The weekend is here folks and what a weekend it will be. We’ve got Europe’s spectacular triumph in the Ryder Cup ahead of us (sorry CBS, hire British writers and this is what you get) as well as a host of big football games across the world. I’m James Benge, your guide for how best to spend your weekend.
📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Friday, Sept. 26
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen, 2:30 p.m. ➡️ ESPN2
🏴 Championship: West Bromwich Albion vs. Leicester City, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇺🇸 NWSL: San Diego Wave vs. Orlando Pride, 10:30 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
Saturday, Sept. 27
🏴 Championship: Coventry City vs. Birmingham City, 7:30 a.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇪🇸 LaLiga: Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid, 10:15 a.m. ➡️ ESPN Select
🇮🇹 Serie A: Juventus vs. Atalanta, 12 p.m. ➡️ CBS, Paramount+
🇺🇸 USL Championship: Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. Las Vegas Lights, 7 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇲🇽 Liga MX: America vs. Pumas UNAM, 11:15 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
Sunday, Sept. 28
🇮🇹 Serie A: Roma vs. Hellas Verona, 10 a.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🏴 Premier League: Newcastle United vs. Arsenal, 11:30 a.m. ➡️ USA Network
🇮🇹 Serie A: Milan vs. Napoli, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇺🇸 NWSL: Seattle Reign vs. North Carolina Courage, 8 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
⚽ The Forward Line
🇮🇹 Juventus, Atalanta leads a big week in Serie A
Getty Images
You won’t have to look far to find one of the best games of the weekend come Saturday lunch time, when Juventus’ clash with Atalanta will be available live on CBS stations (as well as Paramount+ of course). It promises to be an intriguing clash and if the hosts can keep up some of the ludicrous scoring form they’ve shown of late, you won’t be short changed on the goal front either. The Old Lady of Italian football might have been one of the most achingly dull sides in Europe for much of last season, but so far in 2025-26 they have cut loose, scoring four in a thrilling win over Inter before repeating the trick at home to Borussia Dortmund in the game of the Champions League so far.
Igor Tudor’s side have certainly made a bright start to the season, and sit just two points off league leaders Napoli after three wins and a draw from their first four games. Tudor, a player in the all-conquering Juve sides of the late 1990s and 2000s, was appointed in March after a faltering run of form under Thiago Motta and sparked a pretty swift revival that looks to have continued through into this season. Indeed, as Khephren Thuram explained when he hopped onto Morning Footy this week, Juventus were also able to make the most of a four game stand at the Club World Cup as they sought to build momentum:
- Thuram: “We’re having a pretty good start, we know the coach well because he is with us last year and at the [Club] World Cup. The World Cup was very important for us to all be together, to learn how to work together as a group. It’s pretty good what we’re doing as a group right now but we still have work to do. We hope it’s going to get better.”
Fourth in the table, Atalanta didn’t burst out of the traps quite like Juventus did, drawing their two openers, but in Serie A play there are signs of progress from this much-changed outfit. A summer of sales is par for the course in Bergamo but it wasn’t just the league’s top scorer Mateo Retegui who left. After nine years of great success with Atalanta Gian Piero Gasperini was finally snared by one of Italy’s historic clubs, taking the reigns at Roma and leaving former Southampton boss Ivan Juric to step into the fray. He took time to get going but the last two games have seen Lecce and Torino brushed aside by two goal margins.
This game could also afford us an opportunity to see how two potentially key figures in the USMNT fare. Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah have started one Serie A game between them this season, thought both did get extended minutes from the off in the Champions League. Musah also joined us prior to this weekend’s game, where he explained why he had made the move from AC Milan to Atalanta, a loan which includes a buy option for La Dea.
- Musah: “I’m at a time in my career where it’s important for me to focus on in that [central midfield] position and develop as much as I can in that area. Also, Atalanta they’re in the Champions League, and having played in the Champions League in past seasons, I wanted to carry that on. That was something huge that really caught my attention.”
Two of the four highest scoring sides in Italy, with US talent on board and a battle at the top of the table? This has all the makings of an absorbing match and that’s only the start of a weekend that will also see Inter travel to Sardinia where they will face an intriguing Cagliari before Milan wrap up the weekend against league leaders Napoli. You’ll be able to follow all that and much more across CBS Sports and Paramount platforms.
