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Roses are red, lilies are white, Spurs v United, who'll be more shite?

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

Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion v Chelsea

20.00 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
In one of those strange quirks participation in domestic cup competitions occasionally throws up, Brighton entertain fourth-placed Chelsea on the south coast for the second time in just seven days. It was 2-1 to the home side last time out which came as something of a relief for the Seagulls. A string of draws that encouragingly morphed into a couple of wins gave way to a defeat at a rejuvenated Everton and an absolute hammering at Forest. The scale of the Forest result, which nobody saw coming, could well have become season defining, but a return to the Amex proved just the tonic they needed as Fabian Hürzeler’s side bounced back, securing themselves an FA Cup 5th round tie away to the (dirty) Mags. Injuries have played their part in this mini-crisis so the imminent return of players like Lewis Dunk and Solly March will help the cause. Sharing this frustration will be Enzo Maresca who has been forced into changes with Nicolas Jackson out until the next international break, however, Reece James, who missed the FA Cup defeat, may be available tonight. A win for the visitors would see them move within a point of Forest, which will certainly help; recent form has seen them fall back from only a few points off Liverpool to a gap of fourteen. This has opened up the final Champions League spot to the likes of City, N*wcastle and Bournmouth. Seeking to calm the waters in his recent prezza, Maresca said “... don't forget in the last two years Chelsea have not been top four and this season all the time in the top four. This shows everyone we are in the right direction”. Fair point - score draw. JB

Saturday

A-League: Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets

08.35 on TNT Sports 1
If you’re a regular A-League watcher, you’ll know this season has been dangerously close to very entertaining. Most matches have been quite watchable with a few humdingers thrown in and even if the quality isn’t up to a discerning Eurosnob standard, who cares when you have sides going at each other like a cup tie each week. All of which preamble is to say that Adelaide v Newcastle should continue this tradition. Adelaide have been hot on the heels of Auckland all season and can be considered genuine contenders for their first title since 2016. And yet - between a 2-2 draw away at Auckland and a narrow win over a tricky Melbourne City side, there was a 4-1 humping at an out of form Sydney FC side who frequently take the view defending is optional. So they’re capable of dropping a clanger as we get towards the business end of the season. And the Jets won’t be a pushover either. The perennial strugglers have found a small uptick in form, taking points off those around them to at least make their points total respectable. Adelaide may be a different matter entirely, but this is no gimmie for the South Australians, even with former Jet Archie Goodwin in sparkling form up front for the Reds. Form book and league position would suggest an Adelaide win, but Newcastle are always fun to watch with a commitment to a level of chaos going forward and an ability to find new ways to be cut open at the back. Ange Postecoglou’s coaching manual is, it seems, alive and well in his homeland. GA

Premier League: Leicester City v Arsenal

12.30 on TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate
Last season, Arsenal took advantage of an early FA Cup exit to spend a week at a warm weather training camp in Dubai. On their return they went on a remarkable run in the Premier League seeing them win 16 of their last 18 games, only just missing out on the title. After another early elimination from the Cup this season, the club leapt at the opportunity to repeat the trip but may have returned in worse shape than when they left. A hamstring injury to Kai Havertz looks to have finished the striker’s season leaving the club without anyone you might think of as a number nine. With Gabriel Jesus also out for the rest of the season, this situation has further incensed the club’s many angry online fans who believe the club should have overspent on a striker in January. Arteta has rejected growing calls for the club to sign an out of contract player like 36-year-old Diego Costa, former Gunners Carlos Vela or Lucas Perez, or even a controversial move for clubless sex offender Wissam Ben Yedder, so it looks like Raheem Sterling is going to see a lot of game time in the remainder of his loan spell. Ruud Van Nistelroy’s return to Old Trafford in the FA Cup ended in defeat by an injury time Harry Maguire goal that should never have stood. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, this season, good recent performances against United and Spurs can’t be used as a measure of whether or not his side are improving enough to escape relegation. GS

Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich

17.30 on Sky Sports Football
Last weekend, Bayern Munich were able to stretch their lead at the top of the table to eight points thanks to their 3-0 win against Werder Bremen, and second-placed Bayer Leverkusen only managing a 0-0 draw with Wolfsburg. This effectively means that the top of the table clash is a must-win for Leverkusen to have any hope of retaining the title. If Bayern can stretch their points lead to eleven with twelve games remaining… well that would require a cataclysmic collapse from Vincent Kompany’s side. Even if Leverkusen win it’s still hard to see them making up a five point gap, especially given Bayern’s superior goal difference. But while this may not be the title decider the DFL’s marketing people want it to be there are still plenty of reasons to watch this instead of Palace v Everton. Bayern will be a bit more leg heavy of the two after having been given a good workover at Parkhead in their 2-1 win over Celtic in the Champions League. English imports Harry Kane and Michael Olise were on the scoresheet. Olise’s striker was stunner from distance whereas Kane was left unguarded at the far post for a corner which predictable results. Xabi Alonso will be most disappointed if his defenders issue that much licence to the England captain. Last week he left star forward Florian Wirtz on the bench. Between the Champions League and the DFB Pokal, the young German phenom has been busy and Alonso elected to rest him. He’ll need to be fully rested for this game and what is likely to be a busy end of the season. TD

Sunday

Women’s Super League: Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur

12.30 on BBC Two & iPlayer
With more than 50,000 tickets already sold, this match promises to be the highest attended WSL match of the season. Of course that doesn’t mean it’ll be the best match. Traditionally this is a game Arsenal have always dominated, like they did in the reverse fixture in November which ended 3-0. Last season was much closer though, with Spurs’ first ever win against the Gunners at home and only narrowly beaten in the game at a sold-out Emirates. Results like those and getting to the Women’s FA Cup final will have given hope to Spurs fans that the side was ready to compete with the top four, but like the other teams regularly in the WSL’s mid-table, an inability to match the development pace of the top sides has seen the gap grow again. Having signed on deadline day, Chloe Kelly has her first chance to make her second debut for the Gunners. She last played for the side in 2017 before joining Everton. A lack of game time has seen the 27-year-old miss out on a call up to Serina Weigman’s squad for the upcoming Nations League ties against Portugal and Spain and with the Euros approaching time is running out for her to prove herself again. Tottenham’s January signing Swedish international defender Josefine Rybrink has already played against Arsenal this season in the Champions League for Hacken, where she had previous played under Spurs head coach Robert Vilahamn. After the final whistle, attending Spurs fans of both the men’s and the women’s sides should have plenty of time to jump on a 259 bus to get to… GS

Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United

16.30 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was in defiant mood when speaking to the press after their 2-1 FA Cup loss at the Villa on Sunday. His response to criticism that his players were not able to play to his principles was unequivocal: “…they’re tired, mate… Two and a half months of asking 18-year-olds and 17-year-olds and senior players, with no rest, to play Thursday, Sunday, Thursday.” Of course, every club has injury problems but the number of first teamers currently stinking up the Spurs treatment room is alarming. No van de Ven, Romero, Maddison (who may return this Sunday), Solanke etc. However, amidst the heartbreak of consecutive cup exits we have seen the emergence of youngsters such as Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Mikey Moore. On loan striker Mathys Tel made his full debut at Villa and marked it with a goal. I’ve seen plenty of the 19-year-old Frenchman at Bayern, Spurs have done well to get him. Their Europa League top eight group stage finish meant they were spared another Thursday-Sunday and Ange has had a week to prepare for this game. As has Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim. United don’t have injuries to excuse their poor form but they can point to an unbeaten away record stretching back four games, including a draw at Anfield. Both sets of players are full of goals and huffing the chaos dust so it’s bound to be a treat for the neutral. TD

Serie A: Juventus v Inter

19.45 on TNT Sports 1 and OneFootball
For a side that has suffered just one league defeat, it have shouldn’t taken until February for Juve to achieve three consecutive wins for the first time this season. All of those three wins have come since that one defeat, last month against top of the table Napoli, which could prove to be the turning point for Thiaggo Motta’s season. French international Randal Kolo Muani was put straight into the starting line up for that game, having joined on loan from PSG, and scored the opener. The 26-year-old former Eintract Frankfurt striker has gone on to score four more goals in the next two matches - becoming the first Juve player to score in his first three Serie A games since Roberto Baggio. Lloyd Kelly and Renato Veiga have also come in to increase defensive solidity. Inter played Fiorentina twice across last weekend; completing the 73 minutes of their abandoned away match with a 3-0 defeat on Thursday but reversing that result with a 2-1 home win on Monday. Although Inzaghi’s side dropped points Napoli missed out on the chance to pull away at the top with a draw against Udinese. Even with a win here you feel the gap in the table is too big for Juve to close, but they could certainly mess up Inter’s ambitions, both domestically and in Europe. If Juventus can hold on to their first leg lead over PSV in the Champions League round of 32 it’s 50/50 that Inter will be their opponents in the next round (Arsenal are the other team they could draw). GS


Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary