Weekend Boxset: First blood

By Graham Sibley March 20, 2026

Weekend Boxset: First blood

It's all getting tense isn't it - good job we have internationals coming up to give us all a breather.

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: RB Leipzig v Hoffenheim

19.30 on BBC iPlayer
Third meets fifth in this unofficial Champions League play-off. Hoffenheim make unlikely contenders for a European slot and have not been to the big show since the 2018/19 season under Julian Nagelsmann. There are two survivors from those heady days: goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and midfielder Andrej Kramarić who at 34 is still banging them in with ten goals and five assists in what has been a surprisingly successful season thus far. Back in October 24 there was a management coup at the top of the club and TSG have renewed purpose under coach Christian Ilzer. The squad is a collection of 7/10 players who are well-drilled. In addition to Kramarić the team benefits from a front three of Bazoumana Toure, Fisnik Asllani and Alexander Prass. But their success this season is better characterised by full back Vladimir Coufal who plodded the touchline at West Ham for five seasons before arriving at Hoffenheim in the summer and laying on six assists and a goal. Form has dropped slightly in recent games; dropping points to relegation threatened teams, Wolfsburg, St Pauli and Koln so they need a chunky three points off a rival to restore the momentum. For Leipzig this is the second of a double-header against the teams directly above them. Last week they missed the chance to draw level on points with Stuttgart, losing by a goal to nil. History is on their side. Hoffenheim have not won at Leipzig since the days of Nagelsmann in 2018. TD

Saturday

Bonus viewing: The final of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup is Japan v Australia. Having cruised through the tournament scoring 28 goals in five games, Japan are strong favourites against the hosts who have had to work harder to get here. You can see all the action on the AFC Asian Cup YouTube channel or on OneFootball from 09.00.

Championship: Ipswich Town v Millwall

12.30 on ITV4, ITVX and Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
Memories of season 88/89 are usually dominated by Michael Thomas’ last minute title-winning goal for Arsenal at Anfield, but that season also saw Millwall’s first of only two ever seasons in the top flight. Goals from Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham took the Lions to the top of the table in early stages of that season and a top half finish. They finished bottom the following season. Cascarino left for Villa but Sheringham stuck around for a season in the Second Division before joining Brain Clough’s Forest. This season could see them return to the top flight, as they hunt down Middlesbrough, who currently occupy the second automatic promotion spot, two points better off. Also in the chase are Ipswich, who are ahead of Millwall on goal difference. The twists in the race for promotion are unlikely to be resolved here as both sides will play Middlesbrough in the run-in, with Millwall facing them in their next match, following the international break. GS

Premier League: Everton v Chelsea

17.30 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
This is one of those fixtures that makes you do a double-take on the league table. Are these two teams really that close? Everton have almost slotted back into where they often ended up in Moyes era 1. Type Toffees have been quietly efficient under their returning Moyesiah to the point of previous season struggles have been forgotten and Europe isn’t out of the question. It’s still hard to know what to make of Chelsea under Leroy Rosenior, whose press conference increasingly resemble a 2000 word LinkedIn post. When they click, they click. When they don’t, they really don’t. And yet, another shock, Chelsea have been better on the road than at home. This will be a tough fixture for the Blues, but Everton are a still adjusting to their new stadium. If LinkedIn Leroy can catch the Merseysiders on an off day, then that will go a long way to a Champions League spot. It’s hard to read this one, which means it could be one of the most compelling (or worst) fixtures of the weekend. Expect a humblebrag from Leroy if his side return to London with three points. GA

