FotMob TOTW – Round 22
Not many debutants put in as memorable a performance as Tetê did for Leicester against Villa. And Brentford and Wolves are represented by 3 players each as the former extended their unbeaten run to 9 and the latter beat Liverpool.
Who had the best weekend? Let us know in the comments.
We had another weekend packed with football all over the world, so now it is time to wrap up all that action. As ever, we will do that by picking out six of the weekend’s biggest matches and results from six different competitions for our weekly column.
By Neel Shelat
The two big Milan clubs were on opposing trajectories when they faced off in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday night. Inter have been revitalised since the World Cup break as they became the only side to beat runaway leaders Napoli in the league this season and went on to win all but two of their subsequent matches, including the Supercoppa.
Milan were the side who lost that match, as well as their two league games after it. In fact, they were on a six-match winless run heading into this fixture, prior to which they had dropped points to Lecce and Roma in the league and been knocked out of the cup by Torino.
Stefano Pioli decided to match the opponents by switching to a 3-5-2 formation in a bid to help his defence keep their first clean sheet since the restart. They did look a little more assured defensively (certainly better than last week when they shipped five against Sassuolo), but the lack of Rafael Leão meant that their attack was very blunt.
While they did not concede from open play, Milan did not manage to keep that clean sheet as Lautaro Martínez headed home from a corner just after the half-hour mark. That is all Inter needed to complete a pretty comfortable victory.
With that result, Milan have slumped to sixth place in the Serie A standings but will likely not drop any deeper as Torino are eight points behind. Inter, meanwhile, stay second but remain 13 points behind champions-elect Napoli.
Everton fans are probably enduring the worst season of their life supporting the club. There are major boardroom-level problems at the club which have been built upon years of mismanagement, and they are finally having an impact on the on-pitch performances too. Going into this weekend, the Toffees found themselves second from bottom and therefore in real danger of suffering their first relegation since 1951.
Their last few performances made it quite clear that a change of manager was needed, and that finally came after the loss to West Ham. Frank Lampard was made to pack his bags, while Sean Dyche was hired to take his place and steady the ship. His first task in charge came against league leaders Arsenal, who had only dropped points three times in the league.
The Gunners were coming into this game on the back of a loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup last weekend, but they were in fine form in the league having won four of their five games since the World Cup. Their attack seemed capable of blowing any side away on their day, and it would have certainly struck fear into a relegation-threatened defence.
However, Dyche had a plan to contain them. Everton defended very well starting with a 4-4-2 high block which collapsed into a 4-5-1 deeper, and there were clear imprints of Sean Dyche’s work as every player gave their all. Crucially, though, they also posed a significant threat on the counter and looked good from set-pieces, scoring the only goal of the game from a corner at the hour mark.
Even though they kept well under a third of possession, this was an entirely deserved win for Everton as they created by far the better chances and defended their box like their lives depended on it. With just their fourth win of the league season, they have moved up to 18th place and now are just a point from safety.
Before this weekend, there were just two clubs in the big five European leagues that had failed to register a league win this season. One of them were Coppa Italia semi-finalists Cremonese, and the other were Elche.
The Italian side have extended their unwanted record, but the Spaniards have finally broken their duck. They have not taken a scalp of weak opposition either, as they beat top-four contenders Villarreal on Saturday. Pere Milla was the star of the show, as he doubled his league goals tally for the season with a hat-trick.
His early opener at the end of a cutback was cancelled out by Gerard Moreno, but the 30-year-old Spaniard put his side in a commanding position with two strikes from the penalty spot on either side of half-time. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury soon thereafter and had to come off on a stretcher, but his teammates saw out the win.
In spite of this victory, Elche’s situation in the relegation picture remains dire. Even if you doubled their current points tally, they would remain last in the table. It will take a real miracle if they are to stay up from this point.
The Bundesliga title race is seemingly heating up, but we will not be getting our hopes up too much for fear of having them dashed by Bayern putting a 10-match winning run together. So, for this week, let us turn our attention to the bottom of the table.
Hoffenheim’s visit to Bochum might be described as a bit of a relegation six-pointer, which is quite surprising given how well their season started. After winning four of their first six league matches, André Breitenreiter’s side have gone on to come away with all three points on just one subsequent occasion.
That has seen them slip from the top four to the fringes of the drop zone. Their opponents this weekend were relegation-battlers Bochum, who started the match in the relegation play-off spot. The hosts raced to a three-goal lead by half-time and both sides only exchanged a couple of goals in the second period, so Bochum kept all the points.
Thanks to that, they have climbed out of the relegation zone and are only behind Hoffenheim on goal difference now.
Having lost four of their five matches after the restart, Hoffenheim have decided to act to change their terrible form. As of Monday morning, Breitenreiter has officially been relieved of his duties as head coach and rumours of who his successor might be are already doing the rounds.
The African Nations Championship – loosely defined as a tournament for international teams composed of domestic based talent, has been the continent’s biggest ongoing sporting event since mid-January, and it finally drew to a close this week. After Madagascar got the better of Niger in the third-place play-off on Friday, all eyes turned to the big one on Saturday.
Hosts Algeria made it to the final after a spotless campaign that saw them top their group with three 1-0 wins before putting five past Niger in the semi-final. Senegal made things a little harder for themselves by losing the opener, but got through as group winners in the end and edged Madagascar out in their semi-final.
Based on that as well as the fact that the vast majority of the fans at the 40,000-seater Stade Nelson Mandela were supporting Algeria, it was clear who the favourites for this game were. However, Senegal did very well to impose their game plan so both sides were restricted to very few presentable chances.
After a goalless 90 minutes, Algeria seemed to get slightly more threatening in extra time but failed to show that on the scoresheet, so the match went to penalties. Senegal were first to falter with their third attempted, but Algeria missed their last two (including a disastrous hop technique attempt that rolled to the keeper’s arms) to throw away the title.
So, it was Senegal who celebrated their first-ever CHAN victory, while Algeria have fallen short on penalties in the knockouts again in their second attempt.
After a fairly long winter break, Austrian football was back with the quarter-finals of the cup. There were a couple of matches on Friday night, including a visit to league-leaders RB Salzburg for second-placed Sturm Graz.
The gap between them in the league table is six points, so Sturm will need to do something quite special to end Salzburg’s nine-season stronghold on the league title. In the cup, though, all it takes is one night to end a campaign, and that is what the visitors set out to do.
