Weekend TV Preview: 15 - 17 April

Friday 15 April

19.35 Bohemians v Shamrock Rovers, Airtricity League, Premier Sports

The Champions, Shamrock Rovers, lead the early table heading into the Dublin derby but lost to lowly Bray Wanderers last time out. Goal difference alone separated these two for the title last season.

19.45 Norwich City v Nottingham Forest, Championship, Sky Sports 2/HD2

Still hard to beat but Norwich have been drawing too many games recently to hold on to their automatic promotion position; Cardiff and Reading look far more likely to take that honour. Forest's win against an equally out-of-sorts Burnley doesn't suggest they've turned a corner for the run-in and they'll do well to get anything from this one.

Saturday 16 April

12.45 Motherwell v St Johnstone, Scottish Cup Semi Final, Sky Sports 1/HD1/BBC1 Scotland (Sky 971)

St Johnstone are in desperate league form, without a win in ten and scoring just once in that time. Motherwell can boast recent wins against Celtic and Dundee United (twice) in that time and must go into this as favourites.

17.15 Man City v Man United, FA Cup Semi Final, ITV1/ITV1 HD

No Tevez for City, no Rooney for United. Comparing United's victory over Chelsea in the Champions League to City's woeful defensive display against Liverpool on Monday, you can only see one outcome. But hey, magic of the cup and all that.

19.45 AC Milan V Sampdoria, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD

Samp are plummetting towards the relegation zone while Milan sit three points clear at the top. Milan's nearest rivals have the tougher run-in with Napoli and Inter still to face each other at the Stadio San Paolo in the penultimate weekend.

21.00 Real Madrid v Barcelona, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1

Part one of four. Probably the least important of the quartet of El Clasico's coming up in 16 days, with Real eight points adrift and with the much tougher run-in. Part two, the Copa Del Rey final is on Wednesday.

00.30 New York Red Bulls V San Jose Earthquakes, MLS, ESPN/ESPN HD

Both go into this with just one win each from their first four. Thierry Henry has still to get off the mark for the New Jersey side.

Sunday 17 April

12.45 Aberdeen V Celtic, Scottish Cup Semi Final, Sky Sports 1/HD1

A Cup semi-final is a small crumb of comfort in a terrible season for Aberdeen. They must still feel the bruises from a 9-0 demolition from today's opponents back in November. Under Craif Brown their fortunes haven't really improved, losing all of their last five league games.

14.45 Hibernian V Hamilton, SPL, ESPN/ESPN HD

Away from the cup action, the regular season in Scotland ends this week- with relegation for Hamilton already pretty much a foregone conclusion. Hibs will miss out on a top half place regardless of the result here.

16.00 Bolton Wanderers V Stoke City, FA Cup Semi Final, ESPN/ESPN HD

More revenue for the M6 toll road. Thursday nights on Five awaits the winner.

16.00 Arsenal v Liverpool, Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1/3D

A must win for Arsenal in their faint hope to catch United for the title. They will need victories here and at White Hart Lane on Wednesday to stay in the hunt.

18.00 Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1

Bilbao are one of four teams fighting over the three Europa League spots. Osasuna still have some work to do to guarantee a twelth consecutive season of top flight football.

19.45 Napoli V Udinese, Serie A, ESPN/ESPN HD

Udinese's fantastic post-new year run looks to have come to an end with back to back defeats denting their Champions League chances. Di Natale's recent hot streak of 16 goals from 14 games in that period has seen him overtake Cavani in the scoring chart. Seeing them both in action in this game should be a rare treat. Cracking finale to a bumper weekend.

20.00 Espanyol v Atletico Madrid, La Liga, Sky Sports 1/HD1

Espanyol's season has fallen apart since the end of January - going from the Champions League places to eighth now. Atletico are just a point above them but look far more likely to hold on to their Europa League spot.

Graham