There is a lot going on over the next few days; the first full weekend back in the Premier League, the return of Serie A, the penultimate round of the Bundesliga and more derbies than you will ever need in your life! Here’s our pick of the action this weekend.
? Friday Night.
??????? The Premier League may have actually started back on Wednesday, but those were games in hand outstanding from before the break in the season. Tonight sees the start of the first proper #ProjectRestart round of fixtures.
Norwich really need to start well in their game against Southampton at Carrow Road, if they’re to stand any chance of pulling off a surprise escape from relegation.
And in London, there’s the heavyweight clash between Spurs and Manchester United. José Mourinho taking on the man who replaced him in the Old Trafford dugout back in 2018, Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
?? In Spain, where either Real Madrid or Barcelona seem to be playing every other day at the moment, it’s Barça’s turn as they go to Sevilla, the side currently sitting 3rd in La Liga.
Since lockdown, Sevilla have enjoyed a derby victory over Betis but drew last time out against Levante whilst Barcelona, and Lionel Messi in particular have looked in ominous form in their first two games back. With a victory tonight, Barca would move 7 points clear in the table.
Elsewhere, two of the last leagues in Europe to return are thankfully coming out of the woodwork this evening.
?? In Russia, where they are 22 rounds in to the season there’s a pair of lowkey matches, the best of which looks to be at Sochi where they welcome 4th placed, FC Rostov.
?? And in Switzerland, the Super League gets up and running with a big game between Young Boys and FC Zürich. The former will go top of the table should they earn a point, or more.
? Saturday
?? We’ve now reached the second-to-last round of games in Germany’s Bundesliga and whilst top spot (Bayern München) and bottom place (Paderborn) are already sealed, pretty much everything else is still up for grabs!
RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Dortmund is a straight shoot-out for the runners-up spot, although a win for Leipzig would take that to the final weekend.
And at the bottom, the 4 sides fighting over the last automatic relegation and the relegation play-off position all face each other. Werder Bremen are most at risk and in reality, the best they can now hope for is pipping Düsseldorf to 16th.
Fortuna Düsseldorf host Augsburg and Werder Bremen travel to Mainz.
??????? The Premier League have staggered the four games scheduled for Saturday so you could in theory, never leave the comfort of your armchair. And with Bournemouth’s clash with Crystal Palace becoming the first top flight league fixture broadcast on state broadcaster, BBC 1 since 1992, it will likely become the most watched game in the UK since the dawn of the Premier League era!
Sticking in England, the second tier EFL Championship also returns this week. With leaders Leeds United not playing until Sunday, most focus will be on second place, West Bromwich Albion as they meet near-neighbours, Birmingham City.
?? In Italy, we’ve already seen the Coppa Italia come to a dramatic conclusion during the last few days but now it’s time for the bread and butter of Serie A.
Neither of the top two play until next week (Juventus, Lazio) so on Saturday, you’ll have to make do with the games between Torino and Parma or Hellas Verona vs. Cagliari.
?? For us in Norway, thanks to a tweak to the Eliteserien fixtures that ensures the minimum amount of travel in the opening 6 weeks of the season, we’ll be blessed with a string of local(ish) derbies. And tomorrow, we get the big one between the sides who’ve shared 9 of the last 10 league titles – Molde vs. Rosenborg. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.
?? As mentioned, there are derbies taking place in almost every European league this weekend – but perhaps the biggest of the more obscure games will take place in the Bulgarian Parva Liga where up to 18,000 fans will be allowed in to watch CSKA Sofia play Levski Sofia.
? Sunday
??????? Thanks to Man City’s win over Arsenal in midweek, Liverpool can no longer wrap up the Premier League title at the home of their arch-rivals, Everton on Sunday.
But, when you’ve already waited over 100 days to pick up one of the last 2 remaining wins you need to secure a first title in 30 years, what’s another couple of days!?
Everton fans will be hoping to delay the inevitable, and break the hoo-doo that surrounds this fixture. They last beat the other team on Merseyside way back in 2010.
?? One of Serie A’s big teams are in action on Sunday, with Inter Milan hoping for a win against Sampdoria in their bid to make the title race a 3-way battle between them and the sides currently sitting 9 and 8 points ahead of them – Juve and Lazio.
?? There’s an interesting looking game in La Liga where Real Madrid travel to the Basque County to play Real Sociedad – where Martin Ødegaard, one of their own players has been enjoying a superb loan spell this season.
?? Sunday is Derby Day in Athens, where fierce rivals Olympiacos and Panathinaikos clash in the Super League. The hosts have a huge lead in the table so Panathinaikos will be playing for pride only.
And it’s derby central across Scandinavia too – In Norway, our local side, Brann take on Viking. In Denmark, the big two meet – Brøndby vs. FC København and in Sweden, theres the game between Stockholm clubs, Hammarby and AIK. ?
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