Midweek TV Preview: 20 - 23 September

Monday 20 September

16:45 Spartak Nalchik v Spartak Moscow, Russian Premier League, ESPN
A tale of two Spartaks, and in this case the away side were rather fortunate to eek out a 1-0 win away at Marseille during the week. The Moscovites' main problem, like their hosts, is a leaky defence so expect to see a few goals in this one.

Tuesday 21 September

19:30 Hoffenheim v Bayern Munich, Bundesliga,  ESPN / ESPN HD
The Hoff's solid start to the season continues following their 2-2 at Kaiserslautern. Bayern, meanwhile, have failed to score in their last three Bundesliga matches and could do with a bit of extra shooting practice if they're to get anything from this match.

19:45 Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal, Carling Cup 3rd Round, Sky Sports 2 / HD2
This is becoming something of a regular fixture in the League Cup following the north London derbies of 2007 and 2008. The last time these two met at White Hart Lane in this competition, Spurs ran out 5-1 winners but we'd doubt such a thing could happen this time around. Arsenal are in especially good form and should have the edge unless Wenger rests his leading stars.

21:00 Real Madrid v Espanyol, La Liga, Sky Sports 3 / HD3
Espanyol's form going back to the end of last season goes 'win-loss-win-loss...' etc. The pattern dictates they'll lose to Real this time, unless Sam Allardyce has taken over by then, of course.

Wednesday 22 September

19:00 Barcelona v Sporting Gijon, La Liga, Sky Sports 3 / HD3
A convincing 5-1 over Panathinaikos during the week silenced the doubters who thought Barca were doomed to failure after just two games. Given that Sporting haven't won this fixture since 1994, they'll no doubt be utterly mute by the time this one finishes.

19:30 Ross County v Dundee United, CIS Insurance Cup 3rd Round, BBC2 Scotland
Two teams suffering from indifferent form at the moment. Dundee United were walloped 4-0 at Ibrox at the weekend while Ross won 3-1 at home to Sterling. Both teams met in the same round of the same competition last season, the result being a 2-0 away win for United... not that we wish to influence the outcome of your pre-match bet or anything.

19:45 Scunthorpe v Man Utd, Carling Cup 3rd Round, Sky Sports 2 / HD2
So it turns out Man United don't roll over and die at the end of every match after all. What a consolation that'll be for Scunthorpe, especially now that coach Nigel Adkins has hot-footed it to Southampton.

19:45 Lazio v AC Milan, Serie A, ESPN / ESPN HD
Milan's 1-1 draw with Catania last week won't have exactly set the Rossoneri's pulses racing despite the wealth of talent at their disposal. A win for Lazio here could see them go top, but it'll be asking a lot, frankly.

21:00 Valencia v Atletico Madrid, La Liga, Sky Sports 3 / HD3
A cracking start for Los Che - three wins out of three in the league plus a 4-0 win over the hapless Bursaspor midweek. Manager Unai Emery must be a happy man these days... I wonder why he doesn't do that 'ooh you are awful' stuff anymore?

Thursday 23 September

19:45 AFC Wimbledon v Crawley, Blue Square Premier, Premier Sport (Sky Channel 433)
Even those of you with a cold, hard rock for a heart that thought Non-League Day was a load of hooeey can't fail to agree that it's great to see Blue Square Football on Sky Digital. Here we see a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash between The Dons and current league leaders, The Red Devils - two teams separated by a single point in the Conference National. Good work, Premier Sport - this is the sort of thing we need to see more of on our TVs.

19:45 Juventus v Palermo, Serie A, ESPN / ESPN HD
Palermo are in very poor form at the moment, so a repeat of their excellent 2-0 win at Stadio Olimpico in February looks highly unlikely.

Chris O