What to Watch this Week: Friday, March 7 through Monday, March 10, 2025
Friday, March 7 through Monday, March 10
February turns to March and the march to the end of the season ramps up! I’ll review my selections from the previous article and then provide some new options.
I will bring back the World Cup Stock Watch XI after the March International Break
Villarreal vs Espanyol postponed due to excessive rain
The Good
Sheffield Wednesday 1–2 Sunderland
The difference in expectations this season may be apparent, but both sides meet at a crossroads for what could define their endgame. However despite a promising start for the Owls, Sunderland broke through with the opening goal through Eliezer Mayenda around the half hour mark and Wednesday suffered an injury. A tough first half that played in favor of the promotion chaser.
They flipped it around in the second half with Svante Ingelsson serving a ball that was perfectly headed home by Callum Paterson. It looked like Wednesday were rising to the occasion. In the 70th minute, Sunderland echoed Wednesday’s move as Trai Hume found Eliezer Mayenda for a header to take the Black Cats up 2–1. Both sides had chances to twist the game again late on, especially in the seven minutes of added time where Chris Mepham blocked a shot that could’ve easily been the Wednesday equalizer and that helped seal the win.
Atlético Madrid 1–0 Athletic Bilbao
AC/DC played in the Wanda Metropolitano in what could be a crucial match for the La Liga title race. Both sides understood what’s at stake but also had to balance rotation: Atlético with the cup and UCL and Atlético with the Europa League. On a cold rainy night in Stoke, I mean Madrid, it had to be Julian Alvarez the goal scorer and Marcos Llorente the provider halfway through the second half. These two are emblematic of the success of Diego Simeone’s system and that was enough to get a much needed victory.
Napoli 1–1 Inter
Inter came into this game with more momentum and it showed when Federico Dimarco opened the scoring. It was a beautiful free kick goal and it takes that kind of quality to take down your title rivals. The chess match continued on from there, although Dimarco came off early in the second half due to an injury. That is a big loss because of how involved he is in every phase of the game for Inter. Napoli were the aggressors in the second half and got their reward with an equalizer. It looked like they were working up a late last chance to get all three points, but Inter defended valiantly. It’s only fitting that Inter and Napoli drew. Now with the runway shortening, which of these two talented clubs will take off with the Scudetto?
Newcastle 1–2 Brighton AET
The teams exchanged blows in the first half with both sides having an exciting player get on the score sheet. Granted, Alexander Isak was through the penalty spot. But João Pedro set up Yankuba Minteh right before the break that makes up for Minteh giving up the penalty. No such goal scoring luck in the first 35 mins of the first half. Still an open game with both sides trying to win before extra time. A rash decision by Anthony Gordon to put a hand on Jan Paul van Hacke when offside was called gets him sent off. Gordon might’ve doomed Newcastle here and he could decrease his chance at opportunities with England. Brighton didn’t have the numbers advantage for long as Tariq Lamptey picked up a second yellow. Fabian Schar’s would be winner of a set piece was ruled out for offside, so extra time ensured 10 vs 10. Danny Welbeck provided the winning goal late into the extra period, giving Brighton passage to the quarterfinals.
Mixed Bag
Preston North End 3–0 Burnley
No one saw this coming. Both of the times these two clubs met in the EFL Championship it ended in a draw. Milutin Osmaijic continues his great record in the FA Cup while the experienced Irishmen Robbie Brady and Will Keane who replaced the younger options Jayden Meghoma and Sam Greenwood also made the difference with their goals. Burnley rotated heavily, but you’d still expect the likes of Josh Brownhill, Jeremy Sarmiento, and Lyle Foster to perform better than they did.
Silver lining for Bengals fans: James Trafford wasn’t in goal, so his bet with JJ Watt is still on.
