Hello? Yes it’s the Premier League here. You know how people love football at Christmas? We’re going to do multiple rounds of midweek matches. In December. Yeah it’s going to be cold and the managers will complain about tiredness, but the TV companies will bloody love it.
Welcome to your TV guide for another week, I can’t tell you how pleased I am to have more Premier League midweek action to warm the cockles, even if it means my own cockles will be frozen off inside St James’ Park on Wednesday. Cockles. Let’s get into the action.
Tuesday 12th December
That previously mentioned midweek action takes us to Huddersfield for the latest chapter in Chelsea finding new and inventive ways to infuriate Antonio Conte. Fresh from the indignity of losing to David Moyes, Conte will be keen for his team to get back to winning ways. That’s on BT Sport 1 at 8pm. The European offerings are plentiful – Sky are carrying Coppa Italia and have opted for Inter Milan vs Pordenone in a last 16 clash. BT have many German games, including Wolfsburg vs RB Leipzig at 5.30pm followed by Mainz vs Borussia Dortmund at 7.30pm. Dortmund have a new manager after Peter Bosz was sacked over the weekend. We also have French cup action, on BT Sport 3. Monaco vs Caen is the match of choice there.
Wednesday 13th December
Wednesday’s fun comes at The London Stadium, as West Ham welcome Arsenal. Moyes’ men of course defeated Chelsea here on Saturday so will be confident of doing similar to flimsier opponents. That’s on BT again with an 8pm kick off. You’re spoilt for choice elsewhere. Sky have Gronigen vs PSV at 5.30pm, followed by Feyenoord vs Herenveen at 7.45pm. They also have Hibs vs Rangers at that time, so you are really overcome with options. There’s a glut of German football too, which seems to be the norm, with Bayern Munich vs FC Koln at 7.30pm the best BT has to offer. The French Cup action spills over as well, so Strasbourg vs PSG is a delight to look forward to on BT at 8.05pm. Match of the Day will be on at 10.45pm, which is lovely.
Thursday 14th December
Sky have really done us a favour here and decided to show Ajax vs Excelsior at 7.45pm. Be still my beating heart. BT have also come up trumps with some Thursday football, so Hereford vs Fleetwood in an FA Cup 2nd round replay will be just wonderful.
Friday 15th December
The weekend draws near and just think how sweet it’ll feel when you get home and watch Sheff Wed vs Wolves. Yep. Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of alternatives. Such as…St Etienne vs Monaco on BT at 7.45pm. Or…Sevilla vs Levante at 8pm on Sky Sports Mix. You know it’s a good game when they’re giving it away on Mix. Over to you, Saturday. Impress me.
Saturday 16th December
Leicester vs Crystal Palace. Say what? This is not what I get out of bed for on a Saturday morning. It might be ok I guess. It’ll be better than Aberdeen vs Hibs, which is BT’s offering at the same time (12.30pm). In the evening though, some real entertainment appears. Man City vs Tottenham is at 5.30pm on BT, and I just hope the real Tottenham show up rather than the poor imitation we saw at the Emirates and Old Trafford in recent weeks. Sky can offer you Cardiff vs Hull at the same, which is not a ratings battle they are likely to win. Other teams on show are Dortmund against Hoffenheim (5.30pm, BT Sport 3), Eibar vs Valencia (same time, Sky Sports) and Atletico Madrid vs Alaves at 7.45pm on Sky. A mixed bag, and that is being generous.
Sunday 17th December
You can watch wall to wall football on Sunday, the real question is do you want to? You can start at 11am, with a choice of Spanish matches. My favourite FreeSports have La Liga 2, so you can watch Sevilla B vs Real Oviedo. Sky have La Liga of course and with that means you can watch Girona vs Getafe. Feyenoord take on Sparta Rotterdam (Sky) whilst Milan travel to Verona (BT), but they’re both at 11.30am. Hearts and Celtic are Sky’s offering at 12.30pm, whilst AZ Alkmaar vs Ajax is the 1.30pm showing. Bologna vs Juventus is at 2pm. And breathe. That’s just about every major team in Europe playing before 2pm. For reasons I don’t fully understand, West Brom vs Man Utd kicks off at 2.15pm on Sky’s Super Sunday, I’m not sure why it’s not in the usual 1.30pm slot as there isn’t a Premier League game at 12. Nevertheless, Pardew will go looking to upset Mourinho, something he managed at Newcastle so it may be interesting. The 4.30pm game is Bournemouth vs Liverpool – a classic last year but they’ll be hard pushed to match that this time around. Into the evening you can see Barcelona vs Deportivo at 7.45pm, but if you watch all of that you have my everlasting respect.
Monday 18th December
One week until Christmas! What better way to celebrate than to watch Everton vs Swansea? Don’t answer that, but anyway. That is Sky’s Monday Night Football offering, which screams quota filler but you know we’ll watch it anyway. Sky also offer Malaga vs Real Betis as a token alternative. Hmm.
It’s another packed week, the midweek Premier League games are a huge bonus and Man City vs Tottenham is the standout fixture of the week ahead. I’ll be back next week with a Christmas TV Guide, the games come thick and fast next weekend and beyond.