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It's the last weekend of the transfer window, but everyone is talking about youth players.

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

Bundesliga: Hamburg v St Pauli

19.30 on BBC iPlayer and Bundesliga YouTube
With Bayern’s 6-0 win over Leipzig, plus defeat for Leverkusen, and Dortmund dropping points, you could say that the Bundesliga title race is already done. If so, then fixtures like this are where the real action is. This classic city derby in the evening sunshine will be high on intensity with plenty of colour and pyro on the terraces. St Pauli are historically the smaller of the two but go into the game with the distinction of being an existing first division team whereas Hamburg are playing their first home game in the top flight since 2018. The newly promoted side achieved a solid 0-0 draw at Monchengladbach last week with a goal chalked off for offside in the 89th minute. Meanwhile, St Pauli fought back from 3-1 down with ten men to draw 3-3 against Dortmund. HSV’s long search for the coach to take them back to the Bundesliga ended in their own backyard. Merlin Polzin has been part of the staff since 2020. After Steffen Baumgart was fired last December, Merlin stepped in, initially as caretaker, and helped his hometown win promotion. The 34-year-old will know what victory would mean for their season. However, St Pauli demonstrated tremendous staying power and commitment to stay in this league last season and will be desperate to knock over, not just their neighbours but a relegation rival. TD

Saturday

Championship: Middlesbrough v Sheffield United

12.30 on Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
Going on early season form you would have to say this match is only going one way. From three rounds of fixtures Boro have three impressive wins while the Blades have suffered three humbling defeats. Both sides have started the season with new managers. After losing the Play-off Final to Sunderland, United’s American owners decided to get rid of Chris Wilder and replace him with Rubén Sellés, who had himself just been sacked by Hull having only just survived relegation from the Championship on goal difference. Along with the clubs who came down this season, United are the only other side in the Championship benefiting from parachute payments and so should have an advantage over other clubs, especially in recruitment. It’s not an unreasonable question to ask why the club decided to go for Sellés. One theory is that the owners have bought into a data-driven approach and that the former Southampton manager fits that profile. A less palatable theory is that having missed out on promotion the owners are reluctant to throw good money after bad and will just pocket the parachute payments and have done with it. The bonus of Premier League funds for relegated sides are something Middlesbrough have lived without for a few years now: 2017/18 was the last time Boro were in the top flight, their only season at that level since 2009. Their choice of replacement for Michael Carrick is someone who has managed to take a side up to the Premier League without the benefit of parachute payments, Rob Edwards, who returns to management after leaving Luton in January. GS

Premier League: Leeds United v Newcastle United

17.30 on Sky Sports Premier League Main Event & Ultra
Insofar as it’s possible to have sympathy for a sovereign state owned greenwashing project, it’s hard not to feel for Newcastle (the Boxset’s resident Sunderland fan may disagree with this statement). Their loss to Liverpool was an early contender for game of the season and Eddie Howe’s team performed superbly with 10 men, only to have hearts broken by a late strike from a 16 year old. And said match would have undoubtedly turned out differently had Alexander Isak been lining up for either side. Of course, the Swedish striker’s ongoing absence as he attempts to engineer a move to Anfield combined with Anthony Gordon’s red card means Newcastle are looking decidedly light in firepower as they head to Elland Road. That will be somewhat of a relief for Leeds, who come into this match off the back of a 5-0 loss to Arsenal. If that result was not wholly unexpected - the Gunners can be brutally irrepressible when in the mood - the midweek cup exit to Sheffield Wednesday was not in the script. Daniel Farke carries the battle scars of a relegated coach and has recruited sensibly, as have all three promoted teams. Leeds look capable of giving established Premier League teams a bloody nose this season but a lot will depend in this match on how quickly they can shake off a couple of bruising defeats. Newcastle look like they can have a decent season if they can solve their striker problem, but this is as good a time as any for a promoted team to be hosting the Toon. GA

La Liga: Real Madrid v Real Mallorca

20.30 on Disney Plus
Xabi Alonso’s start in charge at Real Madrid is going as well as he might have hoped with two wins from two and their defence yet be to breached. While a home fixture against Osasuna and away to Oviedo are games you’d expect to his side to win they have done so without Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga in their midfield. The latter is expected to be available after the international break, but the England international is not likely to return before the end of October. Their absence has allowed Alonso to get a good look at a bulked-up Arda Guler and new signing Franco Mastantuono. The Argentine attacking midfielder agreed a €50million move from River Plate before the Club World Cup but couldn’t join his new team until his 18th birthday, which was earlier this month. (Just so you know, you can’t get a Madrid shirt with “Franco” on the back - their online shop won’t let you.) After the frustration of the opening day defeat to Barcelona, Mallorca picked up their first point of the season with a late goal from Mateu Morey against Celta Vigo. It was the former Dortmund right back’s first senior career goal. GS

