The American weekend preview

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, May 25, 2023

Gio Reyna and his Borussia Dortmund teammates will have a lot to celebrate if they beat Mainz.

* * * * *

The Memorial Day weekend marks the end of play in the Bundesliga and Premier League, the former ending a dramatic title race and the latter featuring a relegation battle that could impact the futures of three American stars.

Soccer on TV: Weekend viewing

SATURDAY

• Borussia Dortmund vs. Mainz (Bundesliga, 9:20 am. ET, ESPN+)

Dortmund is on the verge of ending Bayern Munich's 10-year reign as German champion.

It will clinch the Bundesliga title if it beats Mainz. A victory would set off what should be must-watch scenes of celebration in front of its army of yellow-clad fans at the Signal Iduna Park.

A tie or loss, though, would put Bayern in position to retain the crown with a victory at FC Cologne in the other match in Saturday's "Fernduell." Already the lead at the top has changed hands four times over the last nine weeks.

Gio Reyna continues to get just a few minutes here and there for Dortmund — 55 minutes in total over its last five games — but he has shown a knack for the dramatic with goals off the bench (five since Bundesliga play resumed in January).

• Coventry City vs. Luton Town (English League Championship, Promotion Playoffs, Final, 11:40 am. ET, ESPN+)

Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath will lead Luton in its bid to advance to the Premier League for the first time when it faces Coventry City at Wembley.

Luton was relegated from the top flight in the season before Premier League's 1992 launch and sank as low as the fifth-tier National League for five seasons.

Coventry's 34-year stay in the top flight ended with relegation from the Premier League in 2001. The Sky Blues dropped down as low at the fourth-tier League Two in 2017-18.


• Major League Soccer

FC Dallas will travel to San Jose to face the Earthquakes for the first time since they hired its former coach, Luchi Gonzalez, as their head coach.

• SA Reading: Philadelphia and NYCFC resume battle

A pair of 2-1 defeats on the road to the LA Galaxy and LAFC dropped the Quakes back to the .500 mark. They are 5-0-1 at home but 0-5-2 away from PayPal Park.

Gonzalez (photo, right) and FC Dallas head coach Nico Estevez exchanged roles at the end of 2021 when Estevez replaced Gonzalez as FC Dallas boss and Gonzalez, already out after three seasons in Dallas, then took Estevez's role as a USMNT assistant coach.

Saturday:
APPLE TV/MLS SEASON PASS
CF Montreal vs. Inter Miami 7:30 pm.
New England vs. Chicago 7:30 pm.
NYCFC vs. Philadelphia 7:30 pm.
Orlando City vs. Atlanta 7:30 pm.
Toronto FC vs. DC United 7:30 pm.
Houston vs. Austin FC  8:30 pm.
Minnesota United vs. Real Salt Lake 8:30 pm.
St. Louis City vs. Vancouver 8:30 pm.
Colorado vs. FC Cincinnati 9:30 pm.
LA Galaxy vs. Charlotte FC 10:30 pm.
San Jose vs. FC Dallas 10:30 pm.
Seattle vs. NY Red Bulls 10:30 pm.
Sunday:
APPLE TV/MLS SEASON PASS
*Sporting KC vs. Portland 3 pm. (free)
**Nashville SC vs. Columbus 8:30 pm. (free)
*Also on Fox and Fox Deportes. **Also on FS1 and Fox Deportes.
Note: All times ET.

• National Women's Soccer League

Gotham FC will enter weekend play in first place with a 5-2-1 record, a point ahead of Portland, San Diego and Washington, which it faces on Sunday.

That's a big change from 2022 when Gotham FC was last in the NWSL with a 4-17-1 record. Historically, it has been the worst of the NWSL's founding teams with only two postseason appearances in nine seasons and no playoff wins, but the signing of Spaniard Juan Carlos Amoros as head coach has been an inspired move.

Lynn Williams leads the NWSL with five goals, and Florida State product Jenna Nighswonger has been one of the NWSL's top rookies.

Saturday:
CBS SPORTS NETWORK
Racing Louisville vs. NC Courage 8 pm.
PARAMOUNT+
OL Reign vs. Angel City FC 3:30 pm.
Chicago vs. Orlando 8 pm.
Sunday:
PARAMOUNT+
Washington vs. Gotham FC 5 pm.
Note: All times ET.

• USL Championship

The two Open Cup quarterfinalists, Birmingham and Pittsburgh, will both be on the road this weekend.

Legion FC, which will be at Detroit City on Saturday, won its first ever meeting with an MLS team, beating Charlotte FC, 1-0, on Wednesday, but it has been struggling in league play. It has lost its last four games and six of its last eight after starting out 3-0-1.

The Riverhounds will take a two-game winning streak into Sunday's match at Loudoun United. Albert Dikwa, the goalscoring hero of the 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew, has scored five goals in five games in May to take his total to 11 goals in 13 matches.

Saturday:
ESPN+
Detroit City vs. Birmingham 4 pm.
Indy Eleven vs. Louisville  City 7 pm.
Miami FC vs. Orange County SC 7 pm.
Tampa Bay vs. Colorado Springs 7:30 pm.
Rio Grande Valley vs. Charleston 8 pm.
San Antonio FC vs. New Mexico United 8:30 pm.
Oakland vs. San Diego 10 pm.
Sunday:
ESPN+
Loudoun United vs. Pittsburgh 6 pm.
Note: All times ET.

SUNDAY

• Leeds United vs. Tottenham (Premier League, 11:30 am. ET, CNBC, Peacock)

Leeds United's only real chance of staying in the Premier League will be if:

1. It beats Spurs;
2. Leicester City doesn't win at home against West Ham United; AND
3. Everton loses at home to Bournemouth.

(A Everton-Bournemouth tie only helps Leeds if it wins by three or more goals.)

If Leeds goes down, it could one and done for one or more of its American trio, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson, who arrived last summer, and Weston McKennie, who was signed on loan on January from Juventus.