SWISS SUPER LEAGUE
BSC Young Boys vs FC Zurich (7:45 AM ET (8:30 AM ET AIR)/beIN Sports 4)
There isn't a more riffed on name in world football than Switzerland's Young Boys. If you need to make an inappropriately sounding pedophilia reference during your game recap, look no further than the 11 time Swiss champions. Though they haven't won recently, the Young Boys have found themselves in European competitions finishing regularly in the top three between powerhouses FC Basel and their opponents this morning FC Zurich. While Basel sit atop the league unsurprisingly, Zurich very surprisingly sit rock bottom in the ten team Swiss Premier League. Zurich's league worst defense has been their undoing thus far in 2015 while the exact opposite can be said for Young Boys. In fact, a very old boy, captain Steve von Bergen, has led the squad to the second best defensive record in the Swiss top tier. That is a bit skewed though as they have only been able to keep two clean sheets through thirteen league games. So there will be goals today. I am going to refrain from making my own regrettable Young Boys joke here and just give you a prediction.
PREDICTION: Young Boys 3 FC Zurich 2
ITALIAN SERIE A
Genoa CFC vs SSC Napoli (9:00 AM ET/beIN Sports)
After my trio of supported clubs all claimed wins in yesterday's action, I figured I'd try to make it four out of four for the weekend with the latest addition to my supportership portfolio, Serie A's Napoli. I started supporting the club in 2013 when former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was named coach at the club. They were a bit of a trainwreck under Benitez but were able to bring in some uber talented players to make up for the initial losses of South American superstars Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi. The current dynamic duo up front, Gonzalo Higuain and Lorenzo Insigne, are putting on their best Leicester City faces by having the top two scorers in the league. They could go top of the table with a win today but they'll need to get through one of Serie A's real grinders (no pun intended) in Genoa. Genoa is a team most comfortable playing a 1-0 game with yellow cards abound than an open, entertaining affair. They've already beaten Milan and narrowly lost to Fiorentina with that exact model in effect. Though Rafa may be in Madrid now, new head coach Maurizio Sarri has still kept hopes high with his beautiful style of attacking football. Though Genoa is going to look to beat up his big guns early, I still think that the Gli Azzurri will do enough to get top.
PREDICTION: Napoli 2 Genoa 0
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Southampton FC vs AFC Bournemouth (11:00 AM ET/USA Network)
With Southampton's traditional rivals Portsmouth down in the English football pyramid's League Two, Saints boss Ronald Koeman wants to turn their attention to a new potential derby mate in newly promoted side Bournemouth. Southampton needs to find something to generate a spark after last year's success has only meant more departures and buoyancy in the middle of the Barclays Premier League table. Enter Bournemouth, a team playing their first season of top flight English football EVER and hoping to make it more than one year of doing so. The Cherries sit just above the relegation zone ahead of today's clash with Southampton, a place they will surely be as long as their injury list keeps growing and growing. While Southampton have lost the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin to Manchester United and potentially Sadio Mane the same direction in January, Bournemouth's blows have come in the way of ACL tears. Striker Callum Wilson was the first to go, the biggest of blows seeing how he was one of the league's leading scorers at the time of the injury. Winger Max Gradel and record signing defender Tyrone Mings would soon follow. If this is to be a new derby, it will take some new faces to step up over time. Games like this are hard to call, but I always like to err on the side of entertaining football.
PREDICTION: Southampton 3 Bournemouth 2
SPANISH LA LIGA
Real Betis vs Athletic Bilbao (2:30 PM ET/beIN Sports ñ)
We round out today's picks in Spain's La Liga with matchup between mid-table sides Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao. Both teams don't really jump off the page when you look at their team sheets. You look at the standings and you don't really get much from the two sides either. But take into account what Bilbao did against Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Copa (a 4-0 massacre) and pair that with Betis' ability to defend and you have a classic offense versus defense match. Though I am not saying this match will be a classic, as these games tend to skew towards the more defensive end of things, Athletic's ability to erupt provides a reason to watch. Aritz Aduriz can take over a game by himself up front for Athletic Club (he scored twice last week against Sporting Gijon) and Betis can be sloppy when a striker of that stature puts home an early goal. I am hoping that early goal does come and this turns into more of a showcase of La Liga's brilliance rather than one team trying to force the other to plod through a 0-0 draw.
PREDICTION: Athletic Bilbao 3 Real Betis 1
If watching the Lions and Chiefs ruin the sport of American football doesn't tickle your fancy, give these games a watch if you can. As always you can follow me on Twitter @TREVORutley and the site @B3WHYC3. Until next week, crack open a morning beer for me and enjoy your compliment of football from across the pond to supplement your football of the American variety. Fall back and have at it!