Page 148 – The Pulse of Football

Sep

2022

Last Weekend: Madrid maintain their 100% record, Boca win the Superclásico and more

There was no football across Great Britain this weekend following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, meaning the action from elsewhere took centre stage. There were lots of intriguing fixtures, results and storylines across Europe, and the world, including Real Madrid’s perfect start to the season, Marco Rose’s Bundesliga return and Argentina’s fiercest derby. We will be going over all of that and more in this week’s edition of Last Weekend.

By Neel Shelat

🇪🇸 Spain: Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca

Going into the weekend, there was just one side across Europe’s top-five leagues that had a 100% record in 2022/23. That team was Real Madrid, and they preserved their record after surviving a slight scare against Mallorca on Sunday.

Mallorca delivered a resolute defensive performance in the first half and did a great job of keeping them out of their penalty area, forcing Madrid to take a lot of shots from range. At the other end, the visitors took the lead through Vedat Muriqi’s header from a set-piece in the 35th minute with what was their second goalscoring opportunity of the match.

Real Madrid looked set to be trailing at the half-time break, but Federico Valverde had other ideas. In the last minute of stoppage-time, he picked up the ball deep inside his own half and drove forward all the way to the edge of the box before finding the top corner with a curling finish on his weaker foot.

The home side continued to struggle to create good chances in the second half in their striker-less system without the injured Karim Benzema, but they finally broke through in the 72nd minute when Rodrygo slipped Vinícius Júnior through on goal, and the 22-year-old Brazilian winger applied a smart finish, making it five goals in his last five matches in all competitions. Rodrygo went on to score a nice solo goal to make it 11 goal involvements in his last 11 appearances for him, which shows just how consistent he has been. In stoppage time, Antonio Rüdiger added a little more gloss to the scoreline by scoring his first goal for his new club.

Real Madrid were frustrated for large periods of this match and had to resort to long shots as aforementioned, so they will be pleased with this result. When they did manage to create chances in the box, they made sure of taking them, which is always an encouraging sign for a side missing its star striker.

🇩🇪 Germany: RB Leipzig 3-0 Borussia Dortmund

We are barely a month and a half into the new season, but the Bundesliga’s managerial merry-go-round is spinning again. RB Leipzig relieved Domenico Tedesco of his duties after their loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League in midweek and proceeded to replace him with Marco Rose, who was out of a job since the summer after parting ways with Borussia Dortmund. That could only mean one thing: his first match in charge of Leipzig would fall against Dortmund.

Leipzig’s league season had also gotten off to a terrible start as they just had one win in five games and were seven points adrift of their opponents going into this match, so Tedesco’s dismissal was certainly justified. Rose made an instant impact after arriving, changing the team’s formation to a 4-2-3-1 and adopting a more transition-based approach in this match. That yielded results just six minutes into the match, as a counterattack from Christopher Nkunku and Timo Werner led to a corner, which was then headed home by Willi Orbán.

Leipzig also looked very good defensively as they completely contained Dortmund in an interesting 4-3-1-2 shape out of possession, leading to the visitors failing to register a single shot on target in a league match for the first time in three years.

A superb strike from Dominik Szoboszlai just before half-time doubled their lead, and Amadou Haidara made it 3-0 in the 84th minute to seal a resounding win for RB Leipzig. The Marco Rose-era has gotten off to the perfect start, and if they can keep this up, they could easily be in with a shout in the race for the best of the rest spot.

🇦🇷 Argentina: Boca Juniors 1-0 River Plate

Over in Argentina, a packed La Bombonera played host to what is among the fiercest derbies in world football – the Superclásico. Boca Juniors and River Plate squared off in a derby that could have huge implications on the title race, as the two sides were five points behind league-leaders Atlético Tucumán going into this match.

In the Boca Juniors dugout was Hugo Ibarra, who was overseeing his first Superclásico as a manager, although he had participated in 13 derbies as a player. On the other bench, Marcelo Gallardo sprung a bit of a tactical surprise as he switched to a back-three system having used a back-four throughout the season.

The match was, as you might expect of such a derby, a pretty cagey affair with very few good chances. The first half ended goalless, and Gallardo reverted to a back-four for the second half. The decisive moment came in the 62nd minute when Darío Benedetto headed a corner home to make the capacity crowd erupt in celebration.

Boca Juniors held on to that lead, coming away with three huge points that take them to within touching distance of first place, along with the bragging rights of course. That makes it five teams placed within four points of Atlético Tucumán, and with nine rounds of fixtures left, an enthralling title race in Argentina is certain.

🇫🇷 France: Lorient 3-2 Nantes

If you take a peak at the league table in France, you will find a couple of surprises close to the top. Last season’s top two – Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille – are first and second again, but behind them are Lens and Lorient, who are just two and three points behind them respectively.

Our focus this week will be on Lorient, who have secured back-to-back wins against sides playing in European competitions this season. While everyone was watching the Champions League on Wednesday night, they put three past Lyon, and on Sunday, did the same to Coupe de France holders Nantes.

Ex-Lens striker Ignatius Ganago opened the scoring for the away side, but Dango Ouattara equalised from a free-kick soon thereafter. Goals from Yoann Cathline and Ibrahima Koné in the second half were enough for Lorient to secure the three points after an impressive performance where they defended well and created a good few chances.

It is far too early for Lorient to be getting carried away with a European dream, but they should certainly be targeting a first top-half finish in Ligue 1 since 2013/14.

🇮🇹 Italy: Juventus 2-2 Salernitana

If your football intake over the weekend didn’t feature a lot of last minute drama then you definitely didn’t watch the Serie A game between Juventus and Salernitana on Sunday night. All of this took place after the clock had struck 90 minutes at the Allianz Stadium:

Before we unpack all of that, first, a little bit of background. Juventus were booed off by their own fans at half-time after a dismal first-half performance that left them trailing by two goals, scored by Antonio Candreva (who broke a record by becoming the first player to score in Serie A for seven different clubs) and Krzysztof Piątek from the penalty spot. They responded well in the second half as Gleison Bremer pulled one back within six minutes, but they struggled to find an equaliser. Some puzzling substitutions, such as taking off Filip Kostić for Danilo, certainly did not help their cause, but that is a different story.

