The weekend is here again and with it, a whole host of key match ups in leagues across the world. Here, we try and pick out the best of them to explain why these games are worth a follow in the app.
? Friday Night.
?? Tonight, there’s competitive top quality football in France for the first time since the country locked down, with the Final of the Coupe de France.
Two famous names are in the final, but in Saint Étienne, one who’s glory days are somewhat behind them – with their last win in France’s premier Cup competition coming way back in 1977.
PSG have already been awarded the league and are now chasing a domestic treble with two finals – this one and the Coupe de la Ligue due before the re-start of the Champions League in which they still have a vested interest.
?? Thanks to a shock defeat for Juventus on Thursday evening, Atalanta’s outside shot at the Serie A table have been given a boost. They currently sit in 2nd and could cut their deficit down to just 3 points, if they manage to beat a much improved Milan side at the San Siro this evening.
?? And there’s silverware on the line in Poland, where they too, have a Cup Final. Cracovia take on reigning champions, Lechia Gdańsk in the city of Lublin. Amazingly, despite being the country’s oldest team in existence and having five league titles to their name – Cracovia have never won this competition.
? Saturday
?? The Portuguese league organisers clearly wanted to end their extended season with a bang when they planned out the post-lockdown fixtures – scheduling games between the country’s big four for the final weekend.
As it happens, FC Porto have already wrapped up the league – and only their opponents, 4th placed Braga can move up a position if the key results favour them on Saturday.
For Benfica (2nd) and Sporting (3rd), there’s just the small matter of local pride as the two Lisbon clubs meet in one of Europe’s most famous derbies.
?? There’s only three games in Serie A tomorrow, so Inter’s trip to Genoa will take centre-stage. Having looked the most likely challengers to Juve’s dominance this season, they’ve stumbled since the restart – but along with Atalanta, could mathematically still catch them!
?? The Chinese Super League season has obviously been delayed this year – but will finally get underway on Saturday. The 16 teams have been split into two groups and will play all their games in a single city assigned to each group, before a knock-out series planned for later in the year. Reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande kick things off against Shanghai Shenhua.
?? In Russia, there’s another Cup Final to tell you about as league champions and dominant domestic force, Zenit St. Petersburg take on FC Khimki.
Khimki, hailing from just outside Moscow are a second division team but they too have already enjoyed a successful season as they were awarded promotion for being in 2nd place at the time of the league’s suspension.
? Sunday
??????? We’ll be closing the weekend in some style with what will be an action-packed final day of the English Premier League. First and second may be locked in, but there’s so much else left to sort out!
Leicester City vs. Manchester United is the key game at the top, with the result vital to the aspirations of up to five clubs hoping to qualify for European football next season. Whoever wins that one will be guaranteed a place in the Champions League.
A Manchester United win would be good news for Chelsea too, as that would assure them 4th place regardless of their result against Wolves – themselves looking to secure their place in the Europa League.
At the bottom, only one of Aston Villa, Watford or Bournemouth can survive.
Watford go to Arsenal needing to better Villa’s result at West Ham, or hope Villa lose by 2 or more goals. AFC Bournemouth are the side most at risk but they could still stay up on goal difference, if they win at Everton and both their relegation rivals lose.
?? Back to Serie A, and despite what we’ve said elsewhere – Juventus could finally win their 9th straight title when they host Sampdoria on Sunday. That’s with the right combination of results for the chasing pack and thanks to the leagues use of head-to-head records rather than goal difference in tie-break situations.
?? Lastly, there’s a great looking game in our local league, the Eliteserien. The two unbeaten sides go head-to-head with leaders Bodø/Glimt facing defending champions and second placed, Molde. The home side have scored an astonishing 35 goals in 9 games so far and Molde too are averaging over 3 goals a game.
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