Premier League: Leeds United v Brentford

20.00 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
After the midweek results in Europe, fifth in the Premier League is almost assured as a Champions League place (a matter that will be officially confirmed if Arsenal or Forest get past their Portugese opposition in the next round). With Chelsea, Liverpool and Villa all struggling for form, a top five finish is certainly not beyond the reach of Brentford, especially as they seem to have worked out a way to win away from home. A winless run for Leeds has seen them fall back into the relegation scrap but that run has seen them perform well against three top six sides, lose narrowly to Sunderland, and earn a point against Palace while playing half the game with ten men. It shows that this Leeds side has the resilience to cope with a relegation scrap, and you feel they will find a way to escape it before they face West Ham on the final day of the season at home. With this weekend’s main focus of the relegation fight coming tomorrow, a win for Daniel Farke’s side would put breathing space between themselves and sides hovering around the dotted line. GS

Sunday

Premier League: Newcastle United v Sunderland

12.00 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
Here’s one for you. Would you rather play a side on a decent run of form, or a face one that was soundly beaten 7 (SEVEN) - 2 just a few days before? Personally, I’d take the former every time, but here we are on the eve of the 159th Tyne Wear derby with the (dirty) Mags licking their wounds having been soundly thrashed in Barcelona midweek. Yes, yes, I hear you say. Surely, the pressure is on that lot up the road to show that the carnage in Cataluña was a one off, and who’d want to do that in, arguably, the biggest derby in English football. That’s all very well, but, as has been thoroughly documented in recent weeks, my anxiety knows no bounds when it comes to my home-town club. Relegation angst gave way to, as it turned out, completely justifiable, FA Cup banana-skin collywobbles, and now derby day Toon doom is preoccupying my every waking moment and will continue to do so until two o’clock on Sunday. To be fair, both sides went into the reverse fixture back in December in patch-work form with the only highlight of a forgettable game being Nick Woltemade’s spectacular own goal, allowing the home side to pull level with the (dirty) Mags on 54 wins in this fixture. On paper, there’s not a great deal to play for with both clubs safe from relegation and unlikely to qualify for Europe. Of course, we all know that none of that matters when it comes to this fixture. Lock up your horses — it’s the North East derby! JB

Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest

14.15 on Sky Sports Main Event & Ultra Relegation six pointer? Not what you’d have expected at the start of the season, partly based on Forest’s form last season and the fact that Spurs, well, couldn’t be any worse than last season in the league. Wrong and wrong. Both sides are looking to all the world like Championship teams right now and this fixture will have a large say in which one goes down, along with West Ham’s form. Spurs have been showing a little bit of fight in recent weeks as Igor Tudor has, if not turned things around, at least been able to move the gear stick out of reverse. But then is a draw against Liverpool and a fightback in a cup tie that was all but over really going to indicate they can stay up. Tudor has wisely been a little less of antagonistic pound shop Mourinho, which can only help. But this fixture has all the feeling of watching an avoidable car crash in slow motion. Unpleasant but you can’t take your eyes off it. GA

EFL Cup Final: Arsenal v Manchester City

16.30 on ITV1, STV, ITVX, Sky One and Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra Before this week, there was still the possibility of four huge showdowns between these two side before the season end, as both sides chased silverware on four fronts. City had a bounce after a busy winter transfer window but the last couple of weeks have seen them slip back to the kind of form that saw them drop six points in a week at the start of the year, allowing Arsenal to regain their clear advantage in the Premier League table. Then this week City exited the Champions League, winning their return fixture against Real Madrid but unable to overcome the three goal deficit from the first leg. Their task was made even harder after Bernardo Silva’s red card. In constrast, Arsenal’s build up to this match has been almost serene, comfortably navigating their tie against Leverkusen with spectacular goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice. After this season’s rule change, Antoine Semenyo is available for City despite playing in Bournemouth’s defeat to Brentford in the earlier rounds. However Marc Guehi is not available having signed after the semi-final first leg. They’ll probably change that rule next season. Who does this mean more to? This could be City’s best chance of getting any silverware this season, would Pep hang around after a second consecutive trophyless season? For Arsenal, actually winning trophies has to start somewhere and it has to start here if they want to keep the momentum and belief for the remainder of the season. GS

Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary