Your TV guide is here to take you through another week of telebox viewing, with both Carabao and FA Cup taking centre stage there’s plenty to get you through these snowy winter nights. Let’s get to it.
Tuesday 23rd January
We start with an intriguing one, as Bristol City host Man City in the 2nd leg of the Carabao Cup semi final. The tie is finely poised, with Man City carrying a 2-1 lead courtesy of an injury time winner a week ago. You would of course expect the blue side of Manchester to come through but this is why we love cup football. You just don’t know. That’s on Sky, and BT have Partick Thistle vs Celtic as an alternative. Both kick off at 7.45pm
Wednesday 24th January
The other semi-final features a more traditional semi-final slugfest, with Arsenal meeting Chelsea locked at 0-0 after the battle of Stamford Bridge ended all square. It’s 8pm for this one. BT can offer you Sampdoria vs Roma at 7.45pm, or Sky also have Eredivise action as Utrecht host Feyenoord at 7pm.
Thursday 25th January
Thursday is a struggle. Sure, Bet365 have Copa del Rey for you featuring Barcelona vs Espanyol at 8.30pm, and Espanyol actually have a 1-0 lead in this one. But on the actual TV, the best I can find is Club Brugge vs KV Oostende at 7.30pm on FreeSports. The Belgian league might be a saviour.
Friday 26th January
The FA Cup 4th Round springs into action with the BBC once again having the Friday night affair which sees Yeovil welcome Man Utd. It’s a classic David/Goliath tie but it happened a few years ago already, which dampens my spirits somewhat. BT have a sense of humour and are showing Dunfermline vs St Mirren in the Scottish Championship at 7.45pm, whilst Sky have La Liga action between Athletic Bilbao and Eibar at 8pm.
Saturday 27th January
BT have gone mad with their TV selections for this round, with 4 matches over the course of the weekend starting with Peterborough vs Leicester at 12.30pm. They’ve then completely upset the applecart by having two Saturday night matches, starting with Newport vs Tottenham at 5.30pm and then Liverpool vs West Brom at 7.45pm. Whilst Newport vs Spurs has a bit of cup delight about it I don’t see why Liverpool vs West Brom is worth showing, but whatever. Football is football. All of those matches are on BT Sport 2. Sky are struggling this weekend without any FA Cup rights, but they can offer you Deportivo vs Levante at 12pm or Malaga vs Girona at 5.30pm. They also have Dutch action, with FC Twnete vs PSV at 6.45pm. BT can at least give you Juventus’ trip to Chievo, so it’s not all bad.
Sunday 28th January
We’re back with BT Sport again for the Sunday lunch time game, this time to see Chelsea against Newcastle. It’s a 1.30pm kick off but it looks a one sided affair if truth be told. Sky have Ross County vs Rangers for you at 2pm, or BT Sport 3 can give you the Serie A action you crave with Napoli hosting Bologna. To be fair, there’s average football all day, starting even in the morning as Leganes face Espanyol on Sky at 11am, or you can take in Inter’s trip to SPAL at 11.30am on BT Sport 3. Back to the FA Cup then, and the BBC are back at 4pm with Cardiff vs Man City. That will be worth it just to see how Neil Warnock deals with a Pep Guardiola team. Kicking might be the order of the day. Into the evening and AC Milan take on Lazio at 5pm on BT, or you can have Sevilla vs Getafe at 5.30pm on Sky. Thankfully Barcelona are along at 7.45pm against Alaves so save the day.
Monday 29th January
This is another struggle. You know Sky have hard times when they show a Northern Irish league game, but if Cliftonville vs Glenavon floats your boat you are in luck. That’s at 7.45pm. Celta Vigo vs Real Betis is their La Liga alternative at 8pm, whilst FreeSports, lovely FreeSports can take you into bed time with Belenenses vs Benfica at 9pm. I’m sure it’s a huge game in Portugal.
That’s it for this week though, to be honest it’s about as far from a vintage week as you can get but it might not be as bad as I have made out. It might even be worse. See you next week!