Football Dispatch

Weekend Football
24 October 2008
by Jerrad Peters

I’m changing this installment of Weekend Football for two reasons. One: I’ve been down with the flu this week and am rather tired. Two: because I can.

What I’ll be watching

It won’t be easy, but I’ll roll out of bed at 6:30 Saturday morning for Everton v Manchester United. I will have been at Carmina Burana on Friday and the night won’t have been an early one. Nevertheless, I love watching football in the early morning. In fact, it’s one of the things I most like about covering the sport from the dead-centre of North America.

I’ll miss the first half-hour, but Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg at 8:30 will be next on my schedule. With back-to-back wins over Karlsruhe and Fiorentina, Bayern manager Jurgen Klinsmann has earned a temporary stay of execution. I think the German champions are about to get on a bit of a roll, and I’ll be tuning in to see if I’m right. Part of me is delightfully entertained whenever Bayern is on the receiving end of a good thumping.

I’ll round out my Saturday with Barcelona v Almeria at 4:00. Barcelona are one of Europe’s form teams at the moment and absolutely destroyed Basel in the Champions’ League on Wednesday. They are much better than their current position in the Spanish table and I foresee an easy win against their sixth-place rivals.

Sunday’s showpiece will undoubtedly be the clash between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. These matches are notoriously cagey and devoid of scoring. But they’re also a lot of fun to watch. So much transpires throughout the 90 minutes and there are so many storylines at play. As a United supporters, a draw would do nicely. But I’m tipping the Blues for a typical 1-0 win.

Another top-of-the-table bout will start at 11:00 and pit Hoffenheim against Hamburg. It’s impossible not to like diminutive Hoffenheim, although I have always admired Hamburg as well. I think Martin Jol has done a terrific job at the club this term. He was dealt an unfortunate hand when Rafael van der Vaart bolted for Real Madrid in August, but he has performed admirably.

Finally, I’ll check out Real Madrid v Atletic Bilbao. I can’t figure out the Meringues this season. They are very up-and-down – more so than Barcelona. Having said that, I still think they’ll win the title and should take all three points from the Basque side this weekend.

What you can read

I’ll have a pair of gigs going this weekend. On Soccer365.com, I’ll analyze David Beckham’s move to AC Milan and delve into the goings-on at Tottenham Hotspur. On the Winnipeg Free Press website, I’ll set up the Chelsea-Liverpool fixture and divulge the latest information regarding the return of professional football to Winnipeg.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared in The Globe and Mail, TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.