Weekend Boxset: Make mother's day

By Graham Sibley March 13, 2026

Weekend Boxset: Make mother's day

The title race, the relegation dogfight and the scrap for Europe — makes for a prefect Mother's Day.

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 : Borussia Mönchengladbach v St Pauli

19.30 on BBC iPlayer
With only one point separating Mönchengladbach in twelfth and St Pauli in sixteenth, the relegation battle is hotting up. Currently St Pauli are in the relegation play-off spot with a four-point gap between them and Wolfsburg. Only bottom of the table Heidenheim are certain to be relegated, barring a miracle. So, this is a real six pointer which, based on form, St Pauli are better placed to win. After a winless run of six games in January, the Kiezkicker have improved massively in February with three wins from their last five. The scale of the achievement is even more impressive given the quality of their opponents: a 2-1 win against Stuttgart and 1-0 at Hoffenheim. Last weekend they were able to keep Eintracht Frankfurt off the scoreboard with a goalless draw at the Millerntor. St Pauli’s good form can be put down to the return of their captain Jackson Irvine. Their latest run of form coincides with the Australian midfielders return from injury. ‘Gladbach’s 4-1 defeat at Bayern was expected given the form of either side. There were however ups and downs for the away team: club captain Rocco Reitz was given his marching orders in the second half after conceding a penalty and a DOGSO so he’ll be absent for this game. But 17-year-old Wael Mohya, making only his second Bundesliga appearance scored Borussia’s consolation goal and in so doing became the club’s youngest player to score for the club. I’m sure we’re all looking forward to watching him playing for Fulham in three years’ time. TD

Saturday

Championship : Coventry City v Southampton

12.30 on Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
After Coventry’s thoroughly convincing win over Preston on Wednesday, the long-awaited return to the Premier League for the Sky Blues is now surely a question of when rather than if. The post-match scenes at the CBS Arena as the players and fans celebrated together were that of a club preparing for better things. Not a sense of expectation but rock-solid belief. Given what the club has endured over the years it is hard not to be happy for them. Soon there will be new questions about players like Hadji Wright, Matt Grimes, and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto; will they be up to the challenge in the top flight, and will they even stay? Will their impressive goalkeeper Carl Butterworth be allowed to develop at Cov or will he go back to his parent club, Brighton? Will Frank Lampard be tempted away by a middle-class club looking for a new coach? Coventry fans should enjoy the moment before those questions and more start to preoccupy their thoughts as the summer approaches. While Coventry were romping to victory, Southampton were labouring against an out of form West Brom side until an injury time towering header from Cyle Larin rescued a point to extend their unbeaten run to eleven matches, which has lifted them to seventh place. Southampton have greatly improved under coach Tonda Eckert since he replaced Will Still in November. This was underlined by an impressive FA Cup win against Fulham. However, they have more tough fixtures to come against resurgent Norwich and Oxford before they play host to Arsenal in the Cup, so they need every point if they’re to get within striking distance of Wrexham whom they play only a few days later. TD

Premier League: Arsenal v Everton

17.30 on Sky Sports Main Event & Ultra
Attacking trophies on four fronts isn’t easy, especially when you haven’t won anything in the last five seasons. For Arsenal, the grind goes on, and the wear and tear of a relentless season is starting to show. The Gunners laboured in Germany in midweek but, on a poor couple of nights for English clubs hopes, their 1-1 draw at Leverkusen was probably the best result achieved by the six Premier League sides in the round of 16 first legs. Captain of the night, Bukayo Saka looked tired, losing possession 14 times during the hour he played before being subbed off. Despite the poor week in Europe for English clubs, it looks like they may have already done enough to earn an extra Champions League place next season. Which is good news for sides within reach of fifth place, like Everton. For the Toffees, all levels of Europe are within reach but it will be the upcoming run of games that will go a long way to decide which competition they are in, if at all. Their next three fixtures see them face the teams immediately above them in the table. They will first host Chelsea, then return to the capital to face Brentford before their first Merseyside derby at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. But it’s away from their new home where Everton are picking up more points this season If they take points off Arsenal today, all focus regarding the title race then shifts a few miles east… GS

