Weekend Soccer Preview

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! I added in teams I had ranked 26-40 here because really, can you ever have too many rankings?
As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.

Games of the Week (Rankings from Poll)
7:45 ET Saturday (English Premier League)
(2) Chelsea v (13) Manchester City
This is yet another massive match-up for these top-tier English sides. Both squads are coming off of disappointing mid-week defeats, Manchester City to Stoke City in the FA Cup, and Chelsea at Inter Milan in the Champions League. Manchester City is currently in 5th place with 46 points, behind Tottenham only on goal differential with a game in hand. City will be fighting tooth and nail for that fourth Champions League spot and as Tottenham is being visited by recent giant killers Everton, this could be City’s chance to put some room between the two squads. On the other hand, Chelsea has the Premier League title on their minds as they lead idle Manchester United by a point with a game in hand. Chelsea will be using backup keeper Hilario for a month while Petr Cech recovers from a torn calf muscle from the Inter Milan match mid-week. This adds to the minor defensive crisis being experienced by Chelsea, as Ashley Cole and Yury Zhirkov are still sidelined by injuries. Florent Malouda is expected to continue filling in at left-back. Emmanuel Adebayor will be missing for Manchester City as he begins his four match ban for a red card received in the 5th round FA Cup replay with Stoke City. City will have Carlos Tevez back from his return to Argentina for the birth of his baby daughter. A lot of attention will be given to the pre-game handshake between John Terry and Wayne Bridge. I don’t want to give this controversy any more attention than it deserves, so just Google it if you have not heard of it before.
10:00 ET Sunday, Carling Cup Final
(4) Manchester United v (18) Aston Villa
Aston Villa has an opportunity to win their first major trophy in ten years as they take on Manchester United in the Carling Cup Final. The first-team squads will be out in force, including scorching hot Wayne Rooney for United, who will likely again be the lone striker in the 4-5-1/4-3-3 system being used by the Red Devils so much lately. The midfield will be Fletcher, Carrick, and Gibson or Scholes, or just Fletcher and Carrick if Sir Alex does go with the 4-4-2. Aston Villa will be coming out firing to capitalize on the rare chance for them to win some silverware but you can expect the proud United squad to go all out for it to get some more momentum right as European competition is heating up.

Other Games Between Two Ranked Teams
14:30 ET Friday (German Bundesliga)
(12) Schalke 04 2-1 (37) Borussia Dortmund
Goals by Benedikt Howedes and Ivan Rakitic sank visiting Borussia Dortmund after Dortmund took a lead with a Nuri Sahin penalty in the 47th. This result keeps Schalke in reach of the leaders and securely in a Champions League spot, as Dortmund remains in the final Europa League qualifying position.
9:00 ET Sunday (Italy’s Serie A)
(34) Napoli v (10) AS Roma
Napoli is coming off of a 4 game streak in which they have had three 0-0 draws, with a loss at Udinese in between. AS Roma has absolutely torn up Serie A in the past two months, on a remarkable 10 game win streak in Italian competition and 18 game unbeaten streak. The last time Roma lost to an Italian side was a 2-1 loss on October 18 at AC Milan. Roma and AC Milan have been making Serie A interesting for Inter Milan, as they sit 5 and 4 points behind the leaders respectively. Napoli is ten points back of Roma in 5th place, in a three way tie with Palermo and Sampdoria. They will want to hang on to their Europa League qualifying spot and every result matters at this point in the season.
11:30 ET Sunday (German Bundesliga)
(6) Bayern Munich v (31) Hamburg SV
Bayern Munich is in a deadlock with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, trailing by only a goal on goal differential. The leaders are only a point ahead of lurking Schalke 04 who won earlier on Friday and has a game in hand. Hamburg sits nine points back of Bayern Munich in 4th place and won the first meeting between the two clubs this year, a 1-0 victory at home back in September. Bayern’s 9 game Bundesliga win streak was snapped last weekend with a 1-1 draw at Nurnberg and will look to get back on track with a win to keep up with Leverkusen in the table.

Top of the Table Clashes
7:30 ET Sunday
(39) Rangers v Celtic
The historic Old Firm match-up strikes again for the third time this season after a 2-1 win for Rangers at home and a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park. This does not have the usual title implications as it usually has as Rangers is 7 points ahead of second place Celtic with a game in hand. However, if Celtic wants to make the miracle comeback this is by all means a must win match-up. Rangers keeper Allan McGregor is a doubt as he was involved in an incident last weekend where he suffered facial injuries. It is even throwing a doubt over his future Rangers career and may be enough of a distraction on and off the pitch to give Celtic a chance. On the other side, striker Robbie Keane will be making his first appearance in an Old Firm match for Celtic. No matter what the implications and expectations surrounding the game are, this match is always a thriller.
9:30 ET Sunday (Austrian Bundesliga)
Rapid Vienna v SV Salzburg
SV Salzburg is a scant three points ahead of second place Rapid Vienna in the Austrian Bundesliga. Salzburg is coming off of a disappointing two weeks that saw them knocked out of the Europa League 3-2 on aggregate to a solid Standard Liege squad from Belgium. Rapid Vienna has only taken 1 point from the last two games against LASK Linz and FC Magna Wr. Neustadt, who are both in the bottom four in the table. Salzburg has won both of their Austrian Bundesliga matches since the winter break and a win would do wonders to distance them from the competition and put them just one step closer to Champions League qualification.