Now, onto the real drama. The fourth official lifted the board and showed four minutes of stoppage time in the 90th minute, but little did he know about what was to follow. Just a minute later, Salernitana conceded a penalty, which Leonardo Bonucci stepped up to take. His effort was saved, but he turned in the rebound. Then, just seconds after the match restarted, Juventus won a corner, which eventually ended up in the back of the net thanks to the head of Arkadiusz Milik. He picked up a second yellow card for taking his shirt off while celebrating, but there was a bigger twist in the tale. VAR found a case of offside in the goal and ruled it out, after which a great scuffle ensued. Federico Fazio, Juan Cuadrado and Massimiliano Allegri were all sent off.

All of that for the match to end without a winner. Although, the repercussions of that VAR decision are likely to rumble on and on.

🇸🇪 Sweden: Hammarby 0-0 Djurgården

There were some big derbies up north too. In Norway, Tromsø faced Bodø/Glimt in what could be the northernmost professional derby in the world. And over in Sweden, Hammarby faced Djurgården in a Stockholm derby that also had major implications on the title race.

Much like the Superclásico, both sides attempted 10 shots each, but the key difference was that there were no goals to speak of. That was a worse result for Hammarby, who are four points adrift of top spot in third. Things could have gotten worse for them, but AIK’s shock loss to Varbergs BoIS keeps them in the European spots.

The biggest winners, though, are Häcken, who have the chance to extend their lead to three points when they face Kalmar on Monday evening. The title race in Sweden is also set to go down to the wire, with eight rounds of fixtures left after this one.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Sep

2022

This Weekend: Europe’s big leagues and the Superclásico

The best action to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Saturday

First, confirmation that all this weekend’s scheduled fixtures have been postponed in the UK following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. More info can be found – here.

🇮🇹 In Italy, Napoli will start Serie A’s sixth round of games against Spezia on Saturday afternoon. The early kick-off gives Luciano Spalletti the chance to extend their unbeaten run and temporarily at least, take top spot, with current leaders Atalanta not playing until Sunday. A win would also cap a fine week for the Neapolitans after their 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool in the Champions League.

Later in the day, defending champions Milan travel to winless Sampdoria. They too could go top with a significant swing in goal difference and they’ll be confident of achieving that against a side with the joint-worst goalscoring record so far (Sampdoria have netted just twice in five matches).

Inter feature in the day’s other game when they face Torino at the San Siro. The Turin club have impressed so far – their only defeat coming against Atalanta, and they currently sit one point better off than the Nerazzurri. Inter will need to bounce back after the loss to Milan in the Derby last weekend, and the 2-0 reverse inflicted on them by Bayern in their Champions League opener.

🇪🇸 LaLiga enters Round 5 with Friday’s clash between promoted sides Girona and Real Valladolid before moving on to a run of four games across Saturday.

Barcelona visit Cadíz, who currently sit bottom of the table with no points to their name, having scored none, and conceded 10 so far. Not the kind of form you want to take in to a game against Xavi’s refreshed squad, for whom Robert Lewandowski has scored eight in his last four, across all competitions!

Atlético Madrid left it late against Porto in midweek, with supersub Antoine Griezmann scoring the latest goal in Champions League history (100 minutes and 21 seconds) to give them a 2-1 win. They’ll return to domestic action against Celta Vigo, with whom they share an identical W2 D1 L1 record so far this season. Watch out for the evergreen Iago Aspas in that one – five of their seven goals have come from him.

You might want to look out for Sevilla’s result as well – they play away at Espanyol. All is not well with Julen Lopetegui’s side, with no win in their first four league games followed by the limp display in losing 4-0 at home, to Manchester City, in the week.

🇩🇪 If you haven’t been tracking the Bundesliga over the last month or so the current standings might just surprise you going in to the weekend.

10-time defending champions Bayern will begin proceedings way down in third when they kick-off the Saturday fixtures against Stuttgart. Consecutive 1-1 draws against Gladbach and Union Berlin have somewhat curtailed their free-scoring start to the campaign.

The day’s biggest game is the clash between RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund – two sides who can usually be found fighting over the league’s runners-up spot come the end of the season. Dortmund are doing their part again but Leipzig look well off the pace. The club’s owners have however moved swiftly to change that – sacking their DFB Pokal-winning coach Domenico Tedesco straight after Tuesday’s humiliating 4-1 defeat to Shahktar Donetsk in the Champions League, and replacing him with Marco Rose.

Rose was sacked by Dortmund back in May. Something that could add a little spice to proceedings!

🇫🇷 The top two both feature in Ligue 1 on Saturday – although by the time you read this, Lens could have leapfrogged PSG and Marseille with a win in the Friday night game against Troyes.

PSG have been in sparkling form so far, scoring at a rate of four goals a game in the league, and of course winning against Juventus, thanks to brace from Kylian Mbappé during the week. Lionel Messi appears to be back on form and Neymar is producing his best stats in years. Stade Brestois are the team tasked with facing Christopher Galtier’s side on Saturday afternoon.

Not to be outdone though, arch-rivals Marseille have matched PSG’s unbeaten start to the campaign, and have actually conceded one less. They welcome Lille to the Vélodrome, a side who’ve so far struggled for consistency but are unbeaten on the road.

🏆 In Africa, CAF are finally playing the Super Cup Final between the two Moroccan sides who won last season’s continental competitions. Casablanca-based giants and Champions League winners Wydad will start as the overwhelming favourites against regional side RS Berkane.

Berkane have never won the Moroccan league (contrast that with Wydad’s 22 titles) but a run of high finishes and Cup wins has allowed them to compete in Africa’s second most prestigious tournament – the Confederations Cup in recent years. In fact, they’ve won two of the last three titles in the competition and also featured in the Super Cup in May 2021, where they were defeated by Al Ahly of Egypt.

Sunday

🇦🇷 People will argue forever about what constitutes the biggest derby in world football, but there’s only one club game known as the Superclásico with no prefix, or need to mention the country in which it’s played.

Boca Juniors vs. River Plate is the most keenly fought rivalry, perhaps anywhere. A game for which the whole of Argentina will stop to watch on Sunday. And that’s despite the fact that after 17 rounds of the Liga Profesional season the two sides sit sixth and seventh in the table. River won the league last year, and Boca won it in three of the four years prior to that but even if neither go on to claim the title, this is still the most important game of the season.

🇩🇪 Back in Europe, Freiburg will likely be looking to restore themselves to top spot in the Bundesliga. The side from the Black Forest sit above Dortmund and Bayern going in to the weekend but don’t feature until the final game of the round on Sunday afternoon when they face Gladbach. The two meetings between them last season produced 12 goals – there was a 3-3 draw in the corresponding home game while Freiburg managed to come away from Mönchengladbach with a 6-0 win last December.

Two of this season’s other overachievers in the Bundesliga also clash on Sunday – with sixth placed FC Köln hosting fourth placed Union Berlin. They, along with Bayern are the only three unbeaten teams left in the division. ‘Something has to give’…unless it’s a draw.

🇪🇸 There’s another full day of LaLiga action scheduled, starting with champions and current leaders, Madrid playing promoted side Mallorca at the Bernabéu. Madrid extended their perfect start to the campaign by kicking off their Champions League defence with a 3-0 win at Celtic in midweek but Mallorca have fared quite well themselves since returning to the top flight. They’ve only been beaten by Betis and have picked up credible points against Athletic Club and Rayo Vallecano.

The league’s headline act comes with the late kick-off between Betis and Villarreal. Unai Emry’s Villarreal sit third but saw their run of four consecutive clean sheets ended by Lech Poznan in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night – albeit, the Yellow Submarine still triumphed 4-3 in that game! For their part, Betis lie one point further back in fourth and have only suffered defeat against Madrid so far.

🇮🇹 Sunday is traditionally the day for action in Serie A and this weekend is no exception. The excitement starts with Atalanta‘s game against Cremonese. The promoted side sit second bottom but it could be a lot worse without the experience of their goalkeeper Ionut Radu. The Romanian has been forced in to an average of 6.6 saves per match and has been included in our TOTW on a number of occasions already.

Atalanta will however be motivated by the fact that regardless of other results a win would put them top of the table.

Later in the day, unbeaten Juventus take on Salernitana at the Allianz Stadium. Coach Massimiliano Allegri has come in for some significant criticism so far this season with his pragmatic tactics ensuring that they continue to pick up points but fail to impress whilst doing so. A run of three draws separated only by a more convincing win over hapless Sampdoria has since been followed by the defeat to PSG in the Champions League. Another poor showing here will only increase the pressure on Allegri.

🇳🇴 Lastly, it wouldn’t be a FotMob lookahead to the weekend without an obscure Derby to add to the list of games that you’re following in the app! This time, we’re pointing you northwards. Pretty much as far as you can go for the North Norwegian clash between Tromsø and two-time defending champions Bodø/Glimt.

At 350km above the Artic Circle, this is probably the most northernmost professional Derby game in the world and fittingly, the home side have sold out their stadium, for the first time since 2011.

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

Sep

2022

LaLiga Team of the Week

FotMob TOTW – Round 4

Not a single FotMob rating of 9.0 or above was given out in LaLiga this weekend…are we being too harsh again!? There are however an unprecedented number of Valencia players selected in our TOTW – four to be precise, including US international Yunus Musah.

Let us know who stood out for you this week in the comments on Instagram.

Sep

2022

Serie A Review: Three takeaways from Round Five

Between the Derby Della Madonnina madness, Juventus’ stumble and Fiorentina’s individual brilliance, there were more than enough talking points to go through in what’s already been a brilliant Serie A season.

By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert

Derby Della Madonnina madness

This was one of the games that makes you pinch yourself as a commentator. Milan vs. Inter rarely disappoints, but in recent seasons we’ve finally seen both teams elevate themselves to a place where they’re competing for the same things domestically, and fighting in the Champions League against Europe’s best. As a result, the overall quality on the pitch has increased from what we saw in the 2010s from both. The incredible choreography from San Siro’s Curva Nord (Inter) and Curva Sud (Milan) set the stage for what would be a thrilling game with all the ingredients necessary for a terrific derby – intensity, aggressiveness, skill and drama.

The intensity was on display from the start, as Theo Hernández and Denzel Dumfries continued their fight from last season and locked horns in the eighth minute. The skill was provided by a world class performance by Rafael Leão, who completely took over the match and looked unplayable.

Simply put, he torched an Inter defence that had perhaps their worst performance of the last three seasons. Alessandro Bastoni and Stevan de Vrij were a disaster in this game, looking lost both positionally and with their man marking – Olivier Giroud’s goal was inexcusable, left alone inside the box with the Inter defence ball watching. Leão’s second goal, where he chops the ball inside and goes by Inter’s defence like they’re traffic cones, was even more troubling from a Nerazzurri perspective. How could such a strong defensive unit suddenly look so disinterested and unorganised? After last week’s poor performance against Lazio, Inter have even more questions to answer after getting beat in the most important game of the Serie A season.

Juventus far too passive

Once again we saw Juventus revert back to the most negative version of themselves against Fiorentina, sitting back on a 1-1 draw in the second half, and seemingly looking content to protect it. While Fiorentina is the team with the highest average defensive line in Serie A – a testament to the highly offensive nature of their manager Vincenzo Italiano – Juventus also let them play their game. The Bianconeri sat back in a low block, often going for an ultra defensive 4-5-1 in their own final third. There was very little attempt to press as a unit and actually force Fiorentina into a quick decision when they were in possession, so the majority of the game was Fiorentina getting the ball out wide (because the centre was so clogged up), and crossing it in with little success.

It’s another disappointing match from a Juventus perspective, as the criticisms from last season have surfaced once again. Most notably, it’s how passive and negative Juve can look when the game is tied up. You’d think that a team expected to challenge for the Scudetto wouldn’t be content to settle for one point against Fiorentina – a side that will struggle to finish in a European position this campaign. This all goes back to Max Allegri, who employs a tactical style that is becoming rarer by the year in European football. When you look across the top five leagues, how many managers can you think of at the top clubs who are that pragmatic and defensive? Atlético Madrid’s Diego Simeone comes to mind straight away, but other than that, its mostly teams led by managers with a more expansive brand of football.

The burning question at the moment is this: Was Juve’s provincial mentality against Fiorentina the result of them not knowing how to attack, or purely based on the manager’s directions?

Udinese 4-0 Roma… What just happened!?

Udinese’s 4-0 win at home against Roma was easily the most shocking result of the season. Roma’s defense had some embarrassing moments, whether it was Rick Karsdorp headed assist for the opposition, or the howler from the goalkeeper Rui Patrício on the long distance shot by Lazar Samardžić, it simply wasn’t good enough from all angles. This is nothing new however, as Mourinho has likely gone to a back three because he just doesn’t trust one of Chris Smalling’s defensive partners alongside him. It also feels like Roma suffer when going down an early goal and are exposed on the counter attack. For a team with Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini starting, you’d expect better control and more chances that what we saw.

José Mourinho was quick to move on from the performance by saying he’d rather lose 4-0 in one game than 1-0 in four different games, and wants to look forward to Thursday’s Europa League match against Ludogorets. If there’s a way to look ahead with a glass half full, Roma had another complete meltdown last season, losing 6-1 to Bodø/Glimt in the Conference League, only to go ahead and win the tournament at the end of the season.

The hope is that this game against Udinese is a rare stumble, one that won’t be remembered at the end of the season if they finish in a top four position.

We can’t end this review by not praising Udinese, the team led by new Serie A manager Andrea Sottil. Sottil finally got the chance to manage in the top flight after surprising everyone in Serie B by bringing Ascoli, a side that the bookies thought would get relegated, all the way to the playoffs. Udinese look solid as a whole – a team with a mostly young, dynamic midfield that utilises the wings better than most.

The 19-year-old left wingback Destiny Udogie is quickly becoming one of the most interesting players in his position, which is why Tottenham snapped him up this summer and kept him on loan at Udinese so he could continue developing. Up top, Gerard Deulofeu (who just had the best season of his career) and Beto is a very good partnership for a provincial side. With the team quickly adapting to Sottil’s tactics, it looks like they could very well be the surprise team in Serie A this season.

(Images 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.

Sep

2022

Premier League Team of the Week

FotMob TOTW – Round 6

Brentford’s hat-trick man Ivan Toney leads the line with our highest rating of the week but there are places too for Marcus Rashford and Dominic Solanke. Alexis Mac Allister is included for the third time this season!

Let us know who stood out for you this week in the comments on Instagram.

Sep

2022

Last Weekend: Leão paints Milan red, Antony announces his arrival and more

As we enter September, the summer transfer window has officially slammed shut across most parts of the world and we can really start to get into the thick of things in terms of the on-pitch action. Apart from an international break later this month, club football will effectively take up a chunk of our schedule almost every day until the World Cup in November, so we will never be short of things to talk about. That certainly was the case this weekend, as there were some big matches and results across Europe.

By Neel Shelat

🇮🇹 Italy: Milan 3-2 Inter

Saturday was a day of fierce derbies across Europe. The action began with the Merseyside derby and the Old Firm kicking off simultaneously, and later in the evening, we had the Derby della Madonnina in Italy.

We wrote about Inter’s loss to Lazio last weekend, but in spite of that, they were above their local rivals in the table going into this fixture after Milan were held to a goalless draw by Sassuolo in midweek. They looked set to widen that gap when Marcelo Brozović opened the scoring in the 21st minute. That turned out to be the cue for the Rafael Leão show, as the Portuguese international put in an inspired performance to pour cold water over Inter’s plans.

First, he equalised before the half-hour mark with a brilliant first-time finish, with his weaker foot, from a tight angle. Then, in the second half, he assisted Olivier Giroud’s goal by squeezing in a cross from the left while surrounded by opposition defenders. The pièce de résistance came at the hour, when Leão dribbled past two defenders before finding the far corner with his finish to put Milan 3-1 up.

Substitute Edin Džeko pulled one back for Inter soon thereafter, but they could not score again, so Milan was painted red at the end of the derby.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Manchester United 3-1 Arsenal

Just two weeks into the new season, Manchester United were already breaking records under Erik ten Hag. Unfortunately for them, they were the wrong kind of records, as they sat at the foot of the table after suffering a heavy 0-4 defeat against Brentford.

They have really turned a corner since then, though, winning each of their next four league matches and conceding just two goals in the process. Additionally, they made a couple of big-name signings, as Casemiro and Antony were brought to Old Trafford for close to €170 million.

The latter was making his Premier League debut on Sunday against league-leaders Arsenal, who had a perfect record of five wins from five going into this game. The Brazilian international marked the occasion in some style, scoring the opening goal of the match in the 35th minute to become the first man from his country to score in his first appearance for Manchester United.

Arsenal did equalise in the second half through their own left-footed right winger Bukayo Saka, but a brace from a seemingly rejuvenated Marcus Rashford ensured that all three points stayed in Manchester. This was far from a dominant performance from Manchester United as the stats suggest, but the main thing for them is that they got the job done.

It should be said, though, that Manchester United have looked better in the big matches during recent times. It’s against lesser opposition that they’ve tended to struggle, so their next league matches against Crystal Palace and Leeds United should be a good barometer of their improving form.

🇪🇸 Spain: Villarreal 4-0 Elche

Over in Spain, former Arsenal manager Unai Emery is enjoying a very good start to the season as well. His Villarreal side are level on points with second-placed Barcelona after four matches, and even more impressively, are yet to concede a single goal in the league.

That makes them just the third side in the last two decades to keep clean sheets in each of their first four games of the LaLiga season. It is not just their defence that has been impressive; their attack is on fire. With nine goals, they have scored more frequently than any other side in the division apart from Real Madrid and Barcelona, and have the third-highest xG tally too.

