In this weekend preview we summarise the best five games to follow on your match feed. And make a couple of suggestions for matches that you may otherwise miss.
🏴 Premier League: Aston Villa vs. Arsenal
Following hot on the heels of a dramatic midweek round of Premier League fixtures, one that saw Aston Villa move third after beating Manchester City, and Arsenal survive a scare – thanks to a last minute winner at Luton – comes this meeting between possible title contenders.
Unai Emery has been quick to reject that label for his in-form side, but Villa do have a perfect record at home, having won all seven of their previous fixtures in Birmingham. They are also unbeaten in six games (all comps) and are scoring goals at a rate of 2.3 per game, a higher average than current leaders Arsenal, who sit on 2.2 (just!).
This timing of this Saturday evening fixture could mean that Arsenal need to pick up what would be there sixth away win of the season in order to return to the summit, should Liverpool go above them, by virtue of a winning their earlier away trip to Crystal Palace. The Gunners have won their last six matches in the league and in Europe, and in Bukayo Saka, they have the highest rated player in the division, at least according to the FotMob player ratings.
Saka was included in our midweek TOTW and has provided nine goal contributions in his last eight games for club and country. And now has an average FotMob rating of 8.02 for the campaign.
🇮🇹 Serie A: Juventus vs. Napoli
Perhaps with an eye to next week’s final group stage games in the Champions League, Napoli’s big Serie A clash with Juventus has been scheduled for Friday night. Thus giving the reigning champions an advantage when it comes to Tuesday’s meeting with Braga – a game in which they still need to avoid defeat in order to qualify for the round of 16.
But back to Friday night: The trip to Turin will be another tough test for new (old) Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri, who returned to the role in November, and has just one win to his name so far. That came against Atalanta, but perhaps Mazzarri wouldn’t have expected to get anything out of back-to-back games, away at Real Madrid, and at home to Inter, which Napoli lost 3-0 last weekend.
Juve are playing in the Friday night game for the second week in a row, and just as they did after their win at Monza, they have the chance to start the weekend by going top of the Serie A table. They currently sit two points down on Inter, who don’t play until Saturday evening. The Old Lady have lost just once so far this term, conceding goals at a rate of 0.6 per game, while also generating the third highest xG in league (23.3). If it wasn’t for the fact that they’ve also missed the most big chances in the division (27), Maxi Allegri’s side would, no doubt, be runaway leaders rather than simple title challengers.
🇪🇸 LaLiga: Barcelona vs. Girona
The Sunday night headliner from Spain pits champions Barcelona against Girona, the side directly above them in the league table. Girona’s surprise run has been well publicised this season, and will be one familiar to FotMob users, but the stats bear repeating: Girona have won 12, drawn twice, and lost just once 15 rounds into the season. They’ve also outscored everybody, with 29 of their 34 goals coming from open play, created the second highest number of big chances (behind Barcelona), and all while keeping the things relatively tight at the back – they’re conceding at a rate of 1.2 goals per game (to Barcelona’s 0.9).
Without the out-and-out star names of say, Sunday’s opponents, Girona have looked to the goals of Artem Dovbyk (7 in 14 games) and veteran Cristhian Stuani (5 in 15), and the creativity of Savio (4 assists) and Aleix García (average FotMob rating 7.92) to build this run around. They haven’t, however, performed as well when they’ve come up against other sides in the top six – losing as they did to joint-leaders Madrid, with their only other dropped points coming against high flying Basque pair, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad.
That perhaps gives Xavi, and his Barcelona side, an in. One they’ll be particularly keen to take as the side in the division with the best home record (despite not currently playing at their Camp Nou base), and as they try and build on their current four game unbeaten run. Barça do go to Royal Antwerp in the Champions League on Wednesday having already qualified for the next stage, but needing a point to secure top seeding, so they should be virtually at full-strength for this contest.
The news on injured first choice keeper Marc-André ter Stegen is that he has undergone successful surgery on his long-term back issue but, understandably, he will not be expected to be fit again until some time well in to the new year.
🇫🇷 Ligue 1: PSG vs. Nantes
Last weekend, Nantes did Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain a favour by halting Nice’s unbeaten start to the season, something that allowed the Parisians to open up a four point lead at the top of the table. But this Saturday, their attention will turn to the Parc des Princes, where they’ll look to upstage loftier opponents for the second weekend in a row.
