What Matches to Watch this Week (August 23–26, 2024)
The Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A are a week into their calendars while Bundesliga completes the Fantastic Four by kicking off this weekend. This series aims to inform soccer fans where they can watch some of the most intriguing matchups on offer.
While this series will focus on the top flights of England, Germany, Italy, and Spain as they are the most accessible through a combination of common cable channels and streaming services, such services also carry matches from cup competitions, European competitions, lower divisions, and other peripheral leagues (such as Eredivisie on ESPN+). Therefore, some of those matches may make the article.
Since I am US-based, I will also include domestic matches and streaming/time zone information relevant to US-based readers. If you are reading this from another country, you may need to do additional digging to find matches.
Lastly, while I have my preferences for which clubs and players I support, I will do my best to include a variety of clubs, leagues, and reasons for inclusion.
If you appreciate this kind of content, be sure to support me on Medium as well as on Twitter (X) @IvanOrnelas2 and Instagram ivanthewriter95.
How my recommendations went last week
The Good
DFB Pokal: Hallescher FC 2–3 AET FC St. Pauli: Whenever a lower division club punches above their weight, it’s a cup match worth watching. It took extra time for St. Pauli to prevail.
Celta Vigo 2–1 Deportivo Alaves: Celta Vigo overcame their first goal being called off by VAR (offside) to come back from 1–0 down to win their opening fixture.
Manchester United 1–0 Fulham: Fulham had a few threatening moments, but it was a matter of how many chances did Manchester United need to score? Joshua Zirzkee sealed the 3 points at Old Trafford off the bench.
Ipswich Town 0–2 Liverpool: Ipswich showed some fight while Liverpool’s stars Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah got the visitors the victory.
EFL Championship: Sheffield United 2–2 Queens Park Rangers: QPR came back from 2–0 down and overcame a Jack Colback red card to take a point at Bramall Lane.
Genoa 2–2 Inter: Genoa stunned Inter’s debut in their title defense campaign. Marcus Thuram scored a brace but the former AC Milan man Junior Messias got the late equalizer.
Rowdies 0–2 Loudoun: Blake Bodily’s poor decision-making got himself sent off, opening the door for Loudoun to seal an important victory for their playoff ambitions. A satisfying upset for USL Championship fans to enjoy.
Mallorca 1–1 Real Madrid: Real Madrid opened the scoring within 15 minutes, but Mallorca responded in the second half. Plenty of drama as Mallorca missed some counterattack chances, they narrowly avoided a handball penalty, and Ferland Mendy got a late red card for a challenge on Vedat Muriqi who won man of the match honors.
The Bad
DFB Pokal: Hansa Rostock 1–4 Hertha Berlin: Even when Hertha’s backup goalkeeper spotted the underdogs a goal, it was not enough.
Chelsea 0–2 Manchester City: The Premier League isn’t beating the new Bundesliga allegations with this result.
Lecce 0–4 Atalanta: Atalanta has unearthed another gem in 24-year-old Marco Brescianini with a brace, but this game was largely uncompetitive.
The Mixed Bag
Valencia 1–2 Barcelona: The momentum shifted with Lewandowski scoring a 45+5’ minute pen. Felt a bit dodgy but that’s a solid away win.
Leagues Cup: Colorado Rapids 0–0 America (Colorado advance on pens): As wild as it is for Steffen to score the winning penalty, it was the third penalty shootout out of four quarterfinals on the day. Penalty shootout fatigue is real.
Bologna 1–1 Udinese: Continuing a weekend of draws for the Serie A campaign opener (until Napoli surprisingly lost 3–0 to Hellas Verona).
Villarreal 2–2 Atlético Madrid: A tale of two halves from a viewers’ perspective. Four goals evenly split in the first half but the main thing of note in the second half was Julian Alvarez made his Atlético debut.
Half of the games were fun to watch and only three were disappointments. I’ll take it, but let me know if you agree with my assessment. Now onto the week ahead!
Friday, August 23
11:30 am P/2:30 pm E Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen ESPN2/ESPN+
The Bundesliga is the last of the top four European leagues to kick off their 24/25 campaign, and what better way to start proceedings than with the defending champions? Bayer Leverkusen stunned everyone by not only winning the league but doing so undefeated across 34 games. So far they’ve kept all their best players such as Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba, Patrick Schick, and Granit Xhaka. That’s a recipe for repeat success. Can Florian Neuhaus’s Monchengladbach spring the upset? It’ll be a challenge, but one the hosts can rise to.
Saturday, August 24
4:30 am P/7:30 am E Brighton vs Manchester United Peacock
Brighton looked the more impressive of these two going by their week 1 performances. Alan Shearer had nothing but praise for Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh. Meanwhile, Manchester United lived life on the edge against Fulham but still got some encouraging performances off the bench from Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho, and some strong defense from Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire. It’s always tougher to win on the road so let’s see what you’ve got!
6:30 am P/9:30 am E Freiburg vs Stuttgart ESPN+
Stuttgart impressed a lot of people with their showing in the German Super Cup against Bayer Leverkusen. 42 year old manager Sebastian Hoeness is one to watch as he’s gotten the most of his players in the 23–24 season where they qualified for the Champions League. While losing Mahmoud Dahoud, returned to Brighton after loan expired), Waldemar Anton, and Serhou Guirassy (both sold to Dortmund) hurts, Stuttgart retained Deniz Undav making his loan permanent and have other exciting players such as Enzo Millot. Their match in northern Germany against Roland Sallai’s Freiburg, a Europa League club next season, will be one to watch.
9:30 am P/12:30 pm E Aston Villa vs Arsenal Telemundo/USA
A showdown between two Champions League clubs that won last week by putting two goals past their opponents (West Ham and Wolves) respectively. The best component of this fixture is the Unai Emery situation. His time at Arsenal was viewed as a disaster, but he’s turned his career around by turning Aston Villa around. With players like Bukayo Saka and Ollie Watkins capable of scoring great goals, a similarly solid pair of goalkeepers in David Raya and Emi Martinez will have a busy evening.
12:30 pm P/3:30 pm E Espanyol vs Real Sociedad ESPN+
The forgotten Barcelona-based club Espanyol is back in the big time, but that means facing a big-time opponent in the form of Real Sociedad. Espanyol opened their campaign with a 1–0 loss to Real Valladolid and Real Sociedad look to bounce back after a shock 2–1 loss to Rayo Vallecano. Manager Imanol Alguacil has done a terrific job turning Real Sociedad into a Champions League league level club last season, although they’ll be in the Europa League this time around. Real Sociedad player Mikel Merino’s move to Arsenal has dragged on a bit, but even if he’s London bound before this fixture, the likes of Mikel Oyarzabal are ready to go to take on Espanyol.
4:30 pm P/7:30 pm E Charlotte FC vs New York Red Bulls Apple TV MLS Season Pass
The top four teams in each conference host a first round playoff matchup, and New York Red Bulls in 4th have to beat 6th place Charlotte FC not only to fend them off but to keep 5th place rivals New York City at bay too. New York Red Bulls feature some interesting players such as Scotland international Lewis Morgan and Paraguay international Carlos Coronel. Charlotte FC are currently enjoying their best season of their short existence thanks in large part to the emergence of Patrick Agyemang.
7 pm P/10 pm E Oakland Roots vs Memphis 901 Paramount+
I will be at this game in person, but you need more reasoning than that. Oakland Roots made a midseason coaching change from Noah Delgado to Gavin Glinton and they’ve become a team reborn. Mainstay Johnny Rodriguez has continued to pour in the goals and they remain in 4th place, which would put them in position to host a playoff game for the first time in their USL Championship history. 3rd place Memphis 901 are no slouches though, coming off of a 2–0 win over FC Tulsa through Bruno Lapa and Samuel Careaga goals.
Sunday, August 25
6 am P/9 am E Bournemouth vs Newcastle United Peacock
Andoni Iraola vs Eddie Howe is a strong managerial battle that flanks the hidden bounty of talented players both sides offer. Newcastle’s talented players are comparably less hidden of course, as is expected when you have a Brazil international like Bruno Guimaraes. Normally the regression of Kieran Trippier would be tough to overcome, but Tino Livramento looks like a great option to fill that gap. On the Cherries’ side, Ghana international Antoine Semenyo rescued a point on the road against Nottingham Forest. Both clubs have ambitions to finish in the top half on the table at a minimum.
7 am P/10 am E Swansea City vs Cardiff City Paramount+
There are EFL Championship fixtures this week that feature stronger clubs, but the Welsh derby deserves attention. While this matchup was shortlived in the Premier League, the two biggest clubs in Wales have become familiar foes at the Championship level. The Swans’ Ben Cabango, Joe Allen, and Liam Cullen and the Bluebirds’ Aaron Ramsey, Kieron Evans, Rubin Colwill, and Tom Davies feature Welsh talent past, present, and future.
9:30 am P/12:30 pm E Fiorentina vs Venezia Paramount+
Fiorentina are a strong enough club to give even the best Serie A sides headaches and to make deep runs in the Europa or Conference League (although they keep coming up short). Reduced to 10 players, Fiorentina held on to a 1–1 draw away to Parma. Venezia on the other hand had a tough opening fixture losing 3–1 to Lazio in the Italian capital. Venezia will lean on veteran players with Serie A experience like Alfred Duncan to steady the ship, and hopefully get something out of another tough encounter featuring I Viola’s Christian Kouame.
12:30 pm P/3:30 pm E Atlético Madrid vs Girona ESPN+
Rounding out the Top Four La Liga quartet along with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, both Diego Simeone and Michel will look to make a statement in this fixture. Atlético drew 2–2 to Villarreal and Girona drew 1–1 to Real Betis last week, adding to the urgency to get a win and build another Champions League quality season early doors.
Monday, August 26
9:30 am P/12:30 pm E Cagliari vs Como Paramount+
Como is back in Serie A after 21 years! This is the first side midfield maestro Cesc Fàbregas has managed but his reputation has helped in recruiting players such as Andrea Belotti from Roma, Pepe Reina from Villarreal, and Raphael Varane from Manchester United. We’ll see what Como is made of in an evenly matched fixture on paper, as host Cagliari finished 16th last season. Some of Cagliari’s most interesting players include Razvan Marin, Jakub Jankto, and Yerry Mina.
12:30 pm P/3:30 pm E Villarreal vs Celta Vigo ESPN+
Two sneaky good La Liga sides coming head to head here to wrap up this round of fixtures. If Villarreal can recapture that attacking edge from their first-half performance against Atlético Madrid, they’ll be in business. Do not underestimate Celta Vigo though as they have some momentum after taking down Alaves.
Bonus: US Open Cup semifinals Apple TV MLS Season Pass (Free Option)
Tuesday, August 27
5 pm P/8 pm E Sporting Kansas City vs Indy Eleven
Wednesday, August 28
7:30 pm P/10:30 pm E Seattle Sounders vs LAFC
The US Open Cup’s importance to American soccer cannot be understated, even if most MLS clubs and commissioner Don Garber don’t feel that way. While Sporting Kansas City, Seattle Sounders, and LAFC were among those MLS sides that honored this competition by using their full rosters, it means just as much for Indy Eleven. Neutrals nationwide will be honorary Indy fans on Tuesday night to echo the Sacramento Republic reaching the final two years ago. Unlike Major League Soccer matches, US Soccer’s Website confirmed that these matches are free to watch without purchasing MLS Season Pass.
Which of these matches are you most looking forward to and why? Or are you most looking forward to a matchup I left off the list? Either way, let me know on social media or in the comments below! Thank you for reading.