They really turned up the style against Elche, scoring some wonderful team goals in a dominant four-goal win courtesy of strikes from Gerard Moreno, Giovani Lo Celso, Francis Coquelin and José Luis Morales.

Villarreal had a very impressive run in the Champions League last season as they got as far as the semi-finals, but that perhaps ended up impacting their league campaign because they were only just able to hold on to seventh place. That has led to them booking a berth in the Europa Conference League this season, but the relatively weaker opposition in that tournament should allow them to fare better in LaLiga too, so a top-four finish may well be on the cards.

🇩🇪 Germany: Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Freiburg

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about Bayer Leverkusen’s poor start to the season, but they seemed to take that personally as they put three past Mainz in the first half of their match last Saturday. They faced a much tougher test this week, though, as they were visited by the high-flying Freiburg.

On the back of their European qualification last season, Christian Streich’s side picked up where they left off early this season. They did lose to Borussia Dortmund on the second matchday, but aside from that, they had kept clean sheets in their wins over Augsburg, Stuttgart and Bochum.

That record came to an end just over a quarter of an hour into this match, as Kerem Demirbay opened the scoring for Leverkusen. After half-time, a quickfire double fired Freiburg in front, and even after Callum Hudson-Odoi got an assist on his Bundesliga debut to help the hosts equalise, the away side quickly retook the lead and saw out an entertaining victory.

Freiburg’s attacking performance in this match was far from their best, but they were very efficient as they scored from half of their six shots and profited from two set-pieces, so that proved to be the difference between the two teams.

Meanwhile, over in Berlin, Sheraldo Becker scored again to help Union hold Bayern Munich to a draw, meaning Freiburg end the round at the very top of the standings, something they have never done before after multiple matchdays in a season.

🇧🇪 Belgium: Royal Antwerp 3-0 Westerlo

The convoluted championship format in the Belgian Pro League means that fast starters are not always justly rewarded, as Union Saint-Gilloise found out the hard way last season. Next in line to challenge Club Brugge’s recent stronghold on the title seem to be Royal Antwerp, who are enjoying their best start to a league campaign since 1930.

They have a 100% record after seven league matches, already forging a five-point lead at the top of the early table ahead of Genk and the aforementioned Club Brugge. Their comfortable win over newly-promoted Westerlo this weekend thanks to goals from former Tottenham Hotspur striker Vincent Janssen, Japanese international Koji Miyoshi and Ecuadorian teenager Anthony Valencia helped maintain that gap.

It is safe to say that new manager Mark van Bommel is having a much better time in Belgium than he was having at Wolfsburg, and the underlying xG numbers highlight just that. Royal Antwerp have one of the best defences in the league as well as the fourth-best attack, but Genk, the dot in the top right corner, stand out the most in this scattergram. Undoubtedly, Antwerp will face challenges from multiple opponents in their quest for a first league title in 65 years.

Royal Antwerp’s encouraging start to the season is not without controversy, though. The appointment of new Sporting Director Marc Overmars seems to be going well on the pitch, but there was a lot of displeasure surrounding his arrival because he resigned from Ajax after admitting to sending inappropriate messages and pictures to female colleagues. His presence led to a number of sponsors backing out and has also left a sour taste in the mouths of some fans as well as many neutrals.

🇳🇴 Norway: Bodø/Glimt 1-4 Molde

Back in FotMob’s home league – the Norwegian Eliteserien – there were some major results in the title race this weekend. The only fixture on Saturday saw the two main contenders square off at the Aspmyra Stadium in Glimt. This was effectively a must-win fixture for the hosts as Molde held a seven-point lead at the top of the table prior to kick-off.

Erling Moe once again set his side up in a 3-5-2 formation, and his style of play was a perfect fit for the needs and context of this fixture. Bodø/Glimt were allowed to dominate possession and kept 65% of the ball, as the visitors were happy to sit compactly in their defensive shape, and then spring forward on the counterattack whenever such an opportunity presented itself.

That plan worked an absolute treat as Molde made the most of relatively limited opportunities and put four past their rivals. Our man of the match was left wing-back Kristoffer Haugen, who was not only solid in defence as he made 4/5 successful tackles and 5 recoveries, but also played a key role going forward by assisting two of the goals.

Consequently, Molde did extend their advantage at the top of the table to 10 points on Saturday night, but they knew it could go back down to seven if Lillestrøm, the league’s early pace-setters, beat local rivals Vålerenga in an Oslo derby on Sunday night. There was yet more good news in store for them, as Dag-Eilev Fagermo’s side did them a big favour.

With a greater lead at the top of the table (10) than the number of matches left this season (9), Molde surely are overwhelming favourites to lift their fifth-ever Eliteserien title and become the joint fourth-most successful side in the competition’s history alongside the two aforementioned Oslo clubs.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Sep

2022

Premier League Review: Your essential recap of the weekend’s action

There’s never a dull moment in the Premier League. There were plenty of goals and even more drama across the games as the only winning streak in the league came to an end. Here, we look at some of the most interesting talking points.

By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert

The Seagulls are soaring

Brighton were 1-0 down after one minute against Leicester City and it was 2-2 at the break.

But the second half was all Brighton as they racked up three goals to record an emphatic 5-2 win over the Foxes. It was a convincing performance from Graham Potter’s side after the interval as they created chances worth 1.78 Expected Goals (xG) compared to Leicester’s 0.09.

Alexis Mac Allister was the star of the show. The versatile midfielder had a goal of the season contender ruled out for a fractional offside before converting from the spot and firing home a free-kick deep into injury time.

The 23-year-old was the highest rated player, with FotMob giving him a 9.2. He finished the game having completed 100% of his dribbles and recovering the ball on nine occasions.

Salah’s new role

Mohamed Salah has just two goals to his name this season. He drew a blank in Liverpool’s 9-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend and struggled to get into the 0-0 draw with Everton, though he could’ve won it late on when Jordan Pickford palmed his effort onto the post.

What was interesting, however, was that his Expected Assists total in the Merseyside derby was actually higher than his xG total. The Liverpool No.11 created three chances against Frank Lampard’s side and this has been a theme throughout the 2022/23 campaign.

