Weekend Watch: Give it some Thought

By: Laurie | January 18th, 2008

Some games you may want to consider for this weekend:

Saturday

US vs. Sweden. It’s the US Men’s National Team’s 500th game. And they have a chance to go .500. Eerie, huh? And Landon Donovan has a chance to overtake Eric Wynalda as the United States’ all-time leading goal scorer with just one goal. Or maybe two. (Televised on Fox Soccer.)

Birmingham City vs. Chelsea, EPL. Birmingham is 5-5-12. Chelsea is 14-5-3. Chelsea should win, but every fan knows that “should win” are the two most dangerous words in football. And then we have my big question: Will Anelka start?

Portuguesa v. Santos Brazil is back! Okay, yes, I picked this game at random. But our Brazil blogger Bruno Romani tells us that the Paulista championship started this week. (And Adriano scored. Looks like life in Brazil is a good thing for him after all.) Stop by the Brazil blog and hear about the best games from somebody who knows.

Sunday

African Cup of Nations kicks off. First, stop by and read the stellar coverage on our sister site, World Cup Blog. Then watch the games. First up is the Sunday game: Ghana v. Guinea. You can watch all games online at Telesud.com.

Udinese vs. AC Milan Up for grabs is play in Europe next year. At least for…Udinese?!? Udinese are currently fourth in Serie A and looking for a Champions League spot. They play last year’s Champions League champs, who have not been having a great season and are currently sitting 12th in the table. But Milan have their new little secret weapon: Pato, Pato, Pato.

Lens vs. LyonLigue 1 leaders Lyon will look to recover from a lackluster loss against Le Mans in the Coupe de France this week. Lens is looking to recover from a lackluster season in general. They’re currently sitting 18th and will get relegated unless they can turn it around. Look for a hard-fought game with pride on the line.

And as Nolan pointed out in the comments, I somehow missed the Madrid derby. So let’s add that one in too. Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid. This should be an exciting one. Real Madrid is sitting top of the table, but they crashed out of the Copa del Rey this week, proving they’re not invincible. Atlético is currently sitting third and would love to be a giant killer.

And as Ian also pointed out, the Edinburgh derby between Hearts and Hibernian plays out this weekend as well. Hibernian are at last feeing hopeful and hoping they’ve seen the end of a poor streak. Hearts is also not doing so great. Says Ian: If we’re lucky, Vlad Romanov will cover himself in war paint and run on the pitch fighting invisible monkeys. Not the most stable billionaire. Sounds like a game worth watching!

Category: Africa, African Cup of Nations, English Premier League, Europe, French Ligue 1, Scottish Premier League, South America, Spain La Liga, World Football

Tags: Africa, African Cup of Nations, English Premier League, Europe, French Ligue 1, Scottish Premier League, South America, Spain La Liga, World Football

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• Nolan |  January 18th, 2008 at 4:17 pm

  
  
  

  No Madrid derby?

  Posted from Canada

  

• Laurie |  January 18th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

  
  
  

  Yeesh, is that this weekend? I spent four hours liveblogging the MLS superdraft, which put me in a major time crunch. I didn’t even look at La Liga. My bad. I’ll go in and add it now.

  Posted from United States

  

• Ian |  January 18th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

  
  
  

  If you happen to be adding derbies, we also have the Edinburgh derby between Hearts and Hibernian this weekend in Scotland. If we’re lucky, Vlad Romanov will cover himself in war paint and run on the pitch fighting invisible monkeys. Not the most stable billionaire.

  Posted from United States

  

• Inara |  January 18th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

  
  
  

  Boo, the CAN kickoff won’t be broadcast by Setanta or FSC, but at least telesud got their act together.

  Lens vs. Lyon will be on Setanta though!

  Posted from United States

  

• Melissa |  January 18th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

  
  
  

  I predict Sacha Kljestan’s first international goal tomorrow. If I am indeed playing the “USMNT drinking game” that equals something like five shots at once for sure.

  Posted from United States

  

• Ian |  January 18th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

  
  
  

  I didn’t realize how many derbies were going on this weekend. There’s Sheffield United and Wednesday too. CRAZINESS.

  Posted from United States

  

• Shazback |  January 19th, 2008 at 2:56 am

  
  
  

  Also of interest :
  Saturday :
  Villareal - Valencia : The lesser of the two clubs from the valencian area recieves the other one. A nice prelude to the Madridista. Valencia wants to get a shot at the Champions League, but to do that, a win against Villareal is essential. But 5th placed Villareal have the same thoughts.
  Sunday :
  Shalke - Stuttgart : Stuttgart won the league last season, but have been dissapointing so far. Shalke has qualified in their Champions’ League group… Perhaps luck will change with the new year?
  Betis - Recreativo : Dwarfed by the Madrid derby, but still an interesting match between two clubs that will have to win in order to grapple their way out of the relegation battle.
  Nice - Nancy : these two “little” sides are 5th and 2nd respectively in Ligue 1, and the fight’s on for them to keep their place with Marseille, Paris, Bordeaux and Monaco all starting to get their stuff together.
  Monday (ok, it’s not quite the weekend):
  Liverpool - Aston Villa : Fighting it out to be part of the “big 4″… Don’t expect a goalless result though, Aston Villa have scored in their last 17 league games!

  Posted from France

  

• mele419 |  January 19th, 2008 at 9:00 am

  
  
  

  Yet again, I must point out that milan sit 12th in the table because they have THREE games in hand. Seems everyone neglects to look at a little part of the standings called “Games Played”

  Posted from United States

  

• Laurie |  January 19th, 2008 at 9:49 am

  
  
  

  Shazback, next time I’ll have you write my post.

  Mele, I’ll point that out in the Weekend Recap on Monday.

  Posted from United States

  

• Shazback |  January 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am

  
  
  

  Laurie, lucky nobody talked about Newcastle-Bolton (1st with Keegan, 1st without Anelka) because… It’s crap. Nothing good is coming out of it so far. And there are only 5 minutes left. Bolton have defended for 85 minutes so far, but Newcastle are still unable to build any decent attack.

  Posted from France

  

• cfc069 |  January 19th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

  
  
  

  Anelka played the whole game and the worst Chelsea player to wear the shirt for a few years, Pizarro, scored the winner and he got an hour due to an injury to Shaunie.

  But in his prematch conference, Keegan compared ‘his’ Newcastle giving the more entertainment and value to those living in London and going to the theatre. As the stats will prove after his first league game ending 0-0, the London theatre goers will have had a better night. LOL LOL

  KTBFFH

  Posted from United States

  

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