Matches to Watch This Weekend (Jan 21-23)

The Monsters of the Midway

Our picks for the weekend–a couple Premier League games, a couple Serie A games, a USMNT friendly, and the final of the Copa Centroamericano.  As usual, culled from SoccerInsider’s comprehensive listings, and all times ET:

Saturday, Jan 22

England, Wolves-Liverpool 7:30 a.m. ESPN2: This exact sort of fixture continues to bedevil Liverpool.  Can they fix a two-year problem visiting the grounds of England’s lesser lights?  If not, will Daiglish snap?

England, Aston Villa-Manchester City 12:30 p.m. FSC: Darren Bent’s debut for the Villans as they begin their campaign to avoid the drop.  Gotta believe Kompany will have his hands full paired with the useless Lescott if Kolo Toure not back from injury.  Can Dzeko grab his first or even play nearly as well as last time out?  Who will Manciin rest after the FACup replay in mid-week?

Friendly, USA-Chile 10 p.m. Telefutura, ESPN3.com: Almost exclusively young, uncapped players for Team USA.  A good chance perhaps to see who will take over for the current team, but only available on Telefutura/ESPN3 means very little chance of actually doing so. (Why is the game only on Telefutura and ESPN3? Details here)

Sunday, Jan 23

Italy, Udinese-Inter Milan 6:30 a.m. FSP: Inter on a roll after Leonardo replaced Rafa; a player to watch for Udinese: Alexis Sanchez

Italy, AC Milan-Cesena 2:30 p.m. FSC: it should (might?) be interesting to see how Italian teams approach being near relegation.  We are all familiar with the English “Route One”, but how Cesena approach travelling to the leaders.

NFL – NFC Championship, Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers 3pm: For only the 2nd time, we expand our listings to include an contest of the “other” football.  Why this one?  Because CultFootball’s prehistory can be traced back to when we were (a variety of) the Monsters of the Midway.

Copa CentroAmericana final, Costa Rica-Honduras 6 p.m. GolTV