What Matches to Watch This Week: Friday, January 10 through Monday, January 13, 2025
Welcome back to the articles series where I help soccer/football (whatever you prefer!) fans decide which games to watch each weekend through the European season. We are back as La Liga and Bundesliga resume play on Friday, January 10th. While the time and broadcast information will be USA-based, I hope this series can still bring a small part of this global community together with their love of the beautiful game.
Before I get into this weekend’s recommendations, I will briefly recap how my recommendations in the last article before the winter break went. Since a few weeks have passed, I will not go into as much detail. Instead, this will be a quick sorting-hat style designation.
The Good
Saturday 12/21 Aston Villa 2–1 Manchester City
Saturday 12/21 Celta Vigo 2–0 Real Sociedad
Saturday 12/21 Barcelona 1–2 Atlético Madrid
Sunday 12/22 Venezia 2–1 Cagliari
Sunday 12/22 Real Betis 1–1 Rayo Vallecano
Monday 12/23 9:30 am Fiorentina 1–2 Udinese
Monday 12/23 11:45 am Inter 2–0 Como
The Mixed Bag
Sunday 12/22 Wolfsburg 1–3 Dortmund
The Dominant Performances
Friday 12/20 Bayern 5–1 Leipzig
Saturday 12/21 Bayer Leverkusen 5–1 Freiburg
All Hell Broke Loose
Sunday 12/22 Tottenham 3–6 Liverpool
This was a first half of the European season to remember, but now we move forward into 2025!
Friday, January 10th
11:30 am P/2:30 pm E: Dortmund (6th/25 pts) vs Leverkusen (2nd/32 pts) ESPN+
What’s worse than falling further behind Bayern Munich if you’re in the Dortmund camp? Being usurped as their biggest challenger thanks to the resurgence of Bayer Leverkusen. You’ve been demoted from Luigi to…Waluigi? Sure, let’s go with that. (Bet you were thinking Wario given the Yellow color). This game provides a massive opportunity for both of these big clubs to send a statement and it’s a great way to welcome the Bundesliga back from the winter break.
Saturday, January 11th
6 am P/9 am E: Udinese (9th/25 pts) vs Atalanta (2nd/41 pts) Paramount+
With all of the attention on Serie A’s top six sides and the likes of AC Milan and Roma on the outside looking in, Udinese are quietly putting together a solid season. While a European spot is not on the cards for them, they’ve still massively improved from their relegation battle the previous campaign. Their recent 2–0 win over Fiorentina right before Christmas is a warning shot to Atalanta looking to keep pace in their title challenge.
9 am P/12 pm E: Torino (11th/21 pts) vs Juventus (5th/32 pts) Paramount+
This matchup is known as the Derby Della Mole, named after the Mole Antonelliana, one of the most famous landmarks in Turin. Juventus have to be on alert as they let a lead slip against AC Milan in the SuperCoppa Italiana semifinals. While two draws in their last pair of games isn’t blazing form for Torino, it shows that they are hard to beat. 23-year-old midfielder Samuele Ricci is leading by example in the heart of the lineup, which justifies captain status for a young player.
12 pm P/3 pm E: Sevilla (14th/22 pts) vs Valencia (19th/12 pts) ESPN+
Sevilla are the middling student thankful for Valencia’s poor exam grades to bring up the curve, but make no mistake: these two La Liga staples are on the struggle bus. Valencia had a golden opportunity to turn their season around with Hugo Duro’s goal putting Real Madrid to the sword in the makeup game on January 2nd. Even with Vinicius Junior getting sent off at the 79th minute, Jude Bellingham and Luka Modric goals turned things around for Los Blancos and sunk Valencia once again. Good news for the visitors is that Sevilla got crushed 4–1 by Almeria in their last game in the Copa del Rey. Two desparate teams with some talented players that need to step up for their sides makes for an intriguing clash.
5 pm P/8 pm E: Chivas vs Santos Laguna Telemundo
The Clausura 2025 season kicks off this weekend and once again I ask: what Chivas side will turn up out of the gates this time around? Most Chivas sides since their last league title almost six years ago have been horribly inconsistent which often leads to them being a first-round exit come Liguilla time. Santos Laguna is a solid opponent and will make for a strong measuring stick going into this new campaign.
Sunday, January 12th
4 am P/7 pm E: Hull City (EFLC) vs Doncaster Rovers (EFL2) FA Cup ESPN+
The best way to appreciate the FA Cup in its earlier rounds (proper) is to watch a matchup between two non Premier League sides. While two divisions separate Hull City and Doncaster Rovers, Hull City’s had a difficult past few seasons on and off the pitch. Doncaster are currently 7th in League Two which is good enough for a promotion spot, which indicates they will have plenty of fight and desire throughout the second half of the season. While further progress in this competition can put a strain on a smaller squad, I’d love to see the upset and their adventure in this competition to continue.
7 am P/10 am E: Arsenal vs Manchester United FA Cup ESPN+
This should be Manchester United’s trophy opportunity swan song if the overall logic of the 2024–25 season prevails. However, United’s two best performances this season have been against Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal is of a similar mold to those two imposing sides (even if Manchester City have struggled immensely the last few months). Arsenal are still fighting on four fronts too, so there are a number of variables Mikel Arteta and Ruben Amorim will be juggling as the spotlight shines on these two clubs.
9 am P/12 pm E: Bologna (7th/28 pts) vs Roma (10th/23 pts) Paramount+
Bologna’s exploits last season rewarded them with a Champions League opportunity that proved too much for a young side that lost a few important pieces in the summer. That being, said, the players who remained and were brought in are showing a lot of quality, albeit inconsistently. Wins against Fiorentina and Torino were followed by a disappointing 3–2 loss to Hellas Verona. Bologna will remain favorites as they host Roma, although Claudio Rainieri guided the capital-based side to their biggest win of the season last time out. A 2–0 win against their cross-city rivals Lazio has to feel good, even if Lazio had them under siege for much of the match.
11:45 am P/2:45 pm E: Napoli (1st/44 pts) vs Hellas Verona (15th/19 pts) Paramount+
This is the only matchup at this time slot among the top four European leagues, but this might be a trickier game for Napoli than expected. Hellas Verona are starting to pick up points more regularly and look like a likely candidate to avoid the drop. Key reasons for that are Lorenzo Montipo’s strong form in net, most recently keeping a clean sheet at home vs Udinese despite Suat Serder’s sending off with 20 minutes to go. Keeping Florian Thauvin and Lorenzo Lucca at bay is no easy feat, but that challenge levels up with Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay, the latter in fine goalscoring form as well, joining the party. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will be a loss for the hosts as a muscle injury keeps him out for another week or two.
Monday, January 13th
12 pm P/3 pm E: Real Sociedad (7th/25 pts) vs Villarreal (5th/30 pts) ESPN+
This slate ends on a strong note as Real Sociedad and Villarreal play entertaining styles, have strong lineups throughout the pitch, and have ambitious for Europe. Imanol Alguacil and Marcelino have done a great job managing their respecting clubs and getting their players to play at high levels even among the giants of Spanish football. Mikel Oyarzabal leads his teammates with his quality as well as the captain’s armband, and on the other side you have Thierno Barry coming off of a hat trick and supported by the mesmerizing dribbler Alex Baena.
Here we go! From now until May, the footballing world is back in full force and there will be plenty of top quality games to enjoy! I hope you found this useful and look forward to more weekly recommendations!