Their plan got off to a good start as Jusuf Gazibegović gave them a first-half lead on the back of an impressive performance. Salzburg grew more threatening in the second period, and after having an equaliser ruled out by VAR, they got one that stuck in the 77th minute. There were no more goals in normal time or extra time, so we went to penalties.
Manprit Sarkaria had the very first attempt of the shoot-out saved, but his teammates remained faultless thereafter. Maurits Kjærgaard failed to convert Salzburg’s fourth effort, so it was do or die thereafter. Nicolas Capaldo was the first to falter after Sturm Graz scored twice, so the defending champions went out of the cup.
For just the second time in the last decade, a side other than Salzburg will lift the Austrian cup. Sturm Graz were the ones who broke their streak in 2018, but Rapid Wien, Ried and LASK will be looking to prevent them from repeating the trick.
Cover Image from IMAGO
The best matches to follow this weekend
🏴 After a brief hiatus for the latest round of FA Cup games, the Premier League returns with tonight’s South West London Derby between Chelsea and virtual next door neighbours, Fulham. This game comes less than a month after the last meeting between these two saw Fulham end a 16 year wait to get one over on the Blues. Goals from Willian and Vinicius came either side of an equaliser from Kalidou Koulibaly in a 2-1 win for the home side.
Since then, Graham Potter’s side have beaten Palace and drawn with Liverpool while Fulham lost consecutive games against Newcastle and Spurs before drawing with Championship side Sunderland in the Cup. The Cottagers sit seventh in the table, two points clear of Chelsea down in 10th.
🏴 To make up for lost time, seven Premier League games take us through Saturday, starting with Sean Dyche’s debut / baptism of fire as the new boss of Everton as they take on leaders Arsenal at lunchtime. These two proud sides have spent more consecutive seasons in England’s top flight than anyone else and Dyche’s number one task is maintaining that status for a club that last suffered relegation back in 1951. He might just have to concentrate on the games that follow this clash against the Gunners who are currently unbeaten in 13 league games.
Everton’s next opponents are city rivals Liverpool (Monday 13 February) who find themselves in a relative crisis of their own. The Reds face a trip to Wolves, the only team they’ve beaten in a run of six competitive games – that win coming in an FA Cup replay played last week after an initial 2-2 draw in the first of what has turned out to be three meetings in a little over four weeks between these two.
Games involving sides higher up the table include third placed Newcastle United‘s home game at West Ham United and fourth placed Manchester United‘s clash with Crystal Palace. The St. James Park faithful will no doubt give their heroes a raucous reception following the midweek semi-final win in the Carabao Cup that secured Newcastle’s first major final of the 21st century but perhaps that won’t be the case at Old Trafford after United went on to win the other semi-final on Wednesday night. That’s just what they expect for a club of United’s stature!
🇩🇪 The Bundesliga has got off to an exciting start since German football resumed last month – thanks, in the main – to leaders Bayern dropping points across three successive draws. And with the Munich giants not playing until Sunday, that gives two in-form sides the opportunity to leapfrog them in the table, should they win their respective games.
Union Berlin are best placed, sitting second and one point below the leaders. They are at home to Mainz and will be looking to extend their unbeaten start to 2023 having won all three of their league games plus this week’s R16 tie in the DFB Pokal. RB Leipzig also progressed in the cup this week and they’ll be waiting in the wings for any slip-ups as the third placed side travel to FC Köln. In the day’s other big game fourth meets fifth as Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg face off.
🏆 FIFA’s delayed 2022 Club World Cup tournament got underway in Morocco this week with CAF representatives, and indeed, African football’s most successful club, Al Ahly beating OFC Champions League holders Auckland City in the opening play-off game. That means that the Egyptian giants have set up a tie with Concacaf Champions League winners Seattle Sounders on Saturday evening.
The Sounders, famously, are the first MLS side ever to participate in this tournament with the North and Central American place usually reserved for sides from Mexico due to their dominance in the federation’s largest club competition.
In the day’s other game, current African champions, and local representatives Wydad Casablanca take on Saudi club Al Hilal. The winners of that tie then go on to face Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo, of Brazil on Tuesday while the winners between Al Ahly and Seattle must play the might of Real Madrid.
❓Back in Europe’s big five leagues, we’ll be keen to see whether either of the teams still awaiting their first win of the season can finally break their duck in their respective games being played on Saturday.
Elche have gone 19 games without a win in LaLiga, scoring just 12 goals and amassing six points so far. They face a Villarreal side who sit fifth in the table but have only won two of their last five, albeit one of those wins did come against Madrid!
Things looks slightly rosier for Cremonese, who appear to be playing themselves into form in Serie A. Okay, so there record reads P20 W0 D8 L12 but they have drawn with Bologna in recent weeks and have made it to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia after unlikely victories over Napoli and Roma! Now, they face Lecce at home.
🇮🇹 The main event in Serie A on Sunday is the Derby della Madonnina, the Milan Derby, between Inter and AC Milan. And frankly, it’s scheduling is terrible timing for the ‘visitors’ with the defending champions having failed to win any of their last six matches. That runs includes a very poor performance in the Supercoppa, which was won 3-0 by Inter back in mid-January.
For their part, Inter have lost just once since the turn of the year and now sit second in the league behind runaway leaders Napoli. Their defence of the Coppa Italia is also going well having beaten the free-scoring Atalanta in midweek to reach the final four.
This weekend, Napoli will look to defend their 13 point lead in the title race when they go to Spezia in a lunchtime kick-off on Sunday. The home side have lost their last three, conceding nine goals in the process, so Luciano Spalletti won’t accept any slip-ups from his high-flying Partenopei.
🇪🇸 Before they jet off to Morocco to represent Europe in the Club World Cup, Real Madrid must first stop off in the Balearic Islands to play Mallorca. A win will – at least – maintain the current five point gap between them and leaders Barcelona after both sides completed the first half of the current campaign with midweek wins.
Marco Asencio and Vinícius Juníor were on target as Madrid beat Valencia on Thursday, maintaining a five-game unbeaten run since returning from their last international trip where they suffered defeat to Barcelona in the final of the Supercopa.
Barça have made hard work of their consequent fixtures since lifting that trophy, recording three back-to-back 1-0 wins while Robert Lewandowski sat out through suspension. Their Polish top scorer returned to score their winner in a hard thought 2-1 victory over Betis on Wednesday and he’ll be available again for Sunday’s clash with Sevilla, who are still working their way out of trouble after a slow start to the season.
