Page 116 – The Pulse of Football

Mar

2023

Serie A Review: Napoli’s Georgian super star and the race for Europe

This week we can officially confirm that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is going places. And we pose two questions: 1) What happened to the great Italian no. 9s? And 2) Does anyone, besides Napoli, want to take up the Champions League qualification spots available in Serie A this season?

By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert

Kvara-mania

I’ve seen enough; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is world class. The recently turned 22-year-old has been one of the most exciting break out stars that the Serie A has had in decades.

His goals this season have been a continuous highlight reel, and the one he scored over the weekend in Napoli’s win over Atalanta was easily up there as one of the best. With three defenders right in front of him, Kvara once again opted to create space with his signature chop to either side. A series of fakes led to him finding that space in an almost comically easy way, where he was then able to unleash a bullet of a shot into the near post.

The goal was an encapsulation of everything the Georgian does so well and the great partnership he’s formed with striker Victor Osimhen, who played the pass that setup the goal. Kvara is virtually unplayable in a one-on-one situation. As a defender, how do you mark a player who is just as comfortable going to either foot? Add to his two-footedness a vision, technique and passing skill that can unlock the best of defences, and you suddenly have one of the most feared players in Europe.

Kvara-mania has swept not just the city of Naples, but his entire nation of Georgia. Every Napoli home game has seemingly hundreds of Georgian fans in the stands. Not only are fans flying from the capital, Tbilisi to Naples on a weekly basis, but he’s filling theatres in his native homeland every single time Napoli plays.

There’s a ton of exciting wingers with fancy dribbles in Europe, but what makes Kvaratskhelia so special is his unique style. He’s a bit of a maverick on the ball. Instead of using step-overs, elasticos or rabonas, he creates space with perfectly timed body feints and chops. It’s what he does when he does find a sliver of room that’s truly impressive though. He isn’t just a one-trick pony, he’s just as clever at setting up his teammates for goals as he is at scoring them himself. 11 goals and a league high 9 assists put his total goal contributions at 20, a remarkable rate for a player who is still supposed to be so inexperienced at the highest level.

The sky truly is the limit for Kvara, and we’re all fortunate to be witnessing his rise to superstardom.

Italy’s no. 9 problem

Taking a slight turn away from Serie A and onto the Italian national team, there’s an issue here that looks more dire than usual – the Azzurri have a huge problem at the centre-forward position. There just aren’t many young Italian strikers who are doing well or getting much competitive football. With Ciro Immobile injured (and let’s be honest, disspointing any time he wears the national team colours), the hope was that there would be a next wave of attacking talent to allow the older Italian strikers to sail off into the sunset.

By far the most talented U25 striker that Mancini should theoretically call upon is West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca, but he’s hardly played this season under David Moyes, and Roberto Mancini only wants to use players that are in form. It’s perplexing why Scamacca, a tall, skilful striker who scored 16 league goals for Sassuolo last season, would be such a non-factor for his new club after making the €36m move last summer. So far, he’s only started 11 games for West Ham and scored three Premier League goals – not enough to convince Mancini at the moment. It’s unfortunate to see a player as talented as Scamacca being used as a rotational player for a lower half of the table team, when he could be very useful for plenty of Serie A clubs fighting for the Champions League (Milan comes to mind as the ideal team for Scamacca and his quality).

So what are the alternatives? Talented second striker/winger options like Federico Chiesa, Gianluca Raspadori and Wilfried Gnonto aren’t prototypical no. 9s, so Italy’s manager has had to look to foreign leagues in the hopes of finding new players to call up who have Italian blood from generations ago. In comes 23-year-old Italo-Argentine Mateo Retegui, who at the very least has been playing and scoring. Retegui has smashed in 28 goals in 47 league games for Argentine side Tigre in the last two seasons, with his tally at nearly a goal a game in the 2023 campaign. Aside from him, an even more surprising inclusion to the Italian preliminary call-up list was Andrea Compagno, a hulking striker who moved from Italy’s fourth division to Romanian football and has been finding plenty of success scoring goals for Bucharest based club FCSB.

Italian strikers of years gone by, have usually been playing and scoring regularly in the Serie A so it remains to be seen whether these players can translate their respective domestic goal scoring exploits onto the national stage.

Does anyone want the Champions League spots?

None of the Serie A teams from second to sixth place were able to win their games over the weekend, continuing the narrative that Napoli are in a league of their own and then comes everyone else. Spots two to five are separated by only three points, and that’s without Juventus potentially getting back their 15 point deduction, which would further congest the race for the other three Champions League spots.

Inter somehow lost to struggling Spezia, Salernitana picked up their first ever point at San Siro against Milan, Roma succumbed to Sassuolo in a seven-goal thriller, while Lazio drew to Bologna. These results all scream of a league where pretty much every contender other than Napoli has been underwhelming. Are Napoli really 18 points better than second place in the table, or is it just one of those bizarre seasons where most of the results make little sense and are hard to analyse?

Just look at who the top teams are dropping points to. Only weeks ago, Roma lost to Cremonese, gifting the minnows their first win of the season. This isn’t an isolated case though, as these provincial minnows have somehow been able to steal crucial points from the top teams all season long. In the Premier League, this could make more sense as even lower half of the table sides are able to sign €50m players. In Serie A, the wage bills of some of the bottom half of the table sides mirror what you might find in the English third division. Point being, some of these games really shouldn’t be as competitive as they have been. It’s a minor miracle that these newly promoted sides (a lot of whom have not been able to buy top flight talent), can make games seem like even affairs against teams with 10x their wage bill. It’s a testament to the tactical preparation and discipline of even the smallest sides, and the overall coaching level in the league.

With all these dropped points from every team not named Napoli, the biggest race to look forward to now in the final months of the season is the one to determine the rest of the Champions League places.

(Napoli’s dominance is a reminder of all those seasons in the 2010s where Juventus’ dynasty meant there was hardly any competition for the actual Scudetto race.)

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Serie A season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Mar

2023

LaLiga Review: It’s as we were as the top three all find a way to win

Not a lot may have changed in the league table but it was a weekend of fine margins; Barça winning by a single goal, Madrid needing to come from behind, and Atlético leaving it late on Monday night. Read on for the full lowdown.

By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert

Barça are the 1-0 specialists

Barcelona’s ninth 1-0 win in LaLiga this season saw the Catalans finish the weekend nine points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table, with El Clásico up next at Camp Nou.

The game at San Mames on Sunday was marked by two major incidents, both reversed by VAR: Raphinha’s goal for Barcelona at the end of the first half was initially ruled offside and then awarded after a check confirmed he was on when Sergio Busquets played the pass; and what Athletic Club thought was a late leveller scored by Iñaki Williams was chalked off after the video assistant referee spotted that the ball had come off Iker Muniain’s arm earlier in the move,

“It has happened to us again,” Xavi said. “We played for 75 minutes at a good level. At San Mames, you end up suffering: balls into the box, set pieces… at 1-0, they make you suffer. It’s a golden win. We keep the nine points [advantage]. We go into the Clásico with confidence.”

Athletic had hit the crossbar in the first half and Barça had goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to thank for a vital same in added time. “Marc has been extraordinary,” Xavi said. And in 25 LaLiga matches this season, Barcelona have still only conceded eight goals.

On the decision which saw Athletic denied an equaliser, he said: “It’s a clear handball from Muniain.” But Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde was frustrated. “It’s something that is far from real football,” he said. “I’ve seen the image on television out of the corner of my eye… and I don’t know. In any case, it’s all the same. It’s not whether it hits him more or less on the shoulder or arm. It’s a question of what football is and what it isn’t. VAR is there to correct flagrant errors, if the ball goes in or there is a penalty, but [this time] the referee is called for a play that has occurred five previous passes [before the goal]… .it has happened to us and other times it will happen to others.”

Athletic’s fans did not like it either. Earlier, they had thrown fake money at Barcelona’s players as the row over the Catalan club’s payment of a former vice-president of Spain’s referee committee rumbles on.

At the weekend, Real Madrid released a statement saying they will appear at the trial when the case is opened up to affected parties. The announcement surprised Barcelona and will add further spice to next weekend’s Clásico clash at Camp Nou. But on the pitch, Barça go into that match safe in the knowledge of their nine point advantage.

100 up for Ancelotti

On Saturday, Real Madrid came from behind to beat Espanyol 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Vinícius Júnior, Éder Militão and Marco Asensio all on the scoresheet for Los Blancos.

With Karim Benzema rested to ease an ankle problem ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash at home to Liverpool, Los Blancos fell behind to a Joselu strike early in the game but came back to win comfortably in the end.

Vinícius levelled with a fine cutback and low drive from just inside the box after 22 minutes and Militão made it 2-1 at the break with a towering header later in the half. Asensio added a third against his former club in stoppage time.

“The beginning wasn’t spectacular, but we came back in the first half and we controlled the second,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said after his 100th LaLiga win for Real Madrid. “We had to win and we did. Onto the next game.”

The next game for Real Madrid in LaLiga is against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Sunday, but before that Los Blancos are at home to Liverpool in the second leg of the teams’ Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.

“A very important week is beginning, with the Champions League and the Clásico,” Ancelotti said. “We’re in good shape.” And on his 100 wins in LaLiga, he joked: “Let’s go for the next 100!”

Morata to the rescue

Atlético Madrid moved three points clear of Real Sociedad in third place as their impressive recent form continued with a last-gasp 1-0 victory at Girona on Monday night.

Substitute Álvaro Morata poked home at the far post from close range after Ángel Correa had diverted an Antoine Griezmann corner into his path in added time. There was a lengthy VAR check to see if the striker was onside, but the goal stood and Atlético came away with all three points.

“I hear from many strategists who like attractive football that 1-0 is also attractive,” Atlético coach Diego Simeone said after the game, in reference to Barcelona’s run of wins by that scoreline this season. “I give a lot of value to winning 1-0 because it speaks of your intensity.”

Atlético look favourites for third now as Real Sociedad were held 1-1 at Mallorca and appear to be fading in the latter part of the season, as they have in previous campaigns. Real Betis remain fifth after a 1-1 draw at home to sixth-place Villarreal.

At the bottom, Sevilla and Valencia both moved out of the relegation zone after big wins. Sevilla beat Almería 2-1 in a hard-fought Andalusian derby and climb to 13th, while Valencia won 1-0 at home to Osasuna and are up to 17th, although still level on points with Getafe below them. Almería are in 19th, with Elche way back on just 13 points in last place.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 LaLiga season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Mar

2023

Last Weekend: No winners in the Revierderby, Spezia beat Inter, and more

As we slowly inch closer to the end of the 2022/23 season, things are starting to heat up at both ends of tables in various leagues. This week’s column focuses on some tight relegation battles and dramatic title races from across Europe that are set to go right down to the wire.

By Neel Shelat

🇩🇪 Germany: Schalke 2-2 Borussia Dortmund

The Revierderby was the Topspiel in the Bundesliga this weekend, not just because it is arguably Germany’s biggest derby but also because it was set to have significant ramifications at either end of the table. Hosts Schalke started the weekend in the relegation zone level on points with both bottom-club Bochum and 15th-placed Stuttgart, while Dortmund were alongside Bayern at the top of the table.

This was the late kick-off on Saturday, so previous results heightened its importance even further. Bochum’s win on Friday sent Schalke to the bottom, while fellow relegation battlers Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin also picked up points earlier in the day. Simultaneously, Bayern beat Augsburg 5-3, leaving Dortmund needing to chase them again.

Dortmund’s first half performance was quite poor by recent standards as they were quite sloppy at the back and let in a few needless chances. Nonetheless, they were ahead at half-time thanks to a long-range strike from Nico Schlotterbeck.

Having posed next to no threat of their own from open play, Schalke equalised five minutes into the second period as Marius Bülter turned in Michael Frey’s ball across the box. Dortmund retook the lead through Raphaël Guerreiro within ten minutes, but there was another twist in the tale late on as Kenan Karaman’s header pulled Schalke back level.

A goal for either side in the last ten minutes might have had the potential to be season-defining, but the match ended 2-2. That result did neither side much good as Schalke remained in the relegation zone and Dortmund slipped two points behind Bayern, but it was the hosts who were much happier at the end.

🇮🇹 Italy: Spezia 2-1 Inter

We have to go back to Friday to get our Serie A match for the weekend. Second-placed Inter visited Spezia, who were just one spot above the relegation zone.

Simone Inzaghi’s side were totally dominant in the first half. They attempted 16 shots, including a 14th-minute penalty from Lautaro Martínez, but they failed to score. Spezia went in level at the break largely thanks to Bartłomiej Drągowski, who made four saves besides the spot-kick.

The hosts drew first blood in the 55th minute thanks to Milan loanee Daniel Maldini (son of Paolo), who scored his first goal in four months after some great hold-up play by M’Bala Nzola. Inter’s pressure finally told in the 83rd minute, when they won another penalty. Romelu Lukaku stepped up this time, and he converted.

It seemed Spezia were on course to extend their winless run to eight matches, but there was more penalty drama in store. A couple of minutes after Inter’s equaliser, Denzel Dumfries committed a silly foul in his own box to give Nzola the chance to win the game for his side, which he gladly accepted.

Having converted two of their four shots, Spezia recorded their first-ever win over Inter to open up a five-point gap to the drop zone. At the top of the table, Napoli restored their 18-point advantage over closest challengers (if we can even call them that) Inter after beating Atalanta 2-0.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Everton 1-0 Brentford

Going into their match against relegation-battlers Everton, Brentford were on an absolute roll in the Premier League. They had not tasted defeat in their last 12 matches, which was the longest ongoing unbeaten run in the league. This form had brought them to the cusp of the race for Europe.

Everton would have been quite keen to end that record. After coming away with six points from the first three games under Sean Dyche, they only added one in the next three, which meant that they were back down in the relegation zone. They really needed a good result in this game, especially because their subsequent three matches see them face Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United.

The Toffees got off to the perfect start as Goodison Park was celebrating 35 seconds after kick-off when Dwight McNeil picked out the top corner from the edge of the box. They thought they added a second close to half-time through Demarai Gray after a free-kick reached the box, but it went in off his hand so VAR got involved.

It was all Brentford in the second half, but a resolute defensive showing from Everton, especially inside their penalty area, ensured that the three points stayed in Merseyside. They propelled Everton up to 15th in what looks set to be one of the closest Premier League relegation battles of our time, as just five points separate bottom-club Southampton from 12th-placed Crystal Palace.

🇫🇷 France: Marseille 2-2 Strasbourg

After narrowly missing out on European qualification under Julien Stéphan last season, Strasbourg’s fortunes have turned quite dramatically this time around. They are still involved in a close battle, just at the wrong end of the table.

Stéphan was sacked in early January after Strasbourg’s elimination from the Coupe de France, at a time when they were second from bottom in the league. His assistant Mathieu Le Scornet took interim charge for the next month and added seven points in six matches, after which Frédéric Antonetti was appointed as head coach on more of a long-term basis.

After a win, a draw and a loss in his first three league matches, the ex-Rennes man took his side to Marseille to face the side closest to PSG at the top of the table. It seemed they would be in for a good day at the Orange Vélodrome when Leonardo Balerdi saw a straight red card at the half-hour mark, but they failed to score before the half-time whistle despite creating a couple of presentable chances.

In the second period, things seemed to come crumbling down. Chancel Mbemba opened the scoring for Marseille by turning in the rebound after a free-kick in the 49th minute. With 15 minutes left on the clock, Alexis Sánchez won and converted a penalty for the hosts to make it 2-0. It seemed Strasbourg were well on course to slip back into the drop zone.

But, there was some late drama to come. In the 88th minute, Jean Aholou headed home from a corner to give his side some hope, and just 85 seconds later, he fired a thunderous effort to the top corner from a fair way out to salvage a point.

This point keeps Strasbourg out of the relegation zone, but only on goal difference. Since four teams are getting relegated this season as Ligue 1 gets trimmed to an 18-team competition, Strasbourg are under real threat even in 15th place.

🇧🇬 Bulgaria: CSKA 1948 0-1 PFA CSKA-Sofia

There is a big story brewing over in Bulgaria, where the longest ongoing title-winning streak in Europe’s top-flight risk is at risk of ending. Ludogorets Razgrad have won the First Professional League in each of the last 11 seasons, but they find themselves four points behind CSKA-Sofia at the moment.

CSKA are the most successful club in the country historically, but a lot has gone on with them in the last decade. They went bankrupt in 2016, but as is often the case when such big sides go bust, successors emerged quickly.

Bulgarian businessman Grisha Ganchev had bought the club in 2015, but after they failed to acquire a professional license for the subsequent season, he came up with a complicated solution. He also owned lower-tier side Litex Lovech (named after his automobile company), so he essentially decided to rename them to PFC-CSKA Sofia and use their professional license to establish them as the successors to CSKA Sofia in the top-flight.

The Bulgarian Football Union recognised them as such, and eventually, UEFA would do so too. However, a group of CSKA Sofia fans were not happy with this, so they went and formed a club of their own called CSKA 1948 (which was the year the original CSKA Sofia was founded).

CSKA 1948 had to work their way up the Bulgarian pyramid, which they did in four seasons. From 2020/21 onwards, there have been two CSKAs coexisting in the Bulgarian top-flight, although CSKA-Sofia won the rights to the original club’s badge and forced CSKA 1948 to change theirs. Still, the latter claim to be the successors to the original CSKA Sofia.

Either way, the two find themselves first and third this season in one of the closest title races in the country in recent memory. CSKA 1948 were nine points behind their rivals going into this weekend’s crunch derby, and that gap has been extended to 12 points after a narrow win for the visitors.

We still have seven matchdays of the regular season left before the Championship play-off begins, but it appears that we are in for a two-horse title race.

🇨🇿 Czechia: Slavia Prague 2-1 Viktoria Plzeň

We definitely have a three-horse title race in Czechia, though, where two of the contenders met this weekend. Defending champions Viktoria Plzeň started the weekend in second and visited leaders Slavia Prague with a one-point gap to them as well as third-placed Sparta Prague.

Sparta beat Banik Ostrava in the early kick-off on Saturday to momentarily jump up to the top of the standings, although there was no chance of them staying there regardless of the result in the big match later on. Nevertheless, they will have been watching on very closely of course.

16 minutes in, Viktoria Plzeň took the lead through Tomáš Chorý. As things stood, they would climb up to first place with Sparta second and Slavia third, while the gap between the top three would remain just two points. However, that was not to be as the home side staged a second half turnaround.

Departing forward Peter Olayinka (who will join Crvena Zvezda in the summer) equalised five minutes after the break by turning in a corner. The decisive moment came 76 minutes in, when substitute Ondřej Lingr got on the end of a dangerous ball across the box and fired it home, scoring the winner.

A four-point gap between the top three still means that we should be in for a very close title race, especially since they will all face each other in the Championship play-offs.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Mar

2023

Premier League Review: Arsenal march on and City find a way as the Cherries shock Liverpool

It wasn’t quite as goal filled as last weekend but there were some significant results in the Premier League.

With that in mind, here’s a deep dive into the biggest talking points from across the English top flight.

By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert

The Cherries come out on top

Heading into this game, everything pointed towards a Liverpool win. Bournemouth were bottom of the table and had given up a 2-0 lead against Arsenal in their last outing, losing with the last kick of the game.

Yet the hosts claimed an unlikely 1-0 win to lift themselves out of the relegation zone. Philip Billing scored what turned out to be the winner in the first half with Mohamed Salah missing from the spot after the break.

The Reds spurned all four big chances and now find themselves further behind in the race for the top four.

A sting in the tail for the Bees

Following Bournemouth’s win over Liverpool, Everton needed something at home to Brentford.

The Toffees were in the relegation zone and hadn’t won in three but found themselves ahead after just 35 seconds, courtesy of a Dwight McNeil effort.

Luck was on their side too with Brentford creating chances with an Expected Goals value of 2.1 but the away team failed to convert. In fact, the second half was all Brentford, with 1.72 of their xG haul coming after the break.

The rise of Richarlison

Earlier in the week, Richarlison fairly publicly demanded more game time. Antonio Conte responded to this by starting him against Nottingham Forest and he had the ball in the back of the net after three minutes.

However, it was ruled out for offside. That shouldn’t detract from his performance though. Yes, Harry Kane netted a double and yes, Heung-Min Son got in on the act but the Brazilian was still quite impressive, even without a goal.

He won the penalty that the Spurs No. 10 tucked away and he finished with an assist.

In fact, only Kane (9.0) could better Richarlison’s FotMob rating (8.5).

City find a way to win

It wasn’t the prettiest Manchester City win but they picked up maximum points to keep the pressure on Arsenal.

Erling Haaland scored the winner from the penalty spot but the star of the show was undoubtedly Rodri. The midfielder was given an 8.7 FotMob rating for his performance having won eight of his 12 ground duels, three of his five aerial duels all while recovering the ball an astonishing 16 times.

It might not be highlight reel worthy but that showing was as integral to the win as Haaland’s penalty.

The Gunners march on

An away trip to Craven Cottage has the potential to be a banana skin trip for top teams. Especially when just a couple of days earlier you’d played out a 2-2 draw in Portugal against Sporting.

City would’ve no doubt been looking at this and thinking there’s a chance that Arsenal drop points here and yet the game was over by the break.

Arsenal blitzed Fulham in those opening 45 minutes and fully deserved the 3-0 halftime lead.

There was a bit of a scare early on when Antonee Robinson had a goal ruled out by VAR but aside from that, Arsenal never looked in any danger of falling to a defeat.

He may not have got onto the scoresheet but Leandro Trossard was the difference maker for the Gunners, chipping in with three assists. The January signing is really playing his part in this title charge.

The Saints halt the Red Devils

Manchester United had to win to maintain their lead over Spurs but could only manage a draw against Southampton at Old Trafford.

In truth, it was a bad day at the office for Erik Ten Hag’s side as they lost Casemiro to a red card in the first half. The hosts then took control and had more of the ball, more shots and a higher Expected Goals total.

The Saints are still bottom of the table but are now only five points off of Crystal Palace in 12th.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Premier League season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Mar

2023

This Weekend: European title races and Schalke vs. Dortmund in the Revierderby

The best matches to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Saturday

🇩🇪 The heated Bundesliga title race will go up another notch this weekend as both Bayern and Dortmund – who, remember, are locked together on 49 points – play local rivals. The more heated of the two rivalries is, of course, the Revierderby which pitches Schalke vs. Dortmund. As one of Germany’s most famous games, this will naturally get a lot of attention but it is even more important than usual for both sides.

Schalke have struggled since their return to Germany’s top flight and are currently one of four sides who are all sat together on 19 points at the bottom of the table. However, they come in to the game having won back-to-back games (against Stuttgart and Bochum) for the first time this season and a third win on the bounce would be seismic for their survival chances.

Dortmund suffered their first competitive defeat of the year – at Chelsea in the Champions League – but will be aiming to break their current all-time record of eight consecutive wins in the league, adding extra motivation to an already heavily motivated squad.

For their part, Bayern will be hosting their smaller Bavarian neighbours from Augsburg. Usually speaking, this is a home banker for Bayern but they have lost the last two league meetings when travelling to Augsburg, albeit, they may have shaken off that hoodoo with a 5-2 win in the Pokal, at Augsburg, back in October.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 In England, we get six Saturday fixtures starting with Liverpool’s trip to Bournemouth. The Cherries sit bottom of the Premier League and having lost 9-0 at Anfield earlier in the season won’t have enjoyed watching Jürgen Klopp’s side put seven past Manchester United in that amazing game last weekend.

For Klopp though, it will be all about continuing the momentum, especially with that possible lost cause that they need to chase at Real Madrid this coming Wednesday.

With Arsenal playing on Sunday, Manchester City have the chance to close the gap to the league leaders to one point, should they win at Crystal Palace. The Eagles are winless in 10 games now but City do have their own Champions League knock-out tie – on Tuesday, against RB Leipzig, to think about so we may see some rotation from Pep Guardiola.

Elsewhere, Graham Potter will be hoping to take some of the current pressure off of his shoulders and heap it on to that of Brendon Rogers, with a positive result for Chelsea at Leicester City. And fresh from their Champions League exit at the hands of Milan, Tottenham Hotspur host Nottingham Forest in a week where Forest coach, Steve Cooper has had to play down rumours naming him as a potential future manager of Spurs. That could be quite the job interview.

🇮🇹 Napoli saw their mammoth lead in Serie A cut down to a mere 15 points as they suffered their first home defeat of the season, at the hands of Lazio last Friday, so they will be keen to get back to winning ways when they face sixth placed Atalanta. And the aforementioned Lazio could jump back in to second should they continue their domestic form at Bologna. On the European stage, they will be seeking to turnaround a surprise 2-1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar when they travel to the Netherlands for the second leg of their Conference League tie next week.

🇪🇸 In La Liga, Real Madrid will prepare for that clash with Liverpool with a home game against Espanyol. Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed some late magic from Karim Benzema to win at Barcelona’s other team back in Round 3 but you’d expect them to win this one more comfortably at the Bernabéu. And if they do, they’ll cut Barça’s lead at the top of the table to five points.

🇫🇷 For PSG, after yet another failure in the Champions League (the Parisians limped out of the first knockout stage with defeat at Bayern), means for some serious fallout that will no doubt continue in to the weekend. And that will only worsen if there’s no spark on show in their Ligue 1 fixture at Brest. After all, there’s still a league title to fight for and their current eight point cushion isn’t yet safe with the form Marseille are proving capable of this season.

🇺🇸 Round 3 of the new season in Major League Soccer features a number of interesting looking fixtures. St. Louis City have started life with back-to-back wins as the newest addition to the league but surely they’ll be tested by the trip to Portland Timbers – a team with a longer history than most in North America. In the opposing Conference, NYCFC (D1, L1) face Inter Miami, with Phil Neville’s Floridians one of only two Eastern sides who’ve won both of their opening fixtures. And in a cross-conference game, current Concacaf Champions League holders Seattle Sounders, who’ve yet to concede a goal, have a long trip to Cincinnati (W1, D1).

Sunday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 As we’re in the middle of an important couple of weeks in UEFA’s club competitions, we’ll see a bumper selection of games in the Premier League on Sunday. They include Arsenal’s cross-town visit to Fulham, who sit seventh. The league leaders were held to a 2-2 draw at Sporting in the Europa League on Thursday night and they’ll come up against a side unbeaten in their last four games – albeit, the Gunners do boast the best away record in the division and haven’t lost to the Cottagers in their last nine meetings!

Manchester United‘s return to form against Real Betis, also in the Europa League, suggests that last weekend’s thrashing at the hands of their biggest foes, Liverpool, was something of an anomaly. With Southampton the visitors to Old Trafford on Sunday, we’ll see whether they can get back to winning ways in the league.

Further down the table, Newcastle United will be looking to end a run of three successive 2-0 defeats when they take on Wolves and there’s an important game for West Ham as they play Aston Villa, who sit in the relative safety of 11th. From Villa downwards it’s a different story with five points separating Palace, in 12th, to Everton who are 18th and occupying the final relegation spot.

🇪🇸 There will also be a more customary four games in LaLiga, all of which will have some impact on both ends of the table. Leaders Barcelona travel to the Basque Country to face ninth placed Athletic Club, a fixture where they’ll be reunited with former coach Ernesto Valverde. With goals somewhat at a premium in recent weeks for Barça it will be interesting to see how well they can break down a stubborn defensive side.

Elsewhere, Real Sociedad could move third with a win in Mallorca, fifth play sixth as Betis and Villarreal clash at the Estadio de la Cerámica, and there’s a six pointer at Sevilla, who face Almería. The two sides are level on points either side of the relegation zone with Sevilla holding a slender advantage due to their superior goal difference. But even then, that could only be temporary – a draw would mean the sides are still level on points but Almería would move above Sevilla by virtue of their win in the earlier meeting between the two. Once all games are played, this head-to-head record takes precedence over goal difference in LaLiga.

🇩🇪 With the main Bundesliga action coming on Saturday, and at the top of this column, the main game to look out for on Sunday is Union Berlin’s trip to eighth placed Wolfsburg. Presuming at least one of Bayern and/or Dortmund win their respective derby games, Union will need a win in order to stay within five points of the league leaders. And perhaps now, more importantly, at least two points ahead of the sides below them in the battle for a Champions League place next season.

🇺🇸 Only six of the 29 sides in MLS still maintain a 100% record as we move into just the third weekend of the season and two of those – LAFC and New England Revolution meet each other in Sunday night’s closing fixture. LAFC continued their good start with a convincing 3-0 away win at Costa Rican side Alajuelense in a midweek Concacaf Champions League game and the MLS Cup holders will be confident on home soil. The Revs, though, have conceded none and scored four in their wins over Charlotte and Houston as they look to improve on last season’s 10th place finish in the Eastern Conference, having won the Supporters Shield just a year earlier.

🇧🇪 We’ll leave you this week with a game between the two best sides – on current form – in the Belgian Pro League. Genk are running away with it but as we know, there’s no guarantee they’ll maintain that position once the league is split and the Championship group fixtures take place. And their weekend opponents, Union St. Gilloise are the side best placed to overhaul them as this interesting league format unfolds. Union featured in a breathless 3-3 draw at Union Berlin in the Europa League on Thursday, and with the return leg coming up next week, may therefore be at a disadvantage heading in to this battle between the top two.

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 Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO

Mar

2023

Serie A Review: Round 25 springs some surprises

This week we focus on Napoli losing their unbeaten home record against top four candidates Lazio, Milan’s defeat at Fiorentina, and take a look at the Marco Materazzi-inspired stylings of Roma defender Gianluca Mancini.

By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert

Lazio stun Napoli

Lazio handed Napoli their second loss of the Serie A season by beating Luciano Spalletti’s first placed team 1-0 at the Maradona Stadium over the weekend. This result reinforces Lazio’s legitimacy as a top four contender in what is their second season under Maurizio Sarri.

