Quarter-finals
Morocco’s heroes take four slots, while Croatia’s main players in the victory over Brazil also feature heavily. Lionel Messi’s goal + assist vs. Netherlands sees him take our top rating.
Who was your player of the Quarter-finals? Who was unlucky to miss out? Let us know in the comments.
Gareth Southgate has had great success as the manager of England. He helped guide the Three Lions to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and to the final of the delayed Euro 2020 competition.
It has been a blessing and a curse for the former centre-back. Why? Well, once the dust has settled and people have realised that it didn’t actually come home, there is always an exaggerated autopsy to determine what went wrong. Instead of focusing on how this has been one of the most successful periods for England as a football team, people are keen to look for a reason as to why these opportunities haven’t been converted into silverware.
The manager is always at the centre of it all.
Some believe he is too defensive and over-cautious meaning he fails to get the most out of the attacking talent he has at his disposal. Heading into the 2022 World Cup, they may have had a point.
England failed to win any of their six group matches in the Nations League and scored just four goals, three of which arrived in the 3-3 draw with Germany. Southgate used a variety of systems across the six matches but opted for a 3-4-3 in the final two outings ahead of the World Cup kicking off.
It was believed that this was a sign of things to come in Qatar and, on paper, it didn’t look great. The Three Lions had no set system, they weren’t scoring goals and they were struggling to keep clean sheets.
Yet as England head into their quarter-final clash with France, they have arguably been one of the most consistent and balanced sides at the World Cup so far. Southgate surprised many by going with a 4-3-3 shape from day one but it was a risk that paid off.
In possession, the system morphs into a 2-3-5. England essentially defend with five and attack with five. In previous tournaments, Southgate’s side would, generally, attack with four players. This extra body in the final third has come up trumps for those in white.
Jude Bellingham was one of those to benefit from the new shape. He was given license to attack the penalty area as one of the two box-to-box midfielders in the team and it was the BVB youngster who netted the first goal of the tournament for England, timing his run perfectly to nod home Luke Shaw’s cross against Iran.
The 19-year-old was also a menace in the 3-0 win over Wales, finishing the match with two shots – the same number as Harry Kane.
It is a clever tactic to deploy. The wide forwards, instead of cutting inside at any given opportunity, will hold the width. Kane is also allowed to drop into space, even though he is the sole centre-forward. The right-sided centre-midfielder and the left-sided centre-midfielder both push on when England are on the ball to occupy the space between the front three. You can see it in the picture above.
When the centre-midfielders push up, the opposition’s centre-backs are pinned with it being two-vs-two. This then allows Kane to pick up similar positions to the ones he finds himself in for Spurs. He can turn on the ball and act as a playmaker in the final third.
Generally, as soon as the England skipper turns to face the opposition’s goal, it is four-vs-four with the wide forwards isolated against full-backs and the midfielders occupying the centre-backs.
If you watch back a lot of the goals scored by the Three Lions in Qatar, many occur after the opposition’s defence have been dragged into areas they aren’t supposed to be in. This is a result of England committing bodies into the final third and forcing opponents into making decisions.
The Raheem Sterling goal against Iran comes about after Kane, Bukayo Saka and Bellingham drag players into deeper areas. You then had Bellingham and Jordan Henderson, the two box-to-box midfielders, combining for the opener against Senegal.
For someone accused of being too defensive and overly cautious, Southgate’s tactics at this World Cup have been brave, bordering on risky. But it has paid off, hasn’t it? England have kept three clean sheets, conceded just two goals and have found the back of the net on 12 occasions in their four outings.
No team can better the three goals the Three Lions are averaging on a per-game basis and Morocco are the only other team to have kept three clean sheets.
(Images from IMAGO)
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Round of 16
After some impressive performances in the Round of 16, there’s room for two Dutchmen, two Portuguese, two Brazilians, one Spaniard, one Croatian, one Argentinian, one Frenchmen and a Japanese goalkeeper in our team of the round.
*And a reminder that penalty shootouts don’t count towards player ratings.
Who was your player of the round? Who was unlucky to miss out? Let us know in the comments.
Round of 16
After some impressive performances in the Round of 16, there’s room for two Dutchmen, two Portuguese, two Brazilians, one Spaniard, one Croatian, one Argentinian, one Frenchmen and a Japanese goalkeeper in our team of the round.
*And a reminder that penalty shootouts don’t count towards player ratings.
Who was your player of the round? Who was unlucky to miss out? Let us know in the comments.
FotMob TOTW – Round 9
Leaders Chelsea dominate the WSL Team of the Week after their 8-0 thrashing of bottom side Leicester. There are also places for chasers United and Arsenal – who both have a game in hand on Chelsea.
Who turned in the best performance over the weekend? Have your say in the comments on Twitter.
It has been quite a busy weekend in the world of football. The 2022 World Cup’s knockout stage has gotten underway so some huge fixtures are being played at a daily rate, while normal service has continued in the world of women’s football. We will be covering some of that and more in this edition of Last Weekend.
By Neel Shelat
Lionel Messi began what is most likely his final World Cup knockout run as Argentina faced Australia, who had surprised many by reaching this stage. This was just their second-ever appearance in the Men’s World Cup knockouts and they had lost their only previous game, so it would have taken an exceptionally historic performance from them to advance.
In fairness, the Socceroos started the game off quite well and were able to keep Argentina at an arm’s length, although Lionel Scaloni’s side looked a little disjointed again as their attack had to be shuffled around in the absence of Ángel Di María. It was clear that this game would take a moment of individual brilliance to open it up, and of course, only one man was going to provide it.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a pinpoint finish to the bottom corner after playing a role in the build-up and making a run into the box. In his 1000th senior appearance, he finally got his first-ever World Cup knockout goal. The 35-year-old’s overall performance was inspired too, as he attempted six shots and created four chances for his teammates.
Argentina did score again through Julián Álvarez in the second half, but that goal was created by a goalkeeper error when the ball was at his feet. It then looked like La Albiceleste would cruise home to a comfortable win, but a deflected Craig Goodwin shot that beat Emiliano Martínez for an own goal in the 77th minute set up a grandstand finish. Argentina managed to hold on, though, moving on to the quarter-finals where they will be facing Netherlands.
Elsewhere in the world, women’s football has remained in full swing, so let us catch up with some of the action in Europe’s top leagues, starting with Spain.
On Saturday, Real Sociedad had to make the trip to league leaders and defending champions Barcelona, who had a 100% record in all competitions this season and had beaten Sociedad home and away with an aggregate score of 17-2 last season. Their players certainly would not have been looking forward to this.
But they would have been slightly pleased to learn that Barcelona were resting a few of their key players, even though their task was still incredibly tough. For their part, Erreala looked quite impressive as they matched their opponents in the first half and created some good chances too. Their lack of clinical finishing was disappointing, but on the stroke of half-time, Jade Le Guilly found the bottom corner from the edge of the box to give Sociedad a lead that was certainly deserved.
This was the first time Barcelona were trailing this season in all competitions, so they made four substitutions at half-time. Marta Torrejón was among those who started and stayed on the pitch for the second half, and just after the hour-mark, she scored following a corner. It was all Barcelona thereafter as they searched for a winner to keep their perfect record going. Eventually, it came from another corner in the 89th minute, with substitute Lucy Bronze getting on the scoresheet.
So, Real Sociedad joined a long list of teams that have failed to take anything in terms of points from a visit to Barcelona this season, but they can take a lot of heart from their performance.
Over in the Bundesliga, the only two teams who were unbeaten before this weekend faced off on Saturday. Defending champions Wolfsburg, who were at the top of the table, hosted Eintracht Frankfurt, who dropped to third after Bayern Munich’s win over Hoffenheim.
Dutch attacking midfielder Jill Roord took just five minutes to put the hosts in front, and they largely controlled proceedings thereafter. A few minutes before the half-time break, Roord’s second goal of the match and striker Ewa Pajor’s eighth goal of the season put Wolfsburg in a commanding position. Roord completed her hat-trick in the second half, and a late own goal from Sara Doorsoun added further gloss to the scoreline.
This result extended Wolfsburg’s lead at the top of the table to five points, while Roord shot up the scoring charts to become the third player from her side in the league’s top five.
When the goals are coming at such a consistent rate from different sources, that usually bodes pretty well for a title charge.
The Derby d’Italia was the headline fixture in Italy this weekend, and the two contestants were occupying the podium positions going into the fixture. Their reactions to that would have been very different, though, as Inter were looking to qualify for Europe for the first time, while Juventus were at risk of losing the title for the first time in their history.
Le Bianconere were trailing Roma by six points heading into the weekend, so they couldn’t really afford any more slip-ups. They were matched by Inter in what was a very even game where both sides created presentable chances to score the opening goal, but it was the visitors who were eventually able to convert. A quickfire double from Barbara Bonansea and Arianna Caruso early on in the second half proved to be the difference between the two teams.
So, Inter suffered just their second defeat of the league season but are now winless in five matches, which is a disappointing run after a very good start to the season. Juventus, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions, a streak they will be keen to preserve when they face Roma next week.
It was top versus bottom in the Women’s Super League in England this weekend, as pointless Leicester City hosted Chelsea.
It was all one-way traffic from the start as the defending champions went straight for the kill. Guro Reiten opened the scoring four minutes in, and then she went on an assist mission. She set up four of her teammates by half-time to give Chelsea a five-goal lead, with the last of the goals coming right on the 45th minute when Reiten played an exquisite outside-of-the-boot pass curving around the opposition back line into the path of Sam Kerr.
There was more to come in the second half as Jessie Flemming and Fran Kirby completed their braces, between which Bethany England came off the bench and got on the scoresheet as well. So, after putting nine and seven past Leicester in their last two meetings, Chelsea settled on eight this time.
This result restores the Blues’ three-point lead at the top of the table, and although they have played a game more than Manchester United and Arsenal, this big scoreline has given them the edge on goal difference. Leicester, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom of the table, and relegation seems to be inevitable for them now.
The Romanian Liga I is among the handful of European top-flight leagues that is not stopping for the World Cup, and there is quite an interesting story brewing at the top of the table.
League-leaders Farul Constanța thrashed Botoșani by an eight-goal margin as well to go four points clear at the top. They have, however, played one more match than second-placed CFR Cluj, the side that has won the last five titles in Romania.
If you look at Farul Constanța’s title history, their records will say that they were the team that won the 2016/17 title – the last one before Cluj’s streak began. However, the team it was awarded to was called Viitorul Constanța, which is now defunct having merged with Farul in 2021.
The story is that in 2016, Farul were declared bankrupt and effectively had to be folded as a club. That was quite something for the fans of a then 96-year-old club to take, so they decided to form what effectively became a proxy team called ‘Suporter Spirit Club Farul Constanța’ that started life in the lowest tier.
The club earned a couple of back-to-back promotions and climbed up to the second tier in 2018, but a hostile takeover attempt and the resultant issues seemingly slowed down their progress. Things were resolved by the winter, but Farul failed to win promotion in the subsequent two seasons as well.
Then came another twist in 2021, as Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi, who had started his playing career with Farul, announced that Viitorul Constanța, the club he had formed in 2009 and was managing at the time, would merge with Farul under the latter’s banner. That meant Farul took Viitorul’s place in the top flight, finishing fifth at the end of the season.
This year, with Hagi at the helm, they have launched a serious title charge and are looking to lift the first-ever top-flight league trophy with Farul’s name engraved on it. There is a long way to go yet, but things are looking good at the moment.
Cover Image from IMAGO
All eyes are on the FIFA Men’s World Cup, so may we interest you in the Georgian title race? Don’t worry, we will also be touching on some of the proceedings in Qatar, but alongside that, we will bring you some results and stories that you might have missed over the weekend.
By Neel Shelat
Over a week has passed since the start of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, and at the time of writing, 28 matches have been played at a frantic rate of four games a day for the most part. Arguably the best game of the tournament was the latest one, which pitted Spain against Germany.
The stakes were high – the Spaniards knew that a win would seal their progression to the Round of 16 with a game to spare, but such a result would leave the 2014 Champions under serious threat of elimination from the group stage for a second time in a row. There were a couple of nice goals too, but it was not the most open game in terms of entertainment.
What really stood out, though, was the tactical aspects and technical ability on show. The level this game was being played at was almost indistinguishable from a UEFA Champions League knockout tie between two top sides, which is quite something to say for a game of international football. Given the fact that some of the world’s most talented players were in action with the guidance of two very good managers, it is clear to see how this was possible.
Neither side started the match with an out-and-out striker in their line-up so we had to wait for a little over an hour to see goals, which were both scored by substitutes. Álvaro Morata struck first for Spain fairly quickly after coming on, but Niclas Füllkrug fulfilled Germany’s quest for an equaliser in the 83rd minute. The two sides had to settle for a draw in the end, which was a fair result on the balance of play.
This means that neither team can afford to relax on Thursday, when their last group games will kick off simultaneously. Spain need at least a point against Japan to progress, while Germany must win, potentially by a big margin too, in order to ensure that they reach the Round of 16.
Georgia unsurprisingly did not even come close to qualifying for the Men’s World Cup, but football fans in the country have something quite significant to look forward to at this time. The Erovnuli Liga is one of the few European top flight leagues not stopping for the World Cup because they have a title to decide.
The two contenders are defending champions Dinamo Batumi (who won their first league title last season), and the country’s most successful club, Dinamo Tbilsi, who have 18 Erovnuli Liga titles to their name. They are in a great position to return to the top, but encountered a significant scare on Saturday.
Dinamo Tbilisi had a three-point lead when all matches kicked off simultaneously, but their opponents, third-placed FC Samgurali Tskhaltubo, were a threat as they had won in Batumi last time out. Indeed, they drew first blood by opening the scoring in the 21st minute. A few minutes later, Dinamo Batumi took the lead in their match, consequently going to the top of the table as things stood thanks to their superior goal difference.
The defending champions would go on to win their match with relative comfort, but crucially, Dinamo Tbilisi equalised in the second half to come away with a draw, so they remained at the top of the table with a point’s gap.
It has been quite a topsy-turvy title race in Georgia this year, and the twists keep coming right till the end. After a crucial face-off between the top two in the end of July that Dinamo Tbilisi lost, they have gone on an unbeaten run in the league and dropped points just twice prior to this weekend, whereas Dinamo Batumi did not win half of their last 12 league games.
The final matchday of the 2022 season will be played next Saturday when the equation for Dinamo Tbilisi will be simple: match Dinamo Batumi’s result and the title is theirs.
After their midweek triumph over FC Zürich that kept them well in contention for the Women’s Champions League knockouts, Lyon turned their attention to domestic matters on Sunday, when they faced a tough test against third-placed Paris FC.
The Parisians were unbeaten in their eight league games since the start of the season, but Lyon knew that they would have to end that record to return to the top of the table since Paris Saint-Germain had temporarily nicked that spot by beating Guingamp on Saturday.
Centre-back Wendie Renard got things off to a positive start for the visitors by scoring in the 17th minute, but Paris responded quickly through Mathilde Bordieu. She got on the scoresheet again just seconds into the second half to put her side in front, but Renard responded from another corner in the 70th minute to set up an open finish.
The decisive moment came 10 minutes later when Delphine Cascarino pounced on a major defensive lapse to put Lyon back in front and deliver the three points to them. That restores Lyon’s two-point advantage at the top of the table, but they look set to be locked in a close title race with PSG all season.
Right after Saturday’s World Cup action ended, it was time for the main event of the day – the Canary Islands derby. The last time these two sides faced off was in the promotion play-off semi-final at the end of last season, where Tenerife prevailed with a 3-1 aggregate score.
This season, Tenerife are not up there with the sides vying for promotion as they started this game down in 14th, but Las Palmas were occupying a podium position before kick-off. Given the way this season has played out for both clubs so far, it was not much of a surprise to see the hosts look the better side right from the start.
Former Sevilla man Pejiño opened the scoring a few minutes before half-time after a nice set-up from Enzo Loiodice. The French midfielder would also go on to supply Pejiño before the second goal a little before the hour-mark, and went on to complete his hat-trick of assists late on for Florin Andone’s goal.
Mohammed Dauda scored a late consolation goal for Tenerife, but they were well-beaten in the end in a match that underlined the change of fortunes for the two Canary Islands clubs from last season to this.
Bulgaria’s First Professional League is not in full swing through the World Cup as most teams are currently enjoying their winter break, but defending champions Ludogorets Razgrad are still in action.
Ludogorets have won each of the last 11 top-flight titles in the country, but their streak is under threat this season from the nation’s most successful club, CSKA-Sofia. CSKA had a five-point lead at the top of the table after the last round of fixtures, but Ludogorets were due to play two games in hand before December.
The first of those saw them face Slavia Sofia on Saturday, in what proved to be a tough fixture. Ludogorets took the lead within ten minutes through their top scorer of the season, Matías Tissera, but Slavia did not let the game slip away and even equalised early in the second half. So, the visitors needed a late strike from Kiril Despodov to win the match and keep their chances of finishing the year at the top of the table alive.
Whether that happens will be decided on Thursday, when Ludogorets host Levski Sofia.
Our last fixture for this week comes from Serie B, featuring two teams you will likely have heard of.
Palermo were playing in the top flight as recently as six years ago, but slumped down to the third tier for ‘administrative irregularities’ after a change in ownership. Now a part of the City Football Group umbrella, they bounced back to Serie B by winning the play-offs last season. Venezia were also newcomers in the second division in 2022/23, but they dropped down from Serie A.
It will surprise you to learn, therefore, that Venezia were at the foot of the table heading into this fixture. They were in a rotten run of form, having picked up just one point from their last seven matches, which obviously meant that they lost six of those.
They finally broke that streak on Sunday, but a good deal of luck was needed along the way. Finnish international Joel Pohjanpalo broke the deadlock on the 65th minute, but Palermo had a great chance to respond soon thereafter. Matteo Brunori’s penalty was saved, and he somehow missed the rebound from just a few yards out with the gaping goal at his mercy. His side were then celebrating a supposed equaliser in the 83rd minute, but VAR intervened with an offside call.
So, Venezia held on to the win, which also gave Paolo Vanoli his first points since taking charge of the club. They move up to 19th place with this result, while Palermo are also sucked in to the relegation zone with just three points between the two famous sides.
Cover Image from IMAGO
Most major football leagues around the world have paused as the FIFA Men’s World Cup kicked off this Sunday evening, but you would be mistaken to think that there is not enough action to keep our weekly column running. As you will find, there was lots of noteworthy games in Europe this weekend, including some big results at the top of the Women’s Super League table in England and in the ever-resilient Ukrainian Premier League.
By Neel Shelat
As ever, the World Cup kicked off with a match involving the hosts, as Qatar made their competition debut against Ecuador.
They were in for a tough ride right from kick-off, as Ecuador put the ball in the back of the net after less than 200 seconds through Enner Valencia. VAR ruled the goal out for offside, but Valencia was not going to be kept down, as he won and converted a penalty in the 16th minute, before scoring a second with a powerful and well-placed header in the 31st.
Taking a two-goal lead into the half-time break, Ecuador really eased off the gas in the second half and focused on controlling the game, which became quite a drab affair. In fact, there have not been fewer shots at any World Cup match since this data collection began in 1966.
Ecuador will not mind that stat, though, because this victory sets them on the right path in their bid to reach the knockouts. They will face much tougher tests against Senegal and the Netherlands, but if they manage to pick something up from either of those games, they will have a decent shot at making the Round of 16.