🏴 Back in the Premier League two remaining games wrap up Round 22 on Sunday. With both sides active (or very active) in the transfer window ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United fans will be looking forward to seeing which, if any, of their new signings feature as the two clash at the City Ground.
And fifth meets second as Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City later in the day. The last two meetings between these two have produced 11 goals – a dramatic 3-2 win for Spurs last February, and Manchester City’s 4-2 win just a few weeks ago in January. Spurs took a 2-0 lead in to the break in that game before City regrouped and stormed back in the second period. Pep Guardiola was particularly angry with his sides’ shortcomings during that match but will perhaps have been soothed by the consequent wins against Wolves, and Arsenal, in the FA Cup.
🇩🇪 As mentioned above, Bayern München’s form post-winter break has not been impressive in the Bundesliga, not by their own high standards. Julian Nagelsmann even went so far to call it a ‘crisis of results’ but his side did at least stop the run of three successive 1-1 draws by blasting Mainz away in the DFB Pokal during the week. Choupo-Moting, Musiala, Sané and Davies were all on target in that one and they’ll be looking for more of the same during Sunday’s game at Wolfsburg. The hosts smashed 11 goals in their first two games back but have since lost to Werder and been knocked out of the cup so they start the weekend outside of the top six.
🇳🇱 It seems like we give the Eredivisie a shout out every weekend at the moment but with one of the most interesting title races anywhere in Europe at present, the big games just keep on coming. This weekend sees leaders Feyenoord take on third placed PSV. The hosts have built themselves a slender two point lead but with the top five separated by just six points, the games between them become increasingly important – something Feyenoord can testify to after playing out cagy 1-1 draws with Ajax and Twente in recent weeks.
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.
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Cover Image from IMAGO
Title rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid both played in midweek, completing the 19th round of games and therefore, the first half of the 2022/23 campaign.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Barcelona reached the halfway point in LaLiga with 50 points after a 2-1 win at Real Betis on Wednesday night. Raphinha had a fine header ruled out for offside after 33 minutes, but the Brazilian did open the scoring in the second period as he tapped home at the far post from an Alejandro Balde cross following a quickly taken free-kick.
Robert Lewandowski scored the second with 10 minutes left to mark his return to the side with a goal, having missed the last three matches due to suspension. Without the Polish striker, Barça won all three games by the same scoreline: 1-0. But his return brought an additional strike and it was needed too after an own goal from defender Jules Koundé, who chested the ball into his net when trying to clear with five minutes left.
“We played a great game,” Xavi said. “Our play was excellent. I’m happy with the result and with the way we played. We improved in relation to the Girona game.
50 points at the halfway stage means the Blaugrana are on course to equal the record points total in LaLiga, set by Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid in 2012 and equalled by Tito Vilanova’s Barcelona the following year.
“We’re leaders, we’re solid in defence, we’re working well,” Xavi said. “The work is paying off. The players are competing. I think today they played one of their best games of the season. I’m very satisfied.”
Betis, meanwhile, were unhappy that Barça were awarded a free-kick in the build-up to the opening goal when they believed it should have been given to them and also that it was taken ahead of where the foul took place.
“The first goal is quite conflictive because it was a clear foul on Aitor [Ruibal] and it wasn’t given,” Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini said. “[Instead] they get a free-kick and they take it 20 metres further forward…”
Betis are sixth despite the loss, level on points with Villarreal in fifth and three behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid. “In general terms I would say it has been a good first half of the season,” Pellegrini said. “31 points which allows to be in the European spots. We have the dream and the ambition to qualify for the Champions League.”
Real Madrid beat Valencia 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Thursday night in the other fixture still outstanding following the recent Supercopa de España played in Saudi Arabia.
Los Blancos started the day eight points behind Barcelona, but closed the gap back to five at LaLiga’s halfway stage following second-half goals from Marco Asensio and Vinícius Juníor. Both were spectacular: Asensio fired home from distance with a fierce left-footed drive; Vinícius ran down the left flank and cut inside to finish with a low effort into the corner.
Karim Benzema assisted both goals, but was forced off with an injury on the hour mark. “It’s very slight,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said afterwards.
Ancelotti, who now has 150 wins as Madrid boss across two spells, praised Dani Ceballos after the midfielder impressed again. “He’s doing really well and we all recognise that,” the Italian said. “There’s a contract issue that they have to look at. It won’t be a problem if he keeps playing like that…”
At left-back, midfielder Eduardo Camavinga also caught the eye. “He doesn’t like playing there,” Ancelotti said. “But we like him playing there.”
At the end of the first half, Antonio Rüdiger had seen a goal ruled out and it was a fairly comfortable win for Madrid in the end against a Valencia side with Voro as interim coach following the departure of Gennaro Gattuso earlier in the week.
Valencia also had defender Gabriel Paulista sent off for a cynical foul on Vinícius after 72 minutes. They drop to 14th and are just a point above the drop zone after 19 rounds of matches. “He was frustrated and he lost his head,” Voro said. “The Bernabéu is so difficult with 11 men, let alone playing with 10.” And he added: “We have to lift ourselves up.”
This weekend, Barcelona are at home to Sevilla at Camp Nou on Sunday, with signs of improvement from the Andalusians in the last few weeks, but big question marks over their away form still.
Madrid, meanwhile, are away to Mallorca on Sunday ahead of their trip to Morocco for the Club World Cup next week. Also on Sunday, third-placed Real Sociedad are at home to Real Valladolid. And on Saturday, Atlético Madrid face Getafe in a local derby at the Metropolitano.
At the bottom, Elche are without a win after 19 games and will look to avoid the worst league run in their history by beating fifth-placed Villarreal at home on Saturday. Don’t bank on it, though.
(Cover image 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.
The FA Cup, once again, delivered. We had genuine upsets, surprise results and a number of eye-catching individual performances. We’re going to round-up the biggest talking points in this bumper review.
Was this a cup upset? In previous years, Brighton defeating Liverpool would’ve been a shock but Roberto De Zerbi’s men claimed a 3-0 win over the Reds just a fortnight ago and sit three places above them in the Premier League.
This time, it was different. The hosts fell behind to an early Harvey Elliott goal as the visitors controlled the first half with their new look shape. However, a fortunate deflection via Lewis Dunk’s right foot restored parity and gave Brighton a platform to build on after the break.
A last-minute winner was needed but what a goal it was, with Karou Mitoma showing great composure to fire emphatically past Alisson having taken Joe Gomez out of the game. It was just rewards for an impressive showing in which Brighton limited Liverpool to an xG of just 0.04 in the second half.
