Weekend Boxset: Eh, Monkey!

By Graham Sibley January 17, 2025

Weekend Boxset: Eh, Monkey!

Championship football returns to ITV for the first time since the days of Johnny Vegas and his monkey.

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

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All times are UK

Friday

Championship: Burnley v Sunderland

20.00 on Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
Proper football is great, isn’t it? Tonight two proper old clubs meet under the lights at the top of a proper league where the Stasi cameras aren’t second guessing everything. Burnley go into this one in second place and are, rather impressively, unbeaten at home this term. Ahead of Sheffield United on goal difference, a home win is a must for the Clarets. Clearly, Burnley are a tough nut to crack: in addition to their home record is their miserly defence which has conceded just nine times in the league all season. However, this belies the fact that they’re one of the lowest scorers in the top half of the division, and they draw every other game at Turf Moor. Over Christmas, a couple of no-score-draws and a narrow win over Blackburn suggest they rely heavily on their cast-iron defence. Visiting Sunderland cross to the wrong side of the Pennines for the third away game in succession with only one point to show for it. One of those was against (bloody) Stoke, who then came to the SoL to knock the Black Cats out of the FA Cup. These games represent the Lads’ only two losses since early December - bloody Stoke! While there are injuries to key players, Regis Le Bris’ side sit fourth and claimed the scalp of Sheffield United on New Year’s Day. While some suggest Sunderland are over-achieving, the club are keen to capitalise on their lofty position. The loan signing of Frenchman, Enzo Le Fée, from Roma underlines this. Lacking the chance to shine in the Italian capital due to sack-happy owners, the Friedkin Group (take note Everton), Le Fée, is seen as something of a statement signing. Indeed, having worked with Le Bris at Lorient, Le Fée will become Sunderland’s record signing should they achieve promotion. My feeling is that if Sunderland can get a goal, Burnley’s lack of firepower up top will be enough for an away win. That’s a big “if”; more realistic is a home win, which Burnley are due having drawn their last one. JB

Saturday

Premier League: Newcastle United v Bournemouth

12.30 on TNT Sports & Ultimate
Two of the Premier League’s form teams meet in a fascinating match up. Newcastle have rightly been winning a bit of plaudits this season as Eddie Howe continues to perform juggling acts with financial sustainability rules. Since stabilising at the start of November, Howe has turned his side into a hard to beat goalscoring team that is confident of going toe-to-toe with anyone, as evidenced by their victory at the Emirates in the League Cup semi final. Much of this is down to the form of Alexander Isak - who seems to have entered “that man, who else?” territory - but also Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, all of whom are capable of opening up opposition defences. But the hard to beat moniker can also be applied the Bournemouth, who’ve quietly been amassing points and sit one point behind Newcastle and three off the Champions League places. Less heralded, but still unbeaten since the start of December, the Cherries occupy the “won’t fancy meeting them right now” role in the league and were unlucky not to come away with all three points from Stamford Bridge in midweek That said, a few caveats. Bournemouth’s run has either been against lower table sides or meeting better sides like Chelsea mid-wobble, although as Andoni Iraola would no doubt say, you can only beat what's in front of you. Plus, there's a lengthy injury list at Dean Court, and you have to wonder how long Bournemouth can go on for without a break. Newcastle will probably be the toughest side Iraola's team have faced in this run, but on current form both sides might consider a draw a good result. GA

Premier League: Arsenal v Aston Villa

17.30 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
If ever you want to get a bit traction on a transfer story, it’s always good to add Arsenal into the mix of interested clubs. Boyhood Gunners fan Ollie Watkins was strongly linked in the summer and now sits among a long list of strikers from across Europe that Arsenal are definitely in for to meet their now desperate need for a centre forward. The Gunners need for someone who can be relied on for goals, and not just at corners. The issue has been made worse by a serious knee injury for Gabriel Jesus, who is unlikely to return before the end of the year. Both sides had confidence boosting wins in midweek against sides more in crisis than them. Villa’s win at Goodison ended a worrying run of defeats on the road. All those defeats were against sides also in the hunt for at least Champions League football next season, which probably gives the Gunners the edge in this one. GS