Women’s football will, of course, not be stopping for the FIFA Men’s World Cup, so there will be top-flight action across the major European leagues every weekend alongside Champions League action in midweek. The headline act this weekend was in England, where the buoyant Manchester United paid a visit to league-leaders Arsenal.
Stretching back to last season, Arsenal were on a WSL record 14-match winning streak, which they intended to extend at the Emirates Stadium. Their first half showing was not great, though, and Manchester United took what they would have felt was a deserved lead into the break after Ella Toone’s strike in the 39th minute.
The scores were level in no time in the second period after Frida Maanum’s deflected effort beat Mary Earps, and Arsenal looked much more dangerous thereafter. And they looked on course to continue their run of victories when Laura Wienrother applied a very controlled finish to Katie McCabe’s pinpoint cross, but they were in for a big surprise.
With five minutes left to play, Millie Turner headed in a set-piece delivery from Katie Zelem to equalise for Manchester United and endanger Arsenal’s record once again. In stoppage time, another ball in from Zelem found its way into the back of the net via Alessia Russo, giving Manchester United their first-ever away win at one of the WSL big three.
This late goal also ensured that the WSL remained draw-less after 39 games this season, which is quite a crazy statistic. For context, if we assume that the probability of a draw in an average football game is 25.21% (based on FiveThirtyEight’s research), the odds of this happening are 0.001201981%. In case it isn’t obvious, that is very very unlikely.
Unsurprisingly, that record ended later in the weekend with the dramatic match between Brighton and Liverpool. Elsewhere, Chelsea’s commanding win over Tottenham Hotspur took them three points clear at the top of the table, although they have played one more than Arsenal and Manchester United.
The Ukrainian Premier League is one of the few European top-flight leagues that is not pausing for the FIFA World Cup. On Saturday, we were treated to arguably the biggest game of the season so far, at least in the context of the title race.
The top two, who were the only two teams in the league who were yet to taste defeat this season, squared off in Rivne. Going into the game, Dnipro-1 had a five-point lead over Shakhtar, who finished the 2021/22 season on the top of the table but were not awarded the title since the campaign was suspended after the Russian invasion.
Dnipro-1 had a very good first half of the season then which meant they ended up third behind Shakhtar and Dynamo Kyiv, qualifying for European football in the process. This was the first time in their short five-year history, as the club was effectively formed as a successor to FC Dnipro, although that is not the case officially.
Between the seasons, Dnipro-1’s head coach Igor Jovićević then departed for Shakhtar, so he was facing his former club this weekend. His side got off to the better start and opened the scoring in the 17th minute through young sensation Mykhaylo Mudryk. Dnipro-1 equalised soon thereafter, though, and went on to win the game thanks to a second half strike from Artem Dovbyk, who was the top scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League last season and is leading the way once again.
That means Dnipro-1 now have an eight-point lead at the top of the table as their title challenge has certainly been legitimised now, and they will be leading the way into the new year no matter what happens between now and the winter break.
Over in Spain, there was a Basque derby in Liga F at San Mamés, where Athletic Club hosted Real Sociedad.
Both sides were in the mid-table positions going into the match, ninth and seventh respectively with three points between them. That gap could have swung either way but within the first few minutes, the visitors looked much likelier to come away with all three points.
Amaiur Serriegi opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but Jone Amezaga equalised for the home side within the next 10 minutes. So, Gabriela García proved to be the match-winner for Real Sociedad with her fourth and fifth league goals of the season that helped her side coast to a deserved victory in the second half.
In a broader context, this result arguably cements the powershift in Basque women’s football. Athletic Club were among the Spanish giants in the 00s and were winning top-flight league titles before Real Sociedad Femenino were even formed, but they have failed to finish in the top five and ended up below Real Sociedad in the table in each of the last two seasons. And on this evidence, that looks set to continue in 2022/23.
The promotion-relegation play-off for Eliteserien was held this week in Norway, as Sandefjord were tasked with defending their top-flight status against Kongsvinger.
