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Happy Friday, everyone! The final round of 2024 UEFA Champions League matches have just been played, with two more to come in early 2025. The stage is perfectly set for even more drama. However, club football is not going into hibernation. This is one of the busiest times of the season for English Premier League sides and this weekend is no exception thanks to the Manchester Derby. This is Jonathan Johnson bringing you up to speed, so let’s get started!
📺 Foot correction
Always US/East
Friday December 13th
🇮🇹 Serie A: Empoli vs. Torino, 2:45 PM ➡️ Biggest+
🏴ꠁԠԠԠ۠Ԡ EFL Championship: Derby County vs. Portsmouth, 3pm ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network
Saturday December 14th
➡️ Biggest+
🇮🇹 Serie A: Udinese vs. Napoli, 12:00 ➡️ Biggest+
🇮🇹 Serie A: Juventus vs. Venice, 2:45 PM ➡️ Biggest+
🇪🇸 La Liga: Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid, 3pm ➡️ ESPN Deportes
Sunday December 15th
🏴ꠁԠԠԠԠԠ EFL Championship: Norwich City vs. Burnley, 10am ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network
🏴ꠁԠԠԠԠԠ EPL: Manchester City vs. Manchester United, 11:30am ➡️ USA Network
🇫🇷 Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Olympique Lyonnais, 2:45 PM ➡️ beIN Sports
🇮🇹 Serie A: Milan vs. Genoa, 2:45 PM ➡️ Biggest+
⚽ The forward line
💥 Crunch Manchester derby
Getty Images
This weekend’s big match sees the Manchester Derby played in the English Premier League for the first time this season, with struggling City hosting equally struggling neighbors United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Pep Guardiola has seen his Citizens campaign fall apart in recent weeks, not just due to poor form in the EPL, leaving the defending champions eight points off the pace of league leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand. also a UEFA Champions League drop that has left them in 22nd place in the table, which is just one point above the elimination places, with Paris Saint-Germain next.
Allowing Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils to move into the top half of the standings will be the last thing City want to be held responsible for, with a potential home defeat this weekend that could send them further down the standings. A 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest seemed to indicate that the worst was finally behind Guardiola, but a draw at Crystal Palace and a defeat away to Juventus in Turin emphatically illustrated that things are not back to normal – not at all . Therefore, a loss for United, who have also fallen victim to both Forest and Arsenal in recent times, cannot be allowed if this crisis of form is to disappear quickly.
Looking ahead, this match is crucial as City also travel to Aston Villa before Christmas, where Unai beat Emery at Villa Park last year, but the fixture against Everton, Leicester City and West Ham United after that is a little more merciful – at least on paper. As for United, they next take on Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, before Bournemouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United and Liverpool form a mixed bag to take them to 2025, ahead of a draw in the third round of the FA Cup with Arsenal, which could end any potential trophy chase. .
How to watch
- Date: Sunday December 15 | Time: 11:30 am ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium – Manchester, England
- TV: USA Network | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)
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🔗 Link play in midfield
🔜 Maiden League stage in UCL produces drama
Getty Images
This midweek’s UEFA Champions League fix provided maximum tension and drama, with leaders Liverpool still waiting for the green light for a top eight finish in the league stage, although Arne Slot’s Reds are now at least in the have been joined in the knockout stages by Barcelona. However, anything can still happen between these two – mathematically at least – and based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, there’s reason to suspect it will. Few people would have imagined that PSG would be in a possible elimination spot with two games to go, and even fewer would have guessed that City would be just one point better off going into the penultimate round.
Adding to the sense of intrigue ahead of the UCL’s expected return in January is the fact that the next match for each of these two unexpected combatants pits them against each other. Guardiola’s rudderless Citizens head to the Parc des Princes and the French capital, where they need at least a point to stay close to the top 24 before next week’s decisive matches bring Club Brugge home. You can argue that City need to at least win that last game and therefore have at least three potential points, but the stakes are now extremely high for Luis Enrique’s Parisiens, who really need all three points before they travel to Stuttgart for their final match.
Important match day 7 matches
Tuesday January 21: Like Monaco vs. Aston Villa and Liverpool vs. Lille OSC
Wednesday January 22: PSG vs Manchester City and Barcelona vs Atalanta
It’s not just about PSG and City, with the current top eight including some surprising names such as Aston Villa, Lille OSC and – incredibly – Stade Brestois 29, all of whom can still seal an automatic round of 16 places. The chasing pack will do their best to ensure that doesn’t happen and the math still says that not all of these sides are guaranteed to make it, but it would take a massive amount of bad luck to even fall out of the play-off places . Don’t forget that defending champions Real Madrid could also still be dragged back into the elimination places, despite their thrilling win over Atalanta earlier this week.
🔗 Top stories
⬆️ UEFA Champions League rankings: Barca, Real Madrid safe impressive victories on the road; Man City are in big trouble and Liverpool remain at the top of the table, but Barca and Arsenal are not far behind.
🔢 Champions League Team of the Week: Vinicius Jr. lifts Real Madrid, Arsenal’s Saka strikes and USMNT guy shines — here are the 11 best players from UCL matchday 6 of the competition phase.
🩹 Kylian Mbappe injury: Real Madrid’s star man does reportedly out for ten days due to a thigh injurycould miss out on a cup final after sustaining the injury during Real’s victory over Atalanta in the Champions League.
⚖️ Mbappe clear: Swedish prosecutors close rape investigation in which Kylian Mbappé was reportedly a person of interest, but prosecutors closed the case due to lack of evidence.
🇧🇷 The Struggle of Gabriel Jesus: Brazilian struggles to win over Arsenal faithful Despite the improvement in the Champions League victory against AS Monaco, as the Brazilian made a qualitative change, he is still far from where many expected him to be at this point.
🤔 CONCACAF Champions Cup draw: Lionel Messis Inter Miami and MLS got a rough draw but who has the best chance of winning it? Here’s a look at the paths of the MLS teams who didn’t receive any favors during the draw.
💰The Back Line
💵 Best bet
- La Liga: Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid, Saturday, 3:00 PM ET
💰 THE CHOICE: Rodrygo scores at any time (+270) — Real Madrid are in action against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday, which could take them to the top. Los Blancos are second behind Barcelona with one game in hand, but only two points behind. The home side managed to draw both matches against their Madrid rivals last season, but their overall record stands at just seven wins from 44 matches. Los Franjirrojos concede an average of 2.5 goals per match against Los Blancos. It’s back in Real’s hands, despite their sluggish early form. Rayo have won five, drawn four and lost six in fifteen La Liga games and sit 12th in the standings with 19 points in total. Defensively they are quite solid. They have only conceded sixteen times in fifteen games, but rarely score with only fifteen goals to their name. Real are second in the table and just two points behind Barcelona, but still have that match in hand and it could potentially put them top of the table – at least until Barcelona play Leganes on Sunday. Los Blancos have conceded just 13 goals from 16 matches but have scored 34 times, which is second only to leaders Hansi Flick, who have scored 16 more. With Rodrygo back from injury and expected to lead the line with Kylian Mbappe out, don’t be surprised if the Brazilian takes his chance to impress with a goal.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss CBSSports.com’s betting homepage.
📺 What’s on CBS Sports Golazo Network
☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10am): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network’s flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest football storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast formso you never miss an episode again.
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⚽ Call it what you want (Monday and Thursday): a weekly podcast with Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can watch the show live on YouTube every Monday at 1:00 PM ET and Thursdays at 6:00 PM ET.
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