Weekend TV Preview: 3 - 5 September

Friday 3 September

16:00 Armenia v Republic of Ireland, Euro 2012 Qualifier, Sky Sports 1/HD1
An early kick-off for all you work skivers and an ideal opportunity to see whether Giovanni Trappatoni's men are up for the challenge of playing Russia elsewhere in their campaign. Don't forget, to liven up this and many other live TV football matches, get along to Picklive where you can play along with their excellent online footy game.


18:30 Montenegro v Wales, Euro 2012 Qualifier, Sky Sports 3/HD3/S4C
Quite possibly John Toshack's last hurrah while in charge of the Welsh team. Failure to qualify for Ukraine and Poland in 2012 will almost certainly see him step aside to allow someone else to take the reins. Has no-one ever thought to pair him up with Kevin Keegan? They always worked well together as players...


19:15 Lithuania v Scotland, Euro 2012 Qualifier, BBC1 Scotland
Things are getting so desperate that Craig Levein's been scouting for non-Scottish players that have Scottish parentage. Can you imagine England doing that?!! *coughmikelarteta*

19:45 Slovenia v Northern Ireland, Euro 2012 Qualifier, Sky Sports 1/HD1
February 2009. That's the last time Northern Ireland won a match away from home. They've also failed to score in their last five games away from home. And failed to win any of their last ten games home or away. Still, it's Slovenia next, and even England managed to beat *them* in the World Cup. A nailed on win for the Northern Irish, surely?

20:00 England v Bulgaria, Euro 2012 Qualifier, ITV1/ITV HD
And so a new era begins for the Three Lions. Fab's thrown out the old line-up and started again with some new faces - albeit some included as a result of injuries to the more experienced players. One notable absentee is David Beckham who won't be sat on the bench pretending to look concerned, and that can only be a good thing. England have a good record against the Bulgarians, so let's be tentatively optimistic it'll be three points on the board for Fab & Co.

20:00 France v Belarus, Euro 2012 Qualifier, ESPN/ESPN HD
After their World Cup histrionics, France are expecting 65,000 people to turn up for Les Bleus' first qualifier - a minor miracle, but only made possible thanks to Laurent Blanc demoting most of the starters from South Africa. Should be an interesting match...

Saturday 4 September

12:15 MK Dons v Hartlepool, League One, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Two teams that have started the season in similar form. Last time they met, MK thumped 'Pool 5-0 at their own ground. Not likely to happen again, we'd wager.

15:45 Llanelli v The New Saints, Welsh Premier League, S4C
New Saints hope to maintain their 100% record two games in against a faltering Llanelli side. Go on - tune in and double S4C's audience figures.

02:00 (Sunday) Real Salt Lake v NY Red Bulls, MLS, ESPN
RSL have four key players missing from their line-up for the trip to Salt Lake due to international call-ups. Serves Hans Backe right for having decent players in his team.

Sunday 5 September

12:00 Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday, League One, Sky Sports 1/HD1
An actual top-v-bottom clash, no less. The Owls sit at the top with 10 points from 12, flushed from the success of beating Hartlepool 5-0 last weekend. Brentford have one point to their name, as indeed they probably will at 2pm on Sunday.

Chris O