Nantes’ 1-0 win over Nice was their first in five league games, and their first since October, and it saw them move in to the top half of the table. Although they did reach the final of the Coupe de France last season, this league campaign is already a marked improvement on 2022/23, when this famous old club only beat the drop on the final day of the season, avoiding relegation by a solitary point.
There’s obviously no such concerns for PSG but this game does come at a tricky time for coach Luis Enrique. The French champions go to Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday knowing only a win will secure them a place in the Champions League knockout stages. And, as always, failure to achieve that will count heavily against the manager and the current squad.
So, will Enrique rest his stars for this league fixture? We’ll have to wait and see. What we do know is that a win over Nantes would extend their unbeaten run in to double figures. And that, should he feature, Kylian Mbappé will be looking to add to the 15 goals (in 13 games) he already has for the season, and to maintain his league-high average FotMob rating of 8.32.
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Stuttgart vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Similarly to Europe’s other big leagues, there’s also a top of the table clash in the Bundesliga, where leaders Leverkusen visit third placed Stuttgart on Sunday.
Five points separate the two clubs, with Leverkusen still unbeaten, and Stuttgart having won 10 of their 13 league games so far. Stuttgart have been heavily reliant on the goalscoring sensation that has been Serhou Guirassy, with the Guinean international having scored 16 of their 33 goals to date. Only Bayern’s Harry Kane can better those numbers.
And Guirassy was on target in the week, helping Stuttgart defeat Borussia Dortmund, to progress to the quarterfinals of the DFB Pokal. Leverkusen also safely navigated their round of 16 tie, beating second tier Paderborn, by three goals to one.
Leverkusen’s own top scorer, Viktor Boniface, scored in that win, taking his tally to 14 for the season in all competitions. And counting both the Pokal, and the Europa League, Xavi Alonso’s unbeaten run as coach of this impressive Leverkusen side is now up to 21 competitive games. In the league, they’ve only dropped points against the big two – Bayern and Dortmund – but perhaps Stuttgart are the next best placed side to threaten that record?
Plus two hidden gems from a little deeper in your match feed…
🇺🇸 MLS Cup Final: Columbus Crew vs. LAFC
Another key game on Saturday is the season finale in MLS, where Columbus Crew have home advantage in the MLS Cup Final, against defending champions Los Angeles FC.
After a long and hard fought 34-game season, after which both sides finished third in their respective East and West Conferences, both have consequently come through three rounds of play-off games to get this far. And the first stage of that play-off process saw The Crew go all the way to the final match in a best-of-three series against Atlanta United (LAFC needed just two games to get past Vancouver).
For LAFC, the season may feel even longer, though, what with their unsuccessful run to the final of the Concacaf Champions League, and commitments in the Campeones Cup, which were also unsuccessful. They will, therefore, be extra motivated to finally secure some silverware for the year with even highly decorated defender Giorgio Chiellini sounding bullish in the week. If they do so, they’ll be the first side to win back-to-back MLS titles since rivals LA Galaxy did so back in 2012.
Columbus won’t be overawed though, after all, they beat regular season Supporter’s Shield winners FC Cincinnati (3-2 AET) to reach this final, and they have the legacy of two MLS titles to their name already (2020, 2008).
🇳🇴 Norwegian Cup Final: Bodø/Glimt vs. Molde
Bar a relegation/promotion playoff, or two, Saturday’s Cup Final is the culmination of the football season in FotMob’s home nation of Norway. And it should be a spectacular affair, pitting as it does, the two modern powerhouses of the game in this country.
Okay – Molde have just finished a lowly fifth compared to Glimt’s title-winning campaign in the Eliteserien, but the two clubs have shared the top two places in the league in each of the four previous years. Molde will want revenge then, for missing out on the league, but they also need to win this game to qualify for European football next year. Failure to do so would be considered a massive backwards step for the club.
On the other hand, Glimt will be looking to win their first ever league and cup double, something that hasn’t been achieved since Rosenborg last pulled it off back in 2018. Glimt’s rise from North Norway outcasts to perennial title contenders has been a speedy, and well documented one, but it is, nevertheless, a remarkable one. And whatever happens in this game, their season will be carrying on, following their progression to the knock out stages of the Europa Conference League.
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Cover Image from IMAGO