The American Soccer Weekend

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 29, 2023

John Brooks' career has been resurrected since his move in January to Hoffenheim, which hosts Borussia Dortmund on Friday. At stake will be a temporary hold on first place in the Bundesliga for the winner. Photo: Imago via ZUMA Press

• MLS

FC Cincinnati can clinch the 2023 Supporters' Shield on Saturday.

The most straightforward way will be to beat Toronto FC at BMO Field, though there are other clinching scenarios.

FC Cincinnati still has a shot at breaking New England's single-season points record (73), but it will need to win its last four games.

In the Eastern Conference, Nashville SC could become the seventh team to clinch a playoff berth this weekend. Seven other teams are still fighting it out for the two remaining spots -- a fight that will go into next week when there is a full slate of games on Wednesday and Saturday.

In the Western Conference, expansion St. Louis City is the only team that has clinched a playoff berth.

That could change this weekend as both LAFC and Seattle could clinch.

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

 
• NWSL

Only three weeks are left in the regular season, and no team has yet to clinch a place in the playoffs.

Defending champion Portland leads the standings and will clinch a postseason berth with a win over second-place San Diego.

There are other scenarios by which the Thorns can clinch. Ditto for San Diego and Gotham FC, though they might involve waiting until late Monday for the outcome of the Angel City FC-Orlando game.

Saturday:
PARAMOUNT+
Washington vs. KC Current 7 pm.
Chicago vs. Racing Louisville 8 pm.
Portland vs. San Diego 10:30 pm.
Sunday:
PARAMOUNT+
Gotham FC vs. Houston 6:30 pm.
OL Reign vs. NC Courage 8 pm.
Note: All times ET.

• USL Championship

Seven of the 16 playoff berths have accounted for -- five in the Eastern Conference, two in the Western Conference -- and six more teams have a chance to clinch their spots this weekend.

Saturday:
ESPN+
Pittsburgh vs. FC Tulsa 7 pm.
Indy Eleven vs. Detroit  City FC 7 pm.
Miami FC vs. Hartford 7 pm.
Tampa Bay vs. Loudoun United 7:30 pm.
Colorado Springs vs. Rio Grande Valley FC 8 pm.
Memphis vs. Birmingham 8 pm.
New Mexico United vs. Louisville City 9 pm.
El Paso vs. Charleston 9:20 pm.
San Diego vs. Monterey Bay 10 pm.
Oakland vs. San Antonio FC 10 pm.
Phoenix vs. Orange County SC 10:30 pm.
Sunday:
ESPN+
Sac Republic FC vs. Las Vegas 7 pm.
Note: All times ET.

• Americans Abroad

The weekend kicks off in the Bundesliga on Friday when fifth-place Hoffenheim hosts sixth-place Borussia Dortmund. At stake will be a temporary hold on first place for the winner.

John Brooks' career has been resurrected since his move in January to Hoffenheim, coached by American Pellegrino Matarazzo. For Dortmund, Gio Reyna is looking for his first appearance of the 2023-24 season.

Two other Bundesliga matches, both played on Saturday morning, will involve teams with Americans: Heidenheim vs. Union Berlin and Wolfsburg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt.

Also of note, the start of the Women's Super League, where Americans Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel have joined defending champion Chelsea, which opens at home against Tottenham.

Friday:
ESPN+
Hoffenheim (John Brooks) vs. Borussia Dortmund (Gio Reyna) 2:20 pm.

Saturday:
beIN SPORTS/beIN SPORTS en ESPANOL
Monaco (Folarin Balogun) vs. Marseille 3 pm.
USA NETWORK/UNIVERSO
Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace (Chris Richards) 10 am.
ESPN DEPORTES
Celta de Vigo (Luca de la Torre) vs. Villarreal 8 am.
TUDN
Club America (Alejandro Zendejas) vs. UNAM 8:45 pm.
ESPN+
Bochum vs. Borussia M'Gladbach (Joe Scally, Jordan Pefok) 9:20 am.
Heidenheim (Lennard Maloney) vs. Union Berlin (Brenden Aaronson) 9:20 am.
Wolfsburg (Kevin Paredes) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (Paxten Aaronson, Timothy Chandler) 9:20 am.
PSV (Sergino Dest, Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman) vs. Volendam 12:40 pm.
PARAMOUNT+
AC Milan (Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic) vs. Lazio Noon.
PEACOCK
Bournemouth (Tyler Adams) vs. Arsenal 10 am.

Sunday:
USA NETWORK/TELEMUNDO
Nottingham Forest (Matt Turner) vs. Brentford 9 am.
ESPN+
AZ (Djordje Mihailovic) vs. Fortuna Sittard 10:40 am.
PARAMOUNT+
Atalanta vs. Juventus (Tim Weah, Weston McKennie) Noon.
Chelsea (Mia Fishel, Catarina Macario) vs. Tottenham 12:30 pm.