When Manchester United parted with £60million to bring Casemiro to the club, they did so to shore things up in midfield. The Brazilian destroyer had been a black hole for opposition attacks during his time with Real Madrid and many expected it to be the same in the red of United.
What they didn’t expect to see was the 30-year-old bursting into the penalty area to latch onto a pass before clipping the ball over the keeper. Yet that is exactly what happened against Reading as Casemiro stole the show with two goals. He earned himself a FotMob rating of 9.1 having made five ball recoveries while winning two of the three tackles he attempted.
The former Madrid man now has three goals and three assists in his last seven appearances.
Is it possible for Wrexham to be involved in a dull game of football this season?
Ryan Reynolds was in attendance to see his side concede after only two minutes. The hosts struggled to break down a resolute Sheffield United side in the first half and created chances worth an xG total of just 0.59. Things changed after the break though. In fact, Wrexham’s second half xG of 1.64 was more than the Blades managed in the entire match (1.01).
The hosts scored twice in a 10-minute window only for Sheffield United to level things almost immediately. Paul Mullen, who else would it be, thought he’d won it in the 86th minute but the Championship side, sitting in second position right now, struck in added time to set up an undeserved replay.
Manchester City named a strong side for their match against Arsenal. With the two teams battling it out for the Premier League title, now was not the time to give Mikel Arteta any encouragement.
The Premier League leaders, however, made a few changes to their usual starting XI. Despite this, it was a fairly even game with very few chances of note. City managed just eight shots in total and had an xG of 0.51. Arsenal managed five shots and created chances worth 0.35 Expected Goals.
Pep Guardiola had loaded up his attack with Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne all starting. However, the winner arrived when left-sided centre-back Nathan Ake found himself free in the penalty area before managing to curl a right-footed effort into the far corner.
These two teams do it all again pretty soon in the Premier League.
Now this one was something of a surprise result. On paper, a 17th placed Championship side knocking out a team in tenth isn’t that shocking. But prior to this clash, West Brom had been in impressive form while Bristol City had won just one of their last six in the league.
Few could’ve envisaged what happened at Ashton Gate on Saturday as Nigel Pearson’s side romped to a 3-0 win over the Baggies. It was a justified scoreline, all things considered, with the hosts carving out four big chances on the day while limiting their guests to an xG of just 0.73.
Heung-min Son hasn’t had the best season in front of goal this term. Heading into the game against Preston, he had just one strike to his name since October and that arrived earlier this month in the win over Crystal Palace.
Antonio Conte made changes to his starting XI for this FA Cup clash and without Harry Kane starting, Son was tasked with even more responsibility in the final third. He delivered, too, with a 9.1 rating on the FotMob app.
He created one chance, attempted five dribbles, had four shots and scored twice as Spurs navigated their way past a Preston team who had defended impressively in the first-half.
On paper, the clash between Luton Town and Grimsby Town had only one winner. Luton are riding high in the Championship, currently sit seventh, and their home record has been fairly impressive over recent weeks. Grimsby, on the other hand, are struggling in League Two and find themselves in 16th.
Yet Saturday’s clash at Kenilworth Road was fairly even. Grimsby took the lead just before half-time and then responded instantly when the hosts scored their second.
It may not have been a glam tie but it had everything you want from an FA Cup clash – the genuine threat of an underdog claiming the win.
(Images from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2022/23 FA Cup live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
Join us as we assess the current situation heading into a busy week of LaLiga action that will see both Barcelona and Real Madrid play two important games.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Barcelona wore a new Senyera shirt for Saturday’s Catalan derby away to Girona and came away from Montilivi with all three points. But without the suspended Robert Lewandowski, Xavi’s side struggled to make the breakthrough. And after it finally arrived, they struggled to hang onto their advantage too.
Pedri, making his 100th competitive appearance for Barcelona at just 20 years old, popped up at the far post to poke home the game’s only goal after 61 minutes. Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga should really have cut out Jordi Alba’s cross, but the Argentine made minimal contact with the ball and that mistake allowed Pedri a simple finish.
Girona pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages and substitute Iván Martín missed a glorious opportunity as he side-footed wide from an unmarked position six yards from goal in the 87th minute.
Lewandowski’s three-match suspension is now complete and without the Polish striker, Barcelona have won their last three games by a single goal: 1-0 victories over Atlético Madrid, Getafe and now Girona.
“I’m satisfied,” Xavi said after the game. “But we have to create more in attack.” With Lewandowski back for the game against Real Betis on Wednesday, it should be easier.
The bad news for Barcelona was an injury to winger Ousmane Dembélé, who could be out for a number of weeks. The good news? Xavi’s side extended their lead at the top to five points.
Real Madrid produced perhaps one of their better recent performances against Real Sociedad on Sunday, but Los Blancos could not find a way through against the in-form Basque side.
Vinícius Júnior saw several good chances come and go as Carlo Ancelotti’s side were forced to settle for a point at the Santiago Bernabéu, which leaves them five behind Barcelona with 18 games played apiece. Real Sociedad are just three further back in third, having completed one more match than the two Clásico rivals.
“We played really well,” Ancelotti said afterwards. “We deserved to win. The team are improving, they are growing.” But so too is the gap at the top.
Madrid had come through a tough derby against Atlético in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night, plus extra time, but Ancelotti was not interested in using that as an excuse. “We played at our limit for 90 minutes, with great intensity,” he said. Thursday’s extra time didn’t show.”
Asked if Real Sociedad could be title contenders, the Italian replied: “They compete really well, but it seems a bit too soon [for them] to win the league.” For his part, La Real coach Imanol Alguacil said: “It’s a point that almost feels like a win. We played a great match.”
Madrid are now at home to Valencia on Thursday as the teams involved in the recent Supercopa make up the matches they missed while away in Saudi Arabia.
Saúl Ñíguez latched onto a ball from deep played by Rodrigo de Paul to score for Atlético Madrid against Osasuna just over 15 minutes from the end of a fiery encounter at El Sadar.
The midfielder’s strike was the only goal of the game, despite chances for both teams, with Diego Simeone’s side probably deserved winners in the end.
It was a positive reaction by Atlético after they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by city rivals Real Madrid on Thursday night, ending their hopes of winning a trophy this season.
“We’re out of the Champions [League] and out of the Copa [Rey], but the motivation is to play for Atlético,” Simeone said. “As long as I am here, I will demand that.”
The Rojiblancos remain in fourth place, five points behind Real Sociedad and three ahead of Villarreal, beaten 1-0 at home to Rayo Vallecano on Monday night. Betis are also three adrift after beating Getafe with a late penalty at the weekend. The Andalusians have played one fewer fixture than Atleti, but their game in hand is a difficult one – against leaders Barcelona on Wednesday.
For the first time since April 2016, Iñaki Williams was not involved for Athletic Club in a LaLiga fixture. The 28-year-old forward missed the trip to Celta Vigo with a hamstring injury, bringing to an end his remarkable run of 251 straight appearances for the Basque outfit in LaLiga. His record may never be broken. Without him, Ernesto Valverde’s side lost 1-0 at Balaidos.
Down at the lower end of the table, Sevilla beat Elche 3-0 at the Sánchez Pizjuán to climb to the relative safety of 13th place in the table. Although still inconsistent, Jorge Sampaoli’s side have won their last two home games and should move clear of danger now. Meanwhile, Elche remain rooted to the bottom with six points and no wins at the halfway stage. It’s a long way back from there.
Valencia were beaten 1-0 by Real Valladolid right at the death on Sunday and worse was to follow as coach Gennaro Gattuso walked out on Monday. The ever-reliable Voro now takes temporary charge for the eighth (!!) time at Mestalla.
(Cover image 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.
Just when you think things cannot get any crazier in Serie A, we had the drama and excitement of round 20. But while the on-pitch excitement remains high, the league’s big clubs have kept their hands in their pockets this January. Here’s our Italian football expert with three takeaways from the weekend.
By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert
Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse for Milan this calendar year, they go and outdo themselves. The club has had an involution for the ages. After enjoying a competitive first half of the season where they were right behind Napoli in the standings for first place, they’ve now gone six matches without a win. It isn’t so much the losses though – it’s how they’ve been losing. You have to go back to 1997 to find the last time Milan conceded five goals in a single league match, and good luck finding another streak where they concede 12 goals in a three-match stretch.
Losing 5-2 at San Siro to a Sassuolo side that hadn’t WON a game since mid-October is simply inexcusable. For all the plaudits that Stefano Pioli has received for overachieving and winning the Scudetto last season, the recent criticism is just as warranted. Milan suddenly look unable to carry out simple elementary tasks. Last season’s best defensive unit has become an abomination. A team that has battled through adversity and always responded with personality has seemingly now entered a black hole they’re unable to get out of. If you thought the 2-2 draw to Lecce was bad, they followed it up with the meekest of performances in the Super Cup, losing 3-0 to Inter. Pioli was interrogated by the media asking if he had fixed the problems, he said he had. A few days later, Milan get trounced 4-0 by Lazio. Then, the magnum opus of this current run – five goals conceded against Sassuolo at home, a performance that became so dire that fans started waving white flags in the stands.
If you read this article to any Milanista just a month ago, they would’ve recommended you see a psychiatrist. It’s hard to blame the injuries – Milan have dealt with them all season long. It’s easier to blame last season’s summer transfer market, which now looks to be one of the worst on record. Milan added plenty of youngsters to the mix without first finding quality and proven depth. Stefano Pioli now looks stubborn, refusing to experiment with some of the youngsters that haven’t had a chance when it’s clear that a change in both personnel and tactics is sorely needed.
Why hasn’t Yacine Adli, who was perhaps Milan’s best player in last summer’s friendlies, been given a chance? Why is the 4-2-3-1 still being used when it looks like balance is needed and there’s very little being offered from both the no.10 position and right wing? There’s a lot of unanswered questions for Pioli, and he needs to figure this out fast, or else a top four spot is genuinely at risk.
In a weekend of upsets, Monza followed Sassuolo by picking up three points away to one of the Italian giants. This time, it was Max Allegri’s Juventus who fell victim to another provincial Italian side. Monza’s new manager Raffaele Palladino has completely changed this club’s mentality since taking over. He’s beaten Juventus twice in the league now, while drawing against Inter and dragging the club up to eleventh place in the standings.
Palladino has followed the playbook used by many other young Italian managers – a modern brand of football characterized by possession, high press and taking a lot of chances at the back. Essentially, this is the antithesis to the old school Italian mentality of Catenaccio. It used to be only Zdenek Zeman, the self proclaimed inventor of the 4-3-3, whose provincial sides would take tons of risks which would lead to incredibly entertaining games. Now it seems that most of these teams getting promoted from Serie B are led by managers who try to play football, rather than sitting deep in a low block and praying for a draw.
Monza certainly have the tools to succeed in Serie A. Led by the former Milan duo of Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliano, the pockets are deep enough to fund this team to a level where they’ll become Serie A mainstays. The transfer market from last summer was intelligent (and the complete opposite of the one I talked about with Milan earlier in the column) – they bought Serie A ready talent that was proven in this league. The likes of Matteo Pessina, Gianluca Caprari, Stefano Sensi and others had logged plenty of games in Italy’s top flight and offered the experience needed to a team that had never before played in the top tier. It was also a team set up to play the style of football that works in 2023 – modern, attacking possession. Bringing in Sensi, a “Marco Verratti-lite” type player when he’s healthy, alongside another promising regista in Juventus owned Nicolo Rovella, is a clear signal of the type of football you want your midfield to play. While it took a few months to get going, the Berlusconi/Galliani duo finally found the right coach to project their ideas onto the pitch and it looks like Monza are here to stay in Italy’s top flight.
The January transfer window in Serie A has been anything but electric. While the Premier League has been able to spend hundreds of millions of pounds – just in January – to bring in fresh talent, the Italian league has sadly had more negative news. It looks like Inter’s best centre-back Milan Škriniar is headed to PSG, while Juventus sent USMNT international Weston McKennie to Leeds, a club that already has an American manager and two other US teammates of McKennie. With the negative news aside, let’s look at a few underrated moves that have been made in January which could prove interesting for the second half of the season:
Eldor Shomurodov (Roma to Spezia): The Uzbek striker showed his promise at Genoa, when he led the line in the Grifoni attack and had some wonderful performances, showcasing his pace, directness and eye for scoring some incredible long range goals. At Roma, he never clicked with José Mourinho and thus hardly played. At Spezia he’ll be the main man in the attack and it should revitalize his career.
Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg to Fiorentina): I was really impressed in Brekalo’s play at Torino, but sadly it was just a loan spell and he was sent back to Germany at the end of the season. Brekalo can play wide or behind the striker and should offer even more creativity to a possession heavy Fiore team. The Croatian also has an eye for goal, having scored seven league goals in his one season with Torino.
Francesco Caputo: (Sampdoria to Empoli): The 35-year-old striker goes back to Empoli, the place where he really started making a name for him self as a player who has flourished late in his career, only getting the chance to play top flight football in his early 30s. Caputo has been part of a chaotic Sampdoria team that doesn’t play great football and has cycled through different managers. At Empoli, Caputo should prove to be a capable goal scorer once again in a place that he knows well.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Derbies, late drama, goal fests and upsets were all on the menu this weekend, so we have a vast selection of games to pick from for our weekly column. After much deliberation, we have narrowed it down to six matches from Europe’s major leagues.
By Neel Shelat
The Berlin derby has been a regular fixture in the Bundesliga in recent seasons since Union Berlin’s promotion to the top-flight, but we might not see too many more of them. It’s not Union who are going down, though, but the big city club Hertha.
In spite of much investment since their last visit to the 2. Bundesliga in 2012/13, Hertha have not managed to establish themselves as a top-half team, let alone become European competition regulars. Of course, that is largely down to the fact that their investment has been rather unplanned and unguided, and that has led them to the verge of relegation.
Union, on the other hand, have made the most of a relatively tight budget to not just rise to the first tier, but even qualify for Europe last season. This time around, they have not only made it to the Europa League knockouts but have also been keeping step with Bayern at the top of the league.
With that context in mind, it should be easy to envision how this match went. Union were the better side right from the start, and they took the lead on the stroke of half-time with their 11th set-piece goal of the league season. They sealed the result in the 67th minute with a brilliant counterattack immediately after a fruitless penalty appeal from Hertha, which got a quick on-pitch review from the referee.
With their fifth-consecutive Berlin derby victory, Union closed the gap to Bayern down to just one point after the defending champions drew with Eintracht Frankfurt. Hertha, on the other hand, remain in the relegation zone.
Ligue 1 is the self-styled ‘League of Talents’, and while that phrase is designed to refer to players, it is true of certain managers too. Chief among those is 30-year-old Will Still, who is the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues by some margin, at the moment.
Still’s story is quite fascinating. Bitten by the bug of Football Manager alongside his brother Edward (who himself is a manager who was in charge of Eupen currently), Will decided to pursue football studies and worked in Preston North End’s youth academy at the time. Having been born and brought up in Belgium, he went back to the country after graduation and took up an internship at STVV, then in the second tier.
After that, he got opportunities in assistant managerial roles in a number of first and second-tier clubs, and also had a couple of brief spells as interim manager. Then, in 2021, he got a call from Reims to join Óscar García’s coaching staff. After a few months, he returned to Belgium to complete his coaching licenses but was back at Reims in 2022 after that was done.
García’s side got off to a terrible start in the 2022/23 season and found themselves in the relegation zone with just one win from nine games, so the Spanish manager was sacked. Still was promoted on an interim basis until the World Cup, and it is safe to say he did alright. After holding PSG to a goalless draw on his Ligue 1 debut, the young Englishman stayed unbeaten and oversaw three wins before mid-November.
That impressive run of results convinced the club to offer him the position till the end of the season, but since he is still studying for his UEFA Pro License, they will have to pay penalties worth €575,000 to the league.
That fine seems worth it already since Reims have remained unbeaten on the other side of the World Cup and have climbed up to 11th in the table. Their latest match saw Still and company visit the Parc de Princes, where Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun’s stoppage-time equaliser earned them another thoroughly deserved point against the league leaders.
Yes, you read that scoreline right.
The Eredivisie has been serving up some unbelievable drama since the World Cup break, and we were treated to the game of season on Saturday. Second-placed AZ took on European contenders Utrecht in a match where they knew they would temporarily go to the top of the table with a win.
They didn’t start well at all and found themselves two goals down after about a quarter of an hour as Greek striker Anastasios Douvikas struck twice in quick succession. Then, AZ turned the game around within the next twenty minutes thanks to goals from Maxim Dekker and a double from their own Greek striker – Evangelos Pavlidis. Utrecht quickly equalised, so it was 3-3 at half-time.
If anyone thought things would calm down after the half-time break, they would be quickly proven wrong. The visitors looked the better side in the opening exchanges of the period and thought they took the lead in about ten minutes, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Douvikas got his hat-trick eventually, but AZ turned the scoreline around again through Mees de Wit and Pavlidis’ own hat-trick goal. Utrecht made it 5-5 soon thereafter thanks to a brave header from Sander van de Streek, and that is how the match ended.
It is too easy and quite a cliché to speak of any of Wrexham’s matches using the word ‘Hollywood’ as an adjective, but there is simply no way to accurately describe their most recent FA Cup tie other than by saying that you could not script it better.
Wrexham’s story is quite well-documented now. Having previously gone on European adventures, the third-oldest professional football club in the world was in turmoil since the turn of the century after years of mismanagement. But, there was light at the end of the tunnel in 2020, when Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over the club.
Of course, there was some scepticism initially as to just how invested the new owners would be, but that question was answered pretty quickly. They immediately aimed to end their 14-year absence from the EFL and reached the promotion play-off last season, but fell short at the final hurdle. That story is depicted very well by the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series that you might have heard of once or twice.
This season, Wrexham are aiming to go up through the one automatic promotion spot in the National League, but have gone on quite an incredible side-quest in the FA Cup. They put at least three goals past each of their opponents in the first three rounds, which included Championship side Coventry City.
Next came Sheffield United, who look on course to return to the Premier League next season. They needed just over a minute to open the scoring at the Racecourse Ground, and then it really felt that the home side were punching way too far above their weight. However, they used the great leveller called set-pieces to turn the game around in the second half, but were pegged back quite quickly.
Then came a big twist as Sheffield United had a player sent off in the 71st minute. This was Wrexham’s golden chance to extend this already-incredible cup run, but they had to do the job in normal time in order to avoid a replay. It looked as though they would do it when star striker Paul Mullin restored their lead in the 86th minute.
The Racecourse Ground had almost already started celebrating what would have been a thoroughly deserved victory, but it was not to be. Deep into stoppage time, Wrexham got a taste of their own medicine when John Egan equalised from a corner tp set up a replay at Bramall Lane.
Not all movies have happy endings, but this one will get a sequel.
