By RYAN TOLMICH
If Arsenal are to climb back into the Premier League title race, they will have to start their ascension against the toughest of opponents, as the Gunners host Manchester City to headline this weekend’s action.
Arsenal enter the weekend having fallen to fourth in the league after picking up just one point in their last two contests. Meanwhile, City will look to continue to ride the inside track to the title, as the Citizens currently sit just three points out with two games in hand on league leaders Chelsea. Elsewhere, fellow title hopefuls Liverpool will take on Tottenham Hotspur, while David Moyes and Manchester United will look to right the ship against Aston Villa.
Serie A also provides viewers with a heavyweight matchup on the weekend when league leaders Juventus takes on third place Napoli. Napoli will be looking to avenge a November 3-0 beating at the hands of The Old Lady, despite Juventus’ 20 point lead on the table. Second place Roma will also be in action when they visit relegation candidates Sassuolo.
Other games to watch include a Olympique Lyonnais vs. Saint-Etienne matchup with Champions League implications and a full slate of MLS action.
Here’s a rundown of this weekend’s soccer on TV:
THIS WEEKEND’S SOCCER ON TV
FRIDAY
3:30pm- BeIN Sports- Nice vs. Paris St. Germain
3:30pm- Gol TV- Schalke 04 vs. Hertha Berlin
9:3opm- ESPN Deportes/Azteca America- Queretaro vs. Club Tijuana
11:30pm- Univision Deportes- Santos Laguna vs. UNAM Pumas
SATURDAY
8:45am- NBC Sports- Manchester United vs. Aston Villa
11am- NBC Sports- Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea
11am- NBC Sports Live Extra/DirecTV- Southampton vs. Newcastle United
11am- NBC Sports Live Extra/DirecTV- Stoke City vs. Hull City
11am- NBC Sports Live Extra/DirecTV- Swansea City vs. Norwich City
11am- NBC Sports Live Extra/DirecTV- West Bromwich Albion vs. Cardiff City
1:30pm- NBC Sports- Arsenal vs. Manchester City
4pm- Direct Kick- Philadelphia Union vs. Montreal Impact
4pm- NBC Sports- D.C. United vs. Chicago Fire
6pm- Direct Kick- Colorado Rapids vs. Sporting Kansas City
7pm- Direct Kick- Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Houston Dynamo
8:30pm- Direct Kick- FC Dallas vs. Portland Timbers
9:30pm- Direct Kick- Real Salt Lake vs. Toronto FC
10pm- Direct Kick- Seattle Sounders vs. Columbus Crew
10:30pm- Direct Kick- San Jose Earthquakes vs. New England Revolution
SUNDAY
6am- BeIN Sports Play- Real Valladolid vs. Almeria
6:30am- BeIN Sports Play- Sassuolo vs. Roma
8:30am- NBC Sports- Fulham vs. Everton
9am- BeIN Sports Play- Lazio vs. Parma
9am- BeIN Sports Play- Sampdoria vs. Fiorentina
11am- NBC Sports- Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur
11am- BeIN Sports Play- Osasuna vs. Real Sociedad
11:30am- GolTV Usa- Hannover 96 vs. Werder Bremen
1pm- BeIN Sports Play- Villareal vs. Elche
2pm – ESPN Deportes- Puebla vs. Leon
2:45pm- BrIN Sports USA- Napoli vs. Juventus
3pm- BeIN Sports Play- Valencia vs. Getafe
3pm- UniMas- New York Red Bulls vs. Chivas USA
3pm- BeIN Sports Play – Olympique Lyonnais vs. Saint-Etienne
9pm- UniMas- Guadalajara vs. America
lol at everyone looking real dumb cause that dc/chi game was amazing
So I can watch just about every game from the Mexican, English, Spanish, German etc leagues but only one MLS game?
Might as well since that’s the worst game if the week anyways
That’s progress.
…next to your kid’s AYSO. Gonna blow that off too?
Fox Soccer Channel had more games with English language commentary then this deal with NBC.
Bring back HDNet with Marcelo Balboa!
Marcelo is doing color commentary for the Rapids. For some reason I can’t understand, even though I live in Southern California I can get the Rapids games on one of my Direct TV sports channels. It’s very weird; sometimes I can also get the Timbers, or Sounders, but not RSL.
Sounds like a good deal!
They may be getting more TV money than before, but back in the day there would be as many as 4 national TV games per week – HDNet,FSC,ESPN and a Spanish language network
Only one MLS match on cable the entire weekend?? And it’s DCU vs Chicago Fire ?? C’mon now that’s awful…. And they wonder why their TV rating suck. It’s a shame I can see more EPL matches in 4 hours than I can in an entire day for MLS.
Red Bulls on Unimas is a channel that most people get!
UniMas?
Shivers.
Yes this makes me especially angry since I will be at the DC game. Look for me in the stands. I would like to have been able to record a match I didn’t watch in person already
This was my reaction as well.. In my opinion this is the least interesting game to watch.
How much effort is it for them to flex their tv schedule a couple of weeks in advance?
You shouldn’t need flex to determine DC United vs. Chicago Fire is just about as boring of a matchup you can find in MLS.
Boca vs River Sunday 5:15 on goltv!
The Arsenal vs. Manchester City game is also on Telemundo for those us folks without cable TV.