USMNT weekend viewing guide: It’s happening, it’s really happening

The English Premier League is back with regular season action that could see Antonee Robinson making his EPL debut, Tim Ream making a return for the same Fulham team, and Christian Pulisic reportedly available to make an early return from injury, wearing the number 10 none the less. Add to that some dfb Pokal action, MLS and NWSL and we have a fair bit to keep our eyes on this weekend.

Saturday

Fulham v Arsenal - 7:30a on NBCSN

Early risers can get the weekend kicked off right by catching Fulham’s return to the Premier League when the team faces Arsenal first thing on Saturday morning. Tim Ream will almost certainly start for Fulham and Antonee Robinson may join him as well but Fulham is going to need much more from their defense than they got when they were last in the Premier League. In the 2018-19 season Fulham gave up 81 goals over the course of the season and were not close to avoiding relegation. After one season in the Championship the team make their return, albeit with some changes including the aforementioned Robinson who should slot in at Left Back.

Other Notes:

• Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig start their dfb Pokal campaign against Nurnberg. The game can be seen at 9:30a on ESPN Deportes.
• The Portland Thorns and OL Reign were scheduled to play at 3:30p on big CBS but the game has been postponed due to poor air quality brought on by the West Coast fires.
• The Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew play at 3:30p on Univision. Gyasi Zardes and Darlington Nagbe are likely to start for the Crew.

Looking through the paywall:

• Josh Sargent and Werder Bremen face Carl Zeiss Jena in dfb Pokal action at 2:45p on ESPN 3 which can apparently be viewed online using your paid television or broadband subscriber information.

Sunday

San Jose Earthquakes v LA Galaxy - 11p on Unimas

The San Jose Earthquakes will be looking to bounce back from an embarrassing 7-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders on Thursday when they face the LA Galaxy on Sunday night. Nick Lima and Jackson Yueill started the game on the bench and Yueill remained there for the entire evening while Lima came in to the game in the 64’ with the team already down 7-0. The loss has San Jose dead last in the Western Conference and still looking for their first win outside the MLS is Back tournament.

The Earthquakes will be facing a Galaxy team that has won four-straight, every match since the MLS is Back tournament, including a 3-2 win over San Jose two weeks ago. Sebastian Lletget has been a key piece for the Galaxy as illustrated by his brace last weekend against LAFC. Julian Araujo has also been a regular and dual-national Efraín Álvarez picked up a goal two weeks ago in a rare start.

Other Notes:

• Sebastian Saucedo and Pumas UNAM face Ventura Alvarado and Atlético San Luis at 1p on ESPN Deportes. Alvarado played his first full 90’ for Atlético on Wednesday in a 2-1 win over Necaxa.

Looking through the paywall:

• Sergino Dest remains with Ajax who will be starting their season against Sparta Rotterdam at 8:30a Sunday morning in a game that can be seen on ESPN+.
• PSV Eindhoven also start their season Sunday morning at 10:45a against Groningen on ESPN+. It remains to be seen if Richie Ledezma or Chris Gloster will see any time for PSV this season.

Monday

MSV Duisburg v Borussia Dortmund - 2:45p on ESPN Deportes

Giovanni Reyna should see his first competitive action of the 2020-21 season on Monday when Borussia Dortmund face MSV Duisburg in the dfb Pokal. Reyna was receiving regular preseason starts for BVB and producing when he was on the field. That combined with his end to the 2019-20 season would suggest that at the very least Reyna should see significant minutes off the bench. Duisburg is a 3 Liga team so the game should act as yet another warmup match for BVB ahead of their regular season start next Saturday.

Looking through the paywall:

• Actually not certain about this but it looks like Monday’s game between Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea at 3:15 on Peacock will require the paid tier of the new streaming service from NBC, Peacock Premium is $5 a month. Reports are that Christian Pulisic has made a quicker than expected recovery from his hamstring injury and should be available for selection to the squad on Monday.

With action returning in Europe this weekend there’s quite a bit to keep an eye on, let us know what you’re watching in the comments section below.