Once again, the Biancocelesti showed off their much improved defence by keeping Napoli’s incredible attack scoreless. While Napoli had much more quality possession, it felt like most of their attacks were stunted the second they made their way into the final third. Keeper Ivan Provedel hardly had a save to make against the unstoppable Osimhen/Kvara tandem, and that’s down to the way Lazio defend as a unit. While Sarri’s tactics are mostly known for their offensive prowess, his teams have historically had watertight defences. Sarri knew he couldn’t try to out possess this Napoli team in their own home, so he conceded that aspect of the game to make sure the defensive transitions were very quick. The second Lazio lost possession, they’d instantly retreated back into a low block and get everyone behind the ball, pressing in waves to maintain their energy for the second half.

It was a tactic that worked. In fact, the other loss Napoli suffered this season was away to Inter in a game that played out in a similar manner – the Nerazzurri defended in a compact manner and prevented those tricky Napoli one-twos on the edge of the box.

What’s even more impressive from a Lazio standpoint is how good this defence has been with this current cast of characters. They’re not world beaters by any stretch of the imagination, but players who Lazio were cleverly able to acquire on the cheap for a host of different reasons. Take the centre-back Alessio Romagnoli for example. Romagnoli spent a long time at Milan but had an involution at the tail end of his time with them which saw him go from captain of the backline to fourth choice defender under Stefano Pioli. Romagnoli endured a period of error-strewn showings, which saw his confidence drop and it was clear he was a player who needed a change in scenery. With Lazio, Romangoli is able to show off his best attributes – he’s an elegant defender with a composed left foot in building out play from the back, exactly what’s expected of a centre-back in a Sarri system that likes to play the ball short.

The starting goalkeeper Ivan Provedel probably can’t believe his luck either. He went into the season expecting to be the backup to Luis Maximiano, another goalkeeper that was signed last summer as part of Lazio’s re-build. Maximiano picked up a red card minutes into his debut on Matchday 1 and hasn’t seen the pitch since. Provedel took over and has been too brilliant to take off.

It’s a credit to the scouting work that Lazio did last summer to refresh the backline and find a squad that was tailor-made for Sarri’s tactics. At the moment, they’re punching well above their weight and look destined for a top four spot.

Milan take two steps back

After a new year run of no win in seven, February marked an uptick in performances for Milan, with four wins from four and four clean sheets.

However, that run came screeching to a halt when Fiorentina were able to beat the Rossoneri 2-1 at home, in what was one of the finest displays of the season from the Viola, with a standout performance from the striker Arthur Cabral – who dazzled with his movement and work rate. Fiore were both a step ahead of their opponents, both in midfield play and creating dangerous chances, often playing vertically with their quick wingers against a team that wasn’t just going to sit back in a low block like so many others do against the Viola in Serie A.

For Milan, the issues had to do more with rotation than anything else. Without Rafael Leão and Brahim Díaz in the lineup, Stefano Pioli took a gamble on the enigma that is Charles De Ketelaere. CDK had less time on the ball than any other one of his teammates in the first half, which isn’t ideal from the player who is slotted into the no.10 position. Up front, Ante Rebić replaced Leão and had a poor game. The rotations from Pioli were necessary as Milan take on Tottenham in North London this Wednesday in the Champions League. While Leão hasn’t been scoring recently, his presence alone keeps defences honest and fundamentally changes the way they can approach a game.

In league play, Milan’s loss means they now fall to fifth place, as Lazio and Roma both picked up important wins against tough opposition over the weekend. It’s hard to overstate just how important finishing in the top four is for the Rossoneri given their young jewels in the squad. With rumours swirling around Leão’s future, exiting Europe’s premier competition would be a blow to Milan’s chances in keeping last season’s league MVP. The Champions League is a great recruiter during the summer negotiation window for players, and also brings in the necessary funds for Milan to pay the young stars they already have and that will undoubtedly draw a ton of attention from richer clubs in Europe this summer.

Gianluca Mancini’s ‘unique’ style

Gianluca Mancini was voted as the player of the game in Roma’s 1-0 win over Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico. The Roma centre-back is probably the most effective provocateur in the league. While he’s never going to be compared to the elite Italian defenders of the past decades, Mancini has carved out his own unique style. The aggressiveness of his play stands out in particular. No other player in the top five European leagues picked up as many yellow cards in 2022. Mancini has often had to balance the fine line between aggressiveness and recklessness.

In this game against Juventus, we saw the full range of the Gianluca Mancini experience – scoring a spectacular long distance strike, nearly scoring an own goal, then getting Juventus striker Moise Kean red carded just seconds after coming into the match. Kean’s first touch of the game was with his back to goal with a salivating Mancini behind him. As he usually does, the Roma centre-back approached the play with full aggression by kicking, prodding, pulling and tussling for far longer than the play needed. Kean’s reaction was instant – he got up and viciously kicked Mancini in the leg, prompting a quick red card from the referee.

It’s no surprise than Mancini counts Marco Materazzi as his football idol, and has even worn the no.23 in honour of the ex-Italian centre-back, who was known as one of the most aggressive/crazy players of his generation!

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Serie A season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Mar

2023

LaLiga Review: Barça below their best, Madrid stutter, and Atlético pay tribute to Simeone

With injuries and absences mounting up for the league leaders, Real Madrid tiring under the weight of a hectic schedule, the majority of the weekend action came in one game – Atlético Madrid’s 6-1 thrashing of Sevilla. Read more on all that with our latest column from Spain.

By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert

Barcelona make hard work of struggling Valencia

Óscar Hernández stood in for brother Xavi on the touchline for Barcelona’s LaLiga game against Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon. Xavi was banned after picking up five yellow cards in LaLiga this season and had to watch from the stands. Midfielder Gavi was suspended too and Barça were also without Pedri, Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembélé through injury.

With those absences, the Blaugrana were well below their best against their struggling visitors but took all three points thanks to a Raphinha header after 15 minutes. Later, Ferran Torres scuffed a penalty against the outside of the post and with five minutes left, Valencia thought they should have had a spot-kick themselves as Fran Pérez got ahead of Franck Kessié and went down in the area.

Valencia were unhappy with that decision, but replays showed it was probably correct. “I’ve watched it back and I don’t think it’s a penalty,” Xavi said afterwards. But the Barça boss was again frustrated that his team had not put the game to bed by that point. “It’s a shame because we should be talking about a comfortable win,” he said. “Our lack of effectiveness meant we had to suffer until the end.”

With centre-back Ronald Araújo sent off after 89 minutes, that suffering was exacerbated in the final few minutes and the defender’s red card will mean another absence to contend with. “It’s the moment to suffer with so many players out,” Xavi said. “But it makes us stronger.”

Barça moved nine points clear at the top of LaLiga after Real Madrid were held at Real Betis later on Sunday. Valencia are second to bottom and two points behind 17th-placed Sevilla, still very much in trouble with 14 rounds of the competition remaining.

Madrid draw a blank at Betis

Real Madrid, without the suspended Luka Modrić and with David Alaba and Ferland Mendy missing through injury, dropped two points away to Real Betis in an entertaining encounter on Sunday night and Los Blancos now fall a little further behind Barcelona at the top of the table.

Karim Benzema thought he had given Madrid the lead after 12 minutes with a free-kick, but the ball went in off the arm of Real defender Antonio Rüdiger and was ruled out following a VAR check.

Both Benzema and Vinícius Júnior struggled to make much of an impact in the rest of the match and coach Carlo Ancelotti was left frustrated by his side’s lack of sharpness in attack once again.

