus
12pm – beIN Sport en Español – Levante vs Real Sociedad
12:30pm – NBC – Everton vs Chelsea
2pm – MLS Direct Kick – Montreal Impact vs Columbus Crew
2pm – Univision Deportes – Ajaccio vs Evian TG
2pm – beIN Sport – Barcelona vs Sevilla
4pm – UniMás – DC United vs Los Angeles Galaxy
4pm – beIN Sport – Villarreal vs Real Madrid
6pm – Univision Deportes – Veracruz vs León
6pm – Univision – Cruz Azul vs Tigres UANL
7pm – MLS Direct Kick – New York Red Bulls vs Toronto FC
7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Philadelphia Union vs Houston Dynamo
8pm – Univision Deportes – Monterrey vs Pachuca
8:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Chicago Fire vs New England Revolution
9pm – MLS Direct Kick – Colorado Rapids vs Dallas FC
10pm – Univision Deportes – Chiapas vs Atlas
10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Chivas USA vs Portland Timbers
10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – San Jose Earthquakes vs Vancouver Whitecaps
SUNDAY
8am – beIN Sport – Monaco vs Lorient
9am – beIN Sport en Español – Lazio vs Chievo
11am – NBC Sports Network – Southampton vs West Ham United
1pm – beIN Sport en Español – Málaga vs Rayo Vallecano
1pm – ESPN Deportes – Puebla vs Toluca
1pm – Univision – Pumas UNAM vs Morelia
2:45pm – beIN Sport – Sampdoria vs Genoa
3pm – Univision Deportes – Olympique Lyonnais vs Rennes
3pm – beIN Sport en Español – Real Betis vs Valencia
6pm – UniMás – Guadalajara vs Tijuana
JAB went 90 today in a 1-0 loss.
I wonder how the experiment by NBC is going ?
I realize on this site the answer is probably a lot, but how many people are really watching Southampton vs West Ham United on Sunday ? I have been very involved in soccer for 40 years. I can’t think of one person I would say, hey Man U plays Crystal Palace at 4:45 ( pacific ) this weekend, just didn’t want you to miss it.
Not trolling, I don’ t care, just wondering.
Hey senior business development exec from FOX. I kid 🙂
So… like via NBC Sports, we are getting matches that many fans care about. Jozy and Sunderland are featuring regularly for example. Think that the commentators are decent and half time shown is generally informative.
Will I get my a$$ up to watch ManPoo v. Palace at 745..? Nope (Now if its Liverpool v. ManU, I will set the alarm for 744a). I am psyched to watch Sunderland v. Arsenal and Everton v. Chelsea.
My 2 cents. Cheers
Friday “all nighter” partiers? No college or pro football competition for time slots?…..Glass half-full, right?
I’m enjoying not having to pay an extra $15/month to watch delayed broadcasts of certain EPL matches in standard definition on “Fox Soccer Plus.”
I second that one.
i love it. even if i can’t catch it live, i can watch a re-play. all included in the price for my cable. no extra BS fee like Fox.
Ya they really stepped it up with the replays on Comcast, very nice especially since Fulham isn’t regularly featured.
NBC owns the rights to broadcast the EPL. Those two games you are referring to are the only live EPL games at that time. What are you looking for in those time slots? Would you prefer a few more infomercials, rebroadcast games?
i love it, but i would say the same thing if fox were still around. it’s the EPL and it don’t matter who plays, i am guaranteed good action. bottom teams beat top four teams regularly and that makes it exciting. I don’t watch LaLiga anymore and, honestly, i am not missing it at all. It is really too bad that the Bundesliga and Serie A are not on my cable package. I am not longer springing for BeIn anymore.
I can’t answer your question, but there is no doubt that soccer viewership and attendance are going up in the US. I just saw in the paper that the US v. Mexico game had a 1.9 share, which was the highest ever for a non WC or Confed Cup game.
Just an anecdote from what I’ve encountered. I haven’t heard anything from those who weren’t fans of soccer to begin with. But some of my friends, co-workers, etc. who were VERY casual fans of the sport have talked about how awesome the coverage is.
You can get up on the weekend, nothing else is on, and catch a live sporting event. College football fans watch it before the games on Saturday, pro-football fans watch it before games on Sunday. It’s a compelling watch with your morning coffee…or whisky.