Socceroos Central weekend preview

by Ben Somerford on Aug 03, 2012

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The German 2.Bundesliga and Scottish Premier League resume this weekend bringing with it more Aussies in action such as young Socceroos prospects Mathew Leckie, Nikita Rukavytsya and Ryan McGowan.

On Friday evening, Nikita Rukavytsya's Hertha BSC are back in action as 2.Bundesliga resumes. Hertha take on Paderborn (4.30am) although the Aussie may miss as he battles a calf strain.

On Saturday, Joshua Kennedy will hope to return from a leg/knee injury and help Nagoya Grampus climb the table when they take on Vissel Kobe (8pm) in Japan's J.League.

Elsewhere, Matt McKay returned from a hamstring problem last weekend and will hope to build on that as Busan I'Park try to seal their spot in the K-League top eight ahead of the mid-season split when they go to Daegu (8pm).

Later on Saturday evening the Scottish Premier League returns with Ryan McGowan's Hearts playing host to St Johnstone (midnight).

On Sunday, Mathew Leckie could provide a big highlight on the opening weekend of the German 2.Liga season, when his new club FSV Frankfurt go to Sandhausen (9.30pm).

There's also a raft of pre-season friendlies over the weekend including Brett Holman's Aston Villa taking on Nottingham Forest and Mitchell Langerak and Mustafa Amini's Dortmund meeting Hamburg.

Friday
German 2.Bundesliga
Hertha BSC (Nikita Rukavytsya) v Paderborn, 4.30am
Qatari Sheikh Jassim Cup
Al Markhiya v Umm Salal (Sasa Ognenovski), 4.45am

Saturday
J.League
Nagoya Grampus (Joshua Kennedy) v Vissel Kobe, 8pm
Cerezo Osaka v Consadole Sapporo (Jade North), 8pm
Sanfrecce Hiroshima v Shimizu S-Pulse (Alex Brosque), 8pm
K-League
Gyeongnam (Luke DeVere) v Daegu, 8pm
Gwangju v Busan I'Park (Matt McKay), 8pm
Incheon United v Chunnam Dragons (Robbie Cornthwaite, Matt Simon), 8pm
Sangju Sangmu v Jeju United (Adrian Madaschi), 8.30pm
CSL
Dalian Aerbin (Daniel Mullen) v Shanghai Shenxin, 9pm
Guizhou Renhe (Dino Djulbic) v Guangzhou Evergrande, 9pm
Shanghai Shenhua (Joel Griffiths) v Hangzhou, 10pm
SPL
Hearts (Ryan McGowan, Dylan McGowan) v St Johnstone, midnight
Uzbek Oliy League
Bunyodkor (David Carney) v Andijan, TBC

Club Friendlies
Bournemouth v Reading (Adam Federici), midnight
Ipswich (Massimo Luongo) v West Ham (Dylan Tombides), midnight
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa (Chris Herd, Brett Holman), midnight
Bristol City (Neil Kilkenny) v Bristol Rovers, midnight
Heracles (Jason Davidson) v Osasuna, 12.45am
Hamburg v Dortmund (Mitch Langerak, Mustafa Amini), 12.45am

Sunday
K-League
Ulsan Hyundai v Suwon Bluewings (Eddy Bosnar), 8pm
Jeonbuk Motors (Alex Wilkinson) v Daejeon Citizen, 8pm
Pohang Steelers v Seongnam Ilhwa (Brendan Hamill), 8pm
German 2.Bundesliga
Sandhausen v FSV Frankfurt (Mathew Leckie), 9.30pm
CSL
Guangzhou R&F (Rostyn Griffiths) v Tianjin Teda (Milan Susak), 10pm
Austrian Bundesliga
Rapid Vienna v Austria Vienna (James Holland), midnight
Russian Premier League
Dinamo Moscow (Luke Wilkshire) v Spartak Moscow, 3am
Danish Superliga
AGF v Brondby (Brent McGrath), 3am
Croatian Prva HNL
Zadar v Hajduk Split (Steve Lustica), 3am

Club Friendlies
AZ Alkmaar v Fortuna Dusseldorf (Robbie Kruse), 1am