Weekend TV Preview: 16 - 18 April 2010

Friday 16th April

19:45 Huddersfield Town v Millwall, League One, Sky Sports 1/HD1
The penultimate weekend of the League 1 season commences with what promises to be a bruising encounter between two teams occupying the play-off spots. Millwall can overhaul Leeds with a win - and if the "white gods" trip up against struggling Gillingham. Huddersfield need the three points in order to kick the hands away from Colchester who are hanging on the edge of the play-off zone.

19:45 Inter Milan v Juventus, Serie A, ESPN
Kicking off a weekend of cracking derby action with the Derby D'Italia at the San Siro. Inter have, perhaps, taken their eyes of the Scudetto while they focus on Champions League affairs. Juve are sitting on that final European spot and nervously eyeing Napoli who are hovering over them at an uncomfortably close distance waiting for them to stand up. Always excellent value, this fixture. One of the great fixtures of world football.

Saturday 17th April

06:00 Gamba Osaka v Shimizu S Pulse, J.League Football, British Eurosport 2
Shimizu are out of the blocks in the fledgling J League season. Although Gamba are near the bottom of the table, they have only lost once so far.

12:15 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premier League, Sky Sports 3/HD3
Part one of Glasgow v Edinburgh in the Scottish "Clausura". Despite Celtic's win against Motherwell during the week, the gloom of their debagging at the hands of Ross County will probably not have lifted. Hibs have Euro plans and must fancy their chances.

12:45 Manchester City v Manchester United, Barclays Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Will Rooney be back? If so, can he work his mojo against a City team oozing goals and hell bent on a Champions League spot and revenge for the extraordinary defeat at Old Trafford earlier this season? I think he can. What do you think?

17:30 Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea, Barclays Premier League, ESPN/HD
As I write this, Tottenham are 2-0 up against Arsenal so will, no doubt, be desperate to make amends for their 3-2 defeat to their hated rivals on Wednesday/back in the race for fourth and well placed to take advantage of City's slip-up earlier today against United. Don't you just love this time of the season?

19:00 Espanyol v Barcelona, La Liga, Sky Sports 3/HD3
Another derby, this time in Barcelona. Espanyol have had a consolidation season and shouldn't trouble the champions much.

21:00 Villarreal v Atletico Madrid, La Liga, Sky Sports 3/HD3
And we say goodbye to Saturday with a mid-table, ho-hum match of little interest - to me at least.

Sunday 18th April

12:30 Rangers v Hearts, Scottish Premier League, Sky Sports 3/HD3
Glasgow v Edinburgh. Again, as I write this, Rangers are being held at Dundee Utd. However, a home game against mid-table Hearts should be a different proposition as Walther Smith's team coast serenely to the Championship.

13:30 Wigan Athletic v Arsenal, Barclays Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
It's getting pretty close to the end of the match now so it looks like The Gunners' faint title hopes are over. Wigan will be praying that their opponents will be so down about their defeat that they'll just capitulate. Fat chance!

14:00 Sampdoria v AC Milan, Serie A, ESPN
There may only be two places between these teams but there is a ten point gap. However, both teams have to go for the win. Milan can still win the league and Sampdoria are after a Champions League spot.

16:00 Portsmouth v Aston Villa, Barclays Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Portsmouth are down and Villa are out of puff. Not much to see, perhaps, but may be interesting to see if Martin O'Neill explodes should the ref give Pompey and innocuous penalty early in the game.

16:30 Eintracht Frankfurt v Hertha BSC, Bundesliga, ESPN
So I've come to the conclusion that hardly anyone watches football on TV on Sunday in Germany. This explains why the top fixture of the weekend in on at 5:15 on Saturday and that the late afternoon Sunday fixture is, well, this one.

18:00 Athletic Bilbao v Zaragoza, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1 (19:00-20:00 Second half)
Does Jermaine Pennant still play for Zaragoza?

19:45 Lazio v AS Roma, Serie A, ESPN
Tasty fixture to wipe away the Back to Work Blues. Roma are top and Lazio are on a terrific run that could see them escape relegation. Passion, drama, great football and Ranieri. Who are you to resist.

20:00 Real Madrid v Valencia, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Yeah, whatever.