USMNT weekend viewing guide: Full steam ahead

There is a wealth of action on Saturday, including several head-to-head matchups. Before we get to that, there is a match on Friday afternoon as well with Folarin Balogun looking to get Monaco back on track in Ligue 1.

Friday

Monaco v Lorrient – 1p on beIN Sports: Folarin Balogun scored his eighth goal of the season, across all competitions, for Monaco last weekend as they defeated US Orleans in Coupe de France action. Unfortunately Monaco have lost six of their last seven in league play and have fallen to ninth in the Ligue 1 table. They will look to get back on track Friday as they take on twelfth place Lorient who are on an eight match unbeaten streak including both league and cup action.

Pisa v Atalanta – 2:45p on Paramount+: Yunus Musah and Atalanta will travel to Pisa on Friday evening. Musah has appeared in six straight league matches with decent minutes in each although just one start over that stretch.

Saturday

Coventry City v Leicester City – 7:30a on CBSSN: Haji Wright hasn’t scored since October and Coventry City are on a three match winless streak but the team still hold a six point lead in the English Championship heading into their matchup with twelfth place Leicester.

Wolfsburg v Heidenheim – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kevin Paredes has come off the bench in Wolfsburg’s last two matches as he gets back to game fitness. Wolfsburg fell to Bayern Munich 8-1 in Paredes’s return but defeated St. Pauli 2-1 last weekend to move up to eleventh place in the table. They face last place Heidenheim this weekend.

Borussia Dortmund v St. Pauli – 9:30a on ESPN Select: James Sands and St. Pauli are tied with Mainz and Heidenheim on twelve points at the bottom of the Bundesliga table. They will face second place Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. Sands has started nearly every match for St. Pauli this season, missing just one due to concussion but St. Pauli’s results have been lacking with just three wins on the season and only one since mid-September.

Hamburger v Borussia Monchengladbach – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Gio Reyna did not make it off the bench midweek in Gladbach’s 5-1 loss to Hoffenheim and played just 5 minutes off the bench last wweekend in their 4-0 win over Augsburg. However, Joe Scally continues to see regular starts for the club who are currently in tenth place heading into their visit to fourteenth place Hamburg.

Hoffenheim v Bayer Leverkusen – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Cole Campbell was held out last weekend in his first match with Hoffenheim so we may be deprived of a USYNT v USMNT matchup this weekend as Hoffenheim host Malik Tillman and sixth place Leverkusen. Tillman picked up an assist last weekend but Leverkusen fell to Stuttgart 4-1 last Saturday to drop out of the top four.

Koln v Mainz – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Kristoffer Lund and twelfth place Koln face 16th place Mainz and Lennard Maloney on Saturday. Maloney has just six minutes in the last three matches for Mainz who have not been able to pull themselves out of relegation but are coming off a 2-1 win over Heidenheim. Meanwhile, Lund has played in thirteen straight for Koln who are winless in the past eight as they’ve slid down the table.

Sunderland v Crystal Palace – 10a on Peacock: Chris Richards has missed the last four league matches for Palace who are on a six match winless streak but he was on the field last weekend in Palace’s embarrassing 2-1 loss to sixth tier Macclesfield in the FA Cup. Palace have fallen to thirteenth place in the league table with their recent slide and will be facing tenth place Sunderland on Saturday.

Leeds United v Fulham – 10a on Peacock: Brenden Aaronson and sixteenth place will host Antonee Robinson and ninth place Fulham on Saturday. Aaronson has three goals in his last two matches for Leeds though they fell to Newcastle 4-3 despite his Brace ten days ago. On the other side, Robinson returned six matches ago and has started every match since with Fulham undefeated over that span with fourteen points as they’ve risen from fifteenth place to the top ten.

Toulouse v Nice – 1p on beIN Sports: Mark McKenzie and Toulouse defeated Angers in penalties to advance in the Coupe de France last weekend with McKenzie wearing the captains armband. McKenzie has started nearly every match for Toulouse who are in eighth place in the league standings.

Fortuna Sittard v PSV – 2p on ESPN Select: Ricardo Pepi broke his arm while scoring last weekend and is expected to miss about two months for recovery but Sergino Dest continues to start week in and week out for PSV who have won twelve straight matches and are now running away with the league title.

Cagliari v Juventus – 2:45p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie may be on the move this January as rumors are swirling about interest from the Premier league as well as elsewhere in Italy as reports are that he won’t be resigning with Juventus when his current contract expires in six months. In the meantime of course he continues to start for Juventus and scored and assisted last weekend in Juve’s 5-0 win over Cremonese. Juventus are in fourth place and will face sixteenth place Cagliari on Saturday.

Angers v Olympique Marseille – 3:05p on beIN Sports: Tim Weah has started five straight for Marseille who maintain their third place spot despite falling to Nantes last weekend. They are tied on points at fourth place Lille at this point with the top three automatically qualifying for the Champions League positions.

Sunday

Atletico Madrid v Deportivo Alaves – 10:15a on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Select: Johnny Cardoso saw 30’ off the bench last weekend and got the start midweek in Copa del Ray action but he has just two league appearances since August. Atletico drew with Real Sociedad last weekend and are in fourth place, three points back of third, and eleven back of league leading Barcelona.

Augsburg v Freiburg – 11:30a on ESPN Select: After starting the first five matches of the season on the bench Noahkai Banks has started 12 straight matches for Augsburg. It has not all been smooth sailing as Augsburg have just three wins in that time and are currently only three points ahead of the relegation zone but Banks has been getting key developmental minutes in the Bundesliga was still being just nineteen. Augsburg host ninth place Freiburg this weekend who are coming off a 2-0 loss to RB Leipzig.

Olympique Lyon v Brest – 2:45p on beIN Sports: After missing a few matches due to “dead leg” Tanner Tessmann came in off the bench in Lyon’s 3-1 win over Monaco last weekend and then started midweek in the teams Coupe de France victory over fellow Ligue 1 side Lille. Lyon remain in fifth place as they host eleventh place Brest on Sunday.

AC Milan v Lecce – 2:45p on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic received a rare day off on Thursday as AC Milan defeated Como 3-1 to keep pace with Inter at the top of the table, remaining three points back of the league leaders. On Sunday they will host Lecce who are three points ahead of Fiorentina for the final relegation spot.