The two sides’ histories are quite contrasting. Sandefjord were only formed 24 years ago after a merger between two clubs, so with that in mind, they have to be considered a fairly successful club for completing 10 seasons in the highest division of Norwegian football.
Kongsvinger are over a century older than Sandefjord but have not been enjoying the best of times of late. They were top-flight regulars towards the end of the 20th century and even played European football on a couple of occasions, but since the turn of the millennium, they have only spent one season in the highest division.
Since then, they have even dropped down to the third tier fairly often, which is where they were last season. Having finished first and won promotion, their initial target would have been to stay up. The first half of 2022 suggested that they would have to fight to ensure that, but they brought up nine of their 13 league wins of the season from the 31st of July onwards to sneak into the last promotion play-off spot in sixth.
Sandefjord’s route to the play-offs was also quite dramatic, but in the opposite manner to Kongsvinger. After a good opening to the season, they failed to win any of their last 15 league games and only picked up three points through draws. They were in serious danger of falling to direct relegation on the final matchday when they were losing to Haugesund by a two-goal margin, but two goals in the last two minutes gave them another shot at safety.
They certainly made the most of that chance with a 4-0 home win in the first leg, which effectively did the job. Kongsvinger did complete a comeback to win the second leg, but that result counts for little more than consolation for them.
The Polish Ekstraklasa is not among the leagues that will be continuing through the World Cup, but they did play one final match before the winter break on Friday.
That game was a rescheduled fixture from the second round between Lechia Gdańsk and Górnik Zabrze, who were in 12th place and six points above their hosts. Lechia started the match in the relegation zone, which was a very disappointing position for a side that was playing Europa Conference League qualifiers just a few months ago.
A goal conceded in first half stoppage time meant that they were on course to stay there heading into the new year, but a late comeback on a snow-covered pitch changed that. Mario Maloca equalised in the 84th minute after a corner, and deep into stoppage time, a similar situation resulted in Łukasz Zwoliński grabbing the winning goal.
That takes Lechia up to 14th and out of the drop zone as the Ekstraklasa breaks for the winter, but they still have work to do in the battle against relegation in 2023.
Cover Image from IMAGO
The best matches to follow this weekend
And so it begins. The most talked about, most controversial, World Cup of our lifetimes gets underway on Sunday. Tournament hosts Qatar, ranked no. 50 in the world, take on Ecuador in the opening game of Group A. The two have not previously met in competitive action – Qatar pulled out of the last Copa America that they were invited to and they were drawn in different groups when Qatar did participate in 2019. For their part, Ecuador survived various legal attempts to see them removed from the tournament via their rivals in South American qualifying and come in to the game with four goalless draws in their last five fixtures.
We have to wait until next week for the first games involving the tournament favourites – England face Iran on Monday while the USA play Wales. Argentina go up against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the same day on which France begin their title defence against Australia. The potential ‘Group of Death’ containing Germany and Spain play Wednesday while hotly tipped Brazil start against Serbia on Thursday evening.
For those national team fans not involved in the FIFA spectacle, this is, of course, still an international break – meaning there are particularly meaningless friendly games taking place across the weekend. The most high profile encounter is probably Austria hosting Italy while our boys, Norway welcome Finland to Oslo on Sunday. There is even the odd club friendly available to follow in the app – including a game between Premier League strugglers Everton and Scottish league leaders Celtic taking place in Sydney.
Another tie that we should mention is the second match of San Marino’s rather glamorous tour to Saint Lucia. The world’s worst side have left Europe for the first time in an attempt to break an 18 year and 126 game run without a win. In Thursday’s first game against Saint Lucia (ranked no. 172 to San Marino’s no. 211), 19-year-old debutant Lorenzo Lazzari scored, in injury-time, to claim a 1-1 draw for the Microstate.
There is plenty of men’s football still taking place in the lower divisions that we cover in the app but perhaps the top club action will come in the various first tier women’s leagues that are available.
In particular, there’s a full fixture list in England’s WSL where league leaders Arsenal take on in-form Manchester United on Saturday.
