Match of the Days

Greetings! It’s TV guide time again, but the Champions League and Europa League having a week off we are left with domestic cup action to try and fill our nights, with a rare Thursday night Premier League game thrown into the mix.

Tuesday 27th February

Once again the BBC are left with Swansea to fill the FA Cup replay void and they will be hoping for something along the 9 goals their 4th round replay coughed up. They’re playing Sheffield Wednesday though and the first meeting was an absolute stinker which finished 0-0, so that seems pretty unlikely. That’s an 8:05pm kick off. A couple of alternatives for you come in the form of St Johnstone against Rangers on BT Sport (7:45pm) or Shrewsbury vs Yeovil in the Checkatrade semi-final on Sky. Neither fill me with much joy. There’s a smattering of football league games, none of which are televised, including an interesting looking Championship relegation battle between Hull and Barnsley.

Wednesday 28th February

Wednesday isn’t much better, to be brutally honest. Tottenham’s FA Cup replay at home to Rochdale is on BT at 7.45pm looks like it’ll be as similarly one sided as the replay with Newport was, though Sky do have a Coppa Italia double header which looks more competitive. Juventus vs Atalanta kicks off at 4.30pm, then Lazio take on AC Milan at 7.45pm. Both are second legs and offer the potential for extra time. Motherwell vs Aberdeen is also on at 7.45pm if the SPL is your thing.

Thursday 1st March

The lack of Europa League always makes me nervous for Thursday, but we are saved by a Premier League game. Yes, a real Premier League game! It’s not too shabby either, as Arsenal face leaders Man City. This is of course the second time the two sides will meet in the space of 4 days after the Carabao Cup final. I’m writing this before that match has happened so I hope this is as good as or far better than that. Delete as appropriate. That’s a 7.45pm kick off, or you can watch Barcelona away at Las Palmas also on Sky at 8pm. The SheBelieves cup kicks off with England Women taking on France’s Women at 9pm and that is live on the BBC Red Button.

Friday 2nd March

There are a few tasty looking Friday night games, starting with Middlesbrough vs Leeds at 7.45pm on Sky. I say starting with, that overlooks the fact that the Chinese Super League is back in our lives with Guangzhou Evergrande v Guangzhou R&F at 11:35am. Wow. Monaco vs Bordeaux is on BT at 7.45pm or my personal favourite FreeSports can offer you FC Porto vs Sporting Lisbon at 8.30pm. That is a huge game in Portugal.

Saturday 3rd March

Don’t you just love it when there’s a great Saturday lunch time game to get your weekend off on the right foot? Doesn’t it just make you sick when it is Burnley vs Everton? Why is this on TV. Neither team have anything much to play for, Burnley haven’t won this year and Everton have spent millions on satisfying’s Sam Allardyce’s statistics sheet. Quota filler. That’s at 12.30pm which is the same time as Celtic against Greenock Morton in the Scottish Cup quarter final. After some pretty uninspiring 3pm games, we’re into the evening fixtures and a pair of one sided looking clashes at 5.30pm. BT have opted for Liverpool against Newcastle, with Rafa Benitez being the obvious link but I guess we’ll just ignore that he went back there two years ago to claim a point. Sky have Wolves vs Reading, which Wolves will probably win handsomely. The evening also includes Lazio vs Juventus but BT join that one part way in, but Napoli against Roma at 7.45pm looks a tasty fixture and Sky can give you Real Madrid vs Getafe if you’d like to see a one sided contest from abroad.

Sunday 4th March

This is marginally better. Sky have some League One action at midday, Blackburn vs Wigan will have a big impact on the top of the league one table so it is a good pick. That leads you into the first of the Super Sunday games, though I use the term Super very loosely. Brighton vs Arsenal is on at 1.30pm, the fact that it was also on earlier in the reverse fixture suggests this is a bad set of fixtures.  That does however lead us to Man City against Chelsea at 4pm. A big clash and one of the final tricky games for Man City to navigate before clinching the title. Another FA Cup quarter final sees Rangers host Falkirk at 4.15pm (Sky) or you can see Bayern Munich travel to Freiburg at 5pm (BT). Later in the evening there’s the Milan derby at 7.45pm which BT Sport will bring us, or the La Liga offering is Valencia agaisnt Real Betis. I should also point out that Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona is on Sky at 3.15pm. The day rounds off with another England Women’s game, as Germany take on England in the SheBelieves Cup.

Monday 5th March

Thankfully there is a Monday night football, where you’ll see Crystal Palace host Man Utd. That’s an 8pm kick off and the best I can offer you outside of that is Celta Vigo vs Las Palmas. Yeah. What a rough week.

It’s about as far from a vintage week as you can get but I’m sure we’ll manage. There are watchable games on every night so it could be worse. Bye for now.