“We’re not effective enough,” the Italian said. “We’re not choosing the best solutions.” And he added: “I’m affected by it a lot, also the players because we have the quality to score more goals, as we always have before. The problem is there: we’re lacking efficiency.”

Asked if LaLiga was lost, he said: “No. Not yet. We’re not thinking about that. We have to fight until the end. I don’t know what will happen in LaLiga, we have a lot of matches. But it’s obvious that we have to do better.”

Atlético celebrate Diego Simeone’s landmark game

Atlético Madrid paid tribute to coach Diego Simeone on Saturday night as the Argentine overtook club legend Luis Aragones in his record 613th game for the club. And after a presentation before kick-off, the Rojiblancos produced one of their best displays of the season as they swept aside Sevilla in a 6-1 win at the Metropolitano.

Memphis Depay scored twice, including a spectacular second from distance, and he looks like the latest shrewd striker signing from Barcelona in recent years (after David Villa and Luis Suárez both helped Atleti to LaLiga titles following their moves). Maybe next season?

Substitute Álvaro Morata also scored twice late on, but the standout player was once again Antoine Griezmann. The France forward scored with a lovely long-range effort, assisted the first for Depay and was at the heart of everything positive for Atlético in attack.

Griezmann hugged Simeone after his goal and said: “An important day for him is an important day for me. I really wanted to make this a magical day for him, for the fans and for my team-mates.”

Simeone’s future has been in doubt lately, but Atlético’s fine form since the World Cup saw them move up to third this weekend after this win and Real Sociedad’s draw at home to Cádiz. “I’m calm, at peace, and where I want to be,” the Argentine said.

Sevilla looking over their shoulder

Sevilla are definitely not where they want to be, though, as this defeat to Atlético sees them dragged down into the danger zone once again after a recent revival. Jorge Sampaoli’s side are 17th, level on points with Almería below them.

At the very bottom, Elche secured only their second win of the campaign. They beat Mallorca 1-0 away from home, but still have plenty of catching up to do with 12 points from their 24 games.

Villarreal are sixth following a 2-0 win at Almería, making it back-to-back victories for the Yellow Submarine after four straight defeats. The home side, meanwhile, were unable to find the kind of form they showed in beating Barcelona last weekend and drop into the bottom three. Up next for them: a huge game at Sevilla on Sunday.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 LaLiga season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Mar

2023

Premier League Review: Mo Salah stars against United, Arsenal leave it late and Chelsea finally win

Well, what a weekend of Premier League football that was. One particular match will dominate the conversation but there are a lot of talking points to dissect following an action-packed matchday.

By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert

Rampant Reds run riot against Red Devils

Manchester United headed to Anfield as one of the most in-form teams in Europe. They had lost just one of their previous 22 matches across all competitions, they had claimed the Carabao Cup last weekend and followed that up with an impressive comeback victory over West Ham in the FA Cup in mid-week.

The visitors had a 10-point lead over their hosts and knew a win would seriously damage Liverpool’s hopes of a top-four finish. However, the Reds ran out 7-0 winners and are now just three points off of fourth with a game in hand.

Mohamed Salah was the pick of the bunch for the home side with a FotMob rating of 9.6. He became the club’s record Premier League goalscorer, surpassing Robbie Fowler with his second goal, while also chipping in with two assists. He had three shots, created three chances and was fouled six times as the away side struggled to contain Liverpool’s No.11.

Another late show for Arsenal

The Gunners are making a bit of a habit out of this, aren’t they? Just weeks after two stoppage-time goals helped Mikel Arteta’s men overcome Aston Villa, Arsenal needed a 97th-minute goal from Reiss Nelson to claim all three points against Bournemouth.

The Premier League leaders had been 2-0 down in the first half but rallied in the second half. Thomas Partey and Ben White scored inside of an eight-minute spell and then it was a barrage from the home side in search of a winner.

Arsenal had 31 shots and had 80% of the ball during the game. They did only carve out two big chances though and created chances with an Expected Goals value of just 2.17, so Bournemouth weren’t exactly clinging on. The hosts just had a number of low-value opportunities.

Arteta will need to address a few things to ensure his team aren’t requiring last-minute winners on a regular basis though. It isn’t a sustainable trait.

Chelsea finally win

Chelsea bought their five-match winless run in the Premier League to an end with a 1-0 victory over Leeds United.

Wesley Fofana was the match-winner as he headed in a Ben Chilwell cross in the second half to score the only goal of the game. The French centre-back had a strange game, winning just two of his six ground duels but then having a 100% success rate in aerial duels.

It wasn’t necessarily pretty but the Blues did enough to pick up all three points in what was a fairly even game.

Graham Potter is probably just relieved to have registered a win, the fact Leeds created chances with an xG of over one won’t be at the forefront of his mind just yet. If they want more wins though, they’re going to have to do better as a team in general – fewer chances for the opposition and more opportunities for them.

Inconsistant Tottenham in a fight for top four

Spurs lost to Wolves courtesy of a late Adama Traoré goal in what was a smash-and-grab result. It rounded off a disappointing week for Tottenham after they lost to Sheffield United in midweek to crash out of the FA Cup.

Antonio Conte’s men may feel a little unlucky to have lost having limited Wolves to chances worth 0.52 Expected Goals while the home side’s goalkeeper, José Sá, was the highest-rated player due to his exploits between the sticks. He claimed a FotMob rating of 8.7 having made six saves to shut out the Champions League-chasing team.

It had looked as though Spurs had shaken off the disappointing losses to Milan and Leicester with wins over West Ham and Chelsea but they now find themselves out of the FA Cup and they will be outside of the top four if teams win their games in hand.

The Foxes slip in to a relegation battle

In early February, Leicester recorded a 4-1 win over Spurs and a 4-2 victory against Aston Villa to climb up the Premier League table. It appeared as though they had escaped a situation that was threatening to turn into a relegation battle.

However, the 1-0 loss to Southampton on Saturday means they are on a three-game losing streak in the league, four if you include the loss to Blackburn in the FA Cup in midweek.

They now find themselves just two points outside of the relegation zone and just three off the bottom. Against the Saints, they created better opportunities and had more of them but the ruthlessness they showed against Villa and Spurs deserted them at St Mary’s.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Premier League season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Mar

2023

Last Weekend: Liverpool smash Manchester United, spoils shared in the Derby du Nord and more

This was a weekend of big scorelines in Europe, where the headlines have been stolen by Liverpool’s seven unanswered goals against Manchester United. Beyond that, we also have a 6-1 from Spain, as well as a monstrous result from the Netherlands that nothing can prepare you for.

By Neel Shelat

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United

Manchester United reached perhaps the highest point of the season last weekend when they lifted the Carabao Cup, but they slumped to a historic low exactly seven days later.

Given Liverpool’s inconsistent form throughout this season, the Red Devils might have felt that they were in with a pretty good chance of beating their rivals at Anfield for the first time in over six years, but they were in for a big surprise.

To be fair, the visitors just about looked the more threatening side in the first half and even put the ball in the back of the net close to half-time (after which the flag instantly went up for offside), but just a minute later, they conceded to Cody Gakpo to trail into the break. On the other side of it, they conceded twice in the space of five minutes to Darwin Núñez and Gakpo again, seemingly losing the fixture right there.

But then, they crumbled.

Mohamed Salah made it four in the 66th minute after yet another counterattack, before Núñez got number five and started to make the scoreline look a little ugly. Salah’s second (which made him Liverpool’s all-time top-scorer in the Premier League) and the departing Roberto Firmino’s late strike took it up to seven, inflicting upon Manchester United the worst Premier League defeat in their history to end a 12-match unbeaten run.