No player has created more chances than Salah (24) and only one other player has created over 20 – Kevin De Bruyne. Despite this, he has just two assists to his name. He is being judged on goals when he is the man pulling the strings this season.

Big game Rashford

Marcus Rashford has now scored against Liverpool and Arsenal.

He netted a double against the table-topping Gunners and assisted Antony’s debut goal as Erik ten Hag’s team claimed a 3-1 over their rivals.

Rashford was tasked with leading the line, sandwiched between Jadon Sancho and Antony. The 24-year-old also created two chances to round off his best performance of the season for the Red Devils.

Remarkably, Rashford is now only one goal shy of his 2021/22 Premier League goals haul. He is on target to hit double figures for the fourth time in five campaigns.

Forest’s defensive struggles continue

Last week, we mentioned how Nottingham Forest have the worst defensive record in the Premier League in terms of Expected Goals Conceded and that they cannot keep giving up high-value opportunities if they are to extend their stay in the top flight.

The good news is they only allowed Bournemouth to create opportunities worth 0.78 xG. The bad news is they lost 3-2 having been 2-0 up at the break.

Steve Cooper’s side had more of the ball, more shots and better chances yet couldn’t convert it into a win. It is now the fourth successive match in which Forest have conceded two or more goals.

Age is just a number

Chelsea spent over £150million on defensive reinforcements this summer, signing Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana. All three started against West Ham United but it was a player the Blues signed on a free who impressed.

Thiago Silva, who turns 38 this month, put in a colossal performance as Thomas Tuchel’s side came from behind to claim an important 2-1 win.

He attempted 105 passes and found a teammate with 93% of them. He won 100% of his tackles, 83% of his ground duels and 67% of his aerial duels. Silva more than deserved his 8.5 FotMob rating.

(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.

Sep

2022

This Weekend: Derbies in Milan, Glasgow and on Merseyside

The best action to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 There’s a front-heavy look about the match feed in your app this weekend and the English Premier League provides its fair share of that with eight games lined up for Saturday.

And they start with one of the league’s classic rivalries – the Merseyside Derby between Everton and Liverpool. A game that the Toffees have not won at their Goodison Park home since way back in 2010.

There was, of course, the win at Anfield during the COVID disrupted 2020/21 season but other than that, this Derby has been rather one sided in recent years. This season, Liverpool started slow but now look to be at the races after home wins over Bournemouth and Newcastle in the past week. Everton are one of the three sides left in the division yet to win a game but they have drawn their last two, with Anthony Gordon on target in both.

There’s another Derby later in the day as West meets East in London. A win over West Ham could be just the result to kick-start what’s been a surprisingly slow start to the season for Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. But the same could be said for David Moye’s goal shy Hammers – they’ve found the net just twice and have the 19th worst record, in the league, in terms of big chances created.

Also on Saturday’s slate – we’ll see how unbeaten Spurs fare against Fulham, another London side who’ve been strong at home but weaker on their travels. And then there’s Manchester City against the bang out-of-form Aston Villa. Has Steven Gerrard got a plan to stop Erling Haaland’s run of hat-tricks? Or otherwise stem the flow of goals from the rest of Pep Guardiola’s side?

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 North of Hadrian’s Wall (one for the UK history fans), there’s another huge derby as the two sides of Glasgow meet at Celtic Park. As usual, Celtic and Rangers sit first and second in the Scottish Premiership, even at this early stage in the campaign, and both remain unbeaten after five rounds.

Ange Postecoglou’s defending champions have racked up an amazing 21 goals and conceded just once so far and come in to this game off the back of last weekend’s 9-0 win at Dundee United. That was a game in which two of their strikers (Furuhashi and Abada) both scored hat-tricks. For their part, Rangers are unbeaten in eight across all competitions and eased past Queen of the South in a midweek League Cup tie.

These meetings are never short of drama and a result for either side will set them up nicely for their rather ‘challenging’ looking fixtures in the Champions League – Celtic play Real Madrid on Tuesday whilst Rangers travel to Ajax on Wednesday!

🇮🇹 Not to be outdone, Serie A offers up Italy’s biggest game for our entertainment on Saturday: The Derby della Madonnina.

And whilst injury will deny us a re-match between Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimović and Inter’s Romelu Lukaku, there’s still plenty to look forward to as the sides on either side of the San Siro corridors clash out on the pitch. Milan pipped Inter to the title back in May and although the defending champions are unbeaten four rounds in to the new season, it’s Inter who are currently one point better off.

After getting lucky in their opening day win over Lecce, they’ve beaten Spezia and Cremonese convincingly but did suffer a heavy defeat against Lazio. Milan have had a tougher run on paper – winning their two home games but drawing at both Atalanta and Sassuolo.

Recent results between the two clubs have been really mixed but Milan may well still be smarting from the defeat that Inter handed out in their most recent meeting – the semi-final of last season’s Coppa Italia. Inter not only denied Milan a chance of the double but went on to lift the Cup themselves after victory over Juventus.

🇩🇪 We don’t just have world famous derby games to look forward to this weekend, the fixtures Gods have also provided some early season top of the table clashes, in both the Bundesliga and LaLiga.

In Germany, that means we get the spectacle of free-scoring Bayern (at least when they don’t come up against Gladbach’s Yann Sommer) versus Union Berlin, who are enjoying an unprecedented start to what is just their third top flight campaign. Union will have home advantage for this one and will be confident of getting something against the 10-time reigning champions, having already hit three past city rivals Hertha, beaten Leipzig, and smashed Schalke for six last weekend. Not that we would ever dare write off Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern side before a ball is kicked!

Also on Saturday – third placed Freiburg take on Leverkusen – the side who finished third last season but have started so poorly. That said, they did end their run of three defeats with a solid 3-0 win at Mainz in Round 4.

🇪🇸 They’ve played a game less in LaLiga but after three rounds only Real Madrid and Real Betis – their opponents on Saturday – can boast a 100% record. The two sides who sit at the top of the Spanish table will put that to the test at the Santiago Bernabéu where the ongoing redevelopment project has progressed sufficiently to allow Madrid to play their first home game of the season.

