Weekend TV Preview: 8 - 9 January

Saturday 8 January

12:45 Arsenal v Leeds United, FA Cup 3rd Round, ITV1/ITV HD
FA Cup ties between these two sides used to be close affairs but their last meeting back in 2004 brought that to an end as The Gunners won 4-1 at Elland Road. This match, we feel, could see a return to the old-fashioned nail-biter, though.

15:45 Aberystwyth Town v The New Saints, Welsh Premier League, S4C
TNS might be second in the table but they're 13 points behind leaders Bangor. Aberystwyth, however, are well entrenched at the relegation end. Yaki da, Boyo!

17:30 Stevenage v Newcastle United, FA Cup 3rd Round, ESPN/ESPN HD
A repeat of the 1998 4th Round tie in which Borough held The Magpies to a 1-1 draw. The 2-1 win for Newcastle at St James Park in the replay still wrankles with the Stevenage fans as Alan Shearer's first goal didn't actually cross the line. Ironic that the legendary No.9 is a big supporter of goalline technology these days, no?

19:00 Real Sociedad v Sevilla, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Both teams currently occupy the middle two positions of the La Liga table and have, to be truthful, been in shocking form lately. That said, Sevilla have put an end to their series of five defeats by beating lowly Osasuna at the start of 2011 so who knows - maybe one of these sides will contrive to put in a decent shift for your viewing delight.

21:00 Deportivo v Barcelona, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
La Coruna are a side improving all the time and in Adrian, they have a striker who knows where the back of the net is. But of course this is all futile as Barcelona are 24 points ahead of them in the table, and there endeth the lesson.

Sunday 9 January

11:30 Sampdoria v Roma, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD
Roma picked up their title challenge where they left off at the end of 2010 by beating Catania 4-2 this week. Another win will put them only a smidge behind leaders Milan whereas Sampdoria need a win to stop their recent decline towards mid-table.

13:15 Dundee v Motherwell, Scottish FA Cup 4th Round, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Two teams who hardly ever meet in the Scottish Cup, but when they do, Dundee usually win. And you thought Ray Winstone could tempt you into a crafty bet on an unlikely outcome....

13:30 Man Utd v Liverpool, FA Cup 3rd Round, ITV1/ITV HD
According to Mark Bright, Liverpool fans still can't understand the fact that they're no longer the giants of English football they once were. Good logic, Brighty, but you seem to be forgetting a certain night in Istanbul in 2005. It didn't happen so long ago as to be forgotten by most Liverpool fans... Home win.

15:30 Berwick Rangers v Celtic, Scottish FA Cup 4th Round, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Thirteen years it's been since Celtic last graced Shielfield Park with their presence, and on that occasion, The Bhoys put seven past their hosts. Berwick might be hoping it'll be another 13 years until they meet again given Celtic's current run of form. Oh by the way, did you know that Berwick are the only Scottish club not located in Scotland? Oh you did...

16:00 Leicester City v Man City, FA Cup 3rd Round, ESPN/ESPN HD
Two teams on the Sven Goran Eriksson CV, although to be fair there aren't many teams that aren't on his CV. This is amazingly the fifth time these teams have met in the Third Round since 1989, and Man City have won each of the last four. With Darius Vassell up front, surely that run must now come to an end in Leicester's favour.

18:00 Real Madrid v Villarreal, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Second v Third. A win for Real could put them top of the league while a win for Villareal will leave them only five points behind Real. Hardly worth bothering really, is it?

19:45 Napoli v Juventus, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD
Both these teams shipped plenty of goals in their first games of the calendar year this week, but Napoli will take heart from the fact that they've beaten Juve in their last two league meetings during 2010.

20:00 Levante v Valencia, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Question: What do Sergio Garcia, Johan Cruyff and Ian Harte have in common? Yes, that's right - they've all played for Levante. But do you know what they all have in common with the current Levante team? Yes, right again - they never have and never will win anything in a Levante shirt.

Attention:
This is Football Fairground's 100th blog post (as if you could give a flying one), so if you liked this or any of the previous 99, please tell your friends and help us reach our target of 6 followers on our Facebook Fan Page. Thank you!

Chris O