Clearly, this is an utterly humiliating result, but United cannot afford to dwell on it as they are in action in midweek for a Europa League Round of 16 tie against Real Betis. Liverpool, on the other hand, will hope that this marks their return to form as they still seek to salvage a top four finish from an otherwise disappointing campaign.

🇫🇷 France: Lens 1-1 Lille

The Derby du Nord is one of the fiercest rivalries in French football, so it was unsurprisingly the headline fixture of this weekend. In addition to local bragging rights, a lot rode on this fixture in terms of the race for Europe.

The two northern rivals were separated by six points heading into the match and were both involved in slightly different aspects of the battle for continental qualification. Lens started in third, so they sought to hold on to the spot that would place them in the last round of the Champions League qualifiers, whereas Lille started in sixth and looked to break into the top five for Europa Conference League action at least.

Lens were also seeking to arrest a slump in form that left them with just one win in eight matches heading into this one, a run which saw them go from close proximity to PSG to the risk of dropping out of the top three. Lille, on the other hand, had endured a bit of a poor start to the season but were on the up since the post-World Cup resumption of French football, losing just two matches since.

Fittingly, therefore, it was Lens who drew first blood close to half-time when José Fonte diverted a free-kick delivery into his own net. The visitors got a deserved equaliser in the 69th minute through Jonathan David, who became their joint top-scorer in the 21st century alongside a certain Eden Hazard.

Both teams might be left a little disappointed with that result because it drops Lens out of the top three, while Lille failed to take advantage of Rennes’ weekend defeat. There is a long way to go yet, though, so the European battle in Ligue should be quite exciting.

🇪🇸 Spain: Atlético Madrid 6-1 Sevilla

After honouring their relationship with Athletic Club in their previous home match, Atlético Madrid were celebrating Diego Simeone at the Wanda Metropolitano this weekend.

The reason behind that is the fact that the Argentinean was preparing to take charge of his 613th match for the club, surpassing the record of 612 held by Luis Aragonés. This came just a week after he broke the record of most LaLiga matches in the dugout of a single club, with his 425th being the Madrid derby.

The spoils were shared in that game as it ended 1-1, but this time, the Atléti players ensured that their manager had even more reason to celebrate. In fact, they put up their biggest victory of the season in a 6-1 demolition of Sevilla, with goals from January arrival Memphis Depay, Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Álvaro Morata.

This will be an extra-memorable night for Griezmann too, as he scored his 150th goal for the club to close in further on Aragonés’ record tally of 172.

Visitors Sevilla will be keen to forget all of this quickly, as they find themselves languishing in 17th place and only remaining above the relegation zone on goal difference five months on from Jorge Sampaoli’s reappointment as coach.

🇩🇪 Germany: Bochum 0-2 Schalke

The Bundesliga’s title race has been drawing a fair bit of attention as there are teams level on points at the top of the table, but the relegation battle is somehow even closer.

There was a big six-pointer this week between the bottom two, Bochum and Schalke. Three points separated the sides as Thomas Reis returned to the Ruhrstadion with a big chance to get one over on his former employers.

The hosts had a few presentable chances early on, but they went into the half-time break with a deficit after a howler from Manuel Riemann that led to him pushing the ball into his own net while attempting to dive backwards and claim it as it stood dangerously close to the goal line.

A well-worked corner that allowed Marius Bülter to make it 2-0 in the 79th minute sealed the result, taking Schalke above Bochum on goal difference. Elsewhere, losses for Hoffenheim and Stuttgart left the Bundesliga’s bottom four level on points, meaning that goal difference is the only thing separating absolute safety from the bottom spot at the moment.

Hertha Berlin are only a point above them, so we should be in for a very exciting five-team relegation scrap in Germany this season.

🇮🇹 Italy: Roma 1-0 Juventus

The last Serie A match of the weekend saw Roma take on Juventus in a potentially pivotal fixture for both sides’ European aspirations.

Roma had the chance to break into the top four again after Milan’s loss to Fiorentina, whereas Juventus were scrambling to enter the top six after their big points deduction. They started seven points adrift of Atalanta, so they are very much in with a chance of still salvaging a continental spot via the league.

As one might expect from a match between two teams that very much prioritise defence first, this was far from an exciting match. Half-decent chances were few and far between, so it was always going to take something special to break the deadlock. That came from Gianluca Mancini in the 57th minute when he scored his first goal of the Serie A season with a drive from outside the box to the far corner.

Perhaps the most notable moment of the game besides the goal was Moise Kean’s cameo. About 40 seconds after being sent on at the end of normal time, the Italian striker kicked out at a defender who fouled him by holding him back, leading to a straight red card.

That led to the end of Juventus’ seven-match unbeaten run, keeping them down in eighth place.

🇳🇱 Netherlands: PEC Zwolle 13-0 Den Bosch

We have given Dutch football a fair bit of coverage in our columns of late due to the very close title race in the Eredivisie, but this week, it is time to drop down to the second tier.

Eerste Divisie leaders PEC Zwolle, managed by Dick Schreuder (whose brother Alfred was recently sacked by Ajax) hosted FC Den Bosch on Friday night as they sought to preserve their lead having lost the last two matches. It is safe to say that they got back to winning ways in some style, recording the biggest-ever win in the league’s history and tying with Ajax’s 13-0 win over VVV Venlo in 2020 for the biggest-ever win in Dutch league football.

Among the goals were Greek striker Apostolos Vellios who scored four, ex-Werder Bremen man Lennart Thy who bagged a hat-trick off the bench and five others. Obviously, it was an absolutely disastrous day at the office for visiting goalkeeper Konrad Sikking, who let in 13 of the 15 shots he faced to earn the lowest-ever player rating in FotMob’s history.

Looking at things from a broader context, this win puts PEC Zwolle in a commanding position in their quest for promotion as they have an 11-point buffer to the play-off spots with as many matches left to play. Den Bosch, meanwhile, will be glad that promotion and relegation between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie does not resume until next season as a result of the pandemic since they are currently third from bottom.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Mar

2023

This Weekend: Liverpool vs. Man United, Barça vs. Valencia, Derby du Nord and more

The best matches to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Friday

🇮🇹 There may be 20 points between first and fourth place in the current Serie A standings but we still think it’s a big move to put Napoli vs. Lazio as the league’s Friday night fixture. Beaten just once, 18 points ahead in the standings, and boasting a huge goal difference of +43, these are exciting times to be a Napoli fan – times the now Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri couldn’t quite give them when he was in charge of the club.

Since joining the Rome-based side, Sarri has failed to get one over his former club, losing all three of their meetings since the start of the 2021/22 season. And you won’t be surprised to discover that it was Napoli’s Georgian breakout star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who scored the winner in a 2-1 away win when the sides last faced each other last September.

🇩🇪 There’s also a top of the table clash in the Bundesliga as Borussia Dortmund (2nd) take on RB Leipzig (4th). This one is much tighter though with just four points separating them and Dortmund currently level on points with Bayern at the top of the table. A win then, will give Dortmund the advantage heading in to the weekend and continue their current run of nine straight wins – in all competitions – since the start of the year. And a lot of confidence heading in to Tuesday night’s second leg against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Leipzig though, will be banking on their recent history of success against the black and yellows (3 wins on the bounce) plus the inside knowledge, and presumably grudge, held by their head coach Marco Rose who was sacked by Dortmund in 2022 after less than a year in the job.

🇷🇸 Another game to watch out for on what could turn out to be a lively Friday night is Serbia’s Eternal Derby, the battle between Belgrade clubs Crvena Zvezda, or Red Star, versus Partizan. The former are currently 13 points ahead of their rivals as the two take up their customary positions at the top of the Superliga table and with Red Star unbeaten after 23 rounds it looks like they’ll be defending their title for a sixth season in a row. Surely that’s extra motivation for Partizan to pull off a surprise result?