Sunday

Scottish Premiership: Rangers v Celtic

12.00 on Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
The first Old Firm game of the season comes after both clubs suffered embarrassing European defeats. Celtic, came up short in the Champions League play-off, on Tuesday, losing on penalties to FC Kairat after failing to muster a single goal over two legs against the Kasak club. It’s hard to believe that they were pushing Bayern Munich to the limit in the Champions League six months ago. The result drew fierce criticism of both coach and club and there’s a good chance that manager Brendan Rodgers will not extend his contract at the end of the season. The ownership decision to wait until they qualified for the Champions League before investing in the squad has backfired and it’s fair to say that they are at something of a crossroad. Rangers, meanwhile, have bypassed the crossroad and are heading for a cliff. The Gers have yet to win in the league this season and are also out of the Champions League having lost 6-0 to Club Brugge in the second leg of their playoff – 9-1 on aggregate. New coach Russell Martin said after the game that he was embarrassed, and well he should be. At the start of the season, Martin publicly criticised some members of the team after the opening game at Motherwell and striker Hamza Igamane refused to come off the bench against St Mirren at the weekend saying that he was injured. The Moroccan is subsequently off to Lille which you suspect was part of the plan. Rangers new owners have put a lot of faith in Martin but he’s struggling to convince anyone that he is up to the task. If things go badly in this game there could be a vacancy at Ibrox. TD

Premier League: Liverpool v Arsenal

16.30 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
Last weekend’s matches for both of these sides were notable for the performances of two players in their mid-teens. Arsenal were already four goals up at home to Leeds when 15 year old Max Dowman was given his opportunity to shine. The youngster, just about to start Year 11 at school, impressed and won a penalty. Arne Slot’s decision to put on Rio Ngumoha against Newcastle on Monday night, was more of a “Hail Mary” play. The 16 year old grabbed the winner and the headlines with his goal in the 10th minute of injury time, digging his side out of the same hole they were in in their opening fixture against Bournemouth. Including the Community Shield, Liverpool have given up a lead four times in just three games this season. It’s a habit Slot’s side are going to need to break quickly and one that won’t be magically solved by signing Alexander Isak. Injury issues will be a concern for Arsenal with Bukayo Saka almost certainly unavailable and Martin Odergaard doubtful. Last season, missing those two would have see the Gunners struggle against most opposition but now there is a feeling that the strengthening of the squad over the summer has given Arteta’s side much more resilience. Having completed his move from Crystal Palace, Eberechi Eze is almost certain to start whether or not Odergaard is available. Last season the title was effectively decided in the opening weeks of the season but it’s unlikely to be so straightforward this campaign. Both sides have a lot to prove to here. GS

Serie A: Inter v Udinese

19.45 on TNT Sports 1 and DAZN
A statement 5-0 win over Torino in the opening weekend will have done a lot to assure Inter fans (for now at least) that Cristian Chivu was the right choice to take over as head coach. After missing out on retaining the title by one point and then suffering a crushing defeat to PSG in the Champions League final, Simone Inzaghi ended his four years in charge to take up a head coach role in the Saudi Pro League. Chivu is a former Inter player, part of the 2009/10 treble winning team, but his only previous managerial experience was with Parma in the latter stages of last season. The three wins (and perhaps more importantly only three defeats) in thirteen games was enough to keep Parma in the top flight but hardly suggested that the Romanian was the right man for such a high profile job. He has another opportunity here to prove himself with another confidence boosting win. Udinese are in their 30th consecutive season in Serie A, opening with a predictable 1-1 draw at home to Verona. The side from the far north-east of Italy were regular qualifiers for the lower European competition from the late 1990s but for the last 12 seasons have been unable to finish a campaign in the top half; though in that time they’ve rarely been in danger of going down. They stay in the top division largely on the strength of making life tough for clubs coming up but without causing too many problems to those destined to finish in the top places. If they can snatch a draw here it would be a significant result for both sides. 18 year old midfielder Lennon Miller, already a full international for Scotland, could make his debut for Udinese having signed from Motherwell for £4.7 million. GS


Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry and Gary