The best action to follow this weekend

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Saturday

??????? Make the most of the games played in the Premier League over the next couple of days as that’ll be it until the league reconvenes in two weeks time. It doesn’t sound like a long break but the absence of the familiar routine might just surprise you!

There’s five fixtures this Saturday, including a trip to managerless Everton for Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa and a home game for Manchester United against West Ham, seemingly a direct challenger for the fourth Champions League spot come the end of the season.

Runaway leaders Manchester City round off the day with a game on the South Coast as they visit Southampton.

Away from the top flight, there’s something of a Derby Day feel in the EFL Championship with Cardiff City crossing the Severn Bridge into England to face Bristol City and arch-enemies Nottingham Forest and Derby County meeting in the East Midlands. Both games could be ‘fun.’

?? No need to worry about about any mid-season breaks in Serie A as it’s business as usual in Italy (COVID outbreaks not withstanding). Here, Inter will be back at the San Siro and hoping to extend their seven-game unbeaten run against Venezia.

Despite being held to a goalless draw at Atalanta last weekend, Inter actually increased their narrow advantage at the top of the table thanks to the dramatic injury-time winner Spezia scored at rivals Milan.

?? The big game of the day in the Bundesliga sees fourth take on second as Hoffenheim play Borussia Dortmund. Both sides suffered midweek defeats in the DFB Pokal – Hoffenheim losing to fellow high-flyers Freiburg whilst Dortmund went down 2-1 at St. Pauli of the 2. Bundesliga.

Also in action, Bayer Leverkusen (3rd) face Augsburg and in-form Union Berlin (5th) go up against the unpredictable Borussia Mönchengladbach.

?? Sevilla are now well established at the head of the chasing pack in La Liga, four points down on leaders Real Madrid but with a clear gap to city-rivals Real Betis below them. Every point is therefore vital for Julen Lopetegui’s outside title bid, and they’ll be hoping to take all three against Celta Vigo on Saturday.

The other headline fixture sees Atlético Madrid go up against Valencia as Diego Simeone desperately tries to rescue something from their season.

In reality, with Atleti now 16 points back in the league and following consecutive defeats in the Supercopa and Copa Del Rey over the last ten days, next month’s Champions League knockout game against Manchester United might be the club’s main focus.

?? The new Clausura season is now underway in Liga MX and there’s a couple of big games that may be of interest here – Apertura champions Atlas play Club América whilst the side Atlas beat to that title, Club León host Pachuca.

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Sunday

?? La Liga’s big two both feature on Sunday with Real Madrid facing Elche for the second time in just 72 hours after they also met in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday night.

Elche held Madrid in that encounter, and even took the lead in extra-time before Madrid substitutes Isco and Eden Hazard turned it around late on.

Barcelona were defeated in their cup tie at Athletic Club on Thursday, going down 3-2 (after extra-time) to the side they beat convincingly in last season’s Copa Del Rey Final. On Sunday, Xavi’s inconsistent side make another trip to the Basque Country, this time hoping to get more out of the game at Deportivo Alavés.

??????? Before going on their winter break, the Premier League will serve up a few last minute treats for us. First up, Arsenal need to shake off their recent disappointments as Burnley visit the Emirates.

Kicking off at the same time, Liverpool follow Thursday’s League Cup triumph at Arsenal with another trip to London, where they face Crystal Palace. And Leicester City look to close the four point gap between themselves and opponents Brighton as both sides look to climb the table.

Last, but not least there’s another fiery London Derby between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as the rivals clash for the third time this month. Chelsea did of course win both legs in that League Cup semi-final but Spurs will be boosted by their injury-time heroics against Leicester in midweek.

?? The Eredivisie’s top two, PSV and Ajax go head-to-head in a fixture that has more riding on it than the ordinary run-of-the-mill meeting between the league’s two biggest teams. Defending champions Ajax trail their domestic rivals by a point despite conceding just four goals across 19 games this season and boasting a goal difference of +55.

That is essentially down to Roger Schmidt’s side matching Ajax for consistency, with PSV now unbeaten in 11 league and KNVB Cup games since the sides last met back in October. Ajax won that first De Topper of the campaign by five unanswered goals but whoever comes out on top in this one will then undoubtably be favourites to take the title this year.