Another of the day’s most intriguing match-ups comes as Barcelona travel to Sevilla, a clash between two of the league’s best sides, who’ve also been linked through their various dealings during the summer transfer window. The two club’s administrative staff will be sick of the sight of each other.

Sunday

After the fanfare surrounding Saturday’s stellar line-up of games has subsided, your match feed might be looking a little quieter come Sunday morning. You can blame UEFA for that(!) with the group stages in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League all starting in the upcoming week.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 That’s not to say there isn’t the odd high quality fixture – not least in the Premier League where giants Manchester United and Arsenal clash at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag’s side have certainly steadied the ship with back-to-back wins against Liverpool, Southampton and then Leicester, on Thursday night. And they could feature their new big money signing, Antony, for the first time against the Gunners.

The Londoners are the Premier League leaders going in to the weekend having been the only side to win all five of their opening games. This could be a match that gives us a real indication as to where both clubs stand following their respective squad overhauls in the summer.

The day’s only other game in England’s top flight comes as Brighton & Hove Albion take on Leicester, the side who remain winless and rooted to the bottom of the table.

🇮🇹 Back in Serie A, the highest ranked side in action on Sunday are José Mourinho’s joint-leaders Roma. Unbeaten, and with their big signing Paulo Dybala seemingly finding his form after two goals against Monza, they visit Udinese. The Pozzo-backed club have proved tough to beat so far this season with their only defeat coming after they’d twice found the net against Milan (they eventually lost 4-2).

🇪🇸 There are four games scheduled in LaLiga, with two of those featuring unbeaten sides. In fact, both Athletic Club and Villarreal have identical records following two wins and a draw, and they’ve both found the net five times, while conceding nothing at the other end. Athletic Club will test that impressive record with a home game against Espanyol and Unai Emery’s Villarreal welcome Elche to the Cerámica.

🇫🇷 With PSG in action at Nantes on Saturday night, our attention will be on various other contenders (albeit outsiders) in Ligue 1 this weekend. Lens – who currently boast the same record as the superstar Parisians and have scored 11 goals in their last three fixtures will look to continue that form when they play away at Stade Reims.

And elsewhere, two sides who made the European places last season but have so far failed to meet expectations in the new campaign are set to meet on the Riviera. Nice and Monaco may start their respective groups in the Europa Conference League, and Europa League in the coming week, but both will be looking for just their second win of the domestic season in what is France’s headline game on Sunday night.

🇳🇴 Not to be outdone by goings on elsewhere in Europe over the weekend, we’ll leave you with the big Eliteserien Derby that’s taking place in Norway’s capital of Oslo. Fifth placed Vålerenga face traditional rivals Lillestrøm, who hail from a region that borders the city. LSK currently lie third and were the early pacesetters in the league back in Spring – a period in which they beat Vålerenga 2-0 in the previous fixture between the two. A outside chance of the title is still on the cards for them, but much depends on the result between the top two – Molde and Bodø/Glimt – who play each other on Saturday night.

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

Sep

2022

Premier League Review: Making sense of the Midweek Drama

This is quickly turning into a season of goal gluts and shock results. The first midweek round of fixtures in the 2022/23 Premier League campaign is now over and we’re taking a look at some of the biggest talking points.

By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert

Haaland really is inevitable

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick for a second successive match during Manchester City’s 6-0 win over Nottingham Forest. The powerhouse Norweigian forward now has nine goals in five appearances for the champions. His return is even more remarkable when you realise he didn’t find the back of the net against Bournemouth.

He put on a finishing clinic against Forest, scoring three times from just four attempts. The former BVB striker is arguably the most ruthless striker in the world right now. Is this sustainable though? His shots this season have an Expected Goals value of 5.3. Can he keep this overperformance up over a long period of time?

Fortress Craven Cottage

Fulham have taken eight points from their five outings this season, of which seven have been claimed at Craven Cottage. Marco Silva’s men have drawn with Liverpool on home soil and beaten both Brentford and Brighton.

After narrowly losing to Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday, Fulham bounced back against an in-form Brighton side to end Graham Potter’s side’s unbeaten start to the campaign.

They were, however, a tad fortunate on Tuesday night. The hosts did have more shots but fewer big chances and a significantly lower expected goals haul – 0.68 – 1.42. You do have to consider the fact that a large chunk of Brighton’s total will have been made up of the penalty.

The Seagulls did have a number of efforts from good central areas though whereas Fulham did not. Ultimately, all that matters though is that Craven Cottage is quickly turning into a fortress.

Carvalho continues his streak

Fabio Carvalho was the match winner for Liverpool against Newcastle United, firing an effort in off the bar in the 98th minute to claim all three points for the hosts. It was his second goal inside of a week and his third goal involvement for the Reds in his last three appearances.

The 20-year-old has had three shots on target for Jürgen Klopp’s side. Remarkably, all three have somehow resulted in a goal.

Against Manchester United, his effort was parried into the path of Mohamed Salah who headed past David De Gea. Against Bournemouth, he expertly arrowed a volley beyond Mark Travers and then he somehow found a way past the 1.91m Nick Pope from close range.

Carvalho has been the definition of an impact sub for Liverpool.

Nottingham Forest’s defensive struggles

Nottingham Forest suffered a heavy defeat against Manchester City and this, to an extent, can be excused. City are no strangers to racking up big wins in the Premier League.

However, they have the highest Expected Goals Conceded total in the Premier League and are the only team with an xG conceded total in double figures – 11.2 to be precise.

The focus seems to be on Bournemouth following the 9-0 loss to Liverpool but Forest are giving up lots of chances on a weekly basis. Steve Cooper is going to have to figure out a way to shore things up.

A big test is on the cards this weekend with Bournemouth making the trip to the City Ground.

Fox found missing in the box?

Jamie Vardy was once a prolific goalscorer. All he needed was half a chance and the ball would be in the back of the net. This season, he is yet to get off the mark.

The 35-year-old didn’t manage a single shot in the defeat to Manchester United. In fact, he’s managed just four efforts across his 402 minutes on the pitch for the Foxes. Of those four, just one has worked the goalkeeper.