Premier League: West Ham United v Manchester City

20.00 on TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate
For teams in a relegation scrap, the January transfer window is often the last throw of the dice to make significant changes. Usually this involves bringing someone in but for West Ham it looks more about getting someone out. Since ridding themselves of Lucas Paquetá, the Hammers’ fortunes have been transformed. They have amassed as many points in the last eight games (14) without the mercurial Brazilian as they did in the first 21 games of the season. They have gone from seven points short of safety to now being in the drop-zone only on goal difference. Crysencio Summerville has emerged as a star; showing the kind of form that grabbed everyone’s attention when he was at Leeds. If Arsenal are showing signs of wear, so too are City. Losing a lead twice to Forest at home last weekend was followed by a humbling defeat to a Real Madrid side without Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham. Fede Valverde’s superb first-half hat-trick could have been added to but Donnaruma stopped Vini Jr’s weak penalty. As it is a three goal margin is just enough to keep them in the tie for the second leg on Tuesday. How much will the top two have left in the tank when they meet at Wembley next weekend for the League Cup final? GS

Sunday

Women’s League Cup Final: Chelsea v Manchester United

14.15 on BBC One & iPlayer, Sky One and Sky Sports Mix & Plus
The growth of the women’s game is not without casualties. The expansion of the WSL from next season and the already expanded Champions League sees the competition designed to fill the gaps in the schedule being squeezed out. This will be the last Women’s League Cup final. From next season, the teams in the Champions League will not take part, leaving the remaining clubs with a competition more akin to the Full Members Cup of the men’s game in the years before the Premier League. But with a “Swiss model” league phase. You only have to look at the red half of this fixture to see the demands on the top teams: this season, Manchester United’s women will play more games than their men — which is particularly impressive when you consider that their league season is 16 games shorter than that of Ratcliffe’s “first team”. This final is a tricky one to call: Chelsea have the track record of success but have recently shown fragility against quality sides. They also had the edge in these sides’ FA Cup meeting last month; Naomi Girma grabbing the winner in extra time at Kingsmeadow. The ongoing Asian Cup means that Chelsea are without Sam Kerr and Ellie Carpenter while United are missing Hinata Miyazawa. GS

Premier League: Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur

16.30 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
Relegation threatened Tottenham. Not words the White Hart Lane faithful would have expected or wanted to hear. But, such is the threat, Spurs have even postponed season ticket renewals until they know what division they’ll be playing in. Igor Tudor already looks hopelessly out of depth in the dugout and given his treatment of rookie keeper Antonin Kinsky midweek, it’s not improbable to suggest the Croatian has already lost the dressing room. Of course Spurs’ problems run deeper than just the manager and this is not a fixture anyone in Lilywhite will be relishing. Liverpool are still inconsistent and capable of losing to Wolves, although the basement team have started to show a lot more fight in recent weeks and are in the type of form that Spurs are not. Even a point at Anfield would represent some kind of miracle for Tudor’s team, and it’s hard to see where their next win will come from. Understandable if a lot of Spurs fans choose to do something else for this one. GA

Serie A: Lazio v Milan

19.45 on TNT Sports 1 & DAZN
There was a point in the season where top teams would have worried about a trip to the Stadio Olympico but such has been the Roman team’s abysmal form that Milan are rightly favourites, and how. Confidence will be sky high after winning the Derby di Milano and cutting Inter’s lead to seven points. That’s still a significant gap but the derby win has given Milan a sniff of overhauling their city rivals for the Scudetto. Massimilano Allegri’s team will have to win every match to keep the pressure on — cue the every match is a cup final cliché — but Inter are in the midst of a minor wobble so it’s not out of the question. More ominous for Maurizio Sarri’s side — and Inter — is that Milan’s away for is excellent. Given Lazio’s mid-season collapse, this has all the makings of a Milan win. Although as we said in last week’s Boxset, a loss here (combined with an Inter win against Atalanta) puts I Rossoneri largely out of the picture for the title. Both Milan teams will be worth watching for the next few weeks. GA

Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry and Gary