Page 151 – The Pulse of Football

Aug

2022

Last Weekend: The Lionesses Roar, Rooney Time in DC and a new look for Burnley

With football returning in some of Europe’s Big Five nations while the summer leagues continue, the 2022/23 season is about to lift off. On our agenda this time around, we have England’s Euros triumph, Wayne Rooney’s first match in charge of DC United, Vincent Kompany’s managerial debut for Burnley and more.

🏆 UEFA Women’s Euros: England 2-1 Germany

The big day was finally here. Almost a year after the men’s team faltered at the final hurdle, England’s women had the chance to win their nation’s first major footballing trophy since 1966.

The Euros had been filled with high-quality football from a tactical, technical and entertainment point of view, but the final was different. It was chaotic, often scrappy, and sometimes a little violent but that is just how such big finals tend to be.

There were no goals in a first half of limited chances but England took the lead after the hour mark when Keira Walsh played Ella Toone in behind and the Manchester United forward beat the keeper with a delightful scoop. Before the English fans could really start to dream — just before the 80th minute — Germany popped the party as Lina Magull applied a finish to a mesmerising passing sequence.

As extra time wore on, the Wembley crowd would inevitably have been reminded of the Euro 2020 final which the men’s team lost on penalties. 10 minutes before the end though, Chloe Kelly scored her first-ever England goal in the scrappiest fashion possible to snatch the lead again.

That was followed by 10 minutes of the artform that is keeping the ball in the opposition corner, and then finally, the referee called it a day. The significance of this achievement, not just on a sporting level but also on a societal level, cannot be overstated.

In truth, this could have been anyone’s game as the xG indicates, but buoyed by their home crowd, England showed just a little bit more in extra time, and that was the difference between victory and defeat.

This is a very clichéd thing to say, but genuinely, football was the real winner on this occasion.

🇺🇸 MLS: DC United 2-1 Orlando City

MLS is no stranger to action-packed weekends but this one was even crazier than usual as there were 37 goals scored, two four-all draws, and two other matches that featured four or more goals.

We will be making do with a match that saw just three goals though, because it featured Wayne Rooney’s managerial debut for DC United, a club he represented as a player during his previous spell in America.

The ex-Derby County manager set his side up in a 4-4-2 formation, but things did not exactly start well as Júnior Urso opened the scoring for Orlando with a wonderful lob in the ninth minute. The visitors were in control of the match thereafter, but as Rooney and co. so often did during his playing days under a certain Scottish manager, his team fought back late in stoppage time to turn the game on its head.

The xG faithful would call this win far from deserved, but DC United got the three points in the end, and that is what matters. This win takes them off the foot of the Supporters’ Shield standings but they remain last in the East so there is lots of work to be done from here on in.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Huddersfield Town 0-1 Burnley

The Community Shield in England provided most of the weekend’s headlines but a more consequential match was the Championship opener between Huddersfield Town and Burnley on Friday night.

There were new managers in both dugouts so both sets of fans would have been full of that new-season optimism. Burnley were kicking off in the second tier for the first time since 2015/16 and they were much-changed. With Sean Dyche departing towards the end of last season Vincent Kompany was brought in from Anderlecht and tasked with leading the Clarets back to the Premier League.

Saying that Dyche and Kompany’s styles of play are polar opposites would be an understatement. Dyche was known for a defensive style of football centred around an organised and hard working 4-4-2 block. Kompany, on the other hand, developed a lot of his tactical ideas as a player under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, so he likes his teams to play a possession-dominant brand of football.

The Belgian manager named his XI in a 4-3-3 formation, which morphed into a sort of 3-4-2-1 in possession with lots of positional rotations. The keeper was regularly involved outside his box as he popped up on the right of defence to offer passing options, while the wingers, and full-backs had defined and different roles.

For a side renowned worldwide for their defensive football, Burnley’s adaptation to this stylistic shift was very impressive. There were some favourable factors for them that should be mentioned, such as the fact that over half of their line-up was comprised of debutantes, and Huddersfield looked clueless as they sat in their defensive shape and let their opponents do whatever they pleased.

Nonetheless, Kompany and his side should be very happy with this win, which was more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests as they outshot their opponents 16-2. Undoubtedly, though, tougher tests await the Clarets.

🇩🇪 Germany: Elversberg 4-3 Bayer Leverkusen

We had the Supercup in Germany too, which Bayern won 5-3, but our focus will be on the Cupset laden first round of the DFB Pokal.

2. Bundesliga side Jahn Regensburg beat Köln on penalties, Lubeck, who play in the fourth tier got the better of Hansa Rostock, fifth-tier club Stuttgarter Kickers won by a two-goal margin against Greuther Fürth, who were only relegated from the Bundesliga last season, and 2. Bundesliga newcomers Eintracht Braunschweig sent Hertha Berlin packing, amongst others.

Arguably the biggest upset, though, was Elversberg prevailing over Bayer Leverkusen in a seven-goal thriller. They won promotion from the Regionalliga, which is the fourth tier of German football, for just the second time in their history last season, so going and beating a side that qualified for the Champions League by finishing third in the top flight is a mightily impressive achievement. In fact, it was the first time they defeated a top-division side in a competitive fixture.

Even more impressive is the fact that they went toe-to-toe with their opponents, taking the lead on three separate occasions and almost matching them in terms of chance creation.

Elversberg have never made it past the second round of the DFB Pokal, so they could create yet more history in a few weeks’ time.

🇫🇷 France: PSG 4-0 Nantes

As in England, the French season kicked off with the second tier playing the same weekend as the Super Cup but for once, we’ll give precedence to the latter.

A big reason for that was the fact it was Christophe Galtier’s first competitive match in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and there were lots of positive signs to take. Last season, Mauricio Pochettino lost this match as he was still figuring out the best way to use his superstars in collaboration but Galtier has appeared to have taken notes from his predecessor.

Both at Lille and Nice, Galtier employed a 4-4-2 formation and emphasised defence first, but he unsurprisingly is not doing that at PSG. Over midway through last season, Pochettino seemed to realise that switching to a back-three was the best way forward for his squad, and Galtier did not change that as his XI lined up in a 3-4-3 formation.

Lionel Messi played through the middle as a false-nine while Neymar had lots of freedom to drop deep on the left. Kylian Mbappé was suspended so Pablo Sarabia operated as the most advanced attacker on the right but no doubt the French super star will do a better job in this role. Apart from that, the only intriguing thing of note was Marco Verratti dropping in the last line to allow the wide centre-backs to push forward, but this happened only occasionally in the first half.

Of course, the big question is how PSG will work defensively with the lack of input from their superstar attackers, and this is a question that was not really answered here as Nantes kept little possession. Barring a couple of early saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma, this was a smooth win for the French champions with Messi, Neymar and Sergio Ramos all getting on the scoresheet.

🇳🇱 Netherlands: Ajax 3-5 PSV Eindhoven

In a weekend full of Super Cup finals, the best one by far in terms of entertainment was played in the Netherlands, where Ajax took on rivals PSV in a day of debuts. Six players including four starters were making their competitive debuts for their clubs, with an even split on both sides. Additionally, there were new managers in both dugouts – Alfred Schreuder for Ajax and Ruud van Nistelrooy (yes, that one) for PSV.

Steven Bergwijn, who recently left Tottenham, opened his Ajax account with a wonderful curling effort to give them a early lead. Guus Til did one better by half-time, though, as he scored two near-carbon copy headers to turn the match on its head. Antony equalised for the hosts early in the second half, but a Gakpo goal, and Til completing a hat-trick on debut gave PSV a two-goal cushion.

Substitute Mohamed Kudus pulled one back with almost 20 minutes left to bring Ajax within touching distance of their opponents but Calvin Bassey’s first competitive outing for Ajax was soured when he got sent off in the 78th minute. PSV had lots of chances to put the game to bed, but they only successfully did so in stoppage time through Xavi Simons, the highly-rated youngster who left PSG this summer.

It should be said that in the last 11 seasons, the winners of the Johan Cruyff Shield have only gone on to lift the league title on three occasions, so perhaps this result is not truly indicative of the season to come!

Written by Neel Shelat.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Jul

2022

This Weekend: Supercups, Season Starts and the Euros Final

The best action to follow this weekend

Saturday

🏆 We may as well call this Supercup Saturday with a number of traditional season openers taking place across Europe. Okay, so it’s known as the Community Shield in England but you get the drift and Liverpool vs. Manchester City is undoubtably the biggest draw of the day.

This clash, the first of its kind to be played before the start of August since 1958 takes place just 69 days after the two sides took the last Premier League title race to the final day. City took that, obviously whilst Liverpool had to settle for the FA and League Cup double. But how have both fared in the transfer market? And how are their squads shaping up for the new season? This is the first real test in at least semi-competitive action.

Elsewhere, the Dutch equivalent known as the Johan Cruyff Shield also provides a huge game with Ajax playing rivals PSV. ‘De Topper’ pits the sides who finished last season first and second in the league – with PSV losing out in that, but coming good in the final of the KNVB Cup, where they beat Ajax in the Final.

Watch out too for Bayern München in the DFL Supercup where Julian Nagelsmann’s side will be looking to start the post-Lewandowski era with a win over last season’s DFB Pokal winners RB Leipzip. This game takes place on the same weekend that the new DFB Pokal gets underway – with Borussia Dortmund winning in style at 1860 München on Friday night.

Wrapping things up, Portuguese double winners FC Porto take on Tondela, the minnows who made it to the final of last season’s cup competition despite getting relegated from the top flight. And in Turkey, Trabzonspor – who ended their long wait for a league trophy will look to lift more silverware against Cup winners Sivasspor.

🤝 With many of the top leagues due to commence over the next couple of weekends, this one provides a last opportunity for a lot of big sides to fine tune their starting XIs. Meaning that you’ll find a lot of club friendlies listed in your app for the next few days.

Among the headline games: Real Madrid play Juventus at the famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, Roma face Spurs in some kind of José Mourinho clásico being played in Israel and Barcelona do battle with MLS side New York Red Bulls – who currently sit third in the Eastern Conference.

And unofficially speaking, there appears to be a Premier League vs. La Liga Battle Royale taking place with (at the last count) eleven games taking place between English and Spanish sides. Manchester United are so keen they have one team facing Atlético Madrid on Saturday (in Oslo) and another side playing another Madrid based side, Rayo Vallecano on Sunday (in Manchester).

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The EFL season officially started on Friday night with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side recording a narrow win at Huddersfield on Friday night. However, the real fun starts on Saturday with games across all the divisions that sit at the second through to the fourth tier of English football.

In the Championship, the evening kick-off should be worth watching with West Bromwich Albion heading to Middlesbrough.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Scottish season has been up and running for a while with the ever-early League Cup group stages but now we get the first games in the Premiership. Rangers headline the opening day as they begin their latest title challenge away at Livingston.

🇯🇵 And finally, top of the table action from a league that is already deep in to the campaign. With 22 rounds played in the J.League, Yokohama F. Marinos lead Kashima Antlers by five points, so Saturday’s game between the two will be vital for both sides. Marinos are looking to take back the title they last won in 2019 whilst the Antlers are hoping to break a six year barren run.

Sunday

🏆 The most successful Women’s Euros to date will come to a close on Sunday evening with a showpiece game set to break record attendances for a final in both the women’s and men’s version of the tournament. In fact, over 500,000 people will have attended a match at some point during Euro 2022 with Wembley sold out for the clash between hosts England and record winners Germany.

It’s a repeat of the 2009 final where Germany beat England 6-2 – one of eight European titles they have to their name. It’s going to be an intriguing match-up between the two best sides at the tournament, resilient England vs. the indefatigable Germans, and there’s a battle for the golden boot too with both Beth Mead and Alexandra Popp level on six goals a piece. One more for either player will break another tournament record.

🇫🇷 In a hangover from Supercup Saturday, the Trophée des Champions takes place in French football on Sunday. New PSG coach Christophe Galtier must lead his merry bunch of superstars against Nantes, the side who beat Galtier’s previous club Nice, in the final of the Coupe de France back in May.

With criticism already emerging in the French press and questions over Galtier’s readiness to deal with the stars at the club, it’ll be imperative that they start well and let Kylian Mbappé know that staying in Paris was worth his while.

🤝 We already mentioned Manchester United’s second friendly of the weekend against Rayo but elsewhere the England vs. Spain Battle Royale continues with games between Fulham and Villarreal and Leicester City and Sevilla. The latter having already provided opposition for Arsenal on Saturday!

Speaking of teams playing two games in one weekend, a Liverpool XI will face Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, on Sunday evening. The question remains – will Liverpool get to parade the Community Shield on the pitch at Anfield ahead of that one!?

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Back in Scotland, Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic kick off their title defence against Aberdeen. The Dons have a proud record of never being relegated from the top flight but they did come close last season – finishing 10th out of 12 sides so they’ll be looking for immediate improvements this time around.

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

Jul

2022

Last Weekend: Italian impact in Toronto, Salzburg start strong and Derby Day in the 2. Bundesliga

The past few days have seen marquee signings announce their arrival in Major League Soccer whilst in Europe we’ve seen yet more the league seasons get underway and old rivalries renewed.

Those are just a few of the subjects on the agenda for this edition of Last Weekend.

🇨🇦 MLS: Toronto 4-0 Charlotte

Gareth Bale may have scored his first MLS goal against Sporting Kansas City, but elsewhere on Saturday night, two Italian wingers were causing quite a stir on their debut for Toronto FC.

Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi had been brought in from Napoli and Juventus in the last few weeks, and they were both selected from the start against Charlotte.

Before either of them could get involved Jonathan Osorio put the hosts in front in the fourth minute. Six minutes later, Toronto added a second, with Bernardeschi providing the assist from a corner.

But the party was just getting started. After the half-hour mark Bernardeschi found the bottom corner from distance to make it 3-0. And on the stroke of half-time Insigne notched up his first goal involvement with a clever flick to assist Michael Bradley. Neither of the Italians came out for the second half as Bob Bradley decided to rest his stars for tougher battles to come.

The hosts cruised through the second half to register their first win in six matches. They remain down in 13th in the Eastern Conference but there are positive signs that they will improve now.

Aside from the two Italian signings, Toronto FC’s terribly shaky defence seems to be stabilising, while their attack was gradually improving even before Insigne and Bernardeschi arrived.

If this trend continues, the Canadian club will certainly get themselves closer to the play-off spots.

🇦🇹 Austria: Salzburg 3-0 Austria Wien

Perennial champions Salzburg kicked off the 2022/23 Bundesliga season by hosting Austria Wien. The scoreline suggests that this was a routine victory for them — and it was — but there was some tactical intrigue involved in the performance.

Over the summer, Salzburg lost, among others, Brendan Aaronson, who was the first-choice starter in the attacking midfield position in their 4-3-1-2 system that has a sort of diamond shape in the midfield. They did not sign any like-for-like replacement – instead bringing in Shakhtar striker Fernando for under a quarter of the fee they received from Leeds United for Aaronson’s transfer.

The reason for this quickly became clear in the match against Austria Wien. Generally, such systems with a diamond in midfield see the two strikers stretch the opposition defence while the attacking midfielder operates between the lines. Matthias Jaissle had other ideas as he used Fernando in the attacking midfield position and asked him to push forward and join the two strikers to create a very narrow front-three.

Typically, for sides that like to keep possession this would be a problem as the big distance between the midfield and attack would make ball progression difficult. However, Salzburg’s style of play is very direct and transition-based so the usage of the front-three to overload the two opposition centre-backs worked pretty out well for them.

There were goals and assists for each player in the three-man attack, with Fernando earning a man of the match performance in his new hybrid role.