Big Games in Small Leagues
9:30 ET Sunday (Austrian Bundesliga)
Rapid Vienna v SV Salzburg
12:00 ET Sunday
CFR Cluj v Steaua Bucuresti

English Premier League
7:45 ET Saturday
(2) Chelsea v (13) Manchester City
10:00 ET Saturday
Birmingham v Wigan
Bolton v Wolverhampton
Burnley v Portsmouth
12:30 ET Saturday
Stoke City v (9) Arsenal
8:00 ET Sunday
(15) Tottenham Hotspur v Everton
Tottenham will be the 9th top 6 team Everton has played in the past 14 games and the 6th in the past 8 games. In those last 5 games Everton has come away with a very impressive 10 points and is now 8th in the Premier League. Though it is unlikely that they will sneak into 7th place and a possible Europa League spot as they are 7 points behind Aston Villa, it is still encouraging for them to play such good soccer, giving them much needed momentum going into next season.
10:00 ET Sunday
(23) Liverpool v Blackburn
Sunderland v Fulham

Scottish Premier League
10:00 ET Saturday
Dundee United v Falkirk
Hibernian v St. Johnstone
7:30 ET Sunday
(39) Rangers v Celtic

Spain’s La Liga
12:00 ET Saturday
Getafe v Real Zaragoza
14:00 ET Saturday
Tenerife v (3) Real Madrid
16:00 ET Saturday
(1) Barcelona v Malaga
11:00 ET Sunday
Racing Santander v Almeria
Sporting Gijon v Osasuna
Valladolid v (29) Mallorca
Villarreal v Deportivo La Coruna
Xerez v Espanyol
13:00 ET Sunday
Sevilla v Athletic Bilbao
15:00 ET Sunday
Atletico Madrid v Valencia

Italy’s Serie A
12:00 ET Saturday
Catania v Bari
14:45 ET Saturday
Lazio v Fiorentina
9:00 ET Sunday
(8) AC Milan v Atalanta
Chievo Verona v Cagliari
Genoa v Bologna
Livorno v Siena
(34) Napoli v (10) AS Roma
Parma v Sampdoria
Udinese v (5) Inter Milan
14:45 ET Sunday
(32) Juventus v Palermo

German Bundesliga
14:30 ET Friday
(12) Schalke 04 v (37) Borussia Dortmund
9:30 ET Saturday
Borussia Monchengladbach v SC Freiburg
Hertha Berlin v TSG Hoffenheim
Mainz v Werder Bremen
VfB Stuttgart v Eintracht Frankfurt
VfL Bochum v Nurnberg
12:30 ET Saturday
(7) Bayer Leverkusen v FC Cologne
9:30 ET Sunday
Hannover 96 v VfL Wolfsburg
11:30 ET Sunday
(6) Bayern Munich v (31) Hamburg SV

French Ligue 1
13:00 ET Saturday
AS Monaco v Boulogne
AS Nancy Lorraine v Grenoble
Lorient v Sochaux
(16) Lyon v Nice
Toulouse v Lens
Valenciennes v St. Etienne
15:00 ET Saturday
(21) Montpellier v Stade Rennes
11:00 ET Sunday
Le Mans v (11) Bordeaux
(26) Lille v AJ Auxerre
15:00 ET Sunday
Paris Saint-Germain v (30) Marseille

Dutch Eredivisie
12:45 ET Saturday
Heerenveen v SC Heracles Almelo
13:45 ET Saturday
Vitesse Arnhem v AZ Alkmaar
6:30 ET Sunday
(25) Ajax Amsterdam v FC Utrecht
8:30 ET Sunday
(19) PSV Eindhoven v RKS Waalwijk
(24) Twente Enschede v NEC Nijmegen

Portuguese Liga
14:15 ET Saturday
(28) Braga v Olhanense
16:15 ET Saturday
Leixoes v (20) Benfica
15:15 ET Sunday
Sporting Lisbon v (17) FC Porto

Turkish Super League
12:00 ET Saturday
Kayserispor v Besiktas
8:00 ET Sunday
Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK v (35) Fenerbahce
12:00 ET Sunday
Galatasaray v Kasimpasa

Greek Super League
12:00 ET Saturday
AEK Athens v Ergotelis
9:45 ET Sunday
Olympiakos v Atromitos
12:00 ET Sunday
Panionios v (40) Panathinaikos

Ukrainian Premier League
8:00 ET Saturday
(38) Dynamo Kyiv v Krvybas
8:00 ET Sunday
Shakhtar Donetsk v Vorskla

Belgian Jupiler League
12:00 ET Sunday
St. Truiden v Club Brugge
14:30 ET Sunday
Roeselare v (36) Anderlecht

Austrian Bundesliga
13:30 ET Friday
SV Mattersburg v Austria Vienna
12:00 ET Saturday
LAK Linz v SK Sturm Graz
9:30 ET Sunday
Rapid Vienna v SV Salzburg

Swiss Super League
11:45 ET Saturday
Young Boys v FC Zurich
10:00 ET Sunday
Bellinzona v FC Basel