?? Bayern are back in Bundesliga action on Sunday as they visit a Hertha side who could be particularly vulnerable after their midweek defeat to city-rivals Union. The Champions were back to their usual goal-hungry selves last time out, sticking four past FC Köln to make it 61 goals in 19 games this season but if you really fancy a home win, Bayern’s three league defeats have all finished 2-1.

?? The biggest game of the Serie A weekend, as always comes last in the schedule with title-chasing Milan playing fellow giants Juventus. The Old Lady are unbeaten in eight league games and progressed to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after beating Sampdoria, with ease on Tuesday.

For their part Milan have stuttered of late, particularly last Monday when they missed out on the chance to go top of the table thanks to that shock defeat to Spezia.

? Lastly, and after an action-packed week of drama in the group stages, the Round of 16 kicks off at the Africa Cup of Nations.

There will be two games played on Sunday, the first coming between the Stallions of Burkina Faso, finalists back in 2013 and Gabon, who went through their three group games unbeaten.

Later in the day, there’s a chance to see Nigeria, now the bookie’s favourites after three wins saw them top Group D come up against Tunisia. Usually amongst the favourites themselves, Tunisia have struggled so far with a solitary win against Mauritania enough for them to qualify for this stage as one of the best third placed teams.

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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!

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The best action to follow this weekend

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If you would like to receive this weekly preview direct to your inbox, sign up to our FREE mailing list by clicking here.

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Saturday

??????? At the time of writing, five of Saturday’s Premier League games have survived the ongoing COVID-19 situation in England’s top league.

The main draw sees Manchester City meet Chelsea in the early kick-off, in what is their second encounter since the Champions League Final clash last May. Pep Guardiola’s side won the reverse fixture back in September so Thomas Tuchel will be out for revenge, and the chance to cut the 10 point lead City currently hold over Chelsea in the table.

Manchester United return to Premier League action for the first time since defeat to Wolves at Old Trafford as they travel to an Aston Villa side who’ve been very active in the transfer window. Could we see some involvement for Steven Gerrard’s new signings Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne?

From the other games, the six-pointer between Newcastle United and Watford looks particularly key. A win for the home side would see them move out of the relegation zone and crucially, leapfrog their opponents.

?? Bundesliga leaders Bayern have had a week to stew on last weekend’s home defeat to Gladbach, so watch out for their trip to FC Köln. The Billy Goats are no pushovers this season though and they come in to this game on the back of three straight wins that have seen them move up to sixth in the table.

Elsewhere in Germany, third placed Hoffenheim, who are unbeaten in seven face Union Berlin (7th), another side pushing for European qualification and Bayer Leverkusen (5th) are the next big team Gladbach will be looking to turn over as they begin to recover from a relatively poor first half of the campaign.

?? Not to be outdone by the ongoing Supercopa tournament that has seen four of Spain’s top sides spend the week in Saudi Arabia, back home all the attention will be on the Copa del Rey, where we have reached the Round of 16.

Especially as the draw brought together city rivals, Real Betis and Sevilla who will play out the 136th competitive edition of ‘El Gran Derbi’ on Saturday night.

?? In Italy, Juventus are in Serie A action against Udinese just a few days after missing out on their Super Cup equivilant, the Supercoppa.

A last gasp defeat to rivals Inter on Wednesday night came thanks to a goal scored in stoppage time, at the end of extra-time and prompted manager Massimiliano Allegri to describe football as having been invented by the devil, such is it’s cruelty! We’ll see what he has to say should Juve get back to winning ways.

? At The Africa Cup of Nations, the second round of group games continue across the weekend and on Saturday that means we get matches from Group D.

Here, Nigeria will look to back-up their impressive victory over Egypt to seal qualification for the knock-out stages by beating Sudan. And the aforementioned Pharaohs need to kick-start their tournament as they go up against Guinea-Bissau, the nation currently ranked 106th in the world.

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Sunday

??????? The big games keep coming on Sunday, with the North London Derby the most high profile of them all. Spurs ‘welcome’ near neighbours Arsenal to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where they remain unbeaten in the three derbies played at their new home.

With just two points separating the sides in the top six of Premier League table (Arsenal are 5th, Spurs 6th), the result could be pivotal as we head into the second half of the campaign. Particularly with Spurs having two games in hand on their rivals.

Liverpool are also in Premier League action on Sunday as they host Brentford and for the second weekend in a row, West Ham play Leeds United no doubt looking to repeat the 2-0 win they enjoyed in the FA Cup last Sunday.

?? We’ve already alluded to the Spanish Supercopa being hosted in Riyadh, but Sunday will see Athletic Club play Real Madrid in this season’s final.

The Basque side were considered unlikely winners last year having overcame both Madrid and Barcelona to lift the trophy. And their confidence will be high after they came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid to reach this stage.

Madrid though, are a different proposition this season – top of La Liga, scoring freely thanks to the form of Karim Benzema and fresh from beating arch-rivals Barcelona in the Clásico played on Wednesday night.

? There’s four group matches from the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday and in Group E, the Ivory Coast come up against Sierra Leone and the heroic goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet against reigning champions Algeria in their opening game.

Mohamed Kamara, who plays in his country’s local league earned our MOTM and a rating of 8.97 for that performance but he’ll have to be on form again to keep out one of the tournament’s most potent strike forces.

In the other game in the group, Algeria – unbeaten in 35 international games probably can’t afford to drop any more points when they play Equatorial Guinea

From Group F, we’ll be looking out for the game between AFCON debutants Gambia and Mali, who both won their opening games – against Mauritania and Tunisia respectively.

?? In Serie A and with neither Milan nor Napoli playing until Monday, Inter have the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table. They face the always-entertaining Atalanta, in Bergamo on Sunday evening.

After last week’s collapse to Juventus, losing 4-3 despite leading 3-1 with half an hour to go, Roma fans will hope Cagliari provide less stiff opposition.

Strugglers on paper, Cagliari won only one of their first 19 games of the season but do come in to Sunday’s game off the back of consecutive wins over Sampdoria and Bologna.

?? Lastly, another huge European derby to point you in the direction of, the clash between Athens rivals Panathinaikos and Olympiacos.

Defending Greek champions Olympiacos are unbeaten and running away with the league this season but the reverse fixture against Panathinaikos was one of just the three games in which they’ve dropped points – that one finishing goalless. We’ll be hoping for goals on Sunday!

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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!

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The best action to follow this weekend

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Saturday

??????? The English FA Cup, the world’s longest-running cup competition has reached the Third Round, the stage at which the big boys enter the draw. With games spread across the weekend and into Monday, we’ve picked out just a selection of the ties we think are worth following in the app.

Four Non-League sides survived the early rounds and they all feature on Saturday. Two clubs, Kidderminster Harriers and Yeovil Town have been rewarded with ties against Championship opposition – Reading and Bournemouth respectively whilst the plum draw was saved for Chesterfield (currently top of the National League) as they face European Champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Elsewhere, we think the all-Premier League clash between Leicester and Watford should be interesting as will the South London battle between Millwall and Crystal Palace. And there’s potentially tricky ties for Everton, who go to Hull City and Southampton, who visit Swansea City.

?? In Spain, Real Madrid will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s surprise defeat as they welcome Valencia to the Bernabéu. Both sides made hard work of beating lower division sides in midweek so the jury is still out on their post-Christmas form.

Also in action on Saturday are Barcelona, as Xavi’s semi-refreshed side test a run of four unbeaten away games at Granada. And early season pacesetters Real Sociedad will need a result against Celta Vigo if they’re to stop their slide back in to the mid-table pack.

?? There’s just one game from France coming up on Saturday night that we should mention, with Lens (7th) taking on Rennes (4th) in a clash between two sides who have dipped in and out of form so far this season.

?? The Bundesliga resumes this weekend, with the inevitable reports of multiple positive COVID-19 cases dominating the build-up.

Borussia Dortmund play at Eintracht Frankfurt in the evening kick-off, with 4th meeting 7th earlier in the day as Bayer Leverkusen take on the impressive Union Berlin. We’ll also be keeping at eye on Augburg’s game at fifth placed Hoffenheim. The struggling Bavarian side have signed breakthrough US star Ricardo Pepi in a bid to solve their problems in front of goal.

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Sunday

? On Sunday and after a delay of seven months, the 2021 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations finally gets underway in Cameroon.

We’ve been looking forward to this tournament and we’ll be following it closely on our social media channels in the coming weeks.

Today’s opening games come in Group A as hosts Cameroon look to start well against Burkina Faso and Cape Verde take on group outsiders Ethiopia, who are making their first finals appearance since 2013.

If you follow African football, please take part in our AFCON predictor game. Make your call on the results and share your predictions with your friends – the bigger and bolder your claims, the better!

To play, simply hit the link here or click on the image above.