🇩🇪 Germany: Nürnburg 2-0 Greuther Fürth

With Greuther Fürth dropping down to the 2. Bundesliga, the Franconian derby – Germany’s biggest rivalry in terms of the number of fixtures played – was back. Both they and Nürnberg had failed to win on the opening weekend of the season so they were in search of their first three-point haul of the new campaign.

Having won nine of the last 15 fixtures prior to this one, Fürth have been the dominant side in this rivalry over the course of recent history. Indeed, they were unbeaten in their last five matches against their arch-rivals. Nürnberg looked determined to change that right from the get-go, and they took the lead at the quarter-hour mark through Christoph Daferner.

The visitors kept close to two-thirds of possession in this match but they failed to make much of it as they conceded twice as many shots as they themselves fired. Nürnberg’s main issue was the fact that they were failing to convert their chances to add a cushion to their lead. That was until the 81st minute when substitute Manuel Wintzheimer found the back of the net with a left-footed effort inside the penalty area.

With that, Nürnberg sealed their status as ‘Derbysieger’ (derby winners), which will certainly add a spring to their step for the next few weeks.

🇧🇪 Belgium: Anderlecht 2-0 Oostende

A week after the Super Cup, the Belgian top-flight was back for the 2022/23 season. Club Brugge’s last-gasp win over Genk in a five-goal thriller may have stolen most of the headlines, but since we already covered them and their star performer Andreas Skov Olsen a week ago, our focus will be on their rivals Anderlecht this time out.

It was the start of a new era for Belgium’s most successful club (in terms of league titles) as Felice Mazzù was taking charge of his first competitive match. The man who masterminded Union Saint-Gilloise’s fairytale rise for the last couple of years was brought in after Vincent Kompany left for Burnley and he wasted no time in implementing his preferred 3-5-2 formation.

It would be an exaggeration to say that Anderlecht looked as exciting as Union did under Mazzù last season but that is hardly a surprise as their players naturally need time to adjust to a new system. What they did quite well was ensure Oostende were not given any great opportunities while also nicking a crucial goal from a corner close to the half-time break.

There were some encouraging signs for the rest of the season too, as Wolves loanee Fábio Silva came off the bench for the last ten minutes and certainly made his presence felt before getting on the scoresheet just before full-time. Lukas Nmecha and Joshua Zirkzee are testaments to the fact that Anderlecht have a great track record with on-loan strikers of late so Silva will hope to get his career back on track in Belgium and has certainly started strong.

🇸🇪 Sweden: Häcken 1-2 Djurgården

The top two in Sweden crossed swords this weekend, as league-leaders Häcken hosted Djurgården – who sat just a point behind them, albeit having played a game more.

There weren’t many chances early on but Häcken took the lead after half an hour when Alexander Jeremejeff scored his 15th goal of the season from the penalty spot. Djurgården created a fair few chances to equalise before half-time but the scoreline remained 1-0.

However, after the break it took them just four minutes to get back on level terms through Emmanuel Banda, and about 15 minutes later, Elias Andersson put them in front. Djurgården then held on for what was a deserved victory – based on the xG at least, as the xG scoreline read 1.32-2.13 in their favour.

Indeed, Djurgården are the best side in the league based on xGD (Expected Goal Difference — the difference between their expected goals accumulated and expected goals conceded), as their tally of +0.85 is the highest in the league. Their attack is among the best, but it is their defence that separates them from the rest of the sides in the running for the title.

The result meant that the visitors go top of the Allsvenskan, at least until Häcken play their game in hand.

🇧🇷 Brazil: Fluminense 2-1 Red Bull Bragantino

Alexander Jeremejeff is scoring goals at a scary rate in Sweden and over in Brazil Germán Cano is doing something similar.

The 34-year-old Argentine striker scored his fifth goal in five league matches to extend Fluminense’s lead against Red Bull Bragantino. This run of form has seen him shoot up the scoring charts and he has now become the outright top-scorer in the Brazilian top-flight. In this period of time, he has also notched up a couple of assists and scored in the Copo do Brasil.

His goals have helped Fluminense go unbeaten since mid-June and with six wins in their last seven league games – they have broken into the top-three and are within touching distance of leaders Palmeiras.

Written by Neel Shelat.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Jul

2022

FotMob’s Euro 22 Quiz: Playoffs

How many can you get right?

What’s your score? Let us know on Twitter!

Jul

2022

Last Weekend: Castellanos flying for NYCFC, Norway crash out of the Euros and summer is officially over

There were a host of big fixtures as Rivalry Week continued in MLS while the final round of the Group Stages provided drama at the Euros. Elsewhere the 2022/23 season began, in earnest, across Europe, thus signalling the return of the ‘winter leagues.’

We will be covering all that and more in this edition of Last Weekend.

?? MLS: New York Red Bulls 0-1 New York City

The final day of Rivalry Week saw the Hudson River Derby between the sides placed second and third in the Eastern Conference. Both teams had two wins and a draw in their last three games so this was set to be a very even encounter.

That is indeed how it turned out to be, although NYCFC dominated possession, as they typically do. That would not have been concerning for the hosts because they tend to thrive in transition and were unbeaten in home clashes against their rivals since 2017.

This was a match of very few clear-cut chances, but the decisive moment came in the 69th minute when Santiago Rodríguez floated a ball over the top for Valentín ‘Taty’ Castellanos, with the Argentine striker nudging the ball home after some very clever movement to create space for himself. It was hardly a surprise to see him on the scoresheet as this was his sixth goal in his last four matches.

Last season’s Golden Boot winner finds himself at the top of the scoring charts yet again, and with the highest xG and second-highest xGOT tallies in the league, he has a very good chance of staying there – should a much rumoured move to Europe not come to fruition in the coming days. The rumour mill was churning after he appeared to be bidding farewell to the fans and his manager after being substituted.

Of course, Castellanos could just have been enjoying his role as derby-day match winner.

? UEFA Women’s Euros: Austria 1-0 Norway

With England having secured progression to the knockouts and Northern Ireland already eliminated, the big decisive match in Group A saw Austria take on Norway with the two sides level on points. Naturally, the winner would advance to the quarter-finals but in case of a draw, Austria had the upper hand thanks to Norway’s inferior goal difference after England put eight past them in midweek.

So the onus was on Norway to chase the game, but they looked very flat in the first half while Austria created a few decent chances before taking the lead in the 37th minute, via the head of Nicole Billia. Even after trailing, Martin Sjögren’s side never really looked threatening as Manuela Zinsberger faced just two shots on target.

For a side that features forward talent from the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea plus Ada Hegerberg – the Champions League’s all-time top-scorer in a must-win match, a shotmap like this is incredibly disappointing.

Austria, therefore, deservedly progressed to the knockouts where they will face Group B winners Germany. That should be a very tight affair as the Germans are the only side apart from England to have kept a clean sheet in all of their group matches, while Austria have conceded just once.

?? Switzerland: Young Boys 4-0 FC Zürich

The Swiss Super League returned with a blockbuster clash between defending champions FC Zürich and Young Boys, who had won the title in four straight seasons prior to 2021/22. There were new head coaches in both dugouts – ex-MLS and USA Under-17 manager Raphael Wicky for the hosts and ex-Austria manager Franco Foda for FC Zürich.

There were no goals and truthfully, barely any noteworthy openings in the first half as both sides were cautious in their approach, but the second half was filled with action. 10 minutes after the break, Zürich were awarded a penalty for handball, but Antonio Mascherano skied his kick. Seven minutes later, Christian Fassnacht headed the home side in front.

After the first round of substitutions, Cedric Itten came off the bench to score ion debut in the 77th minute. And in a nine-minute period thereafter, Young Boys scored twice more through Fabian Rieder and Wilfried Kanga, making the final score quite flattering.

In reality, the two sides were very evenly matched in terms of xG and in fact, Zürich had a slightly greater tally, but they were left ruing missed opportunities.

?? Denmark: FC København 0-1 Horsens

In Scandinavia, the Danish Superliga is the only top-flight winter league, and it was back for the 2022/23 season this weekend. Defending champions FC København were playing on Sunday as they hosted newly-promoted Horsens at Parken.

The visitors thought that they had gotten off to a perfect start when Casper Tengstedt, who scored 15 league goals in the second tier last season, put the ball in the back of the net but a VAR review saw the goal ruled out for offside. Nonetheless, they continued to defend resolutely and create chances but it was FCK who were celebrating next – at least until another VAR review ruled their goal out for the same reason.

Horsens had less than a quarter of possession in the game, but they went toe-to-toe with their opponents as they contained them very well in their 5-4-1 defensive shape while also posing a regular counterattacking threat. Their hard work paid off just after the hour mark when Zambian left wing-back Lubambo Musaba directed his finish in to the top corner from the edge of the box.

The home side tried hard to find an equaliser thereafter, but as this shotmap shows, they were not allowed to create any serious goal-scoring opportunities and had to resort to potshots by the end.

?? Belgium: Club Brugge 1-0 Gent

Belgian football was back with the Super Cup, the traditional season-opener featuring the previous winners of the league and cup. That meant Gent visited Club Brugge, for whom Carl Hoefkens was making his managerial debut after he stepped in following Alfred Schreuder’s move to Ajax.

Hoefkens stuck to the 3-5-2 formation that worked wonders in the second half of last season but Gent were seemingly able to neutralise it in their 3-4-1-2 shape. The visitors were the first to hit the back of the net through Tarik Tissoudali less than 10 minutes prior to half-time, but the assistant referee’s flag was raised. With effectively the next attack at the other end, Brugge scored after Andreas Skov Olsen cut inside from the right and found the bottom corner.

The Danish international looks set to have a standout season in his first full campaign in Belgium. After joining from Bologna, he played a massive role in Club Brugge’s title charge as he contributed with five goals and six assists in 739 minutes of action in the league, averaging 1.34 goal involvements per 90.

Coming back to the match, Gent were unquestionably the better side in the second half as they pushed for an equaliser, but their efforts proved futile despite the fact that they attempted thrice as many shots as their opponents.

?? Germany: Kaiserslautern 2-1 Hannover 96

Our beloved 2. Bundesliga also returned this weekend. Kicking us off were four-time Bundesliga champions Kaiserslautern, who were last seen in the top flight over a decade ago, and had been down in the third tier since 2018. They finished third last season, securing promotion only after beating Dynamo Dresden in the play-offs.

This was a big game for the visitors too, as Stefan Leitl, who recently led Greuther Fürth to the Bundesliga, was taking charge of them for the first time in a competitive fixture. His side lined up in his favoured 4-1-2-1-2 formation. For the hosts, Dirk Schuster made just two changes from the XI that beat Dresden in May.

