USMNT weekend viewing guide: only the beginning

You’ve probably already gotten your soccer weekend started here at SSFC in a big way with the USWNT’s match against the Netherlands going to shootout. If you need a place to start your recovery we have you covered with some weekend action that starts right away Friday morning.

Friday

Borussia Dortmund v Bologna - 11a on ESPN Deportes

Giovanni Reyna and Borussia Dortmund kick off their final preseason tune-up on Friday morning with a matchup against Bologna FC. Bologna finished in the middle of the Serie A table last season in 12th place. The tune up is BVB’s last before they kick off their season with their dfb Pokal first round matchup next weekend against third tier SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The season will kick off in earnest then the following weekend as the team meet Eintracht Frankfurt in their Bundesliga season opener. Reyna will look to build on the 20/21 season when he saw nearly 2,700 minutes across all competitions and picked up seven goals and seven assists. There have been some rumblings that Gio could see a more central role this season but with the departure of Jadon Sancho there should be a gap to fill on the wing as well.

Other notes:

• Orlando City SC and Atlanta United face of Friday night at 8:10p on ESPN. Orlando’s use of Chris Mueller over the next several months should be interesting before his departure on a free.
• The LA Galaxy and Julian Araujo take on the Portland Timbers and Jeremy Ebobisse at 10:18p on ESPN.

Looking through the paywall:

• Mark McKenzie and Genk have started their regular season. The club face KV Oostende at 2:45p on ESPN+. The CB pool is starting to look a little deeper with the performances we’ve seen at the Nations League and Gold Cup so it will be interesting to monitor all the options moving forward.
• Keaton Parks and NYCFC take on the Columbus Crew at 7:38p on ESPN+. Parks has been unable to get a sniff of the USMNT recently but shouldn’t be far out of the picture.

Saturday

RB Leipzig v Ajax - 10a on ESPN Deportes

ESPN Deportes is the place to be for preseason action this weekend. RB Leipzig and Ajax have Saturday’s slot in a top tier matchup. This will be Leipzig’s last preseason tune-up as well with next weeks matchup being their dfb Pokal match against SV Sandhausen. Adams missed the last three weeks of the 20/21 regular season with back trouble but had otherwise been largely healthy and logged 2,400 minutes last season. He will look to continue to build on that as a key cog for the RB Leipzig team that looks to end Bayern Munich’s hold on the Bundesliga title.

Looking through the paywall:

• Josh Sargent and Werder Bremen face Fortuna Dusseldorf in their second Bundesliga Two match of the season at 2:30p on ESPN+. It doesn’t appear that anyone has taken a grip on the starting forward position for the USMNT so Sargent will be worth keeping an eye on this year even if he remains with Werder for the duration of their campaign, though it may be painful.
• The Seattle Sounders face Cade Cowell and the San Jose Earthquakes at 5:08p on ESPN+.
• Caden Clark and the New York Red Bulls face the New England Revolution at 6:08p on ESPN+.
• Cincinnati and DC United meet at 7:38p on ESPN+. The prospects in this one are on the DC United side but also remain a ways off from full men’s team impact.
• Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas play at 8:38p. Gianluca Busio remains with the men’s team at the Gold Cup but Paxton Pomykal continues to impress as he builds back strength and endurance following his injury and Ricardo Pepi is coming off a hat trick.
• The Houston Dynamo take on Real Salt Lake with David Ochoa and a back from the dead Bobby Wood who picked up his first goal for RSL and just his second goal for any club since November 2018 last weekend in the teams 3-0 win over Colorado.
• Cole Basset and the Colorado Rapids look to bounce back when they face Austin at 9:08p on ESPN+.
• The Vancouver Whitecaps face Hasani Dotson and Minnesota United at 10:11p on ESPN+.

Sunday

Lille v Paris Saint Germain - 2:45p on Fanatiz USA and beIN Sports

Timothy Weah and Lille begin their 2021/22 campaign and Ligue 1 title defense on Sunday when they face PSG in a Trophy of Champions matchup. Lille upset PSG for the league title last season and will look to make a statement in this first match of the new footballing year. PSG meanwhile have revenge on their minds as they look to reassert their dominance. Weah saw just a handful of starts and only 860 league minutes for the winners last year and will be looking for a more prominent role this season. Still just 21 the electric winger / forward certainly has time to grow but will need the opportunity.

Other notes:

• The Philadelphia Union close out the weekend with a matchup against the Chicago Fire that can be see at 6:06p on TUDN and Unimas just ahead of the US v Mexico Gold Cup final.