The best action to follow this weekend
Saturday
?? Regardless of what happens elsewhere in the Bundesliga this weekend, Bayern München will clinch their NINTH straight title if they win at Mainz 05 this afternoon.
Mainz are on a good run of form, unbeaten in six league games but it seems unlikely that Bayern won’t be fully motivated for this one, especially with Robert Lewandowski’s return to full training this week.
Already the leading scorer across Europe’s big five leagues this season, the Pole is hunting down Gerd Müller’s all-time record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season. And with four games to go, you wouldn’t put it past him.
??????? There’s three games in the Premier League today, with the London derby between West Ham United and Chelsea being both the most important, and probably most heated. And for once, the sides are meeting as equals on the pitch, locked together on 55 points and sitting 4th and 5th in the table.
Elsewhere, Liverpool take on Newcastle in a fixture that has provided a few classic Premier League scorelines over the years and relegated Sheffield United will be playing for pride, with Brighton & Hove Albion the visitors to Brammal Lane.
?? In Spain, where the lead changed hands twice in midweek, we could once again see Real Madrid go top today. That will only happen should Zinedine Zidane’s side beat Real Betis at home. And because in La Liga the league positions of sides level on points are determined by head-to-head records rather than goal difference.
?? It’s early days in the new MLS season, but today we’ll get an early indicator on how the Western Conference will play out as two of the league’s strongest sides meet, LAFC vs. Seattle Sounders. Both started the campaign with wins last weekend, LAFC seeing off new boys Austin and Seattle looking ominously good in their 4-0 thrashing of Minnesota United.
Sunday
? Tomorrow, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will meet in the 61st League Cup (currently sponsored by Carabao) Final at Wembley.
For City, this is a chance to equal Liverpool’s early 1980s record of winning four consecutive finals whilst Tottenham have reached this stage for the first time since winning it in 2008. That is the club’s last major honour, so winning this one would be a major coup for 29-year-old rookie coach Ryan Mason, who was placed in charge after José Mourinho was sacked earlier this week.
? The Women’s Champions League has reached the semi-final stage, and with Lyon knocked out in the last round – this will be the first time someone else will get their hands on the trophy since 2015! Tomorrow, we’ll see the first legs of both ties in the last four.
PSG, the club who saw off the 5-time winners will now face Barcelona and on the other side of the draw, the German league leaders Bayern München play English equivilents Chelsea.
?? There are games for three of Serie A’s title challengers Sunday afternoon. Inter, overwhelmingly favourites for the Scudetto could only draw in midweek but benefitted from Milan losing and Atalanta also failing to pick up three points.
Inter will look to resume normal service at home to Hellas Verona. And elsewhere, third placed Atalanta play Bologna whilst Juventus are in Florence to face Fiorentina.
?? With five games to go in Ligue 1, the now four-way title race looks like it will go down to the wire. Such is the congested nature of the table, Lille, top going in to the weekend could find themselves down to third by the time they play tomorrow evening. That is because PSG play today and in-form Monaco kick-off earlier on Sunday.
Lille face by far their toughest remaining fixture as they clash with Lyon, the fourth side with an interest in the title race. Win and Lille will go back to the summit, lose and the table just gets tighter!
?? Likewise in La Liga, Atlético will most likely need to win at Athletic Club if they are to re-take top spot in the table.
Below them, Barcelona’s outside bid for the title will require them overcoming 7th placed Villarreal who, of course boast the attacking threat of Gerard Moreno. The Spanish number nine is currently the third top scorer in the league, behind the mercurial Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema.
??????? Of the three Premier League games scheduled for tomorrow, we’ll be treated to two big English club rivalries.
In the first, we see Yorkshire and Lancashire battle it out in the guise of Leeds United vs. Manchester United. Marcelo Bielsa’s side have already taken points off one of the clubs who signed up to the Super League this week, and will be looking to do the same against United.
And secondly, we have the West Midlands Derby between Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion. A win for Villa will all but seal Albion’s fate this season but with Sam Allardyce’s side set to face their other major rival, Wolves in their next game, he’ll be basing his unlikely Premier League survival bid on big back-to-back performances.
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