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: AFC Bournemouth vs. Liverpool
This weekend marks the end of the Premier League’s staggered winter break, with the ten teams who didn’t feature in last week’s fixtures now playing over the course of the next three days. And on Sunday, leaders Liverpool face what, on paper, looks like a challenging trip to Bournemouth, where they face a side who have only lost one of their last nine games in all competitions.
However, Jürgen Klopp’s side have got the better of Andoni Iraola’s Cherries on two occasions already this season – once in the league (3-1 at Anfield), and again in the Carabao Cup back in November (2-1 at the Vitality).
The Reds are low on numbers, though, with international call-ups and injuries playing havoc with their busy schedule. They have the Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg, and then a game in the FA Cup to come in the next week so this might be a good time for Bournemouth to face them while they’re missing the likes of Mo Salah, the player currently leading the league in combined goals and assists.
For Bournemouth, former-Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke should be fit. He has six goals in his last five games and only Salah and Erling Haaland (both 14) have scored more than the 12 he’s bagged so far this season.
🏴 Premier League: Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace
Before that game though, the first top flight fixture in England comes at the Emirates on Saturday lunchtime, when Arsenal take on fellow Londoners Crystal Palace.
The Gunners are in the midst of a well-publicised wobble. Having led the table as recently as the weekend before Christmas, they now sit fourth having lost their last three games, against West Ham and Fulham in the league, and Liverpool in the FA Cup. So Mikel Arteta will be looking for a response from his side against a Palace team that have won just one of their last 11 and who looked particularly low on confidence in losing an FA Cup replay at Everton during the week.
The Eagles did win their last league game – vs. Brentford – but that only relieved some of the pressure on under fire veteran manager Roy Hodgson.
Back in August, a Martin Ødegaard penalty was all that separated the two sides when they met at Selhurst Park, a repeat of which Arsenal fans might take right now.
🇮🇹 Supercoppa: Inter vs. Lazio
Following on from last weekend’s four-team version of the Spanish Supercopa, Saudi Arabia is now playing host to the Italian Supercoppa. Again, there’s a four-team format here, with last season’s league winners Napoli beating Fiorentina, the Coppa Italia runners-up, in the first semi-final on Thursday evening. They await the winners of Friday night’s clash between Inter (last season’s Coppa winners) and Lazio (league runners-up) in the final this coming Monday.
Current Serie A leaders Inter have lost just once in their last 20 competitive fixtures – December’s shock defeat to Bologna in this season’s Coppa Italia being the odd one out in that run. They recovered from that with a solid 2-0 win away, at Lazio, in their very next game, and despite the equally good form of Juventus, they remain two points clear at the top of the league standings.
Since that defeat to tonight’s opponents, Lazio have gone on a five game winning streak, their best run in what has been a patchy season for Maurizio Sarri’s side. They are back up to sixth as a result of that, though, and in to the final four of the Coppa Italia following a morale boasting victory over city rivals Roma.
🇪🇸 LaLiga: Real Madrid vs. Almería
It’s been a busy week or so for Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid, with the winners of the aforementioned Supercopa now set to return to league action in Sunday’s meeting with bottom side Almería. Madrid went to extra-time in their semi-final against local rivals Atlético in the semi-finals of that tournament, then went on to trounce Clásico rivals Barcelona to lift the trophy last Sunday, following a Vinícius Júnior-inspired 4-1 victory.
They were, however, knocked down a peg or two, by Atlético Madrid, when they met again in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday. That game, again, went to extra-time, with Atlético exerting their revenge on their near-neighbours. We said they’ve been busy – two derbies that went the distance plus El Clásico, all in the space of eight days!
Meanwhile, back in LaLiga, Madrid slipped one point below leaders Girona as the surprise package could only manage a draw in the game they played while Madrid were in Saudi Arabia last weekend. That gives Los Blancos an advantage, especially with the prospect of Almería coming to town on Sunday, plus a game in hand to come.
Astonishingly, Almería, who finished 17th in their first season following promotion in 2023/23, have yet to win a single game after 20 rounds of the 2023/24 campaign. They have picked up six draws though – one of which being the 0-0 result for Girona last weekend, the game that ended up doing Madrid a favour. They also scored twice against Barcelona before eventually succumbing to a 3-2 defeat just before Christmas. So perhaps their luck is changing? But still, the prospect of a first win of the season coming at the Bernabéu would be a huge shock.
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: RB Leipzig vs. Bayer Leverkusen
As German top flight football returned last weekend, Bayer Leverkusen were under pressure. Xabi Alonso’s league leaders had gone unbeaten in the first half of the season, so they understandably had a target on their backs, and Bayern Munich had closed the gap between them to two points following a commanding display in their win over Hoffenheim on Friday night.
But Leverkusen responded. Just. They required a 94th minute winner from Exequiel Palacios, their unsung Argentine midfield hero, to come away from Augsburg with a hard-earned three points. That was the club’s 14th league win of the campaign and their fourth on the bounce in all competitions.
But there’s no time to rest though, with Leverkusen now preparing for Saturday’s trip to RB Leipzig, who have gone under the radar somewhat, but are currently sat fourth in the division. Leipzig may have lost some big names in recent transfer windows – Nkunku, Szoboszlai, and Gvardiol in the summer, and now Emil Forsberg and Timo Werner this month, but they’re still holding their own, with the likes of Xavi Simons and Loïs Openda leading the way. That said, they did lose their first game back, at home to Eintracht Frankfurt last Saturday.
Plus two suggestions from a little deeper in your match feed…
🇫🇷 Coupe de France: Orleans vs. PSG
In this section, this week, we thought we’d highlight a couple of games in major cup competitions taking place over the weekend. In France, it’s the Coupe de France Round of 32, and that means there’s still a selection of lower league sides taking on the country’s biggest names. The action starts with Bergerac Périgord, one of six remaining fourth tier teams, against Lyon on Friday night. And in the headline slot on Saturday, PSG, and all their household names will make the short trip south from the capital, to third tier Orleans.
Orleans are currently one point clear of the relegation zone in their division but have had the luxury of facing a side from the eighth tier of French football and another team from their level so far during this cup run. They did also beat second tier Ajaccio though, who were plying their trade in the top flight until recently.
PSG were 9-0 winners over sixth tier US Revel in the previous round, a game in which Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick, and the side racked up 7.14 xG in total.
🏴 Scottish Cup: Celtic vs. Buckie Thistle
In Scotland, they’ve reached the fourth round of the main cup competition and SPFL leaders Celtic have been drawn at home to Buckie Thistle, a side based in the Highlands and who play outside of the country’s professional leagues. Indeed, Thistle currently sit fifth in the fifth tier Highland League and this game will be their first competitive game against a side of Celtic’s stature.
The two have met before in friendly games though, and there are strong links between them, with Buckie Thistle traditionally wearing green and white hoops due to one of their very early kits having been donated to them by Celtic. The Jags come in to the game unbeaten in six, a run that includes a 8-1 win over Forres Mechanics.
Celtic appear to be over their December wobble when they lost two league games back-to-back, and they’ve now won their last four, taking their lead in the league back to eight points.
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Cover Image from IMAGO