Serie A: Atalanta v Napoli

19.45 on TNT Sports 1 and OneFootball
The top of the table in Serie A is set up for great title race. Leading the way are in-form Napoli, three points ahead of second place Inter having played a game more. A run of three draws has seen Atalanta drop back and they now sit third, a point behind Inter. Gasperini’s side had three consecutive third place finishes between 2019 and 2021 but certainly have it in them to improve on those finishes. Their Europa League success in the summer was their first major trophy since winning the Coppa Italia in the early sixties but shows that La Dea are ready for a title push and their first ever Scudetto. They should certainly believe they can catch Napoli, having already beaten them comfortably in the reverse fixture in November; Ademola Lookman scoring twice in a 3-0 win at the Maradona. What will also encourage the Bergamot side is the question of how well Napoli can perform without their best player. Khvica Kvaratskhelia posted a farewell message to Napoli fans on his socials on Thursday, and is reportedly already in Paris for his medical to complete a €70 million move to PSG. The 23-year-old Georgian winger, joined Napoli in 2022 and played a huge part in their title win the following season, also taking the Serie A player of the year award. He starred at last summer’s Euros and will be a huge loss for Conte’s side. GS

Sunday

Championship: Leeds United v Sheffield Wednesday

12.00 on ITV, STV, ITVX and Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
Wednesday may be comfortably mid-table with aspirations of touching the playoffs but when your owner is Dejphon Chansiri, chaos never seems far away. This week, he announced in a fans forum that loan star Shea Charles was heading back to Southampton and admitted he hadn’t spoken to manager Danny Röhl since December. Chansiri also revealed than Saints had approached Rohl for the vacant manager position after Russell Martin was sacked. Quite what this means for the hugely popular German at Hillsborough remains to be seen but it’s not great timing as his team make the short trip across Yorkshire to league leaders Leeds, where compatriot Daniel Farke has his side nurturing a narrow one point lead at the top of the table. This being the Championship, the race for the title is tight and Leeds have made a habit of drawing a lot of matches they may feel they should have won. If Rohl comes away from Elland Road with a point, it’ll be another strong result for Wednesday. Of course, with Chansiri as owner, he’s just as likely to come away with a P45. Expect the Owls to give as good as they get on the pitch, as long as their mercurial owner’s chaotic style doesn’t seep into the dressing room. Viewers in the UK can watch this game for free on ITV as part of a deal with Sky which also includes next month’s game between Middlesbrough and Sunderland. GA

Premier League: Everton v Tottenham Hotspur

14.00 on Sky Sports Premier, Main Event & Ultra
There is a degree of elegance in Everton’s new owners bringing back one of the club's greatest modern coaches in their time of greatest need. The timing of David Moyes appointment was less than ideal insofar as he had a midweek fixture just five days after his arrival which gave him almost no time to make his mark. In fact, it was reported that Everton’s new manager spent much of his time familiarising himself with his new environment and meeting the staff. Leighton Baines, now promoted to the first team coaching staff, took training for Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Villa. Moyes was not exactly a spectator as he watched from the dugout but the team was more Dyche than David. And this may well be true for the next match. After a day of recovery, the manager has only two days to prepare for Spurs so close observers of Everton are not likely to see a true Moyesball for some weeks. What that looks like is based on how well his players react, what kind of signings the club make in the coming weeks and what principles the pragmatic Scott adopts as he looks to repeat the feat he achieved when he joined West Ham. What they urgently need is goals. Moyes’ new charges have only found the back of the net fifteen times in the league this season. For now, at least there is hope, which is a quality rapidly diminishing at Tottenham Hotspur. Ange Postecoglou’s team may well win the EFL Cup this season but if they are not careful, they could be defending it as an EFL team. Spurs have lost 11 (eleven) games so far this season and have not won a league game since mid-December against Southampton, which barely counts. Only Wolves, Leicester and Saints have lost more games than Spurs. By contrast, only Liverpool have scored more goals. That last, frankly ridiculous, stat underlines Postecoglou’s tactics that are entertaining enough for the neutral but are testing the fans patience. Ange badly needs a win at Goodison and can take encouragement from their opponent's meagre record in front of goal. Ah, mate! TD

Women’s Super League: Manchester City v Manchester United

18.45 on Sky Sports Premier League, Football & Main Event and Sky Showcase
The WSL returns from a month long winter break with a crunch tie in the battle for the top three, and, just maybe, the title race. The season looked to be already sewn up for champions Chelsea with Arsenal having too much ground to make up and City struggling with injuries. But Chelsea drawing against Leicester in the final weekend before the break has opened up a glimmer of hope for the other sides in the chase. We’ll know more about whether Chelsea’s position is truly under threat next weekend when they host Arsenal. The break came at good time for City whose injury crisis was threatening to derail their season. Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood are both still recovering from surgery but Vivianne Miedema is now back and scored City’s third goal in their FA Cup win over Ipswich last weekend as a second half substitute. United’s women side have yet to feel the sharp edge of the new ownership’s cuts at the club but that may be because Sir Jim isn’t giving them any thought whatsoever. GS

Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary