Club football returns this weekend so now is the perfect time to check your FotMob app is up to date and you’re running the latest version.
We say this because you’ll notice a whole host of improvements to the match experience and in particular, if stats are your thing, you may be pleased to hear that xG is here! We have xG for all of the top leagues, with live data during each game and for every player.
Below, we preview the best of the action on offer this weekend.
? Friday Night
?? It being a Bank Holiday ahead of the Easter Weekend in the UK, there is almost a full slate of EFL action including games for the majority of the movers and shakers in the Championship title race.
Leaders Norwich City will already be playing by the time you read this but later this evening, there are still two games of interest. Firstly, in-form Barnsley (5th) take on Reading (6th) in a battle between play-off rivals and then Swansea City (3rd) go to Birmingham City, where new manager Lee Bowyer will be hoping to inspire a turnaround in fortunes to lift the club out of relegation danger.
?? In Spain, the regular late Friday kick-off is between Levante and Huesca. The visitors remain bottom of La Liga but could jump two places with a win, and move within a point of Elche, the side currently sitting just outside the relegation zone and who they play next weekend.
? Saturday
? Tomorrow, we get the 2020 final of the Spanish Copa del Rey as rivals Athletic Club and Real Sociedad finally get to meet in the first Basque Derby ever to take place at this stage in a competition that has been running since 1903.
And in one of the great quirks of post-pandemic football, Athletic Club have to do it all again in two weeks time having also reached the final of this season’s Copa! That one will be against Barcelona, who are somewhat rejuvenated since Athletic beat them in the Supercopa back in January. Which Athletic wouldn’t even have normally been playing in until after last season’s cup final had taken place. ?
??????? The Premier League offers up four fixtures, all with some significant interest. Chelsea play West Brom first up, before the Yorkshire Derby between Leeds United and Sheffield United fills the afternoon slot.
Later, champions-elect Manchester City face third-placed Leicester City. And to close off proceedings, there’s the heavyweight clash between Arsenal and Liverpool which for reasons far too long to debate here, is this season a meeting between the sides ninth and seventh in the table.
?? The Bundesliga looks a little harder to call, but the headline game on Saturday should go some way to confirming if Bayern are to win a ninth straight title. They are on the road against RB Leipzig, the side sitting just four points behind them in second. The last three meetings between the sides have all been draws, with the latest a dramatic 3-3 thriller back in December.
?? First and second also meet in Ligue 1, with PSG hosting LOSC (aka Lille). Only goal difference separates the two as Paris have gradually caught up with this season’s most consistent side. We got a little taste of what is to come in this one though, with the teams meeting in the Coupe De France just prior to the international break, a game PSG won convincingly by three goals to nil.
?? In Serie A, there is a full round of games taking place on Saturday due, again to scheduling around Easter. And we’ll get to see how that brand new Inter crest is looking on the club’s shirts as they play away at Bologna. That game is the late kick-off so before that, Milan will get the chance to cut Inter’s six-point gap at the top, with Sampdoria visiting the San Siro. And for Juventus, there’s the small matter of the Derby della Mole against city-rivals, Torino. The Old Lady have not lost one of these derbies since April 2015, a run totalling 13 games.
? Sunday
??????? To close the weekend, and last of four Sunday games in the Premier League – Manchester United go up against Brighton and Hove Albion, a team that are no stranger to debates about the use of xG data in the game this season!
That is also the case for two clubs who meet earlier in the day, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. That one will be a real test for our new app features!
?? The German capital provides a big game in the Bundesliga, with Berlin rivals Union and Hertha going toe-to-toe. The two, separated for so long by the Wall and then by divisions meet in the top flight for just the fourth occasion. Hertha won the last meeting back in December, somewhat against the odds with Union performing better in the league this season. They go in to this one seven places and 14 points better off than their historically more illustrious rivals.
?? In La Liga, leaders Atlético face another stiff test of their credentials with a match at fourth placed Sevilla. Neither Real Madrid (playing Saturday) or Barcelona (in action on Monday) can catch Atleti in this round of games but Diego Simeone’s side can’t rest on their laurels. They must keep on grinding out the results if they are to lift their first title since 2014.
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
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