Bochum 0–1 Hoffenheim
Bochum looked to be building off of their draw against Wolfsburg and got off to a good start in this game, generating more chances than Hoffenheim in the first half hour. This continues the paradox of Hoffenheim who apparently can match their opponents energy whether they’re higher or lower ranked. The bigger concern for Hoffenheim was temporarily Alexander Prass getting injured as he could play either fullback position at a high level, but he could carry on. Kramaric had one of the better chances of the first half, otherwise both sides canceled each other out. The second half remained similarly cagey but ultimately the stronger team capitalized in the moment that mattered. Tom Bischof keeps Hoffenheim humming with 3 points while Bochum go back to the drawing board, their Bundesliga future murky as ever.
Manchester City 3–1 Plymouth Argyle FA Cup
Plymouth Argyle took out one white whale in Liverpool, but Manchester City proved to be one scalp too much. Plymouth got a deserved lead off a set piece, but City saved themselves some blushes right before the break. Conor Hazard got a piece to it but it’s Nico O’Reilly who gets City level right before halftime. Haaland entered at the hour mark which usually strikes fear into any tired defense. Nico O’Reilly proved to be the hero by earning a brace, and that might merit more game time either this season or next for the 19-year-old.
Manchester United 1–1 (3–4 pens) Fulham
Just like in the previous round, Manchester United fall early to an unlikely goal score (Calvin Bassey has 3 goals for Fulham, 2 at Old Trafford), but Bruno Fernandes equalizes in the 71st minute. The game went to penalties and Manchester United’s 9th life expired. Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee had the unsuccessful penalties for the Red Devils, with Antonee Robinson confirming Fulham’s advancement.
MLS Club Matches Review
New England Revolution 0–1 Columbus Crew
Halfway through the first half, Leonardo Campana thought he had an open goal but Patrick Schulte made enough of a save for his defense to recover. Jacen Russell-Rowe had big shoes to fill as the new starting number 9 with no more Cucho Hernandez but he bought a lot of good will from the Columbus faithful with the crucial goal to provide a 1–0 win in Foxborough.
San Diego FC 0–0 St. Louis City SC
While San Diego came closer to scoring, both sides’ defenses outshone their offensive counterparts. San Diego will walk away from this game feeling better about their offense given their performance against the LA Galaxy, but St Louis have more to figure out offensively. Not the best options I could’ve gone with this week, but I still enjoyed the tactical chess game side of things.
FC Cincinnati 1–1 UANL Tigres
FC Cincinnati shook off a disappointing loss to Philadelphia Union with a solid result against Tigres. However, getting a win either in regulation or penalties in Monterrey will be a tough task.
Game of the Week
Osasuna 3–3 Valencia
Both sides scored goals within the first 25 minutes, proving to be as evenly matched as I had anticipated. Valencia made it 2–1 after 35 minutes to keep the intensity going, to which Osasuna replied with a spell of pressure. That pressure yielded a second Osasuna goal right before the break. Osasuna capped an excellent first half with an Ante Budimir penalty to make his the club’s top goalscorer in the first division. The second half had less goal mouth action but the pendulum continued, until Umar Sadiq rescued a point for Valencia!
Now here’s what’s in store this weekend:
Friday, March 7
9:30 am P/12:30 pm E: Kaiserslautern (2nd/42 pts) vs Elversberg (6th/39 pts) 2. Bundesliga ESPN+
The promotion push in 2. Bundesliga has been incredibly competitive, so this is a great time to keep tabs on this race. Kaiserslautern are in the better position to get automatic promotion, but they’ll feel better if they can keep their distances from Elversberg with a win.
11:45 am P/2:45 pm E: Cagliari (15th/25 pts) vs Genoa (12th/31 pts) Paramount+
Cagliari is still in trouble only three points above the relegation zone, so they have to take advantage of this home fixture against Genoa. Mexican international Johan Vázquez rescued a point for Genoa in their last game against Empoli.
Saturday, March 8
5 am P/8 am E: Celta Vigo (10th/33 pts) vs Leganés (16th/27 pts) ESPN+
Celta Vigo are 5 points behind 6th place Real Betis for the last European spot, while Leganés are 3 points ahead of 17th Las Palmas and 18th Valencia to beat the drop. Leganés showed a lot of heart against the big clubs in the first half of the season, and they need to rediscover that here.