We have covered Juventus in the last couple of editions of this column so we would have quite liked to pick a match between any two other Serie A sides, but Monza have made that rather tough for us.
Let us focus on the Lombardian outfit then. Monza’s football club’s history can be traced back to 1910, but it has never previously been represented in the Italian top-flight in spite of a very lengthy stay in Serie B. In recent times, the club has endured a lot of financial turmoil, most recently going bankrupt in 2015. They then started afresh in Serie D, going up a tier in 2017.
The real turning point came in 2018 when the club was purchased by Fininvest, led by former Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan President Silvio Berlusconi. They went up to Serie B in 2020 and immediately started challenging for promotion. The promotion play-offs proved cruel to them in 2021, but they were the reason they finally achieved their 110-year target last year.
Getting promoted is one thing but staying up is another, as Monza learnt quite quickly when they found themselves plum last after six matches with just one point. It was time to bring in a new manager, and their pick was 38-year-old Raffaele Palladino, who took up his first senior role in such a position.
His first assignment saw his side host Juventus and come away with a crucial one-nil win, which proved to be the spark for an upturn in fortunes. They have gone on to win six matches since, climbing well clear of the relegation zone. Before their reverse fixture against the now-fallen Old Lady, they were unbeaten in five league matches.
That streak has quite deservedly been extended. While lots of questions can be asked of Massimiliano Allegri’s choice of tactics, Monza deserve plaudits for a superb performance at the Allianz Stadium, especially in the first half when they bounced back from the disappointment of having an early goal ruled out by VAR to take a two-goal lead into the break.
By holding on to that lead, Monza became the first newly-promoted side to do the double over Juventus in Serie A since the inaugural season of the competition. Thanks to Juventus’ points deduction, they have also been leapfrogged in the table by their visitors, who are now just three points off seventh place and well clear of the drop zone.
There were some interesting matches and results in Spain this weekend, but the game we have picked does not necessarily stand out in either of those categories. However, it could well be the most well-remembered match of this round, and the reason behind that has something to do with one player.
In fact, the big story is about a player who was not even there. We are, of course, talking about Iñaki Williams, whose incredible streak of 251 consecutive La Liga appearances has finally come to an end due to an injury. He sustained that in midweek while helping his side beat Valencia and advance to the Copa del Rey semi-finals, but at the time, it did not seem too severe so his absence here was rather unexpected.
Of course, Williams’ appearance streak is a league record. It started way back in April 2016, a time when Leicester City were beginning to believe the unthinkable, and the wider world was concerned with the Panama Papers leak. In this age of about 50 matches per season where squad rotation is a necessity, it seems incredibly unlikely that anyone can take this record away from the Ghanaian international.
Athletic Club will certainly want him back quickly, though, since they drew yet another blank in the league and lost to a relegation-battling Celta side, whom we gave a little more attention to last week.
Cover Image from IMAGO
The best matches to follow this weekend
🏆 The FA Cup fourth round begins, tonight, with a blockbuster tie between Manchester City and Arsenal, currently the two teams best placed in the Premier League title race. This is, of course, a different competition but due to cancellations and fixture quirks, Guardiola and Arteta’s sides haven’t actually played each other for a full calendar year.
So this then, is the first test for City and Arsenal’s class of 2022/23, ahead of further showdowns in February, and April, back in the league.
🇫🇷 In Ligue 1, the Friday night drama is provided by Lorient and Rennes, who meet in an all-Breton derby. Rennes fans perhaps see Nantes as the bigger regional rival but this season, at least, Lorient might pose the bigger threat to Rennes chances of finishing in the European qualification places.
Lorient have won just once in the league since the turn of the year, a run that has seen them drop to eighth while Rennes moved fifth, five points above them, following the win over PSG two weekends ago. They were however knocked out of the Coupe de France in their last game (vs. Marseille) while Lorient made it past lower league opposition on penalties.
🇩🇪 For some sides in Germany’s top flight, Saturday’s games will be their third in little over a week – that, after the mammoth 10 week gap in the league programme caused by the World Cup and winter break!
Leaders Bayern, who have failed to win their two games – against Leipzig and FC Köln – now face the prospect of fourth placed Eintracht Frankfurt at home.
You might think first versus fourth constitutes the biggest game of the day but that’s before you hear that second placed Union play at fierce city-rivals Hertha in the Berlin Derby. Union are unbeaten in five previous meetings between the two and won the corresponding fixture 4-1 at Hertha last season, a repeat of which the struggling hosts – who sit second bottom in the table – will be desperate to avoid.
🇪🇸 LaLiga front-runners Barcelona are the biggest draw in Spain on Saturday, with their trip to Girona providing them with the opportunity to extend their lead over Real Madrid to six points.
The 1-0 win against Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembélé, extended their current unbeaten run to 12 games. For their part, Girona have looked steady following their top flight return and they sit 11th in the table despite last week’s defeat to Villarreal.
🏴 Back in the FA Cup, ties pitting Premier League sides against Championship opposition is the theme of the day. Manchester United play Reading, who are managed by former-United midfielder Paul Ince while Spurs go to Preston North End, both classic English sides nicknamed the Lilywhites, and Fulham face Sunderland.
Elsewhere, Accrington Stanley, of League One, only confirmed their place in the fourth round late on Tuesday night after an extra-time penalty saw them beat non-league Boreham Wood. That means they’ve had very little time to prepare for what is a lunchtime kick-off against Premier League Leeds United.
🇮🇹 In Serie A, Inter travel to bottom side Cremonese as they seek to get back-on-track after last Monday’s surprise home defeat to mid-table Empoli. That was the kind of result that sums up the frustration at Inter this season – Simone Inzaghi’s side had beaten Milan convincingly in the Supercoppa just a few days before that and earlier in the month, they ended Napoli’s long unbeaten record only to follow that with a draw against Monza. They do however, remain fourth and just a point behind Milan, who sit second.
Another game that might be worth keeping an eye on is Atalanta‘s clash with Sampdoria. The Bergamo club have been rampant in recent matches, scoring 16 goals in their last three with the likes of Ademola Lookman in inspired form – he’s bagged six and set up two others in that run. They’ll be licking their lips at the prospect of facing what is the third worse defence in Serie A.
🇫🇷 Two of French football’s biggest names also meet on Saturday evening, with Marseille (3rd) coming up against Monaco (4th). Heading in to this one, the side from the principality haven’t lost in eight away games but Marseille have only conceded three goals in the six competitive games they’ve played since the re-start. And they’ve won all of those.
