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: Manchester City vs. West Ham United
We should, by rights, include two Premier League games in this preview what with the title going down to the wire on Sunday afternoon. But with so much going on elsewhere that we need to include, we’ll presume you’ve already clicked follow on Arsenal’s vital home clash with Everton.
For now, we’re concentrate on Manchester City, as they aim to become the first English side to ever win four league titles in a row. That’s not just the Premier League era, that’s going all the way back to the foundation of the football league in 1888. In fact, only four other sides have even managed three-in-a-row: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and er…Huddersfield Town.
Pep Guardiola’s side famously know when to come good, and their current unbeaten run of 22 games includes wins in each of their last eight, with Tuesday’s 2-0 victory at Spurs, in what was their last remaining game in hand, taking them two points clear of Arsenal as it stands.
If they beat the Hammers, who are playing for pride only, and perhaps aiming to give departing coach David Moyes a good send off, then City will win the league in historic fashion. They could afford to draw, or even lose, if the Gunners fold and go down to a defeat at the Emirates.
With simultaneous kick-offs throughout the league, we think FotMob could be the perfect companion for those of you looking to track multiple games in play.
For a full guide to all the key games on the final day, click here.
🏴 Women’s Super League: Manchester United vs. Chelsea
Before Sunday’s drama, there’s more final-day title shenanigans to look forward to in the WSL. Here, Chelsea, the side who has already won four titles in a row, have clawed their way back to the top of the table in recent weeks and go in to the last day of the season ahead of challengers Manchester City on goal difference alone.
Chelsea, in what will be Emma Hayes’ farewell game before she takes on the USWNT job, face the more difficult of the fixtures, visiting as they do, fifth placed Manchester United. United beat Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals recently before going on to smash Spurs in the final so they will be no pushovers.
But with no doubt someone on the bench glued to their FotMob app tracking the City game Chelsea will need to match whatever Gareth Taylor’s side can achieve at seventh placed Aston Villa. For City, being in a position to win what would be just their second ever title is already a massive improvement on recent campaigns – they finished off the pace in fourth last season – but having previously finished as runners-up six times in a spell of seven years, they have tasted the disappointment that missing out on a title can bring.
For an in-depth preview of the key games, click here.
🇹🇷 Süper Lig: Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahçe
The season-defining matches are not restricted to the UK this weekend – with Sunday’s epic battle between Istanbul’s continental rivals being a good example. This game is highly anticipated, in fact, we’ve been talking about it for months ourselves, as evidenced here.
After almost a full season of intrigue, and on and off-field rows and recriminations, Galatasaray currently lead Fenerbahçe by six points with two games to play. That means they could still be caught, but only if Fenerbahçe beat them on Sunday, win their final game AND Galatasaray were also to lose their last fixture. This is because the head-to-head record is used as the first tie-breaker in this league and the season’s earlier fixture between the two ended in a goalless draw.
For Galatasaray, though, the equation is simpler. Win OR draw the Derby and a record-extending 24th title is theirs. And winning is something they’re currently very used to – they’ve won each of their last 17 league games. Like Gala, Fener have also lost just once all season and they’ve gone unbeaten since November but they haven’t been able to match that consistency. And they would point to various conspirascies against them as the main reason for that – something we tried to cover last month, in this article.
🇦🇹 Austrian Bundesliga: Sturm Graz vs. SK Austria Klagenfurt
We previewed a recent clash between the top two in Austria due to the potential changing of the guard in a league that has been dominated by one side – RB Salzburg – for over a decade now. And so it has almost come to pass.
Ahead of what are the final games of the season, on Sunday, Sturm Graz hold a two-point advantage over Salzburg in the standings. They face SK Austria Klagenfurt, who sit bottom of the Championship Group, in the knowledge that a victory guarantees the title. A draw will not be enough if Salzburg were to win their final game, at home to third placed LASK, due to the multiple-defending champion’s superior head-to-head record from this season’s games between the two title challengers.
Salzburg have won one of those meetings, with the other two ending in draws.
Having finished as runners-up in the last two seasons, and having last won the league back in 2011, a victory would be particularly sweet for Sturm Graz, and in fairness, will likely be celebrated by most neutral followers of the Austrian Bundesliga.
🇧🇪 Belgian Pro League: Anderlecht vs. Club Brugge
As if Sunday’s match feed wasn’t busy enough already we’ll also be following proceedings in the Belgian Pro League. Here, the country’s two most successful clubs are tied neck-and-neck on points, following the league split, with Anderlecht due to host Club Brugge at their Lotto Park stadium in what is the penultimate round of the season.
Third placed Union St. Gilloise, who finished top of the regular season, will be watching on and hoping for a draw to keep themselves in the hunt. But while the title won’t be decided this weekend, we should get a serious steer if there were to be a winner in this contest.
Anderlecht have lost two of their eight games since the league split, including an earlier fixture against Club Brugge, but are currently unbeaten in four. Club Brugge, who’ve lifted the league trophy in four of the last six years, are unbeaten in this stage of the season, but did recently suffer a disappointing 4-3 aggregate defeat to Fiorentina in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Plus two further suggestions from a little deeper in your match feed…
🏆 CAF Champions League Final, first leg: Espérance vs. Al Ahly
Two of Africa’s most successful club sides are set to meet again in the final of the CAF Champions League on Saturday. In a repeat of the 2018 and 2012 final, Tunisia’s ES Tunis, otherwise known as Espérance, take on Egypt’s most decorated side, Al Ahly.
The 2018 final went in favour of the Tunisian side over the two legs, while the 2012 title is one of Al Ahly’s record eleven wins in this competition. ES Tunis have won the crown on four occasions themselves, with the last coming in 2019 when they went back-to-back.
Al Ahly are looking to do something similar now having beaten Wydad in last season’s showpiece.
🇺🇸 MLS Rivalry Week: New York City vs. New York Red Bulls
With Europe’s winter leagues coming to an exciting climax, we’d expect your minds to wonder in search of a football fix that will take you through to the summer’s various major international tournaments. And one of those options is Major League Soccer.
And timed perfectly for this is the league’s #RivalryWeek. As part of that, New York City and their New York-adjacent rivals from across the Hudson River, New York Red Bulls are set to clash on Saturday evening.
The two are separated by three points after 13 rounds of the season, with Red Bulls sat third in the Eastern Conference, and NYCFC fourth. Historically, it’s the older Red Bull club that have the advantage in the head-to-head record.
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
Or join us on our Social channels for updates on all the important football going on this weekend – search @FotMob on x, @fotmobapp everywhere else!
Images from IMAGO