Soccer on TV: The Milan derby and the Africa Cup of Nations final highlight the weekend
Plus big games in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and England's men's FA Cup and Women's Super League.
Arsenal vs. Manchester United
Saturday, 7:30 a.m. (NBCSports.com, atafootball.com, Fanatiz)
It’s a big weekend in the FA Women’s Super League. Tobin Heath and first-place Arsenal, leading Chelsea by four points, start things off by hosting third-place Manchester United — which can move up to second with an upset win and a Chelsea loss.
Kidderminster Harriers vs. West Ham United
Saturday, 7:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
The most fun games in the FA Cup are when lower-league teams host Premier League giants. Unfortunately, almost all the fourth-round games involving Premier League teams have them at home: Manchester United vs. Middlesborough (Friday, 3 p.m.), Chelsea vs. Plymouth Argyle (Saturday, 7:30 a.m.), Crystal Palace vs. Hartlepool United (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Southampton vs. Coventry City (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Manchester City vs. Fulham (Saturday, 10 a.m.), and Liverpool vs. Cardiff City (Sunday, 7 a.m.)
Fortunately, there’s one game this weekend where the underdog gets to play at home, and it’s the lowest-ranked team of all. Kidderminster is a sixth-division team, and has never been higher than the third tier.
If you don’t want to wake up early Saturday, check out third-division Cambridge United — which won at Newcastle United in the third round — hosting second-division Luton Town (12:30 p.m.). And you can surf around all 16 of the weekend’s games, because they’ll all be on ESPN+.
Al Ahly vs. Monterrey
Saturday, 11:30 a.m. (Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Deportes, FoxSports.com)
The second round of the Club World Cup starts with Concacaf’s representative, Monterrey of Mexico, facing the African champion Al Ahly of Egypt. Unfortunately Al Ahly will be very shorthanded because this game overlaps with the Africa Cup of Nations. Six of the club’s players are on Egypt’s team at the tournament.
Monterrey, led by Rogelio Funes Mori and Luis Romo, is hoping to replicate the run that crosstown rival Tigres made to last year’s Club World Cup Final. That was the first time a Concacaf team made the title game.
Inter Milan vs. AC Milan
Saturday, noon (CBS Sports Network, Paramount+)
This is not just the game of the weekend in Europe, but one of the games of the season. AC Milan needs to win the latest Derby della Madonnina to close the gap on Inter, which leads Milan and Napoli by four points. CBS is sending its entire broadcast crew to the famed San Siro stadium for the occasion.
» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's Serie A schedule
Burkina Faso vs. Cameroon
Saturday, 11 a.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)
Cameroon’s loss on penalty kicks to Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals meant that the Indomitable Lions became the eighth straight host country to fail to win the tournament. 76ers star Joel Embiid was one of many Cameroon fans around the world who was not pleased with the team’s poor shootout attempts.
We’ll see if Olivier Mbaizo plays in the third-place game before coming back to the Union next week.
» READ MORE: Julián Carranza scores first Union goal in team’s preseason opener
Chelsea vs. Manchester City
Sunday, 7:30 a.m. (CNBC)
Sam Kerr and Chelsea need this win to keep pace with Arsenal. Manchester City needs a win to get out of fifth, a shocking place for one of the FAWSL’s traditional powers.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Sunday, 9:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Second place in the Bundesliga hosts third place, and American viewers will hope to see Gio Reyna return to action for Dortmund.
» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's Bundesliga schedule
Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid
Sunday, 10:15 a.m. (ESPN+)
Barcelona got to start its overhaul during the winter transfer window, but couldn’t finish it. Ferran Torres, Adama Traoré, and — at the last minute — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came in, but big-salaried winger Ousmane Dembélé did not go out. Has enough been fixed to get Barcelona into the top four, and thus into next year’s Champions League? This game will be a big test.
» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's La Liga schedule
Rangers vs. Hearts
Sunday, 11 a.m. (CBS Sports Network)
After holding on to first place in the Scottish Premiership since mid-September, Rangers were overtaken by Celtic when the Hoops won Wednesday’s Old Firm showdown in a 3-0 rout. A win over third-place Hearts is a must if Rangers are to have a chance of regaining the top spot this season.
This game will be part of a Scottish doubleheader on CBS Sports Network Sunday morning. Celtic visits fourth-place Motherwell in the early game (8:30 a.m.).
Al-Hilal vs. Al Jazira
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. (FS2, Fox Deportes)
The other second-round game in the Club World Cup is an all-Middle Eastern matchup. Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia is the Asian Champions League holder, while Al Jazira of the host United Arab Emirates beat Tahiti’s AS Pirae 4-1 in the first round.
Senegal vs. Egypt
Sunday, 2 p.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)
The AFCON championship game will be full of stars: Sadio Mané, Idrissa Gueye and Kalidou Koulibaly lead Senegal against Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Elneny and Mahmoud “Trézéguet” Hassan — nicknamed for former French star David Trezeguet, but not actually related.
Lille vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Sunday, 2:45 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)
The spotlight will be on PSG as always, but the news in this game is that reigning French champion Lille is in 11th place in the Ligue 1 standings.