The best action to follow this weekend
Saturday
??????? There will be plenty of intrigue around the seven games scheduled in the Premier League this afternoon with the media having us believe that at least one managerial job is on the line in the late fixture between Spurs and Manchester United.
Earlier in the day, Arsenal go to Leicester City for the early kick-off before a run of games involving sides towards the top of the table. Liverpool (2nd) host Brighton (5th), Manchester City (3rd) take on Crystal Palace and leaders Chelsea go to newly-minted but winless Newcastle United.
?? In La Liga, where the top seven are currently separated by five points there’s a chance for two of those to join leaders Real Sociedad on 24 from their first 11 games.
Real Madrid kick-off first, away to an Elche side who are unbeaten in seven home games before Sevilla go on to play Osasuna, who it might surprise you to learn have the best away record of anyone in the league this season.
Meanwhile at Barcelona, new interim coach Sergi Barjuán faces his first test at home to Alavés.
?? There are just three games in Serie A today but at least two of them should be worth a watch. Juventus, who suffered that late defeat to Sassuolo in midweek visit the high scoring but unpredictable Hellas Verona. The Verona front-line includes Giovanni Simeone, son of Diego who scored all four goals in their win over Lazio last weekend.
Two of the leagues other in-form strikers, Duván Zapata and Ciro Immobile should also be on display as Atalanta go up against the aforementioned Lazio.
?? The MLS season is coming to a head nicely, with some sides playing their final games of the regular season later tonight. Across the two conferences there are still nine play-off places up for grabs and three seeded spots available.
Check out the remaining games and have some fun plotting out the various post-season connotations via our profile for the league – found here.
?? Lastly for today, the Bundesliga should provide some interesting storylines with six games on offer. Bayern will be looking to bounce back from their heaviest ever defeat in the DFB Pokal (suffered against Gladbach on Wednesday) when they get back to the nitty gritty of the league with a road trip to Union Berlin.
Elsewhere, Dortmund take on FC Köln and this season’s surprise package, Freiburg will want to extend the unbeaten start to their season in to double figures against Greuther Fürth, one of two sides still to pick up a win.
Sunday
In truth, with the Champions League and other UEFA competitions coming up in the week, tomorrow’s fixture highlights are a little harder to come by but we think there’s still enough out there to keep you going.
? In Spain, or more specifically the Basque country there will be a massive derby taking place as Real Sociedad meet historic rivals Athletic Club at the Anoeta. And the extra significance this time around is that La Real go in to the weekend top of a very congested La Liga table.
Their three point lead could be cut by the time they take the field but the fact that a win against the old enemy would ensure they go straight back to the summit should give them that extra motivation, should any be necessary. For their part, Athletic are unbeaten in seven away from Bilbao and have only lost one league game this season despite sitting well off the pace set by their rivals.
Also in La Liga, watch out for Atlético Madrid‘s game against fellow high flyers Real Betis as a win for the defending champions could take them in to the top four. But they’ll probably have to do without Diego Simeone in the dugout after his sending off during their disappointing midweek draw at Levante.
?? With the two Milan clubs not in Champions League action until Wednesday, their respective weekend fixtures remain in their traditional Sunday slots. Inter at home to Udinese at lunchtime whilst Milan face a tough trip to the slightly unpredictable Roma.
Milan are neck and neck with Napoli at the head of the division, level on points with identical won 9, drawn 1, lost 0 records. And of the two, Napoli will probably think they have the easier away fixture of the two, visiting promoted side Salernitana.
??????? Back in the Premier League, only two games are on the slate for tomorrow with Norwich City facing fellow strugglers Leeds United and Aston Villa lining up for the kit clash derby against another claret and blue side West Ham United.
Staying in England, it’s Semi-Final day in the Women’s FA Cup. Manchester City, who have been plagued by injury and a lack of form in the league will hope to park that for the day as they go up against Chelsea and current league leaders Arsenal play a Brighton side who have reached this stage of the competition for the first time since 1976.
? To round off the weekend, we’ve picked out two of South America’s biggest derbies to tempt you down a rabbit hole of league tables, wikipedia and historical stats! Cerro Porteño clash with Olimpia in Paraguay’s Superclasico, a game that looks particularly critical for Olimpia with one of the country’s giant sides currently languishing at the foot of the table.
And there’s also the equivalent clash between Uruguay’s two main sides, Peñarol and Nacional. The most widely known fact about this contest is that it’s the first cross-city derby game to develop anywhere in the world outside the UK, with the first match between the two sides taking place way back in 1900.
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Cover Image from IMAGO