Okay break's over, back to work.
And bright and early too with a 7:30 Saturday am match. At least it looks decent, with Chelsea hosting Man United. Unless you like Relegation Specials, the 10 am fixtures may leave you a little cold. We'll be taking in Newcastle vs Brighton at St. James' Park. Very scary fixture that one. Every reason to expect the Magpies could/should win here but the flip side is that a loss will be quite devastating. Watch the crowd reaction if Newcastle don't start well; things could get really ugly.
Cardiff - Fulham is another relegation level battle. The TV game is a London derby with West Ham and Tottenham. Spurs have been feasting on weaker sides lately and this might be another chance to get three points even if they are not at their best. A sleeper match to check out might be Wolves-Watford but you'll have to go to NBC Gold to catch it.
The "featured" Saturday 12:30 game has Liverpool traveling to Huddersfield. If Patrick Stewart is in the stands for that one, he may plead "beam me up" at half time given the relative recent form of those two sides. Only one match on Sunday at 11 - Everton vs Crystal Palace and a Monday fixture as well, Arsenal - Leicester at 3 pm; both are on NBCSN.
MLS Wind Down
Not much left to the regular season. The Union still have a chance to finish as high as third but as low as sixth. I will be at Talen Energy Sunday at 3 pm to see the Union take on the New Jersey Red Bulls in the final home match of the season. The experts at 538 have this as a draw and I'd be happy with that. But note that if NYCFC were to somehow beat DC United in DC on Saturday, anything less than a win for the Union on Sunday would mean no 3rd place.
Looking at the four teams likely to be in the one-and-done round of the playoffs, I'd be very concerned if we had to place DC United away; they are 11-2-2 at home. Columbus is no slouch at home either with 10 wins and just two losses. But neither is as good as NYCFC, who are 11-1-4 in Yankee Stadium. And because the Yankees crashed out of the baseball playoffs, there is no hope that the place will be occupied and the match moved to Yale University or West Bridgeport High School or something like that. Moral of the story - the Union better make sure they nail down 4th place.
As Ze Roberto has pointed out, technically the Union control their own destiny. Sure, all we have to do is beat the Red Bulls at home and NYCFC at Yankee Stadium. No sweat, right? Strategic scoreboard watching is hard too. If DC beat NYCFC this weekend (Saturday) then we have a chance for third regardless of our result on Sunday. But a DC win also increases the chances we'll finish behind them in 5th or 6th. Columbus are also very likely to get four or even six points in their final two matches. Maybe we just let it play out and be happy we're in the playoffs.
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