The away side unsurprisingly dominated possession, but early on, Kaiserslautern looked more dangerous going forward, with the deadly duo of Terrence Boyd and Mike Wunderlich looking in the mood. Indeed, those two combined for the opener in the 11th minute after a very loose backpass from Julian Börner.

Kaiserslautern looked fairly comfortable after taking the lead and continued to pose a threat going forward, but as we entered the second half and inched closer to the final whistle, the nervousness surrounding the slender lead was palpable in the Fritz-Walter-Stadion. The home fans’ fears came true in the 80th minute when Håvard Nielsen, who had followed Leitl from Fürth to Hannover, came off the bench and grabbed an equaliser.

The visitors would have hoped to push on and score a winner thereafter, but the final twist in the tale in stoppage time saw centre-back Kevin Kraus redirect Kevin Prince Redondo’s bicycle pass towards the net following a corner, sending the stands into a state of absolute delirium.

This was a dream start to the season for Kaiserslautern, but their focus should remain on avoiding relegation for now.

?? Norway: Viking 2-1 Kristiansund

We’ve looked at a lot of positive stories this week, but there is a less optimistic one from our home league, the Eliteserien, where Kristiansund are still winless after 12 matches – picking up just one solitary point way back in April when they drew with HamKam.

Their loss to Viking on Sunday was the second time in three games when they have lost from a winning position. After going into the half-time break with a clean sheet, they took the lead through Bendik Bye in the 52nd minute but conceded the equaliser almost straight from kick-off. They were still looking set to hold on to a point but a penalty conceded in the 89th minute stripped them of that as well.

It will take nothing short of a miracle for Kristiansund to survive as they currently sit 12 points away from safety and they could even break the unwanted record of fewest points in a league season (in the three points for a win era). This is held by Aalesund and Start, who managed 11 points in 2020 and 2002 respectively.

Written by Neel Shelat.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Jul

2022

This Weekend: Pre-season clashes, Season re-starts and crunch time at the Women’s Euros

The best action to follow this weekend

Saturday

? The final round of groups games at the Women’s Euros continues on Saturday with Group B coming to a head. Germany face Finland but are already assured of their place in the quarter-finals thanks to two contrasting wins. They dominated against Denmark, running in four unanswered goals but were forced on to the back foot by Spain, before eventually beating them by two goals to nil despite having just 30% of possession.

The other game is therefore a direct play-off for the second qualification spot with both Spain and Denmark level on three points thanks to their respective wins over Finland. Spain are famously without star player Alexia Putellas at this tournament but Denmark should be able to call on their no.10, Pernille Harder, who was substituted following a clash of heads shortly after scoring the winner against the Finns.

? Pre-season is now well and truly underway for Europe’s top clubs and we can therefore bring you coverage of friendly games being played all around the world as part of lucrative overseas tours. Saturday’s highlights include Sevilla vs. Spurs in South Korea, Chelsea vs. Club América in Las Vegas, Everton vs. Arsenal in Baltimore and FC Köln vs. Milan in well, Köln.

???? MLS’s Rivalry Week has been keeping us entertained in recent days and the derby-day action continues in to a second weekend.

Austin moved top of the Western Conference thanks to their midweek win over fellow Texans Houston and they now face the third club from the Lone Star State – FC Dallas, on Saturday. Elsewhere, there’s the Canadian Classique featuring Montréal (4th in the East) and Toronto (13th).

?? The 2. Bundesliga, one of Europe’s most keenly fought second-tier leagues returns this weekend, meaning we’ll be treated to a number of headline clashes between sleeping giants, or big sides who for whatever reason find themselves at this level.

St. Pauli were top of the table for long periods last season and looked nailed on for automatic promotion only to fade and finish fifth. Having no doubt regrouped in the summer, they begin the new campaign at home to Nürnburg, a side with nine top flight titles to their name but who are now looking at their fourth-straight season outside the Bundesliga.

??Another league returning to the app is the Swiss Super League. And here, the FA are kicking things off with a bang as last season’s surprise winners FC Zürich travel to Young Boys – the title winners in each of the four seasons prior to that.

Sunday

?? The MLS Rivalry week continues in to Sunday with the Hudson River Derby between New York Red Bulls and New York City. With both clubs battling at the right end of the Eastern Conference, this should be a significant fixture. The two last met in June with Red Bulls pulling off a convincing 3-0 win in the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup.

Elsewhere, there’s the cross-border Cascadian rivalry between Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps plus a meeting between second and third in the Western Conference as LAFC travel to Nashville.

?? Back in the 2. Bundesliga and perhaps still smarting from their defeat in the promotion play-offs last season – Hamburg start at Eintracht Braunschweig. Eintracht themselves are another of the sides in the division with a German title to their name but they have been yo-yo’ing between the second and third tiers for the last few seasons and will be hoping to consolidate now they’re back at this level once again.

? Group C wraps up at the Women’s Euros on Sunday and it’s a group where, mathematically, any of the four sides could still go through.

Defending champions Netherlands are on four points having drawn with Sweden and overcome Portugal – despite that is, injuries and positive Covid cases affecting key players such as goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal and Vivianne Miedema. They now face a Swiss side who only have one point but have proved dogged opponents in the tournament so far.

