CommentarySchedule

What To Watch This Weekend (Nov 19-21)

November 19, 2011 — by Suman

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CommentarySchedule

What To Watch This Weekend (Nov 19-21)

November 19, 2011 — by Suman

A variety of matches worth watching this weekend: a couple from England, a couple from Spain, intriguing matches in Munich and in Naples, a Uruguayan super derby, and the MLS championship game.

(As usual, all times ET and all TV listings for the United States.)

Saturday, Nov 19

England, Manchester City-Newcastle (10amET, Fox Soccer): The match of the weekend in England.  Will the new Mancunian juggernaut keep rolling?  City is at the top of the table, with 10 wins and 1 draw.  More remarkable: 39 goals for vs. 10 goals against. But the Toon are the only other unbeaten team, 3rd in the table (7 wins and 4 draws for 25 points, 1 behind that other Manchester club, 6 behind Man City).  Will Newcastle’s French revolution keep the Tooners run going?  Or will the Newcastle bubble burst?

Match of the weekend?

Germany, Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund (12:30pmET, ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com): The Bavarian giants–favorites to win the Bundesliga yet again–against the team that won it last year. Take a look at the video highlights of last year’s match on the cultfootball tumblr.

Italy, Napoli-Lazio (2:45pmET, ESPN3.com): Napoli is the Serie A neutral observer’s team of the moment–open attacking football, featuring skilled and exciting players like Cavani and Lavezzi up front, with Hamsik and Inler behind them in midfield.  But they’re only 8th in the Serie A table (on 14pts), while Lazio has quietly climbed even with Udinese at 21 points at the top of the table!  German striker Miroslav Klose had struggled for Bayern Munich the past couple seasons, but has been prolific and pivotal for Lazio this year.

Spain, Valencia-Real Madrid (4pmET, ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com): Madrid has been overpowering, but this is a tricky fixture. Barcelona struggled to salvage a draw at the Mestalla a couple months ago. Don’t be surprised if this one comes down to the wire as well.  You’re probably more familiar with the Madrid squad, so here are a couple Valenica players to watch: wingback Jordi Alba, midfielder Ever Banega, forwards Robert Soldado and Aritz Aduriz (with diminutive Argentine striker Pablo Piatti often coming as a super sub).  But imagine for a minute if they’d been able to hang on the players they sold over the past couple summers: David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata, Raúl Albíol.

 

Saturday, Nov 20

England, Chelsea-Liverpool (11amET, Fox Soccer): Two of the biggest clubs, though both have been inconsistent this season.  #4 and #6 in the table, respectively.

Spain, Sevilla-Bilbao (12pmET, ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com): We are fascinated by Atletic Bilbao and Marcelo Bielsa after previewing and watching them host Barcelona couple weeks ago. Sevilla is not uninteresting either.

Uruguay, Nacional-Penarol (4pmET, GolTV): The great Uruguayan derby–El Clásico del fútbol uruguayo.  (According to The Oval Log, “The Forgotten Derby.”)

MLS Cup, Los Angeles-Houston (9pmET; ESPN, Galavision, and ESPN3.com): The one MLS match we’ll watch this season.  Maybe.

 

Monday, Nov 21

England, Spurs-Aston Villa 3pm (ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com): Spurs are up to 5th in the table (with a game in hand, due to the cancellation of that season opener due to the riots in London that week), while Villa are 8th.