Join us as we assess the current situation heading into a busy week of LaLiga action that will see both Barcelona and Real Madrid play two important games.
Barcelona wore a new Senyera shirt for Saturday’s Catalan derby away to Girona and came away from Montilivi with all three points. But without the suspended Robert Lewandowski, Xavi’s side struggled to make the breakthrough. And after it finally arrived, they struggled to hang onto their advantage too.
Pedri, making his 100th competitive appearance for Barcelona at just 20 years old, popped up at the far post to poke home the game’s only goal after 61 minutes. Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga should really have cut out Jordi Alba’s cross, but the Argentine made minimal contact with the ball and that mistake allowed Pedri a simple finish.
Girona pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages and substitute Iván Martín missed a glorious opportunity as he side-footed wide from an unmarked position six yards from goal in the 87th minute.
Lewandowski’s three-match suspension is now complete and without the Polish striker, Barcelona have won their last three games by a single goal: 1-0 victories over Atlético Madrid, Getafe and now Girona.
“I’m satisfied,” Xavi said after the game. “But we have to create more in attack.” With Lewandowski back for the game against Real Betis on Wednesday, it should be easier.
The bad news for Barcelona was an injury to winger Ousmane Dembélé, who could be out for a number of weeks. The good news? Xavi’s side extended their lead at the top to five points.
Real Madrid held by Real Sociedad
Real Madrid produced perhaps one of their better recent performances against Real Sociedad on Sunday, but Los Blancos could not find a way through against the in-form Basque side.
Vinícius Júnior saw several good chances come and go as Carlo Ancelotti’s side were forced to settle for a point at the Santiago Bernabéu, which leaves them five behind Barcelona with 18 games played apiece. Real Sociedad are just three further back in third, having completed one more match than the two Clásico rivals.
“We played really well,” Ancelotti said afterwards. “We deserved to win. The team are improving, they are growing.” But so too is the gap at the top.
Madrid had come through a tough derby against Atlético in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night, plus extra time, but Ancelotti was not interested in using that as an excuse. “We played at our limit for 90 minutes, with great intensity,” he said. Thursday’s extra time didn’t show.”
Asked if Real Sociedad could be title contenders, the Italian replied: “They compete really well, but it seems a bit too soon [for them] to win the league.” For his part, La Real coach Imanol Alguacil said: “It’s a point that almost feels like a win. We played a great match.”
Madrid are now at home to Valencia on Thursday as the teams involved in the recent Supercopa make up the matches they missed while away in Saudi Arabia.
Atlético win in Pamplona
Saúl Ñíguez latched onto a ball from deep played by Rodrigo de Paul to score for Atlético Madrid against Osasuna just over 15 minutes from the end of a fiery encounter at El Sadar.
The midfielder’s strike was the only goal of the game, despite chances for both teams, with Diego Simeone’s side probably deserved winners in the end.
It was a positive reaction by Atlético after they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by city rivals Real Madrid on Thursday night, ending their hopes of winning a trophy this season.
“We’re out of the Champions [League] and out of the Copa [Rey], but the motivation is to play for Atlético,” Simeone said. “As long as I am here, I will demand that.”
The Rojiblancos remain in fourth place, five points behind Real Sociedad and three ahead of Villarreal, beaten 1-0 at home to Rayo Vallecano on Monday night. Betis are also three adrift after beating Getafe with a late penalty at the weekend. The Andalusians have played one fewer fixture than Atleti, but their game in hand is a difficult one – against leaders Barcelona on Wednesday.
Williams’ record run ends, Elche still haven’t won
For the first time since April 2016, Iñaki Williams was not involved for Athletic Club in a LaLiga fixture. The 28-year-old forward missed the trip to Celta Vigo with a hamstring injury, bringing to an end his remarkable run of 251 straight appearances for the Basque outfit in LaLiga. His record may never be broken. Without him, Ernesto Valverde’s side lost 1-0 at Balaidos.
Down at the lower end of the table, Sevilla beat Elche 3-0 at the Sánchez Pizjuán to climb to the relative safety of 13th place in the table. Although still inconsistent, Jorge Sampaoli’s side have won their last two home games and should move clear of danger now. Meanwhile, Elche remain rooted to the bottom with six points and no wins at the halfway stage. It’s a long way back from there.
Valencia were beaten 1-0 by Real Valladolid right at the death on Sunday and worse was to follow as coach Gennaro Gattuso walked out on Monday. The ever-reliable Voro now takes temporary charge for the eighth (!!) time at Mestalla.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2022/23 LaLiga season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
Just when you think things cannot get any crazier in Serie A, we had the drama and excitement of round 20. But while the on-pitch excitement remains high, the league’s big clubs have kept their hands in their pockets this January. Here’s our Italian football expert with three takeaways from the weekend.
Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse for Milan this calendar year, they go and outdo themselves. The club has had an involution for the ages. After enjoying a competitive first half of the season where they were right behind Napoli in the standings for first place, they’ve now gone six matches without a win. It isn’t so much the losses though – it’s how they’ve been losing. You have to go back to 1997 to find the last time Milan conceded five goals in a single league match, and good luck finding another streak where they concede 12 goals in a three-match stretch.
Losing 5-2 at San Siro to a Sassuolo side that hadn’t WON a game since mid-October is simply inexcusable. For all the plaudits that Stefano Pioli has received for overachieving and winning the Scudetto last season, the recent criticism is just as warranted. Milan suddenly look unable to carry out simple elementary tasks. Last season’s best defensive unit has become an abomination. A team that has battled through adversity and always responded with personality has seemingly now entered a black hole they’re unable to get out of. If you thought the 2-2 draw to Lecce was bad, they followed it up with the meekest of performances in the Super Cup, losing 3-0 to Inter. Pioli was interrogated by the media asking if he had fixed the problems, he said he had. A few days later, Milan get trounced 4-0 by Lazio. Then, the magnum opus of this current run – five goals conceded against Sassuolo at home, a performance that became so dire that fans started waving white flags in the stands.
If you read this article to any Milanista just a month ago, they would’ve recommended you see a psychiatrist. It’s hard to blame the injuries – Milan have dealt with them all season long. It’s easier to blame last season’s summer transfer market, which now looks to be one of the worst on record. Milan added plenty of youngsters to the mix without first finding quality and proven depth. Stefano Pioli now looks stubborn, refusing to experiment with some of the youngsters that haven’t had a chance when it’s clear that a change in both personnel and tactics is sorely needed.
Why hasn’t Yacine Adli, who was perhaps Milan’s best player in last summer’s friendlies, been given a chance? Why is the 4-2-3-1 still being used when it looks like balance is needed and there’s very little being offered from both the no.10 position and right wing? There’s a lot of unanswered questions for Pioli, and he needs to figure this out fast, or else a top four spot is genuinely at risk.
Palladino’s Monza upset Juventus
In a weekend of upsets, Monza followed Sassuolo by picking up three points away to one of the Italian giants. This time, it was Max Allegri’s Juventus who fell victim to another provincial Italian side. Monza’s new manager Raffaele Palladino has completely changed this club’s mentality since taking over. He’s beaten Juventus twice in the league now, while drawing against Inter and dragging the club up to eleventh place in the standings.
Palladino has followed the playbook used by many other young Italian managers – a modern brand of football characterized by possession, high press and taking a lot of chances at the back. Essentially, this is the antithesis to the old school Italian mentality of Catenaccio. It used to be only Zdenek Zeman, the self proclaimed inventor of the 4-3-3, whose provincial sides would take tons of risks which would lead to incredibly entertaining games. Now it seems that most of these teams getting promoted from Serie B are led by managers who try to play football, rather than sitting deep in a low block and praying for a draw.
Monza certainly have the tools to succeed in Serie A. Led by the former Milan duo of Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliano, the pockets are deep enough to fund this team to a level where they’ll become Serie A mainstays. The transfer market from last summer was intelligent (and the complete opposite of the one I talked about with Milan earlier in the column) – they bought Serie A ready talent that was proven in this league. The likes of Matteo Pessina, Gianluca Caprari, Stefano Sensi and others had logged plenty of games in Italy’s top flight and offered the experience needed to a team that had never before played in the top tier. It was also a team set up to play the style of football that works in 2023 – modern, attacking possession. Bringing in Sensi, a “Marco Verratti-lite” type player when he’s healthy, alongside another promising regista in Juventus owned Nicolo Rovella, is a clear signal of the type of football you want your midfield to play. While it took a few months to get going, the Berlusconi/Galliani duo finally found the right coach to project their ideas onto the pitch and it looks like Monza are here to stay in Italy’s top flight.
Quiet transfer windows
The January transfer window in Serie A has been anything but electric. While the Premier League has been able to spend hundreds of millions of pounds – just in January – to bring in fresh talent, the Italian league has sadly had more negative news. It looks like Inter’s best centre-back Milan Škriniar is headed to PSG, while Juventus sent USMNT international Weston McKennie to Leeds, a club that already has an American manager and two other US teammates of McKennie. With the negative news aside, let’s look at a few underrated moves that have been made in January which could prove interesting for the second half of the season:
Eldor Shomurodov (Roma to Spezia): The Uzbek striker showed his promise at Genoa, when he led the line in the Grifoni attack and had some wonderful performances, showcasing his pace, directness and eye for scoring some incredible long range goals. At Roma, he never clicked with José Mourinho and thus hardly played. At Spezia he’ll be the main man in the attack and it should revitalize his career.
Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg to Fiorentina): I was really impressed in Brekalo’s play at Torino, but sadly it was just a loan spell and he was sent back to Germany at the end of the season. Brekalo can play wide or behind the striker and should offer even more creativity to a possession heavy Fiore team. The Croatian also has an eye for goal, having scored seven league goals in his one season with Torino.
Francesco Caputo: (Sampdoria to Empoli): The 35-year-old striker goes back to Empoli, the place where he really started making a name for him self as a player who has flourished late in his career, only getting the chance to play top flight football in his early 30s. Caputo has been part of a chaotic Sampdoria team that doesn’t play great football and has cycled through different managers. At Empoli, Caputo should prove to be a capable goal scorer once again in a place that he knows well.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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.
Derbies, late drama, goal fests and upsets were all on the menu this weekend, so we have a vast selection of games to pick from for our weekly column. After much deliberation, we have narrowed it down to six matches from Europe’s major leagues.
The Berlin derby has been a regular fixture in the Bundesliga in recent seasons since Union Berlin’s promotion to the top-flight, but we might not see too many more of them. It’s not Union who are going down, though, but the big city club Hertha.
In spite of much investment since their last visit to the 2. Bundesliga in 2012/13, Hertha have not managed to establish themselves as a top-half team, let alone become European competition regulars. Of course, that is largely down to the fact that their investment has been rather unplanned and unguided, and that has led them to the verge of relegation.
Union, on the other hand, have made the most of a relatively tight budget to not just rise to the first tier, but even qualify for Europe last season. This time around, they have not only made it to the Europa League knockouts but have also been keeping step with Bayern at the top of the league.
With that context in mind, it should be easy to envision how this match went. Union were the better side right from the start, and they took the lead on the stroke of half-time with their 11th set-piece goal of the league season. They sealed the result in the 67th minute with a brilliant counterattack immediately after a fruitless penalty appeal from Hertha, which got a quick on-pitch review from the referee.
With their fifth-consecutive Berlin derby victory, Union closed the gap to Bayern down to just one point after the defending champions drew with Eintracht Frankfurt. Hertha, on the other hand, remain in the relegation zone.
Ligue 1 is the self-styled ‘League of Talents’, and while that phrase is designed to refer to players, it is true of certain managers too. Chief among those is 30-year-old Will Still, who is the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues by some margin, at the moment.
Still’s story is quite fascinating. Bitten by the bug of Football Manager alongside his brother Edward (who himself is a manager who was in charge of Eupen currently), Will decided to pursue football studies and worked in Preston North End’s youth academy at the time. Having been born and brought up in Belgium, he went back to the country after graduation and took up an internship at STVV, then in the second tier.
After that, he got opportunities in assistant managerial roles in a number of first and second-tier clubs, and also had a couple of brief spells as interim manager. Then, in 2021, he got a call from Reims to join Óscar García’s coaching staff. After a few months, he returned to Belgium to complete his coaching licenses but was back at Reims in 2022 after that was done.
García’s side got off to a terrible start in the 2022/23 season and found themselves in the relegation zone with just one win from nine games, so the Spanish manager was sacked. Still was promoted on an interim basis until the World Cup, and it is safe to say he did alright. After holding PSG to a goalless draw on his Ligue 1 debut, the young Englishman stayed unbeaten and oversaw three wins before mid-November.
That impressive run of results convinced the club to offer him the position till the end of the season, but since he is still studying for his UEFA Pro License, they will have to pay penalties worth €575,000 to the league.
That fine seems worth it already since Reims have remained unbeaten on the other side of the World Cup and have climbed up to 11th in the table. Their latest match saw Still and company visit the Parc de Princes, where Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun’s stoppage-time equaliser earned them another thoroughly deserved point against the league leaders.
The Eredivisie has been serving up some unbelievable drama since the World Cup break, and we were treated to the game of season on Saturday. Second-placed AZ took on European contenders Utrecht in a match where they knew they would temporarily go to the top of the table with a win.
They didn’t start well at all and found themselves two goals down after about a quarter of an hour as Greek striker Anastasios Douvikas struck twice in quick succession. Then, AZ turned the game around within the next twenty minutes thanks to goals from Maxim Dekker and a double from their own Greek striker – Evangelos Pavlidis. Utrecht quickly equalised, so it was 3-3 at half-time.
If anyone thought things would calm down after the half-time break, they would be quickly proven wrong. The visitors looked the better side in the opening exchanges of the period and thought they took the lead in about ten minutes, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Douvikas got his hat-trick eventually, but AZ turned the scoreline around again through Mees de Wit and Pavlidis’ own hat-trick goal. Utrecht made it 5-5 soon thereafter thanks to a brave header from Sander van de Streek, and that is how the match ended.
It is too easy and quite a cliché to speak of any of Wrexham’s matches using the word ‘Hollywood’ as an adjective, but there is simply no way to accurately describe their most recent FA Cup tie other than by saying that you could not script it better.
Wrexham’s story is quite well-documented now. Having previously gone on European adventures, the third-oldest professional football club in the world was in turmoil since the turn of the century after years of mismanagement. But, there was light at the end of the tunnel in 2020, when Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over the club.
Of course, there was some scepticism initially as to just how invested the new owners would be, but that question was answered pretty quickly. They immediately aimed to end their 14-year absence from the EFL and reached the promotion play-off last season, but fell short at the final hurdle. That story is depicted very well by the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series that you might have heard of once or twice.
This season, Wrexham are aiming to go up through the one automatic promotion spot in the National League, but have gone on quite an incredible side-quest in the FA Cup. They put at least three goals past each of their opponents in the first three rounds, which included Championship side Coventry City.
Next came Sheffield United, who look on course to return to the Premier League next season. They needed just over a minute to open the scoring at the Racecourse Ground, and then it really felt that the home side were punching way too far above their weight. However, they used the great leveller called set-pieces to turn the game around in the second half, but were pegged back quite quickly.
Then came a big twist as Sheffield United had a player sent off in the 71st minute. This was Wrexham’s golden chance to extend this already-incredible cup run, but they had to do the job in normal time in order to avoid a replay. It looked as though they would do it when star striker Paul Mullin restored their lead in the 86th minute.
Image from IMAGO
The Racecourse Ground had almost already started celebrating what would have been a thoroughly deserved victory, but it was not to be. Deep into stoppage time, Wrexham got a taste of their own medicine when John Egan equalised from a corner tp set up a replay at Bramall Lane.
Not all movies have happy endings, but this one will get a sequel.
We have covered Juventus in the last couple of editions of this column so we would have quite liked to pick a match between any two other Serie A sides, but Monza have made that rather tough for us.
Let us focus on the Lombardian outfit then. Monza’s football club’s history can be traced back to 1910, but it has never previously been represented in the Italian top-flight in spite of a very lengthy stay in Serie B. In recent times, the club has endured a lot of financial turmoil, most recently going bankrupt in 2015. They then started afresh in Serie D, going up a tier in 2017.
The real turning point came in 2018 when the club was purchased by Fininvest, led by former Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan President Silvio Berlusconi. They went up to Serie B in 2020 and immediately started challenging for promotion. The promotion play-offs proved cruel to them in 2021, but they were the reason they finally achieved their 110-year target last year.
Getting promoted is one thing but staying up is another, as Monza learnt quite quickly when they found themselves plum last after six matches with just one point. It was time to bring in a new manager, and their pick was 38-year-old Raffaele Palladino, who took up his first senior role in such a position.
His first assignment saw his side host Juventus and come away with a crucial one-nil win, which proved to be the spark for an upturn in fortunes. They have gone on to win six matches since, climbing well clear of the relegation zone. Before their reverse fixture against the now-fallen Old Lady, they were unbeaten in five league matches.
That streak has quite deservedly been extended. While lots of questions can be asked of Massimiliano Allegri’s choice of tactics, Monza deserve plaudits for a superb performance at the Allianz Stadium, especially in the first half when they bounced back from the disappointment of having an early goal ruled out by VAR to take a two-goal lead into the break.
By holding on to that lead, Monza became the first newly-promoted side to do the double over Juventus in Serie A since the inaugural season of the competition. Thanks to Juventus’ points deduction, they have also been leapfrogged in the table by their visitors, who are now just three points off seventh place and well clear of the drop zone.
There were some interesting matches and results in Spain this weekend, but the game we have picked does not necessarily stand out in either of those categories. However, it could well be the most well-remembered match of this round, and the reason behind that has something to do with one player.
In fact, the big story is about a player who was not even there. We are, of course, talking about Iñaki Williams, whose incredible streak of 251 consecutive La Liga appearances has finally come to an end due to an injury. He sustained that in midweek while helping his side beat Valencia and advance to the Copa del Rey semi-finals, but at the time, it did not seem too severe so his absence here was rather unexpected.
Of course, Williams’ appearance streak is a league record. It started way back in April 2016, a time when Leicester City were beginning to believe the unthinkable, and the wider world was concerned with the Panama Papers leak. In this age of about 50 matches per season where squad rotation is a necessity, it seems incredibly unlikely that anyone can take this record away from the Ghanaian international.
Athletic Club will certainly want him back quickly, though, since they drew yet another blank in the league and lost to a relegation-battling Celta side, whom we gave a little more attention to last week.
🏆 The FA Cup fourth round begins, tonight, with a blockbuster tie between Manchester City and Arsenal, currently the two teams best placed in the Premier League title race. This is, of course, a different competition but due to cancellations and fixture quirks, Guardiola and Arteta’s sides haven’t actually played each other for a full calendar year.
So this then, is the first test for City and Arsenal’s class of 2022/23, ahead of further showdowns in February, and April, back in the league.
🇫🇷 In Ligue 1, the Friday night drama is provided by Lorient and Rennes, who meet in an all-Breton derby. Rennes fans perhaps see Nantes as the bigger regional rival but this season, at least, Lorient might pose the bigger threat to Rennes chances of finishing in the European qualification places.
Lorient have won just once in the league since the turn of the year, a run that has seen them drop to eighth while Rennes moved fifth, five points above them, following the win over PSG two weekends ago. They were however knocked out of the Coupe de France in their last game (vs. Marseille) while Lorient made it past lower league opposition on penalties.
Saturday
🇩🇪 For some sides in Germany’s top flight, Saturday’s games will be their third in little over a week – that, after the mammoth 10 week gap in the league programme caused by the World Cup and winter break!
Leaders Bayern, who have failed to win their two games – against Leipzig and FC Köln – now face the prospect of fourth placed Eintracht Frankfurt at home.
You might think first versus fourth constitutes the biggest game of the day but that’s before you hear that second placed Union play at fierce city-rivals Hertha in the Berlin Derby. Union are unbeaten in five previous meetings between the two and won the corresponding fixture 4-1 at Hertha last season, a repeat of which the struggling hosts – who sit second bottom in the table – will be desperate to avoid.
🇪🇸 LaLiga front-runners Barcelona are the biggest draw in Spain on Saturday, with their trip to Girona providing them with the opportunity to extend their lead over Real Madrid to six points.
The 1-0 win against Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembélé, extended their current unbeaten run to 12 games. For their part, Girona have looked steady following their top flight return and they sit 11th in the table despite last week’s defeat to Villarreal.
🏴 Back in the FA Cup, ties pitting Premier League sides against Championship opposition is the theme of the day. Manchester United play Reading, who are managed by former-United midfielder Paul Ince while Spurs go to Preston North End, both classic English sides nicknamed the Lilywhites, and Fulham face Sunderland.
Elsewhere, Accrington Stanley, of League One, only confirmed their place in the fourth round late on Tuesday night after an extra-time penalty saw them beat non-league Boreham Wood. That means they’ve had very little time to prepare for what is a lunchtime kick-off against Premier League Leeds United.
🇮🇹 In Serie A, Inter travel to bottom side Cremonese as they seek to get back-on-track after last Monday’s surprise home defeat to mid-table Empoli. That was the kind of result that sums up the frustration at Inter this season – Simone Inzaghi’s side had beaten Milan convincingly in the Supercoppa just a few days before that and earlier in the month, they ended Napoli’s long unbeaten record only to follow that with a draw against Monza. They do however, remain fourth and just a point behind Milan, who sit second.
Another game that might be worth keeping an eye on is Atalanta‘s clash with Sampdoria. The Bergamo club have been rampant in recent matches, scoring 16 goals in their last three with the likes of Ademola Lookman in inspired form – he’s bagged six and set up two others in that run. They’ll be licking their lips at the prospect of facing what is the third worse defence in Serie A.
🇫🇷 Two of French football’s biggest names also meet on Saturday evening, with Marseille (3rd) coming up against Monaco (4th). Heading in to this one, the side from the principality haven’t lost in eight away games but Marseille have only conceded three goals in the six competitive games they’ve played since the re-start. And they’ve won all of those.
The sides last faced one another just before the World Cup break, with Marseille coming out on top in a five-goal thriller thanks to 98th minute winner, from Sead Kolašinac.
Sunday
🏴 The FA Cup action continues in to Sunday – and indeed Monday when West Ham travel to fallen giants Derby County. Getting back to the weekend though, Liverpool return to Brighton, the scene of their 3-0 defeat in the Premier League just two weekends ago. Will Jürgen Klopp’s side get their revenge or will Roberto De Zerbi’s in-form Seagulls continue their rich vein of form against England’s big six?
Wrexham, the last remaining non-league (and non-English) side left in the competition are also in action. They face in-form Championship club Sheffield United. Having recently gone top of the fifth tier National League, promotion to the EFL remains the priority for the Hollywood-backed club but this will be a good test against a Blades side unbeaten in nine, and with promotion ambitions of their own.
🇮🇹 The fixture schedule looks busy in Italy with four of the top five all involved on Sunday, plus Juventus, who would be up there were it not for their recent points deduction.
Runaway Scudetto candidates Napoli meet Roma in the week that coach José Mourinho celebrated his 60th birthday. And how he’d love to ruin the current buoyant mood in Naples by becoming the first coach to beat them on home soil since April 2022.
Lazio looked mightily impressive in Tuesday’s 4-0 drubbing of Milan so watch out for their clash with Fiorentina. Rome’s other club will also be aiming to keep a fourth straight clean sheet as they look to better Milan‘s result against Sassuolo and move second in the table.
🇪🇸 In LaLiga, we get a huge match-up between the two sides attempting to chase down Barcelona – Real Madrid (second, three points back) against Real Sociedad (third, another three points further back).
It’s a second key game in a matter of days for Madrid after they eventually overcame derby rivals Atlético in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, after extra-time, on Thursday night. Goals from Rodrygo, Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior turned the game in their favour after Álvaro Morata had scored for Atleti. And that game itself, came off the back of tough league tests against in-form Villarreal and Athletic Club, a testing run that Carlo Ancelotti’s side have, it has to be said, come through with flying colours. Real Sociedad’s midweek Copa loss to Barcelona was their first competitive defeat since November so they’ll be fighting for the three points that they know will take them level with their hosts.
Elsewhere, Atlético Madrid go to seventh placed Osasuna amidst rumours that coach Diego Simeone is readying himself to leave his position – rumours dismissed by the man himself – in the aftermath of Thursday’s exit from the Copa.
🇫🇷 Playing last in Ligue 1 this weekend, PSG could find themselves needing a win to re-open the gap between themselves and Lens at the top of the table. Post-World Cup defeats – to Lens, and Rennes – have left them looking more than a little vulnerable. And a superstar line-up were held for almost half-an-hour by sixth tier amateur outfit Pays de Cassel in last week’s Coupe de France encounter before the floodgates eventually opened, allowing Kylian Mbappé to plunder five of seven unanswered goals.
So then, a healthy league win, at home against Stade Reims should restore some order to an ever-restless fanbase.
🇩🇪 Lastly, Bayer Leverkusen, who’ve won six of their nine Bundesliga games and have moved up to eighth in the table since Xabi Alonso took over as coach in October, now face fifth placed Borussia Dortmund.
Edin Terzić is still striving for that kind of consistency at Germany’s second biggest club this season but the black and yellows have won both of their games since the re-start – albeit they’ve needed late Gio Reyna winners to do so against both Augsburg (4-3) and Mainz (2-1).
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The Magpies conceded 62 last season and Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side conceded over 60 goals in all of their seasons in the English top-flight, they even conceded 70 on one occasion. The Cherries were easy on the eye, often looking to play football ‘the right way’, but struggled defensively.
Many expected Newcastle to follow suit and it did seem to be the case at the very start of the Howe era at St James’ Park, with the Magpies conceding 19 goals in his first nine Premier League matches in charge.
Over the next 18 games, however, they allowed two or more goals in a single match on just two occasions. That form has carried over into this season. Newcastle have conceded just 11 times in 19 matches and have allowed two or more goals in just two matches – the 3-3 draw with Manchester City and the 2-1 loss to Liverpool.
The Magpies dipped into the transfer market this summer to bolster their defensive unit, adding Sven Botman and Nick Pope. Both have been key in taking the defensive numbers to the next level. Newcastle have kept a clean sheet in 11 of their 19 outings and are the only team to be in double digits for this particular metric this term.
They have already eclipsed their clean sheets total from last season (eight) and there is still half a season to be played.
Conceding just 0.6 goals per match, Howe’s side are comfortably the most resilient in the Premier League. Their underlying numbers are just as impressive, too. They rank third for Expected Goals Conceded (17.7) behind Arsenal (16.8) and Manchester City (14.1).
For added context here, last season Newcastle were averaging 1.6 goals against per match and ranked 15th for this matric. They ranked 12th for xG against (63.8).
Now, Howe has spent money in the transfer market but improvements have come on the training pitch, with the 45-year-old tweaking tactics to make his side much harder to break down. He has the Magpies defending from the front.
When looking at possessions won in the final third, Newcastle have risen from 18th to fourth in the Premier League. Last season, they averaged 3.9 per 90 and now this figure stands at 5.6.
Without the ball, they are ultra-aggressive against most opponents. They press as a unit and this allows them to dominate the space. We can see an example of this below in their recent match against Fulham.
Just after a minute of play, the hosts are defending a throw-in deep in their own half. Look how compact their defensive lines are. There is no space for the visitors to have proper possession in the final third and the ball is eventually cleared.
But look how Newcastle react, as a team, to this. Everyone steps up but they do so as a unit. There is barely any space between the midfield and the defensive lines and they are very narrow. They are acting as a screen between the opposition and the goalkeeper, Pope.
The opposition aren’t going to be able to play through them so are forced to attack via wide areas. This is Newcastle dictating where opponents can and cannot play. This is what all of the top defensive teams do.
By funnelling teams into wide areas, Newcastle are allowed to defend in a way that suits them. Crosses into the area cause very few problems when you have a 6ft5 goalkeeper and three of your regular back four – Botman, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn – are winning over 65% of their aerial duels.
What Howe has done over a 12 month period is a masterclass on how to set up a team to defend, dictate and dominate.
(Images from IMAGO)
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.
It was another dark moment for Serie A over the weekend, as Juventus were handed a 15 point deduction in the standings following their involvement in shady accounting practices – something which involved inflating player transfers as a way to boost capital gains. As it stands, the Bianconeri currently sit mid-table on the FotMob app. None of this is set in stone, however, as Juve are appealing to the sporting court and hoping to get the penalty reduced.
In terms of the actual football, Juventus hosted Atalanta in a game that became a welcome distraction to all the negativity surrounding the club. Max Allegri’s team played one of their more entertaining games of the season, finishing with a 3-3 scoreline. Instead of playing their usual pragmatic style, Allegri finally shifted up a gear and had his team successfully match the pace and intensity of Atalanta.
The Juventus players showed plenty of heart and pride, playing with professionalism in a period where you wouldn’t fault them for being distracted with the current situation that has engulfed the club. Ángel Di MarÍa and Arek Milik were particularly impressive. The Argentine World Cup winner looked unstoppable in the first half, with clever movements and dynamism. Milik finished off a beautiful passing sequence by dispatching a pinpoint volley into the bottom corner. This is the type of Juve performance that we’ve been desperate to see more consistently – a team that is aesthetically pleasing and as clichéd as this may sound, plays to win.
A Nigerian takeover in the scoring charts
Two Nigerians sit at the top of the Serie A Capocannoniere standings, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman. While Osimhen’s output isn’t really a shock, as he’s finally playing more regular football, Lookman has been a welcome surprise for Atalanta.
Victor Osimhen has finally had a stretch of games at Napoli without serious injury and he’s looking like the best striker in the league. Against local rivals Salernitana, he scored once again in Napoli’s 2-0 victory. That now makes it 13 goals in 15 league appearances to go with three assists. His goals have come from all sorts of angles too – from bullet headers to world class volleys, low driven finishes while running at full pace and curling finesse shots into the top corner. That’s why the Nigerian striker has looked unplayable – there really isn’t a bulletproof way to defend him. He’s lightning quick and devastating on the counter, so it’s a massive risk to play a high defensive line against Napoli. Most teams drop deep into a low block to limit the spaces in the final third against the Neapolitan possession game (currently the best in the league at over 60%), which allows Osimhen to show off his aerial ability. His leaping and timing on headers, combined with general accuracy, mean that he’s a danger any time crosses are flung in from either flank. The only thing that has stopped him from topping the Capocannoniere charts in the past have been injuries. A healthy Osimhen has proven to be a world class player.
On the other hand, Ademola Lookman’s production for Atalanta has been one of the biggest revelations of the season. The Atalanta winger has been in searing form, including 10 goals in his last 12 appearances in Serie A. There are some who could’ve probably predicted this sort of form once upon a time. After all, he has been able to garner some high profile transfers in the past – an €11.8m transfer from Charlton to Everton when he was a teenager, and then more recently an €18m sale that sent him from Everton to German club RB Leipzig. However, the London-born Lookman has never scored more than six goals in an entire season. As it stands at the halfway point of the season, he’s on pace to score 22 with Atalanta. Anyone who has followed Atalanta closely since Gianpiero Gasperini took over six years ago, shouldn’t be too surprised. The Italian manager has developed a knack for being able to get the best out of enigmatic attacking players. The best example is perhaps Luis Muriel – a very talented but inconsistent striker who had issues keeping his weight down in the past. Under Gasperini, Muriel had a season where he was right alongside Robert Lewandowski in terms of goals-per-minute.
Lookman’s last three games
The Curious Case of Davide Nicola
There’s been a long running joke about some of the volcanic Serie A Presidents of provincial sides having a quick trigger with managers – two in particular have stood out in the past: Palermo’s ex-President Maurizio Zamparini, who infamously went through 45 different managers while in charge of the Sicilian club, and Enrico Preziosi of Genoa, who had a similar relationship with the “mister” of the Grifoni.
Fast forward to 2023 and we’ve just witnessed a situation reminiscent of all those reactionary moves from unsettled Presidents. Salernitana owner Danilo Iervolino moved to sack Nicola after the club’s 8-2 loss against Atalanta (a bit of an anomaly if you look at the xG). The move felt harsh given the Italian manager’s miracle salvation of the club last season after he took over at the midway point. Nicola then phoned the President and “tugged at his heart strings” by delivering a passionate spiel about why he should be given another chance to lead the club. The conversation worked, and Davide Nicola was rehired as Salernitana boss just days after being fired.
While it ends up being a feel good story, the whole situation reeks of confusion at the top of the club, when stability is needed. Nicola has already formed a reputation for miracle salvations, so he seems like the right man to try to get the team back to winning ways after this current winless streak – which now stands at eight games in a row.
(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.
Haaland’s 4th hat-trick makes him a shoe-in for our top rating while Arsenal’s match-winners, Nketiah and Saka join him up top. Kieran Trippier is almost ever-present in the back-line and there was a big 9.0 rating for Emi Martínez.
Just when you think the Premier League table is taking shape, shock results occur to change the landscape in the top tier of English football. It happened again this weekend and we’re here to cover the biggest talking points.
Erling Haaland is making it look too easy in the Premier League. The Manchester City marksman added another treble this weekend in the 3-0 win over Wolves. The former BVB attacker now has 24 goals for the season – enough to win the Golden Boot in the previous four campaigns.
He did break another record this weekend. Haaland scored his fourth hattrick of the season in only his 19th appearance. Prior to that, Ruud Van Nistelrooy was the quickest to four trebles in the Premier League, achieving the feat in 65 matches.
While the focus was on yet another Haaland masterclass in the penalty area, the win did keep City in the title race.
The sign of Champions
Arsenal needed a last-minute winner to overcome a Manchester United side at the Emirates. However, the scoreline did not tell the entire story.
In truth, the away side offered very little and finished with an Expected Goals total of just 0.36. Erik ten Hag’s men needed a Marcus Rashford stunner and an Aaron Ramsdale mistake to make it a competitive match.
Arsenal controlled the ball, the space and the match, taking a total of 25 shots and limiting United to just six. They also racked up an extraordinarily high Expected Goals total of 3.25.
They kept going right until the very end and Eddie Nketiah’s winner was deserved.
The Lampard era comes to an end
Frank Lampard’s final game as Everton manager arrived against the club he made his debut for. It must’ve felt like déjà vu for the Blues on Saturday as they dominated the ball with 68% possession but did absolutely nothing with it.
They managed just five shots in total and created chances worth 0.55 Expected Goals. West Ham, on the other hand, carved out opportunities worth 2.27 Expected Goals. The hosts sacrificed possession to dictate the space and had a lot of success hitting the Toffees on the break.
It had been an issue that had plagued Lampard’s side all season. The next Everton manager will have to find a way to turn possession into goals.
Mitoma magic
Kaoru Mitoma was the player of the match for Brighton in their 2-2 draw with Leicester City, earning himself an 8.5 rating on the FotMob app.
He has been a revelation for the Seagulls ever since the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi and he really caught the eye against the Foxes.
The 25-year-old opened the scoring for the visitors, created two chances, completed 60% of his dribbles and recovered the ball on seven occasions. It takes some doing to steal the spotlight away from Alexis Max Allister and Moises Caicedo, but Mitoma did just that.
Ray(a) of light
Leeds and Brentford played out a 0-0 draw on Sunday and there wasn’t much to take from the game. However, without the exploits of David Raya between the sticks for the Bees, it might’ve been a different story.
He made five saves and prevented an Expected Goals on Target value of 1.25. Leeds will feel unlucky not to have picked up all three points at Elland Road but sometimes a keeper puts in a Player of the Match performance and you just have to rue your luck.
(Cover image 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.
More major men’s leagues returned this weekend to add to the already-abundant action and drama. We will be going over the best of that by highlighting six matches from six different leagues in this week’s edition of Last Weekend.
The last 10 days have been really bad for Juventus. First, they got blown away by Napoli last Friday, and then this weekend, they were hit with a 15-point deduction for financial irregularities in their previous statements. That pulled them down from the Champions League spots to the brink of falling out of the top half..
They had a tough fixture this weekend too, as they came up against an Atalanta side that had scored 13 goals in their last two games. Their main man in form was Ademola Lookman, who needed just five minutes to open the scoring in this match and enter double digits in terms of Serie A goals.
Juventus fought back, though, as Ángel Di Maria pulled them level from the penalty spot, and then Arkadiusz Milik scored a wonderfully taken goal to give them a lead going into half-time. It was the visitors’ turn to counterpunch then, Joakim Mæhle equalised just seconds into the second period, and Lookman made it three braces in three matches for himself well before the hour-mark.
There would be no winner in this match after Juventus equalised again through Danilo with a nicely worked free-kick, so the spoils were shared in Turin. That leaves Atalanta within a couple of points of the Champions League places, while Juventus will now refocus to try and finish seventh, which will likely earn them a spot in the Conference League next season.
De Klassieker is naturally always a big match in the Netherlands as it features two of the country’s oldest and most successful clubs in its biggest rivalry. This weekend, though, there was much more than bragging rights on the line.
Ajax have won the last three Eredivisie titles back-to-back, but that streak is under real threat as they found themselves five points behind league-leaders Feyenoord going into this fixture. There are other teams involved in the title race too, as AZ Alkmaar, PSV and FC Twente were all close to the defending champions in the table.
The match itself went as one would expect. The two teams were almost evenly matched as neither could impose themselves on the game, not that they took too many risks to try and do so either. The home team drew first blood in the 34th minute, as Igor Paixão scored just his second goal for the club from a fair way out.
Ajax seemed to have the upper hand thereafter as they pushed hard for an equaliser, but they could not create much from open play. They did eventually find the back of the net in the 71st minute when substitute Steven Bergwijn set Davy Klaassen up with a header into an open goal from very close proximity.
After that, both sides seemed content with a point, so the gap between them in the table has remained unchanged. However, Feyenoord’s lead has been cut down to two points after all the other title contenders won their respective matches – which also means Ajax have slipped down to fifth place.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea are sides that would usually be expected to be competing in the title race as well, but when they kicked off the day’s action on Saturday, they showed just why they are where they are. Neither team looked anywhere near their best as they played out a goalless draw at Anfield in what was the 50,000th men’s top-flight football match in England.
The closest we got to a goal came when Kai Havertz put the ball in the back of the net after a corner in the third minute, but VAR had a clear offside call to make. After that, while neither defence looked particularly secure, neither attack seemed on song either so there were a good few chances at both ends but no goals.
There were silver linings for both teams in the second half, mainly in the form of their substitutes. For Chelsea, big-money signing Mykhailo Mudryk looked absolutely electric on his Premier League debut and really livened the match up late on. For Jürgen Klopp’s side, Darwin Núñez was sharp on his return from injury, and will hopefully lead the line for them from the start going forward.
The table does not paint a pretty picture for either side, though, as they are both level on 29 points in 9th and 10th spot. They are 21 points behind Arsenal so the title race is completely out of question, but it will still take something special to make up the ten-point deficit to fourth-placed Newcastle United.
The visitors had actually enjoyed a great first half of the season which saw them end 2022 in second place, just four points behind Bayern. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, had a terrible start that left them winless in five, but they more than recovered by the end of the Hinründe as they went into this match with a nine-match unbeaten run and four straight wins in the league.
In this match, it was the hosts who got off to a flyer. Patrick Wimmer opened the scoring within 100 seconds, and he went on to set up Jonas Wind with a brilliant assist. Wind scored his second before half-time, and on the other side of the break, Yannick Gerhardt got in on the action. Late on, Ridle Baku and a stoppage-time penalty from Luca Waldschmidt made the scoreline a little ugly for Freiburg.
After the match, the Freiburg players and indeed head coach Christian Streich were at a loss for words when asked to describe what went wrong in this defeat, which has pulled them down to fourth place. They will be keen to forget this result quite quickly, but Wolfsburg will want to build on it and mount a charge for one of the Champions League spots, to which they currently have a four-point gap.
While Chelsea are disappointed to be 10th in England, there is a club in Spain that is exceeding expectations by breaking into the top half almost half a season in.
That team is RCD Mallorca, whose latest promotion to La Liga was just two seasons ago, and they only stayed up by a point last time out. With that in mind, it is easy to understand why being closer in terms of points to the European spots than the bottom half is mightily impressive.
The mastermind behind their success is veteran Mexican head coach Javier Aguirre. He was brought in in March last year to rescue their season, which he successfully did, and is now taking things a step further.
The key turnaround he has made has been shoring up Mallorca’s defence. Last season, they let in 63 goals, the third-most in the division, but so far this term, they have let in less than a goal per game having conceded just 16 times. That is the joint fourth-best tally in La Liga, and it is backed up by equally impressive underlying numbers which are even better than the two capital clubs.
At the other end, Mallorca’s attack has not changed much as they have gone from scoring 0.9 to 0.8 goals per game, but they have been very efficient. On average, every goal they have scored has been worth about 1.66 points, which is the best conversion rate in the top five leagues this season.
Celta Vigo got a firsthand experience of this efficiency on Friday, as Dani Rodríguez scored the only goal of the game in the 59th minute to secure all three points for the home team. While they are enjoying a great start to the new year, Celta are in real trouble as they are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference having won just one of their last 11 league games.
Our final match for this week takes us to Egypt, where two clubs that are not just the country’s, but all of Africa’s biggest and most successful, faced off in the Cairo derby for the 125th time in the league.
Zamalek have won the last two league titles but went into this match on the back foot as they were five points and two places away from their rivals. Their form wasn’t any good either, as they had failed to win their last four fixtures, a run which includes a semi-final elimination in the cup at the hands of Pyramids FC.
Their position has only worsened after this match, where they were beaten comprehensively. Zamalek did manage to keep the scores level till the hour-mark and equalled their opponents in terms of performance too, but after conceding first, they never looked like they would be able to come away with anything. Mahmoud Kahraba scored first for Al Ahly, and then a late brace from Mohamed Sherif sealed the result.
This win maintains Al Ahly’s four-point lead at the top of the table over top-flight newbies Future FC, while Zamalek drop down to fifth place.
🇩🇪 We start this preview with the welcome return of the Bundesliga after an unprecedented 10 week break. And being clever, the league have pushed Bayern’s trip to RB Leipzig as the first game of the re-start. That’s first vs. third, albeit there is currently a six-point gap between Leipzig and the leaders.
Bayern come in to the game in the midst of an injury crisis – eased, in part, by the signing of Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer in the aftermath of Manuel Neuer’s skiing accident . A youthful Bayern side rallied to draw 4-4 in a training ground friendly with Leipzig’s Austrian cousins from Salzburg last week but we suspect it’ll be a different sort of line-up for this one.
Leipzig do themselves have a long list of injuries to key players but they’ll be hoping to start strongly and continue the 13 game unbeaten run that they took in to the extended winter break.
🏴 In England, we’ll be visiting our partners at Sheffield United as the Championship title race takes centre-stage on Friday night. The Blades, who sit second in the league, host Hull City looking to keep the pressure on leaders Burnley. Kicking off just 15 minutes later, Vincent Kompany’s Clarets take on West Brom who have risen to sixth on the back of an impressive change in fortunes following the appointment of Spanish coach Carlos Corberán.
🇦🇷 Argentine giants Boca Juniors and Racing Club are set to clash in the Supercopa, the country’s traditional curtain raiser. League officials might be hoping a chance of scenery keeps the lid on this one with the game taking place in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – the last domestic meeting between these two ended with 10 red cards being shown in the final minutes of a very heated encounter!
Saturday
🏴 There are some heavyweight ties in the Premier League this weekend and they start with the lunchtime kick-off between Liverpool and Chelsea – two big clubs currently struggling for form. Sat level on points but down in ninth and tenth in the league both Jürgen Klopp and Graham Potter will be looking for a statement result that can energise their respective teams as we head in to the second half of the season.
Brighton, who’s win over Liverpool moved them above the Reds last weekend now face a Leicester City side who are on a five game losing run in the league.
And later in the day, Newcastle go to Crystal Palace hoping to better Manchester United’s draw there on Wednesday night – a result that will enable them to re-take third place for at least 24 hours. Only five sides in the division have scored less goals than Palace this season so the Magpies may be confident of extending their league high record of 11 clean sheets.
🇮🇹 In Serie A, it’s been a strange week for Salernitana. Having suffered a whopping 8-2 defeat at Atalanta, the club decided to sack coach Davide Nicola only to change their minds and re-hire him two days later. Nicola was hailed as a hero for keeping the club up last season, their first in the top flight for over 20 years, but the first game of his new spell in charge will be a tough one – the great southern derby against league leaders Napoli. The Partenopei will no doubt still be riding the high of last week’s 5-1 humiliation of Juventus.
🇩🇪 The Bundesliga restart continues with games for two of this season’s surprise packages. Freiburg currently sit second and boast the second best defensive record in the league, something they’ll test as they go to seventh placed Wolfsburg.
Union Berlin were the early pacesetters but defeat – at Freiburg – just before the winter break saw them drop down to fifth. However, an impressive run of six straight wins in recent friendlies should have restored the fan’s faith that they can maintain a challenge for the European places – they start the second half of the campaign at home to mid-table Hoffenheim.
🇪🇸 With the top two not in action until Sunday, the sides just behind them are the biggest draw in tomorrow’s games in LaLiga. Real Sociedad can make it 10 games unbeaten with a positive result at Rayo Vallecano and a win would would put them level on points with Real Madrid.
Atlético Madrid currently sit seven points behind the Basque side, in fourth, and Diego Simeone will be hoping that his side’s habit of dropping points in winnable looking matches isn’t in evidence again as they take on Real Valladolid.
🇪🇬 The battle between Cairo giants Zamalek and Al Ahly, arguably African football’s biggest club rivalry, is another game to watch out for on Saturday. The hosts are the two-time defending champions but find themselves off the pace despite having lost only one of their 13 games while Egypt’s most successful club, Al Ahly, remain unbeaten and sit top of the table.
Sunday
🇪🇸 Fresh from a successful week that saw them tour the world; lifting the Supercopa against Madrid in Saudi Arabia before thrashing third tier AD Ceuta, in the Spanish enclave on the northern coast of Africa, Barcelona will be enjoying home comforts on Sunday. There, they face Getafe looking to maintain their three point advantage in the title race.
It looked like it was going to take Madrid a little time to recover from the disappointment of losing last weekend’s clásico as they went 2-0 down at Villarreal in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday evening but Carlo Ancelotti’s side recovered to win that tie with three second half goals. They face another stiff test this weekend though as they go to eighth placed Athletic Club where they never enjoy a warm welcome from the Basque locals.
🏴 The headline clash back in the Premier League is leaders Arsenal against old rivals Manchester United. After the recent dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool its somewhat refreshing to see these two once again battling it out towards the top of the table!
Heading into the weekend Arsenal boast a five point advantage over City with United a further three points back. United missed the chance to cut that deficit due to a last minute Palace equaliser on Wednesday night, a result which ended their run of nine straight wins, while the Gunners have had the week off to bask in their Derby Day heroics at Spurs last Sunday.
Elsewhere, Manchester City entertain Wolves just 72 hours after Thursday’s dramatic 4-2 comeback win over Spurs and Leeds United face Brentford.
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund must wait until Sunday to get their season back underway and they do so at home, against Augsburg. The Black and Yellows currently sit outside the top five but they are faring better than fellow giants Gladbach (8th) and Leverkusen (12th), who face each other in the day’s other game.
🇳🇱 It’s de Klassieker time in Dutch football! Feyenoord take on Ajax in what looks like being an even more crucial than usual match-up between the Eredivisie’s two fiercest rivals. Three-time defending champions Ajax are in relative crisis(!) having drawn each of their last four games in the league – two of which have come since the turn of the year. Meanwhile, Feyenoord have looked strong and remain unbeaten since a 4-3 defeat to PSV way back in September.
Ajax have however won the last six meetings between these two, but could we be seeing a changing of the guard – both in the league, and this game?
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