The best action to follow this weekend
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Saturday
??????? After a crucial, but extensive international break it’s time to get back to the bread and butter of domestic top flight action and where better to start than the Premier League. Particularly with the Champions League quarter-finals coming up in the week meaning that England’s three representatives all play on Saturday.
Liverpool warm up for their trip to Benfica in the early kick-off against Watford before later in the day, Manchester City prepare for the visit of Diego Simeone’s Atlético by playing at Sean Dyche’s Burnley. Chelsea meanwhile face West London rivals Brentford before then welcoming Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Manchester United are also in action as they come up against Europa Conference quarter-finalists Leicester City.
In case you needed a reminder, here’s the current picture at the top of the English table.
Staying in England, and specifically West London there’s also an important game in the second tier as runaway Championship leaders Fulham go to near neighbours Queens Park Rangers, themselves looking to break in to the play-off places in pursuit of promotion.
?? Real Madrid, who currently sit nine points clear in La Liga are also on their travels. They visit Celta Vigo, a side they’ve not lost to in any competition since 2017 and at who’s ground they’re unbeaten for the best part of eight years.
Fourth-placed Atlético will be looking to extend their good run of form with a win at home to Deportivo Alavés potentially giving them their sixth straight victory.
?? There’s intrigue in the Bundesliga fixture list where the biggest game of the day pits Borussia Dortmund against fellow perennial challengers, RB Leipzig. Sitting second and fourth in the table respectively, the win is probably more important for the visitors as Leipzig are embroiled in a battle for a Champions League spot.
Just four points separates Leverkusen in third to Hoffenheim in sixth with seven rounds to play – meaning any dropped points could now be costly. Freiburg are the other side involved in that mini-league within a league but they’ve drawn the short straw this weekend. They play Bayern München.
?? From Australia, we get the third instalment of the Sydney Derby in the current season. In truth, both Sydney and Western Sydney Wanderers are way off the pace in the A-League Men’s table but these games always bring some top Derby-day action. With Western Sydney holding the bragging rights having won one, drawn one from the previous two clashes, the blue half of the city will be out for revenge.
?? With not even PSG fans seemingly enjoying their own club’s table topping form this season, Saturday gives us a chance to watch two Ligue 1 sides that have entertained, fourth placed Nice against third placed Rennes. The Breton club have outgunned everyone, including PSG by scoring 63 goals across their 29 games but in Nice, they will come up against the league’s meanest defence – The Eaglets have conceded an average of just 0.8 goals per game.
Sunday
??????? There’s nothing like scheduling a potential title decider that also happens to be the league’s most talked about fixture (and that’s an understatement) on the first weekend after the international break. Rangers vs. Celtic is exactly that game and with the visitors unbeaten in 25 but only leading Rangers by three points in the table, this is Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s best chance of stopping their arch-rivals from taking back the Scottish title.
?? In Spain too, there’s another massive game lined up for Sunday evening with Barcelona hosting Sevilla at the Camp Nou. A stadium probably still recovering from Barcelona Femini’s Champions League quarter-final in the week when the attendance of 91,553 broke the world record for women’s football.
A win for the men’s team would put them level on points with their second-placed opponents but also leapfrog them on goal difference, all whilst having a game in hand. That’s some motivation for Xavi’s in-form side.
?? Serie A have followed the Scottish Premiership’s lead and arranged for one of their biggest rivalries to headline the weekend in Italy. Juventus vs. Inter, aka the Derby d’Italia isn’t quite a title decider but with just a point between them, the result should indicate who is best placed to chase down the only two sides above them, Napoli and Milan.
For their part, Napoli could go above Milan, again on goal difference should they win their fixture at fifth placed Atalanta earlier in the day.
??????? There’s just two games in the Premier League but both are relevant to the various battles going on as sides jostle for the European qualification spots or attempt to stay clear of the dreaded relegation zone. West Ham host Everton, who sit perilously close to the bottom three and Spurs entertain Newcastle United.
☀️ Closer to FotMob’s heart, this weekend marks the season start in two of Europe’s summer leagues – Norway’s Eliteserien and Sweden’s Allsvenskan.
Here in Norway, we’re going big with Molde playing Vålerenga on Saturday before Sunday brings the clash between defending champions and current darlings of the Europa Conference League, Bodø/Glimt, and giants Rosenborg. In Sweden, Malmö kick-off their title defence with a trip to Kalmer in the South East of the country.
? Elsewhere in Europe, there’s the usual scattering of big local derbies and important match ups. In Switzerland, after runaway leaders FC Zürich play city rivals Grasshoppers on Saturday, the country’s biggest game between FC Basel and Young Boys takes place on Sunday. In Austria too, there’s Salzburg vs. Rapid Wien and in Turkey, outgoing champions Beşiktaş go to this season’s most likely winners, Trabzonspor.
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Cover Image from IMAGO