Good Friday

Seven great matches to take you from Good Friday to Easter Monday. It’s the Sound of Football Weekend Boxset.

All times BST (GMT +1)

Good Friday

National League: Tranmere Rovers v Aldershot Town

15.00 on BT Sport 1
Kaiyne Woolery’s late winner for Forest Green on Tuesday night hasn’t totally scuppered Tranmere’s push for the automatic promotion spot but it has made things a lot more difficult. Rovers had been chasing down top-placed Lincoln, who were suffering from the hangover of their Cup and Trophy exits, but the Imps start the Easter weekend three points clear with a game in hand. Rovers will do well to get a win here against an in-form Aldershot, who themselves are looking to hold 5th spot for a play-off semi-final that could very well see these teams re-matched. If results go against Tranmere, Gateshead v Lincoln City could prove to be the game that sees the Imps go up. You can watch that on Monday at 15.00 on BT Sport 1 (though I’ve picked something else for you then).

Championship: Newcastle United v Leeds United

19.45 on Sky Sports 1
Newcastle might be limping over the line in their race to get promoted but with a ten point advantage over Huddersfield and just a handful of games remaining, it’s very unlikely anyone will overtake them now. The other sides in the Championship will have played by the time this match kicks off and if Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham both win, Leeds will start the game knowing they have to get something from it to keep their play-off hopes alive. Brighton might already be up, should they beat Wolves in the live match that precedes this game, but only if Huddersfield lose at home to Preston.

Saturday

Serie A: Inter v Milan

11.30 on BT Sport 1
If all the pain and worry of relegation and promotion is too much for you, why not distract yourself with a Milan derby. Although these sides are now reduced to scrapping over the last Europa League spot in Serie A, this is still very much a highlight in the football calendar. The reverse fixture in November was a thrilling 2-2 draw with Ivan Perisic snatching the injury time equaliser for the visitors.

La Liga: Barcelona v Real Sociedad

19.45 Sky Sports 3
It’s been a rough week for Barcelona, just when Real Madrid drop points to a late Antoine Griezmann equaliser in the Madrid derby, Barca fail to capitalise and lose 2-0 at Malaga. Follow that with a midweek 3-0 Champions League defeat to Juventus and you can imagine what the atmosphere is going to be like when they return to the Camp Nou for this encounter. Sociedad had Champions League ambitions of their own until a recent dip in form saw them slip to 6th. Barcelona will be without Neymar, who is suspended following his two yellows in the Malaga game, but that shouldn’t stop the home side taking the win here.

Easter Sunday

Eredivisie: Feyenoord v Utrecht

13.30 on Sky Sports 5
Ajax are now breathing hard down the necks of Feyenoord, as the Rotterdam side bid to take their first title of this century. Their lead is now just one point with four games remaining. We can’t help but feel partly responsible for their title-chasing jitters: we’ve featured them twice in this newsletter in recent weeks and both times they’ve lost. Sorry, Geo.

Premier League: Manchester United v Chelsea

16.00 on Sky Sports 1
The over-arching narrative of this fixture is, of course, Jose but with Tottenham at home to Bournemouth in the Saturday lunchtime game, the Champions-elect could start this match just four points ahead of their only serious contenders. While United are struggling to win at Old Trafford, they’ve only lost once there all season and are on an amazing run of 21 without defeat in the Premier League. Their last league defeat was the 4-0 drubbing they received at Stamford Bridge back in October. If Chelsea can produce a similar performance here, you may as well give them the trophy on the spot.

Monday

Championship: Fulham v Aston Villa

14.45 on Sky Sports 1
This match might not be where the action is in the Championship but it will provide plenty of entertainment as you watch the goal alerts flash up from around the ten 3pm kick offs in the division. Should Fulham get the better of Norwich on Good Friday they will certainly be going all out for the win here as they try to dislodge Sheffield Wednesday from the play-off places. After a dodgy start, Steve Bruce seems to have got Villa firing again and while the play-offs are out of reach, a strong finish will certainly put them in a good place to mount a serious challenge next season. At the final whistle, get a pencil and paper and work out what needs to happen in the following match, Derby County v Huddersfield Town, kicking off at 17.00 on Sky Sports 1.


Whatever you watch, have a great Easter weekend.

Graham