Live Tomorrow
🔗 Midfield Link Play
📝 Arsenal lock up superstar talent
Getty Images
Meanwhile in the Premier League it has been a week light on on-field drama — all the big teams coasted through the EFL Cup as you’d expect — with perhaps the most significant news coming on Thursday morning, when CBS Sports reported that William Saliba is set to sign a new five year contract at Arsenal. No exaggeration, this is a seriously significant bit of business, perhaps more significant than any of the many signings the Gunners made in the summer.
Of the legitimate superstars in Mikel Arteta’s squad, Saliba had always seemed the most likely flight risk. That’s not just because in the years before he established himself in the team Saliba and Arteta did not seem to have the best public relationship. Far more it is because Real Madrid were doing that Real Madrid thing, the murmurs in the Spanish press that they viewed him as the next superstar to make the move. You could already envisage how the next two years might play out, no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations and Arsenal forced to mull taking a cut-price deal or nothing at all when Saliba goes on a free.
Instead they’ve tied up the best young center back in the game through to 2030. That follows on from Gabriel Magalhaes, with Bukayo Saka next up, and surely a more manageable negotiation given his publicly professed desire to win silverware in Arsenal colors.
The news of Saliba’s extension could barely be bettered time, coming as it does before the Gunners travel to Newcastle for the marquee fixture of the Premier League weekend. That has frequently been the case early in this season, perhaps more than Arteta might like, and Arsenal could take the field on Sunday eight points off the top of the table if Liverpool win at Crystal Palace. The pressure is high but the evidence of the last few seasons is that Saliba and company tend to deliver in these moments.
🔗 Top Stories
🧸 Meet the mascots: Introducing Clutch, Zayu and Maple: the triumvirate of World Cup mascots. It’s very important that we have a critical perspective of this summer’s tournament, that we don’t just get swept away on a tidal wave of optimism by dint of the World Cup being in North America. Having said all that: they’re so cool!
🇦🇷 More Messi magic: It was another brilliant performance from Lionel Messi on Wednesday night, a burst of form in the final quarter of the game turning a one goal advantage into a 4-0 win.
📈 NWSL power rankings: Gotham FC are on the up but is it time to worry about Racing Louisville? I’m not the one who can answer that question for you, but Sandra Herrera can.
🇪🇸 Barcelona win a big game: The gap has closed on Real Madrid after a 3-1 win at Real Oviedo but do Barcelona have the muscle to stay the course in La Liga’s title race?
💪 Set piece shift: On the subject of muscle, I was struck by how much bigger and stronger Tottenham were in their EFL Cup win over League One Doncaster Rovers, particularly at set pieces. Is this a worrying sign of further imbalancing of the English pyramid?
🔴 Ex-Arsenal player dies after on pitch incident: We end with dreadfully sad news from England, where Billy Vigar died on Thursday after an incident in a Chichester Town match at the weekend. The serious brain injury is said to have come from colliding with a concrete wall.
🗣️ Thuram speaks: You can watch Morning Footy’s full interview with Khephren Thuram here as he reflects on playing against his brother Marcus and his relationship with Thierry Henry.
💰 The Back Line
💵 Best bets
- Premier League: Crystal Palace vs. Liverpool, Saturday, 10 a.m. ET
💰 THE PICK: Crystal Palace 1, Liverpool 1 (+600) – It might be five wins from five to start the new season for Liverpool but that has come courtesy of an awful lot of late drama and tense wins. It is fair to assume that before long Arne Slot will get his team to click together but in the mean time they will be travelling to a side who have long since settled into a groove. Crystal Palace have already had the better of Liverpool in one draw this season, 2-2 in the Community Shield, and you’d fancy them to do at least that well on home turf.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss out on CBSSports.com’s betting home page.
The Kings of Spain and France Meet 👀
Paramount+
What’s on CBS Sports Golazo Network
☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Join Golazo Network as it helps fans get their day started on the right foot on the network’s flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you’ll never have to miss an episode.
3️⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday): The leading women’s soccer podcast and social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women’s game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will be breaking down the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic season all year long. And don’t miss Sunday live streams on YouTube as soon as the last NWSL game of the weekend ends.
⚽ Call it What You Want (Tuesday and Thursday): Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies, and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the game in the United States as the country prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup. Catch new episodes live on the Golazo America YouTube channel every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the newest place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can’t-miss goals from the day’s action, starting Thursday and airing seven days a week.
📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.