The sides last faced one another just before the World Cup break, with Marseille coming out on top in a five-goal thriller thanks to 98th minute winner, from Sead Kolašinac.
🏴 The FA Cup action continues in to Sunday – and indeed Monday when West Ham travel to fallen giants Derby County. Getting back to the weekend though, Liverpool return to Brighton, the scene of their 3-0 defeat in the Premier League just two weekends ago. Will Jürgen Klopp’s side get their revenge or will Roberto De Zerbi’s in-form Seagulls continue their rich vein of form against England’s big six?
Wrexham, the last remaining non-league (and non-English) side left in the competition are also in action. They face in-form Championship club Sheffield United. Having recently gone top of the fifth tier National League, promotion to the EFL remains the priority for the Hollywood-backed club but this will be a good test against a Blades side unbeaten in nine, and with promotion ambitions of their own.
🇮🇹 The fixture schedule looks busy in Italy with four of the top five all involved on Sunday, plus Juventus, who would be up there were it not for their recent points deduction.
Runaway Scudetto candidates Napoli meet Roma in the week that coach José Mourinho celebrated his 60th birthday. And how he’d love to ruin the current buoyant mood in Naples by becoming the first coach to beat them on home soil since April 2022.
Lazio looked mightily impressive in Tuesday’s 4-0 drubbing of Milan so watch out for their clash with Fiorentina. Rome’s other club will also be aiming to keep a fourth straight clean sheet as they look to better Milan‘s result against Sassuolo and move second in the table.
🇪🇸 In LaLiga, we get a huge match-up between the two sides attempting to chase down Barcelona – Real Madrid (second, three points back) against Real Sociedad (third, another three points further back).
It’s a second key game in a matter of days for Madrid after they eventually overcame derby rivals Atlético in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, after extra-time, on Thursday night. Goals from Rodrygo, Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior turned the game in their favour after Álvaro Morata had scored for Atleti. And that game itself, came off the back of tough league tests against in-form Villarreal and Athletic Club, a testing run that Carlo Ancelotti’s side have, it has to be said, come through with flying colours. Real Sociedad’s midweek Copa loss to Barcelona was their first competitive defeat since November so they’ll be fighting for the three points that they know will take them level with their hosts.
Elsewhere, Atlético Madrid go to seventh placed Osasuna amidst rumours that coach Diego Simeone is readying himself to leave his position – rumours dismissed by the man himself – in the aftermath of Thursday’s exit from the Copa.
🇫🇷 Playing last in Ligue 1 this weekend, PSG could find themselves needing a win to re-open the gap between themselves and Lens at the top of the table. Post-World Cup defeats – to Lens, and Rennes – have left them looking more than a little vulnerable. And a superstar line-up were held for almost half-an-hour by sixth tier amateur outfit Pays de Cassel in last week’s Coupe de France encounter before the floodgates eventually opened, allowing Kylian Mbappé to plunder five of seven unanswered goals.
So then, a healthy league win, at home against Stade Reims should restore some order to an ever-restless fanbase.
🇩🇪 Lastly, Bayer Leverkusen, who’ve won six of their nine Bundesliga games and have moved up to eighth in the table since Xabi Alonso took over as coach in October, now face fifth placed Borussia Dortmund.
Edin Terzić is still striving for that kind of consistency at Germany’s second biggest club this season but the black and yellows have won both of their games since the re-start – albeit they’ve needed late Gio Reyna winners to do so against both Augsburg (4-3) and Mainz (2-1).
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Cover Image from IMAGO
Hands up then, ahead of the 2022/23 campaign kicking off, who thought Newcastle United would the best defensive team in the league?
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
The Magpies conceded 62 last season and Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side conceded over 60 goals in all of their seasons in the English top-flight, they even conceded 70 on one occasion. The Cherries were easy on the eye, often looking to play football ‘the right way’, but struggled defensively.
Many expected Newcastle to follow suit and it did seem to be the case at the very start of the Howe era at St James’ Park, with the Magpies conceding 19 goals in his first nine Premier League matches in charge.
Over the next 18 games, however, they allowed two or more goals in a single match on just two occasions. That form has carried over into this season. Newcastle have conceded just 11 times in 19 matches and have allowed two or more goals in just two matches – the 3-3 draw with Manchester City and the 2-1 loss to Liverpool.
The Magpies dipped into the transfer market this summer to bolster their defensive unit, adding Sven Botman and Nick Pope. Both have been key in taking the defensive numbers to the next level. Newcastle have kept a clean sheet in 11 of their 19 outings and are the only team to be in double digits for this particular metric this term.
They have already eclipsed their clean sheets total from last season (eight) and there is still half a season to be played.
Conceding just 0.6 goals per match, Howe’s side are comfortably the most resilient in the Premier League. Their underlying numbers are just as impressive, too. They rank third for Expected Goals Conceded (17.7) behind Arsenal (16.8) and Manchester City (14.1).
For added context here, last season Newcastle were averaging 1.6 goals against per match and ranked 15th for this matric. They ranked 12th for xG against (63.8).
Now, Howe has spent money in the transfer market but improvements have come on the training pitch, with the 45-year-old tweaking tactics to make his side much harder to break down. He has the Magpies defending from the front.
When looking at possessions won in the final third, Newcastle have risen from 18th to fourth in the Premier League. Last season, they averaged 3.9 per 90 and now this figure stands at 5.6.
Without the ball, they are ultra-aggressive against most opponents. They press as a unit and this allows them to dominate the space. We can see an example of this below in their recent match against Fulham.
Just after a minute of play, the hosts are defending a throw-in deep in their own half. Look how compact their defensive lines are. There is no space for the visitors to have proper possession in the final third and the ball is eventually cleared.
But look how Newcastle react, as a team, to this. Everyone steps up but they do so as a unit. There is barely any space between the midfield and the defensive lines and they are very narrow. They are acting as a screen between the opposition and the goalkeeper, Pope.
The opposition aren’t going to be able to play through them so are forced to attack via wide areas. This is Newcastle dictating where opponents can and cannot play. This is what all of the top defensive teams do.
By funnelling teams into wide areas, Newcastle are allowed to defend in a way that suits them. Crosses into the area cause very few problems when you have a 6ft5 goalkeeper and three of your regular back four – Botman, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn – are winning over 65% of their aerial duels.
What Howe has done over a 12 month period is a masterclass on how to set up a team to defend, dictate and dominate.
(Images from IMAGO)
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