It’s nothing but pure club football between now and March and I for one am bloody excited by that. We’ve got European football through the week and then some more delicious Premier League to look forward to. Cancel your plans and read the TV guide. Let’s go!
Tuesday 21st November
We’ve got the Champions League to kick off out week, and we’re into the business end of the group stages now with match day 5. Spurs are at Borussia Dortmund but qualification is in the bag for Pochettino’s men after taking 4 points off Real Madrid. Dortmund are basically out but are scrapping for a Europa League spot, they’ve managed a total of 2 points so far. Man City play host to Feyenoord but they are already through, too. Which means all eyes are on Liverpool away to Sevilla. The Anfield men top the group but with Sevilla just a point behind and Spartack Moscow only 3 further back, avoiding defeat looks very important. There’s a full programme of football league fixtures, though none are televised on Tuesday.
Wednesday 22nd November
The MLS conference finals are on at 1am and 3am but you’d have to be mad to be voluntarily awake at that time. We’ve got more Champions League in the evening, including Manchester United’s trip to Basel. A draw will be enough to secure Mourinho’s men a spot in the knockouts. Celtic have to go to PSG, and given they lost 5-0 at Celtic Park I dread to think what will happen in Paris. PSG are already through but will want to secure top spot in the group with Bayern Munich looming. Chelsea are second in their group after only taking a single point off Roma over two games, and their game away to Qarabag kick off at 5pm. It’s not an easy place to go so it’ll be interesting to see if Conte’s men can get their campaign back on track. Atletico Madrid are in real danger of not qualifying, so their game against Roma in the same group looks vital. Whilst BT is showering us with Champions League, Sky have had to dig deep to bring us Ipswich vs Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship. Yes.
Thursday 23rd November
Europa League is usually my favourite Thursday night TV but Everton have taken the fun out of it by being eliminated with two games to spare. They’re at home to Atalanta at 8.05pm. Arsenal are already through, meaning the last two rounds are not interesting at all for British clubs. Arsenal have been playing a reserve side to get this far so I dread to think how young a side they will put out in Germany this time. That’s at 6pm. AC Milan are probably the biggest club in action on the night, they host Austria Vienna at 8.05pm.
Friday 24th November
Why are West Ham always on the telly? They are the Friday night entertainment, this time at home to Leicester. It’s not a happy club at the moment and they don’t seem to enjoy playing at home at the best of times, so this might be fun. Moyes hasn’t yet put his stamp on West Ham, whatever that is, but this is only game two. Will they improve at all? If you want an alternative, and you’d be entitled to want one, Dundee vs Rangers is on BT Sport at 7.45pm. England’s Women will be hoping to earn some positive headlines after recent problems, they’re at home to Bosnia on BBC 2 at 7.05pm. Celta Vigo vs Leganes is your continental option from Spain, that’s at 8pm on Sky Sports Football.
Saturday 25th November
I’ll start with the bad news. There is no early Premier League game. Instead, Sky have Barnsley vs Leeds in a Yorkshire derby at 12.30pm. The BT alternative is Chester vs Dagenham & Redbridge, so just sell your TV basically. After the 3pm’s, buy a new TV because at 5.30pm it’s Liverpool vs Chelsea. Now that’s a game. The question is, will Salah stick one up the team who never really gave him a chance? It should be a decent game, neither team have been defending that well this season so let’s hope for a goalfest. Sky’s alternative is Sheff Utd vs Birmingham City. Hmm. In the evening it’s Levante against Atletico Madrid or Cagliari vs Inter Milan. Maybe go out Saturday night.
Sunday 26th November
The Indian Super League includes Robbie Keane, Wes Brown and Dimitar Berbatov. Sadly it’s not a time machine so they are all of an age now but it might be good. Atletico de Kolkata vs Pune City id on BritAsia at 12pm if you want to see for yourself. 12.30pm is Kilmarnock vs Aberdeen, which may be of a similar standard. The earlier Premier League game is Southampton vs Everton, that’s a 1.30pm kick off, and with any luck Everton will have a new manager by then. Or maybe it’ll still be big Dave. Motherwell vs Celtic in the Betfred Cup final is on at 3pm, I’m guessing that’s some sort of League Cup scenario, it could provide you with an hour’s entertainment before the 4pm kick off which is Huddersfield vs Man City. That hardly seems fair. In the evening, Valencia vs Barcelona at 7.45pm will be a decent match if history has taught us anything.
Monday 27th November
There are Premier League games in the midweek to follow which means no Monday night football. In the Premier League that is. Sky have kindly put on QPR vs Brentford, which is sort of a derby at least. It’s better than nothing, alright?
The fixture list is at congestion phase which is wonderful news if you are sat in your armchair on these cold winter nights. Bring it on!