Sunday’s Manchester Derby is a tale of two struggling sides; Champions League league phase delivers the drama

Happy Friday, everybody! The final round of UEFA Champions League games of 2024 have just played out with two more to come in early 2025 and the stage set perfectly for further drama. Club soccer is not going into hibernation, though, with this one of the busiest periods of the season for English Premier League sides and this weekend is no exception thanks to the Manchester Derby. This is Jonathan Johnson bringing you up to speed so let’s get to it!

Footy Fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Friday, December 13
Serie A: Empoli vs. Torino, 2:45 p.m.  Paramount+
EFL Championship: Derby County vs. Portsmouth, 3 p.m.  CBS Sports Golazo Network

Saturday, December 14
EFL League One: Wrexham AFC vs. Cambridge United, 10 a.m.  Paramount+ 
Serie A: Udinese vs. Napoli, 12 p.m. Noon  Paramount+
Serie A: Juventus vs. Venezia, 2:45 p.m.  Paramount+
La Liga: Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid, 3 p.m. ESPN Deportes

Sunday, December 15
EFL Championship: Norwich City vs. Burnley, 10 a.m.  CBS Sports Golazo Network
EPL: Manchester City vs. Manchester United, 11:30 a.m. USA Network
Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Olympique Lyonnais, 2:45 p.m. beIN Sports
Serie A: Milan vs. Genoa, 2:45 p.m.  Paramount+

The Forward Line

Crunch Manchester Derby

This weekend’s major matchup sees the Manchester Derby in the English Premier League for the first time this season as struggling City host equally floundering neighbors United at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Pep Guardiola has seen his Citizens’ campaign disintegrate in recent weeks with not only a run of poor form in the EPL, which has left the defending titleholders eight points off the pace being set by leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand, but also a UEFA Champions League downturn as well which has stranded them in 22nd in the table, which is just a single point above the elimination places with Paris Saint-Germain up next.

Allowing Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils to move up towards the top half of the table will be the last thing that City want to be held responsible for, with a potential home defeat this weekend capable of casting them further down the standings. A 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest had appeared to signal that the worst was finally behind Guardiola’s side, but a draw away at Crystal Palace and a loss on the road to Juventus in Turin emphatically illustrated that things are not back to normal — at all. Therefore, a loss to United who have also fallen victim to Forest as well as Arsenal lately cannot be allowed to happen if this crisis of form is to subside soon.

Looking ahead, this game is crucial as City also go to Aston Villa before Christmas, with Unai Emery’s outfit beating them at Villa Park last year but the run against Everton, Leicester City and West Ham United after that is slightly more merciful — at least on paper. As for United, they then face Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup quarterfinals before a mixed bag of Bournemouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United and Liverpool to lead them into 2025 ahead of an FA Cup third round tie with Arsenal which could end a potential trophy pursuit.

How to watch

• Date: Sunday, Dec. 15 | Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
• Location: Etihad Stadium – Manchester, England
• TV: USA Network | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)

Sponsored by Paramount+

Midfield Link Play

Maiden league phase in UCL delivers drama

This midweek’s UEFA Champions League fix delivered a maximum dose of excitement and drama, with leaders Liverpool still waiting to be green lit for a top eight finish in the league phase although Arne Slot’s Reds have now been joined in at least the knockout phase by Barcelona. However, below those two — mathematically at least — anything can still happen and on the evidence that we have seen so far, there is reason to suspect that it will. Few people would have pictured PSG being in a possible elimination place with two games to go and even fewer would have suspected that City would only be one point better off going into the penultimate round of fixtures.

Adding to the sense of intrigue ahead of the UCL’s expected January return is the fact that the next game for each of those two unexpected strugglers pits them up against each other. Guardiola’s rudderless Citizens will head to Parc des Princes and the French capital needing at least a point to stay within touch of the top 24 before the following week’s decisive games bring Club Brugge at home. You can argue that City should at least win that final game so can at least bank on three potential points but the stakes are now extremely high for Luis Enrique’s Parisiens who really need all three points before heading to Stuttgart for their final game.

Key matchday 7 games

Tuesday 21 January: As Monaco vs. Aston Villa and Liverpool vs. Lille OSC

Wednesday 22 January: PSG vs. Manchester City and Barcelona vs. Atalanta

It is not all about PSG and City with the current top eight featuring some surprise names such as Aston Villa, Lille OSC and — incredibly — Stade Brestois 29 who can all still rubber stamp an automatic round of 16 berth. The chasing pack will do their best to make sure that does not happen and the math does still say that not all of those sides are guaranteed to make it but it would take a gargantuan swing of bad luck to drop out of even the playoff places. Do not forget that defending champions Real Madrid can still be dragged back down towards the elimination places too despite their thrilling win away at Atalanta earlier this week.

  Top Stories

 UEFA Champions League Power Rankings: Barca, Real Madrid secure impressive road wins; Man City in big trouble and Liverpool remain atop the rankings but Barca and Arsenal aren’t far behind.

Champions League Team of the Week: Vinicius Jr. lifts Real Madrid, Arsenal’s Saka strikes and USMNT man shines — here are the 11 best players from UCL Matchday 6 of the league phase.

 Kylian Mbappe injury: Real Madrid’s star man is reportedly out for 10 days with thigh injury, could miss out on a cup final after he picked up the injury during Real’s win at Atalanta in the Champions League.

 Mbappe in the clear: Sweden prosecutors close rape investigation in which Kylian Mbappe was reportedly person of interest but prosecutors closed the case because of a lack of evidence.

 Gabriel Jesus’ struggles: Brazilian struggling to win over Arsenal faithful despite improvement in Champions League win vs. AS Monaco as the Brazilian was able to put in a quality shift, but he’s still far from where many expected him to be at this point.

CONCACAF Champions Cup Draw: Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and MLS given rough draw but who has best chance at winning it? Here’s a look at the paths of the MLS teams, none of which received any favors during the draw.

The Back Line

Best Bet

• La Liga: Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid, Saturday, 3 p.m. ET
  THE PICK: Rodrygo to score anytime (+270) — Real Madrid are in La Liga action on Saturday away at Rayo Vallecano which could move them to the summit. Los Blancos are second behind Barcelona with one game in hand but just two points off. The hosts managed to draw both games against their Madrid rivals last season but their overall record is just seven wins from 44 games. Los Franjirrojos concede an average of 2.5 goals per games against Los Blancos. It is back in Real’s hands despite their sluggish early form. Rayo have won five, drawn four and lost six from 15 La Liga games to sit 12th in the standings with 19 points overall. Fairly solid defensively, they have only conceded 16 times across 15 games but rarely score with just 15 to their name. Real are second in the rankings and just two points behind Barcelona but have that game in hand with this one possibly sending them top — at least until Barca play Leganes on Sunday. Los Blancos have conceded just 13 goals from 16 games but have scored 34 times which is second only to Hansi Flick’s leaders who have scored 16 more. With Rodrygo back from injury and expected to lead the line with Kylian Mbappe out, do not be surprised if the Brazilian takes his chance to impress with a goal.

For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss out on CBSSports.com’s betting home page. 

What’s on CBS Sports Golazo Network

 Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started 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.

3⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, 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 Wednesday live streams on YouTube at 11 a.m. ET.

  Call it What You Want (Monday and Thursday): A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can catch the show streaming live on YouTube every Monday at 1 p.m. ET and Thursday at 6 p.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+.