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: Liverpool vs. Manchester City
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, or simply do not have the slightest interest in Premier League football, you’ll already know all about Sunday’s showdown between England’s current top two teams. We’ve been waiting a while for this potential title decider, and the hype has reached fever pitch.
In fact, in many ways the rivalry between this Liverpool squad and Manchester City’s treble-defending winners, and that between managers Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola will probably come to define the last decade or so in English football. The outgoing Reds manager has managed to build a side that consistently challenges that of Guardiola’s multiple title winning stable.
This season, they’ve even outscored them. And conceded fewer goals. But that has only translated in to a one point advantage in the standings, with City dropping points in just two of their last 12 games, a run in which they’ve remained unbeaten.
Last weekend they beat city rival’s United by three goals to one, a scoreline they repeated against FC København on Wednesday night to ensure the current holders of the Champions League are in to the hat for this season’s quarter-final draw.
Liverpool were even bigger winners in midweek, albeit, they featured in the Europa League on Thursday night, when they beat Sparta Prague 5-1 away from home. The Reds have won their last seven games across all competitions, a run in which they lifted the Carabao Cup, and Klopp will be determined to maintain the challenge on the three other fronts they’re currently fighting. The biggest prize of all, though, would be to claim another Premier League title in what is his last season in England. And to do that, they’ll need to find a way to stop City on Sunday.
🏴 Premier League: Arsenal vs. Brentford
But before that showdown, don’t forget about Arsenal, the third horse in this Premier League title race! The Gunners feature in the Saturday evening kick-off against West London outfit Brentford.
The Bees have won just one of their last seven and this game sees them face London based opposition for the third time in a row after defeat to West Ham, and last weekend’s home draw against Chelsea. That run has left Thomas Frank’s side 15th in the table, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Free-scoring Arsenal are in fantastic form – their only defeat in their last eight coming away to Porto in the first leg of their Champions League tie. At home, they’ve won their last seven, scoring 31 goals in the process (THIRTY-ONE!). Sheffield United were dispatched 6-0 away from home on Monday night, with Newcastle beaten 4-1 over the previous weekend.
The momentum in the title race, at present, lies with Mikel Arteta’s side and they’ll want to heap the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City by going above them in the table with a victory on Saturday night.
🇪🇸 LaLiga: Real Madrid vs. Celta Vigo
Elsewhere in Europe this weekend, we’re focusing on the various frontrunners in the top leagues. And therefore, in Spain, we’ve selected Madrid’s game against Celta Vigo, which takes place at the Bernabéu on Sunday.
Madrid were given a solid test by RB Leipzig in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie during the week, but the record winners held their nerve, pulling through 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 home draw on Wednesday evening. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were outshot by 20 efforts on goal to 11 in that game, a rare statistic this season as Madrid remain the joint second top scorers in LaLiga.
Only Girona have more (57 to 56) and Madrid’s superior defensive set up – they’ve lost just once in the league, and are conceding goals at a rate of just 0.7 goals per game – sees them five points clear at the top. That’s after Barcelona recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Mallorca to move second on Friday night.
Madrid’s opponents sit 17th in the table, one place, but five points above the relegation zone. They have won three of their last 10 league games and did reach the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey but inconsistency has been their undoing this season.
Back in August, when the sides last met, Madrid needed a late Jude Bellingham goal to secure a 1-0 victory at Celta. The Englishman will be missing from this weekend’s game through suspension.
🇮🇹 Serie A: Bologna vs. Inter
Bologna are the surprise package in Serie A this season, and this Saturday, Thiago Motta’s side face the ultimate test of their credentials as they take on leaders Inter.
Motta played nearly a 100 competitive games for Inter as a player, and now, aged 41, he’s overseeing a turnaround in fortunes for the Rossoblù. After a ninth placed finish last season they’re currently sat fourth with a four point advantage on Roma below them. That puts them in contention for a Champions League spot, a competition they’ve not featured in since the 1964-65 season when it was very much still known as the European Cup! Unbeaten in seven, they’ve won each of their last six games in Serie A, including last weekend’s 2-1 victory at Atalanta. The goals in that game came from top scorer Joshua Zirkzee and Scottish midfielder Lewis Ferguson.