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Premier League line-up has a lot going on – from state-backed superpowers meeting one another, to old school rivalries, and relegation six-pointers.

The lunchtime kick-off features second placed Manchester City and Newcastle United, the Emirati and Saudi backed – and therefore probably – two richest clubs in the league. Going in to the game, City are unbeaten in six and sit second, five points down on leaders Arsenal. They also have the upper hand in recent encounters between the two sides having won six and drawn two of the last eight meetings. The Magpies are without a win in four, if you include last weekend’s defeat in the Carabao Cup Final, and they have now slipped to fifth in the table – albeit they do have two games in hand on the teams around them.

Arsenal appear to be back in control of their destiny – chasing down a first Premier League title since 2004 – after an impressive 4-0 dismantling of Everton during the week. Gabriel Martinelli scored twice in that game, taking him into double figures for the league campaign and showing once again, just what a threat he can be. Tomorrow, the Gunners face relegation threatened Bournemouth, the side with the worst defensive record in the division.

Further down the table, fourth placed Spurs visit Wolves to begin a week that will also include the second leg of their Champions League tie with Milan. And 10th placed Chelsea – also involved in the Champions League this week – will be looking to get one over on old rivals Leeds – this isn’t a geological rivalry, more of a resentment that’s built between the clubs over decades of meetings up and down the divisions.

The day is rounded off by Leicester City’s trip to bottom side Southampton. The Foxes might sit up in 14th but that’s only three points above the relegation zone (and six points above the Saints) in a congested bottom half. Both clubs will also be looking to bounce back after humiliating midweek results in the FA Cup – Southampton losing at home to fourth tier Grimsby Town while Leicester were undone by Championship side Blackburn Rovers at the Kingpower.

🇩🇪 Following on from Dortmund vs. Leipzig on Friday night, the other sides vying for the title are involved in games being played tomorrow. Bayern face a trip to Stuttgart, who’ve won four of their last six home matches, in a game where Julien Nagelsmann has promised that his side won’t be taking likely ahead of Wednesday’s showdown with PSG. He has also let it be known that Sadio Mané will be involved as the Senegalese striker returns from injury.

Union Berlin, who sit three points down on the top two, have a home test against FC Köln. Last week was one of highs and lows for the title outsiders – having beaten European royalty Ajax to progress in the Europa League, they were then beaten just as convincingly by Bayern in the league. They might just be grateful to get back to a relatively run-of-the-mill league game especially with a Europa League quarter-final to follow on Thursday.

🇫🇷 Saturday should be an exciting day in Ligue 1 – Leaders PSG, their confidence restored following wins over Lille and Marseille, face Nantes.

Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi notched up whopping FotMob ratings of 9.4 and 9.3 in last week’s 3-0 victory in Le Classique and Christophe Galtier will be looking to them, as always, to lead from the front again. Nantes, meanwhile, continued their defence of the Coupe de France by defeating Lens in the quarter-finals during the week.

That wasn’t ideal for fourth placed Lens, who must now face their biggest game of the season, against Lille in the Derby du Nord. With Lille currently outside the European places in sixth, one of French football’s tastiest rivalries should be a little more feisty that usual.

A single Jonathan David penalty was all that separated the two sides when they last met in October.

🇮🇹 A resurgent Milan side feature in Serie A’s biggest game of the day. Stefano Pioli’s outgoing champions go to Fiorentina looking to extend their run of four wins and four clean sheets – a sequence that came after a horrible spell in which they lost five out of seven competitive fixtures at the start of the year.

🇺🇸 With El Tráfico postponed on the opening weekend in MLS last Saturday, we’ll be looking forward to seeing how both current MLS Cup holders LAFC, and LA Galaxy get on in their respective first games this weekend.

LAFC start, at home, against Portland Timbers who closed out the last round with a narrow 1-0 win over Sporting KC. The Galaxy are on their travels, visiting a FC Dallas side who went down by the same scoreline to Minnesota United in their first game.

Elsewhere, we’ll see if new expansion side St. Louis City can maintain their 100% start in their first ever home game, which comes against last season’s expansion side, Charlotte FC. And Atlanta United vs. Toronto could provide some drama – Thiago Almada scored twice in injury time to give Atlanta a win last weekend while Toronto conceded twice in injury time to lose at Wayne Rooney’s DC United.

Sunday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 There are two further games in this round of Premier League action being played on Sunday – one of which will be getting more attention than the other despite the relative importance of them both.

Nottingham Forest have built themselves a four point cushion on the relegation zone but their opponents Everton are the side who sit just below that dreaded line – therefore making this a definite six-pointer. That 4-0 humbling at Arsenal won’t determine Sean Dyche’s time as Everton boss but a result in a game like this could. It would also be the Toffees’ first away win since the start of October.

The day’s other game is arguably the biggest of the weekend – the battle between regional superpowers Liverpool and Manchester United. With the former hunting a top four finish and the latter not completely out of the title race, there’s plenty at stake.

Jürgen Klopp was quick to praise the goalscoring exploits of United’s in-form Marcus Rashford, in the build-up, but after keeping their fourth straight league clean sheet in the midweek win against Wolves, he might be quietly confident that his defence can keep him quiet.

Brazilian international Casemiro was introduced to the Old Trafford crowd as United’s new signing ahead of their earlier meeting this season – a game that Rashford scored in – and United won 2-1 back in August. And what a signing he’s proven to be with the Brazilian at the heart of everything Erik ten Hag has achieved with his new side this season – including the second half comeback that saw them beat West Ham in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

🇪🇸 Barcelona narrowly won a statistically intriguing but somewhat cagey Clásico against Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday night, a game that featured only two shots on target, both of which were missed by Barça and with the match settled by an OG.

Both will be hoping for an improvement as we get back to all things LaLiga on Sunday. Barça, with their seven point cushion in the standings, take on crisis club Valencia. Amidst protests around the ownership of the club, and the poor form that has seen one of Spain’s biggest teams slip in to the relegation zone, new manager Rubeń Baraja did actually stop the rot last weekend as his side ended a run of six defeats with victory over high-flying Real Sociedad.

Real Madrid will be hoping their famous frontline have found their shooting boots in time for the away trip to fifth placed Real Betis. Madrid haven’t lost this fixture in the last five meetings and Betis haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in their last five (despite winning three of those) so the omens are at least there for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

🇮🇹 In Serie A, two of this season’s main protagonists will both be in action. Second placed Inter need to shake off last weekend’s strange defeat at Bologna as they go up against a Lecce side who despite sitting down in 15th have tended to perform better against the big sides this season.

And Juventus, who would be second if it wasn’t for that pesky 15-point deduction, have the even trickier task of facing Roma in the capital. That prospect did however become a little easier following José Mourinho’s third red card of the season – in Roma’s shock defeat at Cremonese on Tuesday night – meaning the charismatic coach will not be on the sidelines on Sunday. At the same time, Juve were putting city rivals Torino to the sword in a entertaining Derby della Mole that finished 4-2.

🇦🇹 There are just three rounds to play before the league splits in the Austrian Bundesliga so this weekend’s clash between the country’s two biggest clubs – Rapid and RB Salzburg takes on a little more meaning than normal. Yes, obviously, Salzburg are running away at the top, as they have done for the past few seasons but Rapid could all but guarantee their position in the top half, or Championship Group, for the next stage of the season with a win.

That might be a tall order though with this being one of the most uneven national rivalries in European football – Salzburg have won 14 of the last 16 meetings with the other two being drawn.

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Cover Image from IMAGO