The Swiss lost to Sweden last time out, with Barcelona’s Fridolina Rolfö key to the Swedes’ success. They’ll be looking to her to perform well again in their meeting with Portugal. Similarly to the other game, Sweden start on four points to Portugal’s one and there will no doubt be someone on both benches tasked with keeping an eye on the scoreline in the other game to ensure everyone knows exactly what result they need to progress.

?? Unlike other Nordic countries, Denmark doesn’t play its main football season over the summer months. Instead, it just feels like that due to the shortness of the gap between one Superliga season ending and the new one beginning!

So, less than two months after winning the Championship – FC København will kick off their title defence with a game against Horsens, at home, on Sunday.

?? Football also returns in Belgium with the country’s Super Cup set for Sunday. Club Brugge, who won their third successive league title during 2021/22 play Gent, who overcame Anderlecht in last season’s Cup final.

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

Jul

2022

FotMob’s Euro 22 Quiz: Matchday 2

How many can you get right?

What’s your score? Let us know on Twitter!

Jul

2022

‘Expect the unexpected.’ Norway’s Tuva Hansen on what makes them a threat at Euro 2022

The 24-year-old defender is set for a breakout summer with the tournament’s dark horses

By Curt Baker

“I just love spoiling the party,” Tuva Hansen says with a laugh.

We’re discussing Norway’s matchup with the tournament’s hosts, England. The Norway and Brann defender isn’t just happy to be a part of this summer’s historic Euros, she wants Norway to steal the headlines.

Tipped as the tournament’s dark horses by many, it’s a mindset that suits the two-time Euro winners.

“You don’t have that pressure, you’re the underdog. You can do the unexpected. I love that.

“It’s going to be very exciting, I don’t think people look at us like a real threat. But, I think we have so much to prove and so much to show. The last World Cup was a really good performance from Norway [a run to the quarterfinals where they were beaten by England] and I want to do even better,” Hansen tells FotMob.

This summer’s Euros is the latest peak in what has been a remarkable rise for Hansen since the beginning of last year. After moving from Klepp to Brann (then known as Sandviken) in Norway’s Toppserien, Hansen was named captain, won the league, went 35 league matches unbeaten, and became a regular in the national team.

It’s a trajectory Hansen attributes not only to improvements in fitness due to becoming a full-time professional with Brann, but also to the environment cultivated by former Brann manager Alexander Straus (recently named head coach at Bayern Munich).

Feedback at the Bergen club is direct, but effective, and there is complete focus on the next task at hand, no matter the broader circumstances. Straus wouldn’t even say the Norwegian word for “title” until it was secured. It has created a demanding, but tight-knit group.

“I can only see one game ahead now. It’s kind of disturbing because people are asking me like, ‘Who are you meeting? And where are you playing?’ And I’m like, I have no idea! I haven’t thought about the Euros. I have Arna-Bjørnar in the cup on Wednesday, I need to win that!”

With Norway, Tuva has made an impact on the collective as a relative newcomer, bringing Brann’s mentality with her.

“Coming in there, especially when I have my teammates with me too [five Brann players were named in Norway’s squad], we build that winning mentality and that culture of nagging each other in training.

“I don’t think people are used to it on the national team. At Brann, it’s different. We’re not, ‘Nice girls.’ So when we come to the national team we get a bit of ‘What are you telling me?’” Hansen says with a laugh. “But we need this competition in our team. It’s so important to have that winning mentality, and just sort of beat each other up in training.”

In tandem with the demands the Brann-mentality brings, Hansen says they’ve fostered the camaraderie that comes along with it.

“We kind of make the same environment there as we have at Brann. There are so many different aspects to a team that people maybe don’t think are important – they think it’s only football – but it’s also every other hour of the day. Everyone needs to feel good, to feel included in the group. There are so many things you can do to optimize performance.”

It’s this combination of mindset, with some of the world’s biggest offensive threats in Ada Hegerberg, Caroline Graham Hansen, and Guro Reiten, that makes Norway a true wildcard this summer, says Hansen.

“We have the x-factor. We have so many good offensive players who just need to fit together, and then it’s going to be fucking awesome.

“But you’re also going to see players who work for each other. You’re going to see the nation, our values. Sterkere sammen [The team motto, Norwegian for ‘stronger together’]. We work on this in every single camp. It’s so important for us to show the world that this is genuine.

“Expect the unexpected.”

(Images from IMAGO)

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

Jul

2022

Last Weekend: Philadelphia Union win big and France get off to a flying start at the Euros

There were some huge results in MLS, the Women’s Euro and Norway over the weekend while things stayed tight at the top of the table in Sweden and Brazil.

We will be covering all of that, along with a couple of other matches from the Americas, in this edition of Last Weekend.

?? MLS: Philadelphia Union 7-0 DC United

It was rivalry week in MLS, so most matches were expected to be tense and closely fought. DC United’s visit to Philadelphia was anything but that as the hosts recorded the joint-largest margin of victory in MLS history.

Looking at the two sides’ recent form makes this result even more incredible because DC United had beaten Orlando City in an eight-goal thriller in midweek while the Philadelphia Union had failed to score in their last two matches. As the scoreline suggests, one-way traffic would be an understatement to describe this result. The final xG tally, 5.64-0.79, indicates that the Union absolutely deserved to win big.

There were only three goal-scorers – young Argentinean forward Julián Carranza, who scored a hat-trick, and Alejandro Bedoya and January signing Mikael Uhre, who bagged two apiece.

