The best matches to follow this weekend
Saturday
🏴🏆 Wembley Stadium plays host to both of this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals and first up there’s the meeting between the sides currently sat second in the Premier League (Manchester City) and second in the EFL Championship (Sheffield United).
You can never downplay the importance of a semi-final on such as a massive stage for both the players, and the fans, but this game does come at an awkward moment for the two sides. City have that all-important title showdown against Arsenal coming in the league next Wednesday night and the Blades need just one more win to secure promotion back to the top flight – something that could be confirmed against West Brom in a game also taking place on April 26.
As we have an official partnership with Sheffield United, we’ll declare our support here, and wish good luck to Paul Heckingbottom and his side!
🏴 Back in the day-to-day melodrama of the Premier League itself, there are five games taking place. These include Liverpool‘s clash with Bournemouth, at Anfield. The hosts will be looking for some continuity after the 6-1 thrashing of Leeds while it’s a nervous time for Forest having been sucked back in to the relegation zone after a run of no wins in ten.
In-form Aston Villa visit out of form Brentford in one of the afternoon kick-offs, a game that will give us a great opportunity to compare two strikers who are competing for a regular place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad. Ivan Toney has scored more goals this season but with the Bees now winless in five, it’s Ollie Watkins who is coming good at the tail end of the campaign – he has 11 goals and two assists in his last 12 appearances.
🏆 It’s also semi-final time in the Women’s Champions League. On Saturday, Chelsea clash with Barcelona in the first leg of their tie, a repeat of the 2021 final, won convincingly by Barça. Domestically, Chelsea have two games in hand but sit second, four points behind Manchester United as they look to retain the WSL title. And in Liga F, Barcelona remain dominant having won all 25 of their games with an average of 4.2 goals scored per game. They’ve racked up 105 goals in total having conceded just five.
🇩🇪 There are six rounds left to play in the Bundesliga and with just two points between leaders Bayern Munich and chasers Borussia Dortmund any slip-ups now could prove very costly. Traditionally, it is Dortmund who seem to struggle at such crunch times – see Der Klassiker won by Bayern earlier this month as a prime example. But that game was one of just two that Bayern have won in their last seven in all competitions and they have been prone to more that the occasional stumble this season.
Bayern have an afternoon kick-off at eighth placed Mainz to contend with this weekend, while Dortmund will no doubt be watching on ahead of their evening kick-off, at home, to seventh placed Eintracht Frankfurt.
🇪🇸 Meanwhile, in LaLiga, Real Madrid will get back to league action following their successful dismantling of Chelsea in the Champions League during midweek. With the other two sides in the top three playing each other on Sunday, a win in their game against inconsistent Celta Vigo would move Madrid within eight points of Barcelona, with eight to play.
Sunday
🏴🏆 The second FA Cup semi-final comes on Sunday and pits Premier League high-flyers Brighton against Manchester United, the twelve-time winners of England’s oldest Cup competition.
United will come into the game after a shockingly poor performance in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final away at Sevilla, on Thursday. In a tie where they had led 2-0 before scoring two own goals at the end of the first leg, a combination of defensive errors led them to lose 3-0 on the night.
Erik ten Hag will need to get his side back up for the fight against a Roberto De Zerbi team that have proved so successful against England’s big six this season. The Seagulls beat Chelsea just last weekend and have claimed wins over United in their previous two meetings – the most recent being at Old Trafford back in August. The two meet again in the league at the start of May.
🇪🇸 As mentioned, Sunday’s big headline game in LaLiga will see leaders Barcelona take on third placed Atlético Madrid. Depending on Madrid’s result on Saturday, Atlético will know whether they have a chance to overhaul their rivals while for Barça, a win would maintain their relatively comfortable cushion at the top.
Xavi won’t want his side to feel that comfort though, not after back-to-back goalless draws in the league plus the capitulation against Madrid in the second leg of their Copa Del Rey tie before that. Barça therefore come in to this game on their stickiest run of the season while Atlético have been resurgent since the start of 2023, winning their last six straight league games, and going 13 unbeaten since these two last met back in January. That game ended in a 1-0 away win for Barcelona thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembélé.
🏴 In the Premier League, there are crucial games set to impact both ends of the table. At the right end, it’s fourth against fifth as Newcastle United welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St. James Park. Last time out, the Magpies lost by three clear goals for the first time this season, a result (against Aston Villa) that finally saw some damage to their claim of being the best defensive unit in the division. In the same round of games, Spurs went down to a 95th minute winner at home to Bournemouth. So, we should see two teams who want to see some kind of positive response to that as both look to continue their fight for Champions League qualification.
At the other end, Bournemouth will be looking to make it three wins in a row when they go up against West Ham United. The two sides sit 13th and 14th in the table, six and four points clear of the relegation zone respectively. The Hammers are unbeaten in four games themselves having beaten Fulham, drawn with leaders Arsenal, and beaten Gent over two legs to progress to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
🇮🇹 It’s been a busy week for the top Italian teams – Milan and Inter triumphed in the Champions League to set up a mouthwatering Derby della Madonnina in the semi-finals, Fiorentina made it to the final four of the Conference League, and both Roma and Juventus did the same in the Europa League. On top of that, Juventus’ 15-point deduction was overturned and they were shot straight back up to third in the Serie A table. That means that, as it stands, both Milan and Inter are not in the qualification places for next season’s Champions League!
And it tees us up for an action-packed Sunday where the one side who did not progress in Europe during the week – leaders Napoli – now face Juventus. The Partenopei are 14 points clear with eight rounds to play but won’t want to delay their coronation for too long and will no doubt be looking to burst Juve’s bubble at the end of a successful week for the Old Lady.
The Milan sides, bumped down in the table, are also in action – Inter go to Empoli while Milan have home advantage for their game against Lecce.
🏆 Back in the Women’s Champions League, Sunday takes us to Germany for the second semi-final where Fraun-Bundesliga leaders Wolfsburg take on Arsenal, the UK’s only previous winners of the competition. You have to go back to 2007 for that though and it’s the German side who have more pedigree in the competition – reaching five finals since Arsenal’s win, coming out on top in two of those in 2013 and 2014.
More recent history also suggests that Wolfsburg start this tie as favourites – they beat the Gunners over two legs in last season’s quarter-finals.
🇳🇱 Feyenoord appear to be closing in on the league title in the Netherlands, boasting an eight point lead in the Eredivisie table with five games to play. A win, against Utrecht, on Sunday would all but seal it. But that does depend on another of the day’s results as fellow giants PSV and Ajax go head-to-head. The rivals sit second and third, locked on 62 points to Feyenoord’s 70. Should there be a winner in that game, we could yet see another twist in the tale of what’s been an exciting title race.
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Cover Image from IMAGO