We’re also pleased to announce that we have increased our coverage for the Spanish Liga F and the Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany. This means live match stats and our famous player ratings will be available for these league, as they already are in WSL, NWSL and Women’s Champions League.
Among the Liga F fixtures this weekend, the ever-dominant Barcelona play Deportivo Alavés on Sunday while there are also Basque and Seville Derbies to look forward to.
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Cover Image from IMAGO
Everyone expected Arsenal to be in the race for a Champions League spot this season. Nobody envisaged them challenging for the title, yet as we head into the World Cup break, the Gunners are five points clear at the top of the table.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
Mikel Arteta guided his side to a fifth-place finish last term, finishing two points off of a top-four spot. To get them over the line this time around, the owners backed their manager in the transfer market, spending over £100million for a second successive summer.
Now, armed with a squad of players he has brought in, Arteta is able to execute his tactical plan. So far, so good. Arsenal are averaging 2.64 points per game. Keep this up for the rest of the season and they will equal Manchester City’s centurion’s campaign.
However, rival fans seem to think the bubble will burst.
They didn’t necessarily collapse towards the end of last season but they missed out on Champions League football last season by three points having lost six of their final 12 matches. There was even a three-game period in which the Gunners lost to Brighton, Crystal Palace and Southampton.
By comparison, with the pressure on, Spurs won eight and drew two of their final 12 matches. Antonio Conte’s side picked up 26 points, eight more than Arsenal managed over the same period.
There seems to be a feeling that once they graduate from underdogs to favourites, they aren’t the best at handling the increased pressure.
For starters, they are all a year older and will have taken a lot from the experiences of last season. That cannot and should not be overlooked. They also added winners to their squad in Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fábio Vieira. The latter may not have featured much this term but that isn’t relevant to the point. He has a winning mentality having won the Primeira Liga with Porto.
It may sound basic but knowing how to win is an underrated trait. It breeds more success. Liverpool are the perfect example of that. After winning the Champions League in 2019, the Reds went on to claim everything else over the next three years.
If you haven’t been able to turn your squad into winners then you add some. That blend of success and hunger to be successful can often be enough to tip the scales in your favour. That is what Arsenal have done.
Teams that are running exceptionally hot will fizzle out eventually. But everything about this Arsenal team screams sustainable.
They have the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League along with Newcastle United, with both teams having conceded 11 goals this season. The Gunners also rank second (behind Manchester City) for Expected Goals conceded with a total of 12. So, they aren’t giving up high-value chances on a regular basis and there is no overreliance on Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks.
Chelsea, for example, had an impressive run following the appointment of Graham Potter. However, their run of clean sheets had nothing to do with the organisation of the defence and everything to do with Kepa’s exploits in goal. It was only a matter of time before they started to concede. The Blues are now winless in five Premier League matches and have lost their last three.
Defensively, Arsenal are resolute. Offensively, they are going toe-to-toe with Manchester City. They rank second behind the reigning champions for xG with 27.1 over their 14 matches. Unlike Pep Guardiola’s side who seem to funnel a lot of their attacking patterns the way of Erling Haaland, Arteta has assembled a squad with multiple goal threats.
He hasn’t found the back of the net in well over a month and yet the Gunners have claimed 13 points from the last 15 on offer in the Premier League. Only Newcastle can better that total. Arsenal top the away table with 19 points from eight matches and have a 100% record at the Emirates.
You could even make the case that they have had the tougher fixtures too. City are yet to play Spurs or Chelsea while Arteta’s men have faced off against both, as well as Liverpool and Manchester United.
In fact, some of Arsenal’s best performances this season have come against the big six. They have racked up xG90 totals of over 2.2 in their matches against Spurs (2.38), Liverpool (3.09) and Chelsea (2.25) while limiting the opposition in those games to an xG average of 0.99.
Arsenal have not finished in the top four since 2015/16 and the last time they lifted the title was in 2004, during the Invincibles season. They look a shoo-in for a top-four spot and their title challenge has solid foundations. The bubble doesn’t look like it is going to burst.
(Images from IMAGO)
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