?? Sunday sees a massive game In France’s Ligue 1 as the two sides who’ve won 14 of the last 20 titles, Lyon and PSG meet at the Groupama Stadium.

Despite their well documented struggles this season (6 wins in 18 games) Lyon won’t want to lie down without a fight, especially if they can stop PSG extending their 11 point lead at the top of the table.

?? In Italy, where COVID-19 outbreaks put paid to four of the fixtures scheduled for Thursday, we’ll have to see which games get the go ahead for Sunday.

On paper, we should see leaders Inter host Lazio whilst chasers Milan take the gondola ride to Venezia. Meanwhile, managerial royalty José Mourinho and Massimiliano Allegri do battle as Roma meet Juventus.

?? Back in La Liga, look out for title-challenging Sevilla’s game against Quique Sánchez Flores’ improving Getafe side (unbeaten in six) and Atlético Madrid’s trip to the similarly in-form Villarreal.

Both should be real tests for the sides currently sitting in the Champions League places.

??????? And finally, Sunday’s highlights in the FA Cup include a second trip to Anfield in the last three seasons for third tier Shrewsbury Town.

The Shrews famously held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw back in 2020 before suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat in the replay thanks to an an own goal scored Ro-Shaun Williams (no longer at the club). As a reminder – there will be no replays in the stage of the competition this season.

Another League 1 side, Morecambe also have a glamour tie to look forward to as the Shrimpers go to Tottenham Hotspur, whilst Arsenal also face a potential banana skin with a game at sleeping giants Nottingham Forest.

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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!

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The best action to follow this weekend

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Saturday

With many leagues on their winter break or otherwise inactive as we start 2022, consider this a curtailed look ahead at what’s coming up over the next two days.

??????? In England, and at the time of writing there are three games scheduled to survive the current wave of coronavirus cases sweeping through the league.

Game of the day probably comes in the early kick-off as leaders Manchester City travel to Arsenal. Both clubs have enjoyed a successful festive period with the Gunners up to fourth in the table and City now looking to extend their 10-match winning streak.

Elsewhere, Watford will look to snap their run of five defeats at home to relatively near-neighbours Tottenham Hotspur. And finally, West Ham make the short trip to play fellow Londoners, Crystal Palace.

? Also set to take place on Saturday is the second leg of the final in the heavily delayed 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup, currently being held in Singapore. The tournament is usually biannual and determines the champions of Southeast Asia.

Thailand’s War Elephants will be thinking they’ve already got one hand on the trophy after a comprehensive 4-0 win in the first leg, but could Indonesia pull off one of the biggest shocks of 2022, on the very first day of the year!?

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Sunday

??????? In theory, there’s five Premier League games due to take place on Sunday, including the heavyweight clash between two former Dortmund managers, Thomas Tuchel and Jürgen Klopp.

Chelsea take on Liverpool at Stamford Bridge having dropped points in four of their last six league games, a period in which Tuchel has been without a number of key players. Klopp has faced similar issues at Liverpool and indeed the Reds are without a win since facing Newcastle in mid-December.

Also on the slate for Sunday are games involving seven of the sides who find themselves in the bottom half of the table. The worst placed of those, Newcastle United (19th) go to Southampton whilst Leeds United (16th) and Burnley (18th) play each other.

?? In Spain, La Liga officials announced that there have been 138 positive coronavirus cases reported ahead of the league’s return to action following the Christmas break. Nevertheless, all of the weekend’s games are supposedly going ahead.

Leaders Real Madrid visit Getafe without guaranteed starters like Thibaut Courtois and Vinícius Júnior whilst defending champions Atlético Madrid must play this season’s surprise package Rayo Vallecano without coach Diego Simeone in the dugout.

Barcelona have had 10 positive cases over the festive period but will still fulfil their fixture at Mallorca.

?? The Coupe de France has reached the Round of 32 and as is befitting of a competition so grand in terms of scale (over 7000 teams take part), 10 sides from amateur levels of the French game are still involved.

One of them, the fifth tier US Chauvigny even face the might of Marseille. And Stade Reims (15th in Ligue 1) make the unfamiliar trip to Thaon, another side from the regionalised fifth tier. Also worth following will be AS Monaco’s game at 2012 finalists Quevilly, currently making their way back through the divisions having dropped to the fourth division as part of a merger.

