Weekend TV Preview: 5 - 6 March

Saturday 5th March

12:45 Birmingham City v West Brom, Premier League, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Only Blackburn are on worse form than The Baggies at the moment (if you count the last six Premier League games), while Birmingham are already preparing for a rare European campaign by offloading Lee Bowyer. If that's true (and we've only got Bowyer to believe on this), it'll be a shame as he's arguably been one of their best players over the last couple of years.

15:45 Bangor City v Neath, Welsh Premier League, S4C
As the Championship Group stage begins, Bangor find themselves on top with an eight point lead over The New Saints. Neath are a further six points behind them and could do with a morale-boosting win to remind them of any title-winning ambitions they may have once had.

17:20 Cardiff City v Ipswich Town, Championship, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Staying with the Welsh theme, Cardiff are determined to hang onto Swansea's coat-tails in the Championship title race. A win over the Tractor Boys will see them leapfrog their rivals into second place to put the pressure back on leaders QPR.

17:30 Man City v Wigan Athletic, Premier League, ESPN/ESPN HD
The pressure's also back on Roberto Martinez's boys, as we discussed on this week's Sound of Football podcast. The common consensus suggested Wigan are heading for the drop, but frankly things are so changeable near the bottom that even Man City could end up being relegated. Kind of.

19:00 Barcelona v Zaragoza, La Liga, Sky Sports 4/HD4
An admirable 2-1 win for Zaragoza over high-flying Athletic Bilbao in their last match could put them in the mood for a fight at the Bernabeu. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has been admitted to hospital with a bad back complaint and could miss the match.

19:45 Juventus V AC Milan, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD
Luigi Delneri may well feel the noose get that little bit tighter if they can't salvage something from their current poor run of form against the league leaders. Gianluca Vialli to take over at Juve if he gets the chop? Stranger things have happened...

21:00 Atletico Madrid v Villarreal, La Liga, Sky Sports 4/HD4
Villarreal squeaked past lowly Hercules on Wednesday to remain in the battle for third, but strangely they should find an unconvincing Atleti side altogether easier to beat here.

Sunday 6th March

11:30 Sampdoria v Cesena, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD
On current form, Sampdoria are the third-worst team in Serie A. Cesena are sixth worst. With any luck, this early kick-off will catch you still slumbering in bed when it kicks off.

12:45 St Mirren v Rangers, SPL, Sky Sports 4/HD4
Having seen their form slip in recent weeks, this has become a time for cool heads and composure for Rangers. Such a shame, then, that they went and signed El Hadji Diouf. The title is Celtic's.

13:30 Liverpool v Man Utd, Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1/3D
Well we certainly feared the worst when we saw Man United's name come up on this weekend's TV Preview. Like Chelsea and Wolves before them, Liverpool will want to see Fergie and all his charges electrocuted (no double-pun intended). Sadly this run of Man U-themed jokes comes to an end when you consider how poorly Liverpool played at West Ham last week. Away win, probably.

16:00 Wolves v Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Mick McCarthy's men did the double over Spurs last season, but this season is an altogether different prospect, especially if you support The Lilywhites. That said, Wolves have lost only one of their last four in the league and are ready to scrap hard for their place in the top flight. Should be a great match.

18:00 Athletic Bilbao v Sevilla, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Both teams are locked on 38 points in 6th and 7th place respectively and the home team is ahead by only one goal in the table. Bilbao's season, however, is unravelling before their eyes. Four straight defeats could become five against a Sevilla team currently in tip-top form.

19:45 Lazio v Palermo, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD
Two teams that both lost last Sunday. Lazio surprisingly came unstuck 1-0 at Cagliari (but remain fourth in the table) while Palermo let in seven (SETTE) at home to Udinese. Frankly there's every chance of another SETTE-to as Lazio aim to bounce back from their temporary title-charge derailment.

20:00 Racing v Real Madrid, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Real are currently seven points behind Barca, but with the aforementioned doubt hanging over their rivals for their game against Zaragoza, this could be Madrid's time to strike. They're picking up plenty of points at the moment, but then again so are Santander. Oh who are we kidding? Away win...

Chris O