However, he does have an expected goals total of 1.18, so he is still getting into high value areas but he’s yet to find his shooting boots. Brendan Rodgers desperately needs his No9 to rediscover the Midas touch.

(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.

Aug

2022

LaLiga Review: All the major stories from the third round of games

It’s time for our (belated) round-up of all the main talking points from the weekend’s football in Spain.

By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert

Lewandowski a new idol for free-scoring Barcelona

It is hard to believe Barcelona failed to score in their opening LaLiga game of the season. Xavi’s side have hit eight since – four away to Real Sociedad and four more in Saturday’s 4-0 win at home to Real Valladolid. Of those eight goals, summer signing Robert Lewandowski has four. The Pole helped himself to two with a pair of fabulous finishes at Camp Nou – lifting his boot high to poke home the first and pulling off an outrageous back-heel through a defender’s legs for the second – on Saturday and also hit the woodwork twice.

“I would underline, apart from his goals, his perfect timing for receiving the ball, his movements and how he protects the ball,” Xavi said afterwards. “He is an extraordinary player. Spectacular. He’s a natural leader. It’s wonderful to have him. A blessing. He’s an example. He’s a born worker. He has humility. He works for the team. He helps the coaching staff. He makes the difference.”

High praise for a special player. Lewandowski already leads LaLiga’s scoring charts and although he may not be a signing for the long term at 34 years old, he has already revolutionised the team’s attack.

There were other good performances too. Jules Koundé made an assured debut after he was finally registered in time to play in LaLiga this season, Alejandro Balde is taking his chance at left-back, Ousmane Dembélé impressed with two assists and Marc-Andre ter Stegen looks to be getting back to his best in goal.

Seven points from nine, eight goals scored and only one conceded. “It wasn’t the perfect match,” Xavi said. “But we’re on the right path.”

Benzema’s late double preserves Real Madrid’s 100% record

A few kilometres across town, Real Madrid met Espanyol later on Saturday and Los Blancos left it late to take all three points this time. As so often in the past few seasons, Karim Benzema was the match-winner, the French forward converting with two late strikes – a neat finish at the far post after 88 minutes following a delightful Rodrygo cross and a well-placed free-kick deep into added time past outfield player Leandro Cabrera after goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte had been sent off.

Vinícius Júnior had earlier given Real Madrid the lead, but that was cancelled out by a Joselu goal and Los Blancos struggled to find their groove until Benzema’s two late strikes. It was not Real Madrid’s most convincing performance, but the win leaves them top of the table – above Real Betis on goal difference – with maximum points after their three matches.

“We started very well, we scored and then we dipped,” Carlo Ancelotti said. “After their equaliser, it was more complicated. Little by little, we upped our rhythm, we found more intensity and it paid off in the end.”

Much of that was due to the substitutions. Midfielder Eduardo Camavinga made Madrid more aggressive, Rodrygo’s pass set up Benzema for the all-important second and Dani Ceballos forced the late red card.

“We decided on players with great physical qualities,” Ancelotti said. “We had a lot of spaces and we made the most of our physical advantage in the latter part of the second half.”

With renovation works ongoing at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid have had to play their first three games away from home – and they have won them all. “I’m very satisfied,” Ancelotti said. “It hasn’t been easy to win the three games away from home, but we are in a very positive dynamic.”

Griezmann making the most of reduced role at Atlético

Antoine Griezmann’s minutes at Atletico Madrid are limited at the moment and that is not by chance. Atlético will be obliged to pay Barcelona €40 million if the France forward completes more than 45 minutes in 50% of the matches this season and they do not have the funds. So he is being used sparingly. Griezmann came off the bench with just under half an hour left and his deflected strike saw Atleti beat Valencia in a hard-fought encounter at Mestalla in which the Rojiblancos had little of the ball, but better chances than the home side. The World Cup winner also netted after coming off the bench in Atlético’s 3-0 win at Getafe on the opening weekend.

“When Griezmann responds like that, it is very important to have him on the pitch,” Atlético coach Diego Simeone said. “I understand we have to put him on when it best suits the team.” And the club, apparently.

That is two wins from three for Atlético and a decent reaction after last weekend’s loss at home to Villarreal.

Valencia, meanwhile, have just three points from nine and only one goal (a Carlos Soler penalty) to their name this season. New signing Edinson Cavani should help.

Betis win AGAIN

Real Betis beat Osasuna 1-0 at the Benito Villamarīn, with striker Borja Iglesias on target again. But they were made to work hard for their third win this season after German Pezzella was sent off. “I don’t know if the word is to suffer, but we had to defend,” coach Manuel Pellegrini said. “We have worked hard to reduce the number of goals we are conceding.”

So far, so good. Betis are behind LaLiga leaders Real Madrid on goal difference alone. Next weekend, the two teams meet at the Santiago Bernabéu and by then, the Andalusians hope to have summer signings Claudio Bravo and Willian José registered and available. “We have a tough calendar and we are missing two important players,” Pellegrini said. “We are going to need them.”

The struggle is real for Sevilla; Athletic score four

While Betis are flying, their city rivals are still struggling. Sevilla have just one point from their three games following Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Almería and their fans are already starting to show their frustration. “Nobody wanted this,” sporting director Monchi said. “But I’m sure we will turn it around.” Patience is running out, though. And up next is a huge test for coach Julen Lopetegui as Barcelona visit the Sánchez Pizjuán next weekend.

Also in Andalucia, Athletic Club found form in front of goal with a 4-0 win at bottom-of-the-table Cádiz. Iñaki Williams opened the scoring and also missed a penalty, while his second-half replacement Gorka Guruzeta netted twice – his first goals in Spain’s top flight. “There is a long way to go and we have only just started,” coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We want to be more solid in our play, but it was a great game.” Valverde, in his third spell at the club, now has more wins for Athletic than any other coach in the club’s history. And after three games, the Basques are up to fourth.

Villarreal, still unbeaten but held to a goalless draw at Getafe on Sunday, drop down to fifth.

(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.