The best action to follow this weekend
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Saturday
??????? We start with the mammoth slate of games due to take place in the Premier League. There’s eight on the card, but with storms currently battering the UK and half the population watching a live stream of planes trying to land at Heathrow Airport, we might have to wait and see which games actually get played.
Manchester City, fresh from that record breaking win at Sporting in the Champions League Round of 16 now face the prospect of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur in the late kick-off.
Earlier games to look out for include Liverpool against Norwich, a side they’ve beaten in 10 of their last 12 meetings and Chelsea’s trip across London to Crystal Palace. Staying in the capital, Arsenal will be out for revenge against Brentford – with the Bees inflicting that famous upset versus the Gunners in their very first Premier League game back in August.
?? The Serie A weekend follows on from Friday night’s Turin Derby with a couple of interesting matches on Saturday. One pits the leaders, Milan against the side currently sitting bottom of the pile, Salernitana and the other sees Roma entertain the unpredictable Hellas Verona.
The Gialloblu have the third best record in terms of goals scored per match (1.9) but have also conceded 40, the worst record of anyone in the top half of the table.
?? The top side are also in action in La Liga with Real Madrid playing relegation threatened Alavés. That defeat at PSG during the week means that Madrid have won one of their last five games in all competitions, a record that has a section of the fanbase grumbling – but at home, you’d fully expect them to maintain their four point lead in the table.
Things aren’t looking too rosy on the other side of the capital either – Atlético lost to the league’s bottom side on Wednesday, a result that saw the defending champions slip out of the top four. Under pressure Diego Simeone and their fans will be hoping for more from a trip to Osasuna.
?? As we’ve mentioned that important win for PSG, we should reference what they’re up to back on the domestic front this weekend. Well, the Parisians will be on the road to face a Nantes side unbeaten in seven home games.
The only other game in Ligue 1 comes as seventh placed Lyon visit eighth placed Lens.
?? One of the more intriguing stories in the Bundesliga season appears to be the battle for fourth place. Four teams are currently locked together on 34 points, from Leipzig in fourth down to Union Berlin in seventh. Three of the four play on Saturday, with Hoffenheim the best placed of them set to visit Wolfsburg.
Sunday
?? La Liga delivers further interest on Sunday with match-ups including a lot of the top teams. Sevilla (2nd) play Espanyol whilst city rivals Betis (3rd) host Mallorca and Barcelona (4th) go to Valencia.
And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the Basque Derby between in-form Athletic Club and arch-rivals Real Sociedad to round off the day’s action.
?? Back in the Bundesliga, its top vs. bottom as Bayern welcome Greuther Fürth to the Allianz Arena for the first time since 2013. Greuther are actually on their best run of the form this season with two wins in their last three but surely the good ship Bayern will get back to an even keel after their shock defeat to Bochum and stuttering display at Salzburg in the Champions League.
Elsewhere there’s another derby, albeit for the name only as the two Borussia – Dortmund and Mönchengladbach battle it out.
??????? Rivalries will be renewed in the Premier League on Sunday with Yorkshire side Leeds United facing Lancashire ‘neighbours’ Manchester United in the first game between the two, with fans at Elland Road for over a decade.
?? In Serie A, the side with the best away record in the league, Atalanta go to Fiorentina just 10 days after the two met in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. La Viola came back from 2-1 down in that one, winning the game in the 93rd minute thanks to Nikola Milenković.
Inter, whose season has taken a couple of blows recently – losing their hold on top spot plus defeat to Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League tie need to lift themselves for a home game vs. Sassuolo.
?? After it’s long sabbatical over the winter months, the Danish Superliga returns to action on Sunday. Midtjylland hold a two point advantage at the top and they’ll be looking to carry on where they left off against fourth placed Aalborg.
?? And finally, we’re in the midst of the various State Championships in Brazilian football but there’s still time to break off for the Supercopa. Atlético Mineiro, who broke a 50 year curse to lift the league title last season also won the main cup competition meaning that for this game, they face league runners up Flamengo who themselves won the title in both 2019 and 2020. This should therefore be a great advert for all that Brazil has to offer!
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Cover Image from IMAGO