The best action to follow this weekend
If you would like to receive this weekly preview direct to your inbox, sign up to our FREE mailing list by clicking here.
Saturday
??????? Make the most of the games played in the Premier League over the next couple of days as that’ll be it until the league reconvenes in two weeks time. It doesn’t sound like a long break but the absence of the familiar routine might just surprise you!
There’s five fixtures this Saturday, including a trip to managerless Everton for Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa and a home game for Manchester United against West Ham, seemingly a direct challenger for the fourth Champions League spot come the end of the season.
Runaway leaders Manchester City round off the day with a game on the South Coast as they visit Southampton.
Away from the top flight, there’s something of a Derby Day feel in the EFL Championship with Cardiff City crossing the Severn Bridge into England to face Bristol City and arch-enemies Nottingham Forest and Derby County meeting in the East Midlands. Both games could be ‘fun.’
?? No need to worry about about any mid-season breaks in Serie A as it’s business as usual in Italy (COVID outbreaks not withstanding). Here, Inter will be back at the San Siro and hoping to extend their seven-game unbeaten run against Venezia.
Despite being held to a goalless draw at Atalanta last weekend, Inter actually increased their narrow advantage at the top of the table thanks to the dramatic injury-time winner Spezia scored at rivals Milan.
?? The big game of the day in the Bundesliga sees fourth take on second as Hoffenheim play Borussia Dortmund. Both sides suffered midweek defeats in the DFB Pokal – Hoffenheim losing to fellow high-flyers Freiburg whilst Dortmund went down 2-1 at St. Pauli of the 2. Bundesliga.
Also in action, Bayer Leverkusen (3rd) face Augsburg and in-form Union Berlin (5th) go up against the unpredictable Borussia Mönchengladbach.
?? Sevilla are now well established at the head of the chasing pack in La Liga, four points down on leaders Real Madrid but with a clear gap to city-rivals Real Betis below them. Every point is therefore vital for Julen Lopetegui’s outside title bid, and they’ll be hoping to take all three against Celta Vigo on Saturday.
The other headline fixture sees Atlético Madrid go up against Valencia as Diego Simeone desperately tries to rescue something from their season.
In reality, with Atleti now 16 points back in the league and following consecutive defeats in the Supercopa and Copa Del Rey over the last ten days, next month’s Champions League knockout game against Manchester United might be the club’s main focus.
?? The new Clausura season is now underway in Liga MX and there’s a couple of big games that may be of interest here – Apertura champions Atlas play Club América whilst the side Atlas beat to that title, Club León host Pachuca.
Sunday
?? La Liga’s big two both feature on Sunday with Real Madrid facing Elche for the second time in just 72 hours after they also met in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday night.
Elche held Madrid in that encounter, and even took the lead in extra-time before Madrid substitutes Isco and Eden Hazard turned it around late on.
Barcelona were defeated in their cup tie at Athletic Club on Thursday, going down 3-2 (after extra-time) to the side they beat convincingly in last season’s Copa Del Rey Final. On Sunday, Xavi’s inconsistent side make another trip to the Basque Country, this time hoping to get more out of the game at Deportivo Alavés.
??????? Before going on their winter break, the Premier League will serve up a few last minute treats for us. First up, Arsenal need to shake off their recent disappointments as Burnley visit the Emirates.
Kicking off at the same time, Liverpool follow Thursday’s League Cup triumph at Arsenal with another trip to London, where they face Crystal Palace. And Leicester City look to close the four point gap between themselves and opponents Brighton as both sides look to climb the table.
Last, but not least there’s another fiery London Derby between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as the rivals clash for the third time this month. Chelsea did of course win both legs in that League Cup semi-final but Spurs will be boosted by their injury-time heroics against Leicester in midweek.
?? The Eredivisie’s top two, PSV and Ajax go head-to-head in a fixture that has more riding on it than the ordinary run-of-the-mill meeting between the league’s two biggest teams. Defending champions Ajax trail their domestic rivals by a point despite conceding just four goals across 19 games this season and boasting a goal difference of +55.
That is essentially down to Roger Schmidt’s side matching Ajax for consistency, with PSV now unbeaten in 11 league and KNVB Cup games since the sides last met back in October. Ajax won that first De Topper of the campaign by five unanswered goals but whoever comes out on top in this one will then undoubtably be favourites to take the title this year.
?? Bayern are back in Bundesliga action on Sunday as they visit a Hertha side who could be particularly vulnerable after their midweek defeat to city-rivals Union. The Champions were back to their usual goal-hungry selves last time out, sticking four past FC Köln to make it 61 goals in 19 games this season but if you really fancy a home win, Bayern’s three league defeats have all finished 2-1.
?? The biggest game of the Serie A weekend, as always comes last in the schedule with title-chasing Milan playing fellow giants Juventus. The Old Lady are unbeaten in eight league games and progressed to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after beating Sampdoria, with ease on Tuesday.
For their part Milan have stuttered of late, particularly last Monday when they missed out on the chance to go top of the table thanks to that shock defeat to Spezia.
? Lastly, and after an action-packed week of drama in the group stages, the Round of 16 kicks off at the Africa Cup of Nations.
There will be two games played on Sunday, the first coming between the Stallions of Burkina Faso, finalists back in 2013 and Gabon, who went through their three group games unbeaten.
Later in the day, there’s a chance to see Nigeria, now the bookie’s favourites after three wins saw them top Group D come up against Tunisia. Usually amongst the favourites themselves, Tunisia have struggled so far with a solitary win against Mauritania enough for them to qualify for this stage as one of the best third placed teams.
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.
Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!
Cover Image from IMAGO