USMNT weekend viewing guide: A historic debut?

Grab your popcorn and find a seat, because we could be in for a historic debut this weekend when Juventus start their season and Weston McKennie looks to become the first American player to take the field for the football giants. Unfortunately, the game is one of many that are behind some sort of paywall this week but we’ll take a look at what’s available this weekend:

Friday Notes:

• The Bundesliga starts on Friday with a match between Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 at 2:30p on ESPN but Sergiño Dest has yet to join Bayern and it seems unlikely that either Chris Richards or Nick Taitigue will see time for their respective teams.
• The MLS is playing some late night action as the Seattle Sounders face Los Angeles Football Club at 10p on ESPN+ (free trial).

Saturday

Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas - 3:30p on Univision

Gianluca Busio seems to have found a new role that he is growing into well as the 6 for SKC. SKC have won just twice in six games since the conclusion of the MLS is Back tournament, but their run to quarterfinals was enough to have them currently in 1st place in the Western Conference. FC Dallas has said goodbye to Reggie Cannon, but haven’t missed a beat as they’ve won their past two. FC Dallas also remains the team to watch in MLS if you want to watch a host of young players. Cannon’s replacement in the starting lineup has been 19-year-old Bryan Reynolds, who started along with Tanner Tessmann while Ricardo Pepi, Brandon Servania, and Edwin Cerrillo all saw time as well.

Looking through the paywall:

• Eintracht Frankfurt face Arminia Bielefeld at 9:30a on ESPN+. Timothy Chandler saw very limited action down the stretch last season for Frankfurt.
• Josh Sargent and Werder Bremen kick off their campaign against Hertha Berlin at 9:30a on ESPN+. Sargent started last weekend’s Pokal action and scored.
• Fulham face fellow promotion side Leeds United at 10a on Peacock (sign up here). Tim Ream was a part of last weekend’s bad loss to Arsenal, while Antonee Robinson saw his first minutes for Fulham in their midweek EFL Cup win over League One side Ipswich Town.
• Tyler Boyd is apparently healthy again because he’s back to scoring for Besiktas, who face Antalyasport at Noon on beIN Sports.
• Giovanni Reyna and Borussia Dortmund play Borussia Mönchengladbach at 12:30p on ESPN+. Reyna has been a regular feature for BvB, and has consistently been making his presence felt.

Sunday

Juventus v Sampdoria - 2:45p on ESPN+

This match is behind the ESPN+ paywall in the United States, but in this space we make the rules and it’s not everyday that an American has a chance to make a debut at a club like Juventus alongside a star like Cristiano Ronaldo. Juventus will be looking to win their 10th straight Serie A title and they start the season against last year’s 15th place Sampdoria team. Clearly, it remains to be seen what role McKennie will play this season, but the team didn’t make a massive financial commitment as well as use one of their coveted non-EU transactions on a player they don’t expect to have a role this season. We should get our first glimpse of the team’s intentions for McKennie on Sunday as well as an opportunity to see what McKennie looks like playing alongside world-class players.

Looking through the paywall:

• It looks like DeAndre Yedlin is on his way out of Newcastle, so he is unlikely to play this weekend when the team faces Brighton & Hove Albion at 9a on Peacock.
• Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig start their season against Mainz 05 at 9:30a on ESPN+. Adams started and looked great in last weekend’s DFB Pokal win for Leipzig.
• Sergiño Dest started on the bench for Ajax but came in early last week after the starting left back was sent off in the 27th minute. Ajax would go on to win 1-0. This weekend Ajax face RKC Waalwijk at 10:45a on ESPN+
• Christian Pulisic’s Chelsea face Liverpool in an early season matchup of heavyweights at 11:30a on Peacock. Pulisic missed the opener as he had just recently returned to training, and his status for the weekend is still unknown.
• John Brooks was an unused substitute last weekend in DFB Pokal action for Wolfsburg, and he did not make the bench midweek in Europa League play, which would be a precipitous drop for the center back. Wolfsburg face Bayer Leverkusen at Noon on ESPN+.