The best matches to follow this weekend
Saturday
🇩🇪 The heated Bundesliga title race will go up another notch this weekend as both Bayern and Dortmund – who, remember, are locked together on 49 points – play local rivals. The more heated of the two rivalries is, of course, the Revierderby which pitches Schalke vs. Dortmund. As one of Germany’s most famous games, this will naturally get a lot of attention but it is even more important than usual for both sides.
Schalke have struggled since their return to Germany’s top flight and are currently one of four sides who are all sat together on 19 points at the bottom of the table. However, they come in to the game having won back-to-back games (against Stuttgart and Bochum) for the first time this season and a third win on the bounce would be seismic for their survival chances.
Dortmund suffered their first competitive defeat of the year – at Chelsea in the Champions League – but will be aiming to break their current all-time record of eight consecutive wins in the league, adding extra motivation to an already heavily motivated squad.
For their part, Bayern will be hosting their smaller Bavarian neighbours from Augsburg. Usually speaking, this is a home banker for Bayern but they have lost the last two league meetings when travelling to Augsburg, albeit, they may have shaken off that hoodoo with a 5-2 win in the Pokal, at Augsburg, back in October.
🏴 In England, we get six Saturday fixtures starting with Liverpool’s trip to Bournemouth. The Cherries sit bottom of the Premier League and having lost 9-0 at Anfield earlier in the season won’t have enjoyed watching Jürgen Klopp’s side put seven past Manchester United in that amazing game last weekend.
For Klopp though, it will be all about continuing the momentum, especially with that possible lost cause that they need to chase at Real Madrid this coming Wednesday.
With Arsenal playing on Sunday, Manchester City have the chance to close the gap to the league leaders to one point, should they win at Crystal Palace. The Eagles are winless in 10 games now but City do have their own Champions League knock-out tie – on Tuesday, against RB Leipzig, to think about so we may see some rotation from Pep Guardiola.
Elsewhere, Graham Potter will be hoping to take some of the current pressure off of his shoulders and heap it on to that of Brendon Rogers, with a positive result for Chelsea at Leicester City. And fresh from their Champions League exit at the hands of Milan, Tottenham Hotspur host Nottingham Forest in a week where Forest coach, Steve Cooper has had to play down rumours naming him as a potential future manager of Spurs. That could be quite the job interview.
🇮🇹 Napoli saw their mammoth lead in Serie A cut down to a mere 15 points as they suffered their first home defeat of the season, at the hands of Lazio last Friday, so they will be keen to get back to winning ways when they face sixth placed Atalanta. And the aforementioned Lazio could jump back in to second should they continue their domestic form at Bologna. On the European stage, they will be seeking to turnaround a surprise 2-1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar when they travel to the Netherlands for the second leg of their Conference League tie next week.
🇪🇸 In La Liga, Real Madrid will prepare for that clash with Liverpool with a home game against Espanyol. Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed some late magic from Karim Benzema to win at Barcelona’s other team back in Round 3 but you’d expect them to win this one more comfortably at the Bernabéu. And if they do, they’ll cut Barça’s lead at the top of the table to five points.
🇫🇷 For PSG, after yet another failure in the Champions League (the Parisians limped out of the first knockout stage with defeat at Bayern), means for some serious fallout that will no doubt continue in to the weekend. And that will only worsen if there’s no spark on show in their Ligue 1 fixture at Brest. After all, there’s still a league title to fight for and their current eight point cushion isn’t yet safe with the form Marseille are proving capable of this season.
🇺🇸 Round 3 of the new season in Major League Soccer features a number of interesting looking fixtures. St. Louis City have started life with back-to-back wins as the newest addition to the league but surely they’ll be tested by the trip to Portland Timbers – a team with a longer history than most in North America. In the opposing Conference, NYCFC (D1, L1) face Inter Miami, with Phil Neville’s Floridians one of only two Eastern sides who’ve won both of their opening fixtures. And in a cross-conference game, current Concacaf Champions League holders Seattle Sounders, who’ve yet to concede a goal, have a long trip to Cincinnati (W1, D1).
Sunday
🏴 As we’re in the middle of an important couple of weeks in UEFA’s club competitions, we’ll see a bumper selection of games in the Premier League on Sunday. They include Arsenal’s cross-town visit to Fulham, who sit seventh. The league leaders were held to a 2-2 draw at Sporting in the Europa League on Thursday night and they’ll come up against a side unbeaten in their last four games – albeit, the Gunners do boast the best away record in the division and haven’t lost to the Cottagers in their last nine meetings!
Manchester United‘s return to form against Real Betis, also in the Europa League, suggests that last weekend’s thrashing at the hands of their biggest foes, Liverpool, was something of an anomaly. With Southampton the visitors to Old Trafford on Sunday, we’ll see whether they can get back to winning ways in the league.
Further down the table, Newcastle United will be looking to end a run of three successive 2-0 defeats when they take on Wolves and there’s an important game for West Ham as they play Aston Villa, who sit in the relative safety of 11th. From Villa downwards it’s a different story with five points separating Palace, in 12th, to Everton who are 18th and occupying the final relegation spot.
🇪🇸 There will also be a more customary four games in LaLiga, all of which will have some impact on both ends of the table. Leaders Barcelona travel to the Basque Country to face ninth placed Athletic Club, a fixture where they’ll be reunited with former coach Ernesto Valverde. With goals somewhat at a premium in recent weeks for Barça it will be interesting to see how well they can break down a stubborn defensive side.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad could move third with a win in Mallorca, fifth play sixth as Betis and Villarreal clash at the Estadio de la Cerámica, and there’s a six pointer at Sevilla, who face Almería. The two sides are level on points either side of the relegation zone with Sevilla holding a slender advantage due to their superior goal difference. But even then, that could only be temporary – a draw would mean the sides are still level on points but Almería would move above Sevilla by virtue of their win in the earlier meeting between the two. Once all games are played, this head-to-head record takes precedence over goal difference in LaLiga.
🇩🇪 With the main Bundesliga action coming on Saturday, and at the top of this column, the main game to look out for on Sunday is Union Berlin’s trip to eighth placed Wolfsburg. Presuming at least one of Bayern and/or Dortmund win their respective derby games, Union will need a win in order to stay within five points of the league leaders. And perhaps now, more importantly, at least two points ahead of the sides below them in the battle for a Champions League place next season.
🇺🇸 Only six of the 29 sides in MLS still maintain a 100% record as we move into just the third weekend of the season and two of those – LAFC and New England Revolution meet each other in Sunday night’s closing fixture. LAFC continued their good start with a convincing 3-0 away win at Costa Rican side Alajuelense in a midweek Concacaf Champions League game and the MLS Cup holders will be confident on home soil. The Revs, though, have conceded none and scored four in their wins over Charlotte and Houston as they look to improve on last season’s 10th place finish in the Eastern Conference, having won the Supporters Shield just a year earlier.
🇧🇪 We’ll leave you this week with a game between the two best sides – on current form – in the Belgian Pro League. Genk are running away with it but as we know, there’s no guarantee they’ll maintain that position once the league is split and the Championship group fixtures take place. And their weekend opponents, Union St. Gilloise are the side best placed to overhaul them as this interesting league format unfolds. Union featured in a breathless 3-3 draw at Union Berlin in the Europa League on Thursday, and with the return leg coming up next week, may therefore be at a disadvantage heading in to this battle between the top two.
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Cover Image from IMAGO