Inter, as you’ll know if you’re a regular reader of this column, have lost just once all season, and they can still boast both the best attack, and the best defence in the league. They’re on a nine game winning streak in the league, and you can make that 12 games if you include their triumph in the Supercoppa tournament, and the first leg of their Champions League tie against Atlético Madrid.
The second leg of that game is coming up in Madrid on Wednesday but don’t expect Simone Inzaghi to let his side take their foot off the gas at home, Inter are out to win everything they can this season.
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Wolfsburg
The runaway Bundesliga leaders return to domestic action on Sunday having almost…ALMOST…lost their 35 competitive game unbeaten run when they played in the Europa League during the week! Two-nil down to Qarabağ in the first leg of their last 16 match, Leverkusen needed a late rally to return from Azerbaijan with the game all square – Patrik Schick scoring their second deep in to second half injury-time.
To be honest, it’s been relatively plain sailing for Xabi Alonso’s side back home in recent weeks where five consecutive wins, including crucially, the 3-0 humbling of Bayern, have seen their lead extended to 10 points in the Bundesliga table. Bayern play earlier this weekend, with the Wolfsburg fixture seeing Leverkusen close the 25th round of the season.
Opponents Wolfsburg find themselves in a sticky patch having failed to win since the middle of December. They have drawn six of their consequent nine games but it’s a run that’s seen them drop to 13th in the table, albeit, with the comfort of being eight points clear of 16th, the relegation play-off spot, and nine points clear of the relegation zone proper.
Plus two further suggestions from a little deeper in your match feed…
🇺🇸🆚🇨🇦 MLS: Inter Miami vs. CF Montréal
Inter Miami sit atop the Eastern Conference standings as we head in to Matchday 4 of the new MLS season, but then, they have played one more game than everybody else. Still though, Messi, Suárez, Busquets, Alba, and the rest remain unbeaten having won two and drawn once, and they’ll go in to Sunday’s meeting with Montréal in high spirits.
The Canadian side are also unbeaten, with a draw against Orlando, and a win at FC Dallas to their name so far. This will be their third game on the road in a row but that doesn’t seem to be phasing a team that looks well organised under new coach Laurent Courtois. The Frenchman won the MLS Next Pro league championship with Columbus Crew II in 2023 and his stock will only rise higher should Montréal pull off another positive result here.
Miami come into the game between legs in their debut Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 tie against Nashville, where they drew 2-2 on Thursday night, so it remains to be seen how their star names recover in time for the weekend game. Nashville were 2-0 up at half-time but first Messi and then Suárez (in injury-time) scored to secure what could prove to be two crucial away goals.
🏆 Women’s Gold Cup: USA vs. Brazil
Sunday also sees the final of the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup, being hosted in the US city of San Diego.
It’s been over six months since the USWNT were knocked off the top of the FIFA World Rankings by Spain, but victory here, ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer, will show some of the mentality that has seen the US dominate women’s international football for the best part of two decades.
Interim head coach Twila Kilgore has overseen a tournament run that hasn’t been smooth, but one that has ultimately led to this point. The US were beaten by Mexico, for just the second time ever at home, in the group stage. And then, their other great rivals, Canada pushed them all the way to a penalty shootout in the semi-finals, with the US having goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to thank for pulling them through. Chicago Red Stars’ No. 1 saved three spot kicks AND even converted a penalty herself!
Brazil, ranked #11 in the World, have proven themselves to be the best CONMEBOL side at what is the first ever Women’s Gold Cup, beating Puerto Rico, Colombia, Panama, and Argentina by an aggregate scoreline of 12-1 to set up their own semi-final against Mexico. There, they dispatched El Tri in style to set up Sunday’s showdown with the host nation.
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Images from IMAGO