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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

The best action to follow this weekend

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Saturday

?? There are some big games lined up in La Liga, with three of the top six involved. The headliner is undoubtably the clash between reigning champions Atlético Madrid and Sevilla, who currently sit second behind Real.

Real Sociedad play earlier in the day, at home to Villarreal and could therefore leapfrog Atlético in to fourth.

And Barcelona might just break into the aforementioned top six if other results go their way, and they can beat Elche at Camp Nou.

??????? With coronavirus cases rising rapidly around England and the UK, and the Premier League reporting the highest number of positive tests since the beginning of the pandemic, predicting how many of the weekend’s scheduled games actually take place is a tricky one. At the time of writing there’s just two going ahead on Saturday.

Leeds need to shake off the 7-0 thrashing they suffered at the hands of Man City during the week when they host Arsenal. And Aston Villa, who’ve won four out of six under the tutelage of Steven Gerrard face Burnley at Villa Park.

? The Arab Cup, being played for the first time under the FIFA’s officialdom has been enjoyable so far, especially considering a lot of the nations sent squads that were missing their star names based overseas.

And it all comes to a head on Saturday as Tunisia take on Algeria in the Final. Both enjoyed late winners in their respective semi-finals in midweek – Tunisia beating Egypt by a single goal scored in the 5th minute of added time.

But that’s nothing compared what happened in Algeria’s encounter with Qatar. Leading 1-0, Algeria conceded an 97th minute equaliser before going on to find a winner in the SEVENTEENTH additional minute! And that was scored on the rebound after a penalty save.

?? In Germany, leaders Bayern München play on Friday night so the weekend focus will be on the chasing pack in this, the final round of matches before the Bundesliga goes into hibernation for the winter break.

For Borussia Dortmund, that means a trip to Hertha. The struggling Berlin side looked like they were on the up after going three games without defeat but that all came to a halt with a 4-0 defeat at Mainz in the week.

?? Serie A’s game of the day pits third against sixth (as it stands), with Atalanta entertaining Roma. Despite their disappointment at being knocked out of the Champions League, the hosts are on a run of six straight wins in the league whilst Roma remain surprisingly unpredictable under José Mourinho, picking up three wins and three defeats during the same period.

Also in action, Juventus go to Bologna hoping for a result that will keep them in touch of the Champions League places ahead of the busy festive period.

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Sunday

??????? Again, Sunday’s Premier League fixtures are decimated by the number of positive coronavirus cases amongst the squads. But, all being well we should still get to see leaders Manchester City play at Newcastle United.

And there’s games for the rest of the top three as Chelsea go to Wolves and Liverpool travel south to face Spurs in what will be a welcome return to action for the London club.

?? Milan vs. Napoli should be one of the most interesting games of the weekend, with both sides starting the Serie A season unbeaten in the first 12 rounds. Since then, Milan have picked up two wins and Napoli just one, form that has allowed Inter to move above them in the table. The pressure is therefore on both sides to get a result.

?? La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who are in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak are still, apparently going ahead with their fixture scheduled for Sunday night – against relegation threatened Cadiz.

The legendary Luka Modrić is the most high profile of Madrid’s absentees to be reported so far.

?? Just a point separates the big three at the top of the Dutch Eredivisie, with PSV holding a slender advantage over the combined might of Ajax and Feyenoord.

The latter two play each other on Sunday and despite Ajax’s daunting record of scoring 49 goals whilst conceding just four in 16 games so far this season – their rivals will be looking to expose the same cracks that AZ Alkmaar did in their surprise win at the Johan Cruyff Arena last weekend.

??????? There’s silverware on offer in Scotland as Hibernian meet Celtic in the 76th final of the long running League Cup. The two sides have met just once in the league so far this season, with Celtic winning at the home of their Edinburgh rivals for the first time since 2014 but Hibs will remain confident having already seen off Rangers en route to the final.

?? In France, we’ve reached the always crazy Round of 64 in the Coupe de France. Where else in the world will you find the likes of PSG and Marseille up against fifth tier amateur sides – or in the case of Clermont Foot, who play on Saturday, a top flight team facing someone from the seventh and very much regional tier of French football. The intricacies of the competition even allow for sides from the country’s many overseas territories and departments to qualify for this stage.

And on Sunday, that means Bordeaux of Ligue 1 host Jumeaux M’Zouasia, a side from the archipelago of Mayotte which is off the coast of South East Africa. As a French department, the island’s official currency is the Euro despite its geographical location just north of Madagascar.

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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