This win takes them level on points with Eastern Conference leaders New York Red Bulls – who only managed a draw against the nine men of FC Cincinnati.

The Philadelphia Union started the season incredibly well, winning five of their first six games, but they slowly began to slump, as their xG trendline (which shows a rolling average of a team’s Expected Goals and Expected Goals Against in a range of matches) depicts.

They will hope that this result serves as a catalyst to take them back to their very best.

? UEFA Women’s Euros: France 5-1 Italy

The 13th edition of the UEFA Women’s Euro got underway in England on Wednesday, and by the end of the weekend, the first round of matches had been played in each of the four groups.

The biggest result came in the very last match, which saw France thrash Italy 5-1. The Italians started well but they conceded twice in a four-minute period inside the first 15 minutes. Another blitz from France right before half-time when they scored three goals in the space of eight minutes put the match well beyond Italy’s reach and they could only grab a consolation goal in the second half.

The star of the show for France was Grace Geyoro, who scored her first-ever hat-trick in international football with three well-taken right-footed finishes inside the box.

Her Paris Saint-Germain teammate Marie-Antoinette Katoto also contributed with a goal and assist, and Lyon’s Delphine Cascarino netted the second from outside the box.

This certainly was a statement victory for on of the tournament favourites.

?? Norway: Molde 5-1 Tromsø

We have spoken of Lillestrøm’s unsustainably high xG overperformance previously in this column and they have now been knocked off their perch at the top of the Eliteserien. Their last-gasp loss to Viking played an important part in that but Molde’s win over Tromsø with a four-goal margin was crucial as although the sides are level on points, it took Molde’s goal difference to +15, just greater than Lillestrøm’s +14.

Tromsø did dare to score first but Molde were in front by the 20th minute and took a two-goal lead into the half-time break. A quickfire double just after the hour-mark saw the scoreline move to 5-1, after which, the hosts could coast home with all three points comfortably.

The man of the match was Molde’s teenage striker David Datro Fofana, who scored two goals and got an assist – taking his tally up to six goals in nine Eliteserien matches this season. Unsurprisingly, he has the most goal involvements in the league among his teammates, and all of those have come in his last six appearances.

?? Sweden: Mjällby 1-2 Häcken

Allsvenskan leaders Häcken completed a second-half turnaround against Mjällby to stay at the top of the table. Viktor Gustafson put the hosts in front a few minutes before half-time but Häcken equalised on the other side of the break and scored the winner in the 81st minute.

As the shotmap from the match shows, Mjällby will be disappointed to not have taken any points away from this game as they had over twice as many shots as their opponents and a notably greater xG tally, but Häcken deserve credit for making the most of their chances.

They may have gone against the will of the xG Gods on this occasion but Häcken have closely matched their xG over the course of the season by scoring 27 goals from an xG tally of 27.2 – both of which are league-highs. They also have the league’s top-scorer Alexander Jeremejeff, who may have blanked in this match, but has played a part in over half of his side’s goals with 12 goals and three assists.

We are not halfway through the season yet but Häcken look set to be one of the protagonists in the title race.

?? Brazil: Corinthians 1-0 Flamengo

The Copa Libertadores is the main showpiece of South American football at the moment but the domestic leagues are no less entertaining. In Brazil, one of the bigger games of the weekend saw Corinthians host Flamengo after both sides progressed to the quarter-finals of the Libertadores in midweek – where coincidentally they have been drawn against each other.

That tie is in August so they can afford to restore full focus to the league again now. Flamengo have to recover from a poor start to the season which has left them some way off the top of the table while Corinthians are trying to keep step with league-leaders and main rivals, Palmeiras.

This match itself was relatively uneventful but the decisive moment came early on in the second half when Rodnei made an absolute hash of dealing with a cross to the far post and turned it into his own net. Corinthians had a couple of chances to double their lead thereafter but there were no more goals scored.

With Palmeiras dropping points to bottom-club Fortaleza later in the night the gap at the top has come to down just one point.

?? Argentina: Racing Club 1-0 Independiente

We had the Avellaneda derby in Argentina between Racing Club and Independiente this weekend, two sides whose home stadiums are just a few hundred metres apart.

Most of the drama in the match happened early on. Gabriel Hauche gave the hosts the lead with a bicycle kick following a corner in the ninth minute, and about ten minutes later, Joaquín Laso gave away a penalty. Enzo Copetti, who had scored in each of his last three games, had the chance to double Racing’s lead but his effort rattled the post and came right back in his direction.

Independiente fired a fair few shots but never really managed to generate a clear-cut opening so Racing Club emerged victorious in a match where the two sides were very closely-matched.

?? Mexico: Toluca 3-2 Atlas

Matchday 1 of the 2022/23 Liga MX season was explosive as we saw last week, and the second round of fixtures was no less entertaining as it saw 27 goals scored, just two fewer than the opening weekend.

Among the most eventful matches was Toluca’s win over defending champions Atlas, who are yet to win in any competition this season. They were blown away early on in this game as the hosts scored thrice in the first quarter of an hour. Atlas had tons of chances in the second half, but they could not salvage anything from this match.

With this win, Toluca have shot up to the top of the table and are among just three teams who have both of their league matches so far – with the other two being Puebla and Pachuca.

Written by Neel Shelat.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Jul

2022

Euro 22 Quiz: Matchday 1

How many can you get right?

What’s your score? Let us know on Twitter!