Midweek TV Preview: 30 April - 3 May

Monday

20.00 Manchester City v Manchester United, Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1/3D
The goals flew in like nobody's business over the weekend, and what a game to kick off a new week. The top two in the Premier League meet with everything on the line: revenge, Tevez-related bitterness, local pride and quite probably the title. Man alive!

Tuesday

17.00 Chievo v Roma, Serie A, ESPN
May Day brings with it a couple of Serie A fixtures live on ESPN, with some of the same teams in action as those that played on Saturday in the weekend's card. Those two matches were draws, with Chievo goalless against Novara and Roma thankful for a last-ditch Fabio Simplicio strike in their 2-2 draw against rivals Napoli.

19.00 Sporting Gijon v Villarreal, La Liga, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Villarreal haven't won in the league at Sporting since September 2008, when Giuseppe Rossi scored the vital goal. The Italian-American striker is expected to be out until 2013 thanks to another knee injury so they'll have to find inspiration elsewhere on Tuesday evening.

19.45 Hearts v Motherwell, Scottish Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Henrik Ojamaa's late brace put the spit-shine on Motherwell's 5-1 victory over St Johnstone on Saturday, while Hearts had to equalise twice in order to take a point from their trip to Dundee United. A win in Edinburgh would be a huge step towards the Champions League for Stuart McCall's men.

19.45 Napoli v Palermo, Serie A, ESPN
Juan Camilo Zuniga and the lethal Edinson Cavani scored Napoli's goals at the Olimpico before Simplicio snatched a point for Roma. On Tuesday they face Palermo, who they beat comfortably back in January with Cavani again on the scoresheet.

Wednesday

19.00 Barcelona v Malaga, La Liga, Sky Sports 2/HD2
With the Champions League trophy heading away from Camp Nou and the La Liga title on its way to Madrid, the end of an era is nigh at Barcelona. Pep Guardiola will leave the club at the end of the season to have a break from football and, presumably, return to embrace a new challenge in football. But nobody will have a bigger challenge than Tito Vilanova, the man who may well need to oversee Barca's return to Planet Earth.

19.45 York City v Mansfield Town, Blue Square Bet Premier Play-offs, Premier Sports
The Stags finished the Conference season in phenomenal form. The won their last six games and haven't lost at home since Bonfire Night, a record that has helped them to finish third in England's fifth tier. York, meanwhile, haven't lost in five. This should be a cracking semi-final first leg.

19.45 Rangers v Dundee United, Scottish Premier League, Sky Sports 3/HD3
With Motherwell potentially disappearing over the horizon this week, Dundee United head to Ibrox with the primary aim of keeping St Johnstone at bay in the fight for a Europa League spot. Last time these two met it was United who emerged victorious, winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Keith Watson and Jon Daly.

19.45 Juventus v Lecce, Serie A, ESPN
The Bianconeri are homing in on their 28th domestic Italian title and their first Scudetto since 2003, because of you-know-what. They first became national champions in Italy in 1905, benefiting from FCB Torinese's forfeit of the Piedmont qualifier before going unbeaten in the final round-robin against Genoa and US Milanese, now

20.00 Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
By the end of the season, Spurs will have had an enormous say in the outcome of the relegation battle. After playing Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, they take on Bolton on Wednesday and Aston Villa on May 6th. Bolton are fighting, which doesn't bode well for either Spurs or QPR, the team most likely to be relegated if Bolton keep up their form.

21.00 Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid, La Liga, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Karim Benzema's really found his feet in a glorious season for Real Madrid, and he bagged goals 19 and 20 in Sunday's 11am kick-off against Sevilla. He's still scored fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain, and between the three of them the total is 84. Potent.

Thursday

19.45 Luton Town v Wrexham, Blue Square Bet Premier play-offs, Premier Sports
Wrexham's season is a triumph over adversity, and for them to finish second behind loaded Fleetwood Town on 98 points - nine clear of Mansfield - is a remarkable achievement. Their playoff semi-final is against Luton, who haven't lost in six but lost both games against the Dragons in the league this season.

19.45 Cardiff City v West Ham United, Championship play-offs, Sky Sports 1/HD1 The flip-side of the celebratory scenes at Southampton on Saturday was misery at West Ham, where a 2-1 win over Hull City wasn't enough to prevent Saints joining Reading in the Premier League. The Hammers need to recover quickly; Cardiff haven't lost in ten.

Chris N