Weekend Boxset: Free Millwall, twice

September 18, 2026

Weekend Boxset: Free Millwall, twice

An extended international break means this is the last league action for three weeks.

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: Brentford v Chelsea

20.00 on Sky Sports Premier League, Main Event & Ultra
After a transfer window of incredibly good deals, Chelsea are now set to do some similarly money-spinning deals in their own boardroom. Under financial and legal pressures from their other business interests, Ted Boehly and Mark Walter are selling their stakes in the club to majority owner Clearlake, for a handsome profit on their initial investment. How this all actually works for a club without European competition this season and creaking under a mountain of debt is probably something an accountant might be able answer. I’m sure it’s all above board and fans needn’t worry about the future of their club. On the pitch things are still as chaotic as ever. Xabi Alonso’s side have conceded at least two goals in every game so far, and any positives they took from pushing Arsenal close were lost last weekend having to come from behind to get a point against a newly promoted side at home. Brentford have a solid enough start but like a few clubs in the mid-table will feel they are drawing too many games. Short odds on yet another 2-2 here, you suspect. GS

Saturday

Championship: Millwall v West Ham United

12.30 on ITV1, STV, ITVX and Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
One of London’s longest standing derbies resumes for the first time since both teams were last in the Championship back in 2012; West Ham beat Millwall at Upton Park 2-1. Both clubs hail from London’s East End but moved further east in West Ham’s case and south in Millwall’s. Despite the location shift and lack of competitive encounters down the years, these two have a fierce rivalry which has drifted into popular culture in the shape of the early hooligan films. In the past this derby has suffered great violence and even death. In this more genial age, there is no equivalent of the ICF and the Bushwackers. Nevertheless, with its potential for trouble, the police will be on high alert, and it’s a brave decision to put this game on ITV. West Ham make the short distance from Stratford to Bermondsey as table toppers. Their slow start to the season looked likely to send the club into a trauma spiral but the nerves settled and after their 6-0 trouncing of Wrexham they look good for a swift return to the Premier League. Millwall ultimately disappointed in the Championship play-off and had an unsteady start to this campaign. Despite that, they remain only four points behind their guests — it could have been two had they not blown a two-goal lead at Middlesbrough on Tuesday and settle for a point. TD

Alternative viewing: As mentioned on the podcast, in a very rare event for UK viewers there’s a choice of free-to-air football this Saturday lunchtime with BBC1 showing another London derby, the WSL clash Charlton Athletic v London City Lionesses. LCL were, of course, previously known as Millwall Lionesses.

Bundesliga: Stuttgart v Borussia Dortmund

17.30 on Sky Sports Football
Despite my early season pessimism it’s been a decent start for Dortmund, admittedly with the season barely out of its nappies. The refreshed squad showed a lot of promise, especially the two Greek lads Karetsas and Konstantelias who brought some energy and no small amount of talent to the midfield. Sadly, Konstantelias tore his ACL in his first league appearance against Hamburg, a game Dortmund went on to win 2-0. The Black & Yellows have pressed on since then with a comeback 3-2 win at Hoffenheim and a 3-0 victory over Paderborn, a game that saw the welcome return of Nico Schlotterbeck from injury. Only Freiburg are keeping them from the top spot on goal difference. On paper, Stuttgart represent Borussia’s strongest opponents so far. But the Swabians have just a single win so far, 4-1 against Koln. Their latest defeat was particularly irksome for the fans as it was against Hoffenheim, a derby that is not a derby — Stuttgart fans find Hoffenheim embarrassing neighbours and are not likely to legitimise Hoff’s existence for at least one hundred years. There’s pressure on Dzenan Pejcinovic, the 21-year-old striker who joined in the summer from Wolfsburg and has led the line in league and cup so far this season. The young German scored sixteen goals in a poor side and will be anxious to get off the mark for his new club. TD

