Soccer on TV: Premier League title and relegation races, German Cup’s new Cinderella

Tuesday, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN Deportes, ESPN3)

The DFB Pokal, Germany’s domestic cup, is on to the round of 16. ESPN will carry four of the eight games online, and as usual, let’s spotlight the best Cinderella story.

Rot-Weiss Essen is the lowest-division team left in the field, a fourth-tier club from the city of Essen, not far from Dortmund in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. But this isn’t your average minnow. Rot-Weiss draws huge crowds, averaging 7,800 fans per game over the decade before the pandemic struck -- including 10,938 in the first part of the 2019-20 season.

After taking out second-division teams Arminia Bielefeld and Fortuna Dusseldorf in the early rounds, Rot-Weiss now faces its first top-tier opponent. Bayer Leverkusen led the Bundesliga in mid-December, but has won just one of seven league games since then and has fallen to fifth. That makes for prime upset fodder.

To top it all off, Rot-Weiss has a former Union academy player in its ranks: 22-year-old Berlin, N.J.-born winger Isaiah Young. He was a prolific scorer with the Union’s under-16 team in 2013-14, then moved to another academy in 2015. Two years later, he joined Werder Bremen’s youth team, and he was loaned to Essen last October.

» READ MORE: The German Cup round of 16 schedule

Tuesday, 1 p.m. (Peacock)

Sometimes, the Premier League gives us glamorous games with big-name teams and big-name stars. And sometimes, it gives us the two teams at the bottom of the standings facing each other and praying they won’t get relegated. Alas, their odds are slim. Sheffield United is in last place with 8 points, West Brom is next-to-last with 12, and the first team out of the relegation zone is Brighton with 21.

Tuesday, 2:45 p.m. (ESPN+)

One of the most surprising stories in European soccer is unfolding right now in Glasgow, Scotland, where nine-time reigning champion Celtic won just one of its six games in January. Across town, arch-rival Rangers had already opened up a significant lead, but the margin is now up to an astonishing 23 points.

Celtic should be able to hold on to second place, with a five-point lead and a game in hand on third-place Aberdeen. But even that is a stunning fall from grace for the green half of the famed Old Firm derby.

» READ MORE: This week's Scottish Premier League schedule

Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. (NBCSN, Universo)

Now we can turn back to the Premier League title race. Second-place Manchester United is three points behind Manchester City, which has a game in hand. So while United would tie City on points with a win here, the game in hand means the Red Devils wouldn’t really have a claim to first place.

Wednesday, 1 p.m. (NBCSN, Universo)

Manchester City only beat Sheffield United by a 1-0 margin on Saturday, but it was enough to be the club’s 12th straight win in all competitions. (And of course, it’s better than what Manchester United did against Sheffield last week.) City also hasn’t lost to Burnley in six years, another stretch of 12 games across the board. But for as long as the title race is tight, every win matters a lot.

Wednesday, 3:15 p.m. (NBCSN, Universo)

Liverpool finally got up off the mat Sunday, scoring a trio of beautiful goals in a 3-1 win at West Ham. That propelled the Reds to third place, one point back of Manchester United. Brighton will hope that the signing of Ecuadorian midfield phenom Moises Caicedo on Wednesday will boost the club’s chances of staying out of the relegation zone.

Thursday, 3 p.m. (Peacock)

Tottenham’s 1-0 loss at Brighton on Sunday was the kind of defeat that can resonate for a lot longer than a week. Spurs have fallen to sixth place, tied with Chelsea on points and carrying a game in hand. Chelsea has yet to hit high gear under new manager Thomas Tuchel, but there were sparks in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Burnley.

» READ MORE: This week's English Premier League schedule