7 am P/10 pm E: Brighton (8th/43 pts) vs Fulham (9th/42 pts) USA
Both of these clubs are in the top 8 of the FA Cup after sending home Newcastle and Manchester United respectively, and that’s the place in the Premier League table they’re hovering around. I’m curious to see how Fabian Hurzeler and Marco Silva manage their sides as they remain involved in two fronts deep into this season.
9:30 am P/12:30 pm E: Freiburg (5th/40 pts) vs RB Leipzig (6th/38 pts) ESPN+
The teams ahead of these two clubs are Bayern Munich (of course), Bayer Leverkusen (no surprise), Eintracht Frankfurt (makes sense), and…Mainz! Fair play, Mainz! Freiburg have been really impressive in the matches I’ve watched of them, so let’s see if they can keep that up against a strong opponent in RB Leipzig.
12 pm P/3 pm E: Barcelona (1st/57 pts) vs Osasuna (11th/33 pts) ESPN+
Osasuna provided an entertaining display against Valencia, and I think they can be similarly entertaining against Barcelona. Los Balgruanos have the inside track to the La Liga crown but it’ll likely be a three-horse race right to the finish. It’s good to have Lamine Yamal in that situation.
MLS Recommendations (Apple TV MLS Season Pass)
4:30 pm P/7:30 pm E: New York City vs Orlando City
6:30 pm P/9:30 pm E: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Montreal
The earlier match features two Eastern Conference teams that made it to the Conference Semi Finals in the playoffs last season. Then we have an all Canadian matchup and while it’s not the famous 401 derby (Canadian Classique between Toronto and Montreal), it’ll still make for a tense and close contest.
USL Championship Recommendations (ESPN+)
4 pm P/7 pm E: Lexington vs Hartford Athletic
7 pm P/10 pm E: Orange County vs Oakland Roots
My choices for the kick off of the USL Championship are the USL Championship debut of former League One side Lexington, and a NorCal/SoCal showdown as Oakland Roots fans eagerly anticipate their home opener this season in the Oakland Coliseum.
Sunday, March 9
Daylight Savings Time will push back European match times by 1 hour this week
7 am P/10 am E: Napoli (2nd/57 pts) vs Fiorentina (7th/45 pts) Paramount+
Napoli’s next challenge in the stretch run aiming for the title comes against Conference League regulars Fiorentina. Matteo Politano has stepped up in an expanded role since Khvicha Khvaratskhelia’s move to Paris Saint-Germain. Fiorentina’s 1–0 win over Lecce ended a 3 game losing skid, against Inter, Como, and Hellas Verona.
10:30 am P/1:30 pm E: Real Betis (6th/38 pts) vs Las Palmas (17th/24 pts) ESPN+
Isco and Antony are at the center of Real Betis’s second half surge and making this half of Seville a lot more interesting to watch. Las Palmas are struggling at a bad time in the season. They haven’t won since December 22 (a 1–0 win over Espanyol), and their draw against bottom side Real Valladolid was only their second since that run.
12:45 pm P/3:45 pm E: Juventus (4th/52 pts) vs Atalanta (3rd/55 pts) ESPN+
3rd vs 4th in Serie A and these two clubs are not that far off from the top 2. Thiago Motta and Gian Piero Gasperini understand the importance of this fixture and this will be one of the best games to watch this weekend.
Monday, March 10
12:45 pm P/3:45 pm E: Lazio (5th/50 pts) vs Udinese (10th/39 pts) Paramount+
The last piece of the top 5 Serie A puzzle is Lazio. In the Europa League, Lazio look like front-runners to win it all. Udinese is always a tough customer so I’m curious to see how Lazio take on this challenge.
Rapid Fire UEFA Champions League Recommendations (All European Competitions P+)
Tuesday, March 11
1 pm P/4 pm E: Liverpool vs PSG (Aggregate 1–0)
Wednesday, March 12
1 pm P/4 pm E: Atlético Madrid vs Real Madrid (Aggregate 1–2)
At the time of writing, Leg 1’s of the Europa League and Conference League matches haven’t happened yet so we’ll wait and see on that front.
Hope you enjoyed reading and thank you for doing so!