La Liga: Sevilla v Barcelona

20.00 on Disney Plus
Can anyone stop Barcelona right now? The Catalans don’t appear to be missing the goals of Robert Lewandowski; they have a 100% start to the season, scoring 28 goals in just six league games and putting five past Feyenoord in their Champions League opener. Last weekend they tore apart newly promoted Racing Santander 7-2, setting a Spanish league record for xG with 6.74. That number was helped by the awarding of three penalties (of which two were scored). Raphina leads the way with eleven goals already (nine in the league — as many as Sevilla have in total). Lamine Yamal is not far behind with eight. The two previous seasons have seen the Blaugrana start in financial disarray, with new signings struggling to get approved by the league. Under-pressure club president Joan Laporta has been flipping his financial “levers” to bring the club back from the brink of bankruptcy, and it appears, for now at least, to be working. Barcelona are still in a mountain of debt, but at least now they have found a way to manage that and still remain active in the transfer market. Sevilla’s promising start to the campaign continues, last weekend they ended Deportivo’s unbeaten run. Breakthrough player Miguel Sierra was involved in both the key incidents of the match; he scored the only goal and shortly after was the victim of the foul that saw Deportivo reduced to ten for the last half hour. GS

Sunday

Scottish Premiership: Celtic v Rangers

12.00 on Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
The league table will tell you that Celtic are 100% from six games and already have a five point lead over their Old Firm rivals. But after the last week the home fans will feel justifiably nervous going into this derby. Last Sunday’s League Cup quarter final between these sides at Ibrox was a statement victory for Rangers, who thumped their city rivals 3-0. That defeat for Celtic was followed on Thursday by a 3-1 loss at home to Ferencvaros in the Europa League. The manner of those defeats, together with the 4-1 loss to LASK which eliminated them from the Champions League, have highlighted a concerning frailty in defence against quality opposition. Rangers meanwhile look to be back to their best on a run of five straight wins after a forgettable August that saw them drop points in their opening two league games and fall out of two European competitions. Standing in as captain for the injured Lawrence Shankland, Dan Neil, who signed from Sunderland in the summer, was the star of the quarter final win, scoring twice from the edge of the area. GS

Premier League: Bournemouth v Liverpool

14.00 on Sky Sports Main Event & Ultra
It’s been a mixed start to his first season in English football for former Dortmund and Leipzig head coach, Marco Rose. A perhaps inevitable opening day defeat at the Etihad, despite taking an early lead, was followed by score draws against Everton, Newcastle and Brentford. What was encouraging was the commanding performance against Championship side, Lincoln, in the League Cup and an impressive away win at Real Sociedad in the Europa League in midweek. Encouraging enough, but it is a real challenge to fill the shoes of Andoni Iraola who Rose faces tonight. Iraola made the Cherries a real force in the English top flight, finishing his time on the south coast with an incredible eighteen-match unbeaten run, ultimately leaving them in sixth place with European football to look forward to. If his decision to leave behind such success with Bournemouth showed real confidence, the choice of Liverpool as his next challenge demonstrated undeniable self-belief. Linked with a choice of positions in England, Italy and Germany, Iraola opted to take the role left vacant by the departure of Arne Slot. Slot, despite winning the Premier League title in his first season, failed to repeat the same success in his second term and was sacked, in short, for not being Jürgen Klopp. The more observant among you will notice that Andoni Iraola is also not Jürgen Klopp, so who knows where this will end. While still in the warm glow of the honeymoon period, Liverpool’s relatively slow domestic start isn’t raising too many eyebrows. Despite having to come from behind twice to draw with the (dirty) Mags and Forest, they did sweep aside Ipswich with Alexander Isak looking like his sharp old self with a couple of goals. They also piled further misery onto Tottenham midweek in the League Cup, which is always a welcome outcome. It’s probably going to be a draw, isn’t it? I said that on the podcast earlier in the week, so I’ll stick with that. Maybe a couple of goals apiece. JB

Serie A: Juventus v Atalanta

17.00 on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max and DAZN
It’s already shaping up to be another chaotic season in Serie A. After good starts these two teams find themselves looking to get back on track after dropping points in the last two rounds, losing in games with sensational turnarounds. Last weekend’s trip to Sassuolo saw Juve equalise twice late on (82 and 90+1) only to concede again in the fourth minute of injury time. The week before saw Atalanta lose to Roma having led up to the 89th minute. Juventus had a confidence boosting win in the Europa League in midweek, with on-loan Nick Woltemade getting his first goal for the club from the penalty spot in a 5-0 win over Dutch side NEC. GS

Whatever you watch, have a great weekend. The Boxset will return on 9 October, after the international break.

Graham, Terry and Jan