The best action to follow this weekend
Saturday
🇩🇪 We start with one of European football’s biggest games: Der Klassiker. The clash between the Bundesliga’s big two – Dortmund and Bayern. And for once, we can’t say that the rival clubs go in to the game sat first and second in the league, for it has been an extraordinary start to the season in Germany.
Bayern sit third having suffered their worst start for decades but in reality, have actually lost just once in the league, and are only two points down on leaders Union Berlin and Freiburg. Dortmund lie below Bayern on goal difference with the black and yellows impressive going forward but equally, quite flimsy at the back – they’ve lost three of their eight games but have beaten Freiburg and arch-rivals Schalke.
Both sides won their midweek games in the Champions League convincingly – Bayern putting five past Viktoria Plzeň and Dortmund winning 4-1 at Sevilla.
Elsewhere, we’ll see how Xabi Alonso gets on as the new boss of Bayer Leverkusen as they look to get their season back on track against fellow strugglers Schalke.
🇮🇹 There’s another massive game lined up for tomorrow in Serie A as Milan and Juventus, the two most successful clubs in Italian football, clash at the San Siro. And again, these are two giant sides who are somewhat off the pace in the early stages of the title race.
Defending champions Milan comes into this game down in fifth and off the back of a humbling defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League while Juve’s issues this season have been well documented. The Old Lady are now up to seventh however, having got back to winning ways, against Bologna last weekend, and versus Maccabi Haifa in their midweek game.
Inter – who share a record of 19 titles with their Milan rivals (to Juve’s 36) are even further back in ninth. But they will have the opportunity to leapfrog their Saturday opponents, Sassuolo, if they can back up the win they got against Barcelona in the week.
🏴 The Premier League continues at pace with five games from Round 10 taking place tomorrow. Manchester City, and the goalscoring juggernaut that is Erling Haaland, can go back to the top of the table with a win over Southampton – a side that they failed to beat in the league last season.
There’s also the meeting between Chelsea and manager-less Wolves, although they may well have moved to appoint the outgoing Sevilla boss, Julen Lopetegui between the the time of this preview being published and kick-off!
The game of the day probably comes later though, with Brighton & Hove Albion (fourth) playing their first home fixture under new coach Roberto De Zerbi against Tottenham Hotspur (third). Antonio Conte will be looking for a positive reaction after Spurs lost last weekend’s North London Derby and were held by Eintracht Frankfurt during the week.
🇪🇸 In Spain, there’s an opportunity for Real Madrid to overtake rivals Barça to go top of LaLiga – if they can win at Getafe. Should they slip up however, Athletic Club could join the league’s big two on 19 points – but they’ll need to be wary of the new manager bounce as opponents Sevilla moved swiftly to replace the aforementioned Lopetegui with Jorge Sampaoli, who returns for a second stint at the club.
Elsewhere, Atlético Madrid once again look to bounce back from another setback in Europe – they lost 2-0 at Club Brugge in the week – as they go up against Girona. A win should move Diego Simeone’s side in to the top four, at least until Sunday’s fixtures.
🏴 And there’s a big game in the Scottish Premiership where St. Mirren have been the surprise package this season. The Saints are third and having already beaten defending champions Celtic back in September, they now have their sights firmly set on the other half of the Old Firm. Rangers sit four points above them and will have the backing of their Ibrox faithful but write off St. Mirren at your peril.
Sunday
🏴 Sunday is a four game day in the Premier League with some of the league’s biggest sides in action. Arsenal, who beat Bodø/Glimt (the best thing to come out of Norway since FotMob) on Thursday evening will get back to their domestic duties against Liverpool. This is one of the classic inter-city rivalries in England’s top flight with Mikel Arteta’s side currently in the unusual position – at least in recent years – of going into the game well ahead of Liverpool in the table. In fact, the Reds start the weekend down in ninth with only their Champions League form to encourage them after recent disappointments at home.
Depending on City’s result on Saturday, Arsenal will be looking to maintain or retake leadership of the league before they travel in to the Artic Circle to face Glimt again during the week.
Amongst the other fixtures, Manchester United return triumphant (just) from their Europa League outing in Cyprus to test what is currently, the best defence in the Premier League, as they face Everton at Goodison Park.
🇪🇸 Similarly to Arsenal, Barcelona will be playing catch-up as their main rivals for top spot in LaLiga all play before them. Xavi’s side may have lost at Bayern and now Inter in Europe but at home, they remain unbeaten, and boast a defence that has conceded just once in seven games. They return to Camp Nou for a fixture against Celta Vigo and their indefatigable striker, Iago Aspas, who netted three goals against them last season.
A good showing is essential for Barça as with injuries building up their squad will be tested further by the return game against Inter, and then the small matter of El Clásico next weekend.
🇩🇪 Back in the Bundesliga, Sunday is Derby Day for fans of FC Köln as the Billy Goats visit rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. A win for either side should move them in to the European places along with earning them the local bragging rights.
Leaders Union Berlin leave the capital and head south to face Stuttgart while second placed Freiburg (albeit on goal difference only) travel to Berlin for their game against Hertha. Both will be confident going into games against sides at the opposite end of the table.
🇮🇹 We also have to wait until Sunday for the Serie A leaders to play. Napoli, still basking in the glory of their biggest ever win in European football (the 6-1 at Ajax) now face promoted side Cremonese. The home team have failed to win since their return to the top flight but have managed to take important draws from games against Atalanta and Sassuolo in recent weeks.
Atalanta are level on points with Napoli, but now face a massive test against the other side currently building an unlikely assault on the European places, third placed Udinese.
🇫🇷 The big game in Ligue 1 this weekend does not involve either PSG or Marseille, but rather the two big northern clubs – Lille and Lens. The Derby du Nord is always heated but with Lens winning all three of their meetings last season and currently on an amazing run of 17 games unbeaten in the league, Lille fans will be desperate to upset their rivals. In contrast, the 2020/21 title winners are on a seven-game sequence of lose one, win the next.
🇸🇪 The Swedish Allsvenskan title race has been bubbling away nicely all summer and now with six games to play we’re still none the wiser as to who will come out on top. Sunday’s game between the two leaders should however start to clear things up – if there’s a winner!
Djurgården are level on points with Häcken but have their superior defence to thank for their current position. And they do have a good record against their opponents – winning the last seven meetings between the two.
🇺🇸 Lastly, Sunday is #MLSDecisionDay with the final round of regular season games taking place largely at the same time across both conferences. Our friends at 90min.com have produced the ultimate guide on what to watch out for – which you can read here – but essentially there are still two play-off places up for grabs in both the East and the West. Plus a whole bunch of seeding questions to resolve as sides battle for home advantage going in to the all-important post-season games.
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Cover Image from IMAGO