USMNT weekend viewing guide: A cup of Busio

Injuries continue to take a toll on the weekend viewing guide with the latest being a season-ending injury for Chris Richards. It adds to the growing list of concerning injuries heading into the summer break and will be something to keep an eye on moving forward. In the meantime, there’s still a solid slate of matches this weekend involving USMNT players, including a full run of broadcast MLS matches on Sunday afternoon. Let’s see what we’ve got:

Friday

Wolfsburg v. Mainz - 2:30p on ESPN+

Head out of the office, or home office, a little early on Friday afternoon, head down to the pub and catch Wolfsburg and Mainz as they kick things off for the weekend with some Bundesliga action. John Brooks, Kevin Paredes, and Wolfsburg are coming off an embarrassing 6-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund, but they still sit 6 points out of the relegation scrap with 4 matches to play. Brooks was directly involved in at least one of the goals when a turnover at midfield was quickly converted, and he will be moving on from the club at the end of the year, but to this point there has been no indication that the team is ready to shelve him. Kevin Parades did get four garbage minutes at the end of Wolfsburg's 4-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld two weeks ago, but was not in the squad last weekend. Wolfsburg’s opponent this weekend is Mainz, who have won just once in their past seven matches and currently sit in 9th place with 39 points.

Saturday

Venezia v. Atalanta - 9a on CBS Sports Network

Tanner Tessmann and Gianluca Busio both started for Venezia last weekend, but the club suffered their 7th straight loss and they now sit 6 points from safety with 6 matches to play. Their opponent this weekend is Atalanta, who have had a bit of a disappointing season and currently sit in 8th place, 7 points back of direct qualification for the European competitions and 12 back of Champions League positioning. The side is in a bit of a slump, having been beaten in the Europa League quarterfinals a week ago by RB Leipzig and having not won a league match in the past month. They will be looking to get things back on track against the floundering Venezia side.

Broadcast matches:

• The Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas take their interstate rivalry to Univision and Twitter at 3p on Saturday afternoon. The two clubs sit fourth and fifth in the Western Conference table, tied with 12 points. Dallas is led by their leading scorer Jesús Ferreira, who has already picked up five goals and an assist in seven matches this season.
• Minnesota United and the Chicago Fire kick off at 5p on ESPN. Chicago’s Gaga Slonina kicked up a bit of dual national panic this week when he was photographed with the head of Poland’s men’s national team on Tuesday ahead of the Fire’s Third Round US Open Cup loss to Union Omaha, a match which Slonina did not participate in. In league play, the Fire have the stingiest defense, having given up just two goals. But, they’ve also only scored five in seven matches, so they currently sit on the playoff bubble.

Streaming overseas:

• Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig face Union Berlin at 9:30a on ESPN+. Adams started last weekend in Leipzig’s 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
• Chris Richards is out for the season, so he will not take the field as Hoffenheim push for Europa League qualification against Timothy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt at 9:30a on ESPN+.
• Joe Scally did not start last weekend for Borussia Mönchengladbach, but was a first half injury substitute at right-back. ‘Gladbach were already down 3-0 when Scally came into the match and they would go on to suffer a 3-1 defeat. The club still sit in a secure position in 11th place, but face a tough opponent this weekend in Freiburg who currently trail Leverkusen by just one point for Champions League qualification.
• George Bello and Arminia Bielefeld need to close a three point gap with Hertha Berlin to avoid relegation at the end of the season. They will face Köln at 9:30a on ESPN+.
• Julian Green and Timothy Tillman and Greuther Fürth face Bayer Leverkusen at 9:30a on ESPN+. Fürth have just a handful of matches left in the Bundesliga before they are relegated and have a tough match against Bayer Leverkusen this weekend.
• Likewise, Josh Sargent and Norwich City have just a handful of matches left to make an impression before they are relegated from the first division. They face a Newcastle side who as recently as January were also considered relegation candidates, but they have put together several small winning streaks since then to pull away. The two sides meet at 10a on Peacock.
• Yunus Musah and Valencia face Real Betis at 4p on ESPN+. Valencia currently sit in 10th place, solidly middle of the La Liga table.

MLS Mashup (all matches on ESPN+):

• The Philadelphia Union take on Djordje Mihailovic and CF Montreal at 3p.
• DC United and their new (interim) head coach take on the New England Revolution at 7:30p. It remains to be seen how a change in leadership could impact playing time for younger players with DC.
• Sporting Kansas City take on Aidan Morris, Gyasi Zardes and the Columbus Crew at 8:30p.
• The Portland Timbers take on Bobby Wood and Real Salt Lake at 10p.
• Cade Cowell and the San Jose Earthquakes take on Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan and the Seattle Sounders at 10p.
• The LA Galaxy host Walker Zimmerman and Nashville SC at 10:30p.

Sunday

Chelsea FC v West Ham United - 9a on USA Network

Christian Pulisic was an unused substitute for Chelsea in their midweek 4-2 loss to Arsenal. The loss was not particularly significant to Chelsea, who are out of the title race and still sit in third place, five points ahead of fourth and fifth place Tottenham and Arsenal with a game in hand as well. Chelsea’s opponent this weekend is West Ham United, who currently sit in seventh place five points back of those same two clubs and leading Wolverhampton by three points for Europa Conference League qualifying.

Broadcast matches:

• Inter Miami and DeAndre Yedlin take on Miles Robinson and Atlanta United at 1p on ESPN.
• Orlando City SC and the New York Red Bulls kick off at 3:30p on ESPN.
• Cincinnati FC take on LAFC and Kellyn Acosta at 5p on FS1.

Streaming overseas:

• Eric Palmer-Brown and Troyes take on Nice at 9a on beIN Sports. Nice are still fighting for a spot in the European competitions while Troyes sit six points out of relegation with five matches to play.
• Ricardo Pepi’s Augsburg face Bochum at 9:30a on ESPN+. Augsburg sit four points out of relegation and Bochum are another four points ahead of them in the table. Pepi has been a second half sub in each of the past three matches.
• Timothy Weah went the full 90 for Lille on Wednesday, but his side lost 2-1, which probably put an end to their hopes for European qualification, they now sit in ninth place. They face fourth place Strasbourg this weekend at 11:05a on beIN Sports.
• Sergiño Dest and FC Barcelona face Rayo Vallecano at 3p on ESPN+. Dest was a second half substitute against Real Sociedad on Thursday.

MLS Mashup (all matches on ESPN+):

• NYCFC and Toronto FC close out the weekend when they matchup at 5p on Sunday evening.