The best matches to follow this weekend
Saturday
🇪🇸 After a dramatic week in Spain’s Copa Del Rey, some LaLiga sides might be grateful to get back to league play this weekend. Not least Real Madrid, who were outshot by, but ultimately beat fourth tier Cacereño thanks to a single goal from Rodrygo. A result that left Carlo Ancelotti bemoaning the state of the pitch that the semi-pro side play on. On Saturday, the joint league leaders visit seventh placed Villarreal.
The Yellow Submarine conceded first in their own Copa game against Cartagena, from LaLiga 2, but roared back, scoring five second half goals and progressing to the Round of 16 with ease. That continues the side’s recent good form under former Barcelona coach Quique Setién – they beat Galatasaray, Aston Villa and Napoli in winter break friendlies before last week’s win over Valencia.
🇮🇹 Serie A became the latest big league to restart with the traditional Epiphany holiday round of games played on Wednesday. And there were some big results too, with Inter finally ending Napoli’s unbeaten start to the season. That win took the Nerazzurri in to the top four – a position they’ll be looking to consolidate with a positive result, away at Monza, this weekend.
Elsewhere, Juventus returned to action with a hard-fought win at Cremonese. With the squad decimated by injuries, Arkadiusz Milik’s stoppage-time free kick gave them their seventh straight win in Serie A. Their black and white counterparts from Udinese are Juve’s next test, a side who despite sitting outside the top six have actually been scoring goals at the same rate as the Turin giants this season (1.6 per match).
🏴 The FA Cup third round – the stage at which the Premier League and Championship clubs join the World’s oldest cup competition – commences with tonight’s all-EPL clash between Manchester United and Everton.
The fun continues tomorrow with the three remaining Non-League sides all in action – Hollywood-owned Wrexham and Chesterfield face Championship sides Coventry and West Brom, respectively, and recent giant-killing heroes Boreham Wood play Accrington Stanley. The Wood have made it through to this round for the third season in a row and beat Wimbledon and Bournemouth en route to a fifth round tie at Everton last year.
Liverpool vs. Wolves is one of three all-EPL games taking place on Saturday and Spurs vs. League One Portsmouth is another of the day’s headliners. With Pompey sacking their management team during the week, the glamorous away tie at a Big 6 club could be a good chance to reset.
🇫🇷 Similarly, the big boys join the party in the Coupe de France. Here, nearly 6,000 clubs have been whittled down to 64, a number that still includes six sides from the regional, semi-pro, sixth tier and even one representative from France’s overseas departments. Tamponnaise, based in Réunion, an island between Madagascar and Mauritius will play at fourth tier RC Grasse. That’s one hell of an away day!
With giants PSG playing on Friday night, Ligue 1’s biggest representatives in Saturday’s games are Marseille, who play at Hyères from the fourth tier, and Lens (victorious over PSG in their last game) who face fifth tier Linas-Montlhéry.
Sunday
🇪🇸 We have to wait until Sunday for the biggest fixture taking place in LaLiga this weekend – the clash between heavyweights Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. The Madrid side appear to have sorted themselves out over the extended World Cup and festive break – albeit, their back-to-back 2-0 wins since then have come in a virtual free-hit, against struggling Elche, and at Real Oviedo in the Copa.
For their part, Barcelona dropped two vital points in the Derby against Espanyol before Wednesday’s extraordinary victory over CF Intercity. Xavi’s side were forced in to extra-time after the third tier side equalised on three occasions through former-Barcelona youth player Oriol Soldevila before a goal from Ansu Fati finally won the game 4-3.
🏴 Back in the FA Cup, Sunday brings the second instalment of this week’s double-header between Manchester City and Chelsea. Pep Guardiola needed two of his subs – Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez to combine for the latter to score the only goal of the Premier League clash on Thursday night. But like many, we’re predicting it will be two very different line-ups that take to the field back at the Etihad for this third round game.
Graham Potter will be looking for his side to relieve some pressure after a run of just four wins in their last eleven competitive games.
🇮🇹 Sunday looks busy in Serie A with five matches on the slate. League leaders Napoli will be looking to shake off that first defeat of the season against Inter when visit Sampdoria. That was obviously a set-back for the side chasing their first Scudetto since 1990 and they’ll need to wary of the renewed threat posed by the Genoese club buoyed by just their second win of the season, against Sassuolo on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Napoli’s nearest title rivals, Milan, face Roma at the San Siro while fifth placed Lazio play Empoli. Lazio were also shock losers as the league returned this week, going down 2-1 at mid-table Lecce.
🇹🇷 Perhaps the biggest game taking place anywhere in the world this weekend is in the Süper Lig. The Intercontinental Derby between Istanbul rivals Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray comes at a time when both clubs have been leapfrogging each other to lead the league after enduring a relatively lean time in recent seasons.
Current leaders Galatasaray last won the title three seasons ago and finished way down in 13th last year while Fenerbahçe were distant runners-up to Trabzonspor – the fourth time they’ve settled for second since winning the league in 2014.
🇧🇪 Finally, there’s also an intriguing looking match up in Belgium where Scott Parker was recently installed as the new coach of three-time defending champions Club Brugge. Entrusted with improving their current league position – they sit fourth – the Englishman’s first test comes against runaway leaders Genk.
Genk went in to the festive break unbeaten since the opening weekend and on a run of 10 straight wins but that all came to an abrupt end with the league’s return on Boxing Day – they lost 1-0 at struggling Kortrijk. However, they do remain seven points clear.
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Cover Image from IMAGO