Whether you’re looking for a tasty looking tie to watch in one of Europe’s top leagues or fancy following something more obscure, we’re here every Friday, selecting the best games FotMob has to offer over the weekend.
? Friday Night
??????? There are games in all the big five European leagues today – in fact, Lazio will have already played their Serie A fixture against Crotone by the time you read this. In England though, the Premier League gives us the battle between Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United and one of his former clubs, Aston Villa. The Magpies have been dragged right into the relegation battle by the form of the sides around them so they’ll be desperate for at least a share of the spoils whilst Villa, with two games in hand are still aiming for a top six finish.
?? La Liga gives us a nice route in to the weekend with the Valencian Derby, Levante against Valencia, their historically more illustrious city neighbours. Just two points separate them going into this one, with Levante 11th to Valencia’s 12th.
?? In Turkey, last year’s champions Basaksehir have endured a terrible campaign and they go in to today’s game against current league leaders Beşiktaş just 3 points above the relegation zone. The fall from grace has seen the natural order of the Süper Lig restored with the big three – Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe all fighting for the title.
? Saturday
?? We start tomorrow’s round-up with a look at the pick of the games from Spain, where in midweek Atlético Madrid extended their lead at the top to six points over Barcelona. Real Madrid sit two points further back in 3rd so they can ill afford any more slip-ups as they face Elche at home. For their part, Atlético go to Getafe, a team they’ve beaten in each of their last seven meetings.
??????? There are four offerings from the Premier League on Saturday – which among them feature Leeds United renewing hostilities with Chelsea, an unusual rivalry that stems from a shared hard team image in the 1970s and the leaders Manchester City trip to in-form Fulham.
?? In the Bundesliga, after a dramatic Klasskiker between them last weekend, Bayern and Dortmund must pick up their respective seasons. The leaders, and victors in that game – Bayern head north to Werder Bremen who have lost just one of their last eight. Dortmund meanwhile, are home to Hertha in need of taking their Champions League performances, albeit as shaky as they are in defence back in to their domestic form.
?? Outside of the usual transfer window and due to the reforms of Chinese football causing havoc for the leagues overseas players – one player move has created more buzz than most of late. And that’s the seemingly unlikely signing of Slovakian and Serie A legend, Marek Hamšík’s by IFK Göteborg. The Swedish club continue their pre-season preparations with a game against Sirius tomorrow afternoon – we’ll wager more people will be watching than they would have been otherwise.
? Sunday
??????? There’s no rest for the wicked on the final day of the weekend as once again, there’s a real Derby Day feel to proceedings. In the Premier League, there’s the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Both victorious in the Europa League in Thursday night, we’ll see who recovers fastest. And whether Spurs can maintain their current run of good form against their most hated rivals – having not lost to them since December 2018.
?? From La Liga, we get El Gran Derbi: Sevilla vs. Real Betis. These two city rivals have been going at it since 1915 when elements within the original Sevilla club split away to form their own club, with Betis being the modern day result of that.
?? And after both those big games have played out, Argentina provides perhaps the biggest club rivalry of them all – the Superclásico, with Boca Juniors hosting River Plate at La Bombonera. With the new league season again delayed in the country due to the impact of the pandemic and reorganisation within the governing body, this game takes place in the interim Copa de la Liga Profesional. The build-up for both sides has been contrasting with Boca recording a 7-1 win at Vélez whilst River suffered a surprise defeat to Argentinos Juniors.
?? Away from all the derbies taking place, Sunday is also big in terms of the Serie A title race with all three main contenders in action. Inter are on the road at Torino, as are Juventus who travel to Cagliari. Then, in probably the highlight of the schedule, Milan take on Napoli at the San Siro.
?? Lastly, don’t miss out of the meeting between the sides currently sat second and fourth in the Bundesliga – RB Leipzig vs. Eintracht Frankfurt.
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