It was a weekend of statement victories for a host of clubs. An unbeaten start came to an abrupt halt while a 70-game unbeaten record was shattered in spectacular fashion. Here, is a look at some of the standout stats and the most significant talking points.
Erling Haaland missed Manchester City’s match against Leicester City this weekend. Pep Guardiola revealed that the prolific forward has ligament damage and could be missing for their next Premier League outing against Fulham.
In his absence, the reigning champions looked a little blunt. De Bruyne won the match with a spectacular free-kick early in the second half but City created chances with an Expected Goals value of just 0.26 after the break. The xG did slightly favour them (1.03 to 0.71) but it was hardly convincing from the league’s most rampant side heading into this game.
Guardiola will no doubt want his No.9 back in the starting XI as soon as possible and you can understand why.
Potter’s return
Brighton had not won a match since the departure of Graham Potter and Chelsea had not lost a match since the one-time Swansea City man swapped the Amex Stadium for Stamford Bridge.
Form very much went out of the window in this as the Seagulls romped to a comfortable 4-1 win. It was a deserved victory too with the hosts having more shots, more big chances and a significantly higher xG total (2.44 to 1.36).
Alexis Mac Allister, a man converted into a midfielder by Potter, ran the show against his former boss, creating five chances. It was a spellbinding performance by the Argentine maestro. This could really kickstart the Roberto De Zerbi era.
The streak comes to an end
Virgil van Dijk was unbeaten at Anfield in the Premier League following his move in January 2018. It was a run that stretched 70 matches. There had been a few scares but Liverpool always seemed to be able to find ways to extend it.
That was until Saturday night when Leeds United scored early in the first half and late in the second half to claim a 2-1 win.
It was a fairly even game when looking at the stats – the xG was almost identical while the Reds had three big chances to the away side’s two. It was by no means a smash-and-grab by Jesse Marsch’s men as their winless streak, stretching back to August, also came to an end.
Going under the radar
Newcastle United are just three points off Manchester City and five points off the league leaders. They have the best defensive record in the English top-flight and are currently the team in possession of the final Champions League spot.
What Eddie Howe is doing is nothing short of remarkable.
Their 4-0 win over Villa was as emphatic as they come and the scoreline was reflective of the match. The hosts created big chances at a sensational rate, finishing the game with an xG of 3.44.
Only three teams have more goals than the Magpies this season. In fact, it is now the third time in their last six outings that they have scored four or more in a match. It has clicked for Howe and his players, at the right time too.
A statement victory
Arsenal returned to winning ways following a draw against Southampton last weekend and a loss to PSV in the Europa League.
Ahead of the match against Nottingham Forest, Mikel Arteta said his team need to score more goals. They managed just one in the win over Leeds and then one against Southampton, and their underlying numbers in both outings painted a picture of a team struggling to create.
The Gunners put on a finishing clinic against Forest, running out 5-0 winners. They had an xG of 2.3 and created five big chances as the team responded to their manager. Arsenal needed this performance more than the result.
(Images from IMAGO)
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In-form Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting shined once again for Bayern but our top rating went to Wolfsburg’s Lukas Nmecha (9.2). Stuttgart provide three players following their win over Augsburg.
The FotMob TOTW for the Premier League features three Arsenal players and two each from Newcastle, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Callum Wilson picked up our top rating – a 9.3 vs. Aston Villa. Which is timely with the World Cup just around the corner.
🏴 There’s virtually a full programme of Premier League games to look forward to on Saturday with eight fixtures spread across the afternoon and evening. We start with Manchester City’s trip to Leicester City, where Pep Guardiola will be looking for the points that will, once again, take City above Arsenal in the table. But they’ll be dealing with a resurgent Foxes side who’ve conceded just twice in their last five matches.
Among the English standard 3pm kick-offs there are games for three of the top five – Spurs and Chelsea both have trips to the south coast – to face Bournemouth, and Brighton respectively. And St. James Park will be the scene for Unai Emery’s first game back in the Premier League as Aston Villa visit Newcastle United.
The day ends with Fulham vs. Everton – a fixture that hasn’t resulted in a draw since 2012. And Liverpool‘s meeting with struggling Leeds, who are winless in eight.
🇮🇹 In contrast, there’s only three games lined up in Serie A, but all three do feature one of the big names of Italian football. Napoli, who’ve been so dominant at home, and in the Champions League will be out to extend their lead at the top of the table when they take on Sassuolo, at home.
Then, later in the day, Inter face Sampdoria as both sides look to continue their recent upwards tick in form. After a slow start, Inter are unbeaten in six across all competitions and sealed their progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League during the week. Meanwhile, Sampdoria sit in the relegation zone but finally won their first game of the season last weekend, away at Cremonese.
Lastly, Juventus go to struggling Lecce once again looking to bounce back from a midweek set-back in their failed Champions League campaign.
🇪🇸 In Spain – and speaking of Champions League disappointment – second placed Barcelona will park Wednesday’s defeat to Bayern and confirmation of their transfer to the Europa League knockout play-offs, as they attempt to close the three-point gap to rivals Madrid. To do that, they’ll need to win at Gennaro Gattuso’s Valencia.
It’s a similar story for Atlético, who were also consigned to Thursday night European football following results in the week. On Saturday, they go to Cadíz, the side with the worst goalscoring record (0.5 goals per match) in the league.
🇩🇪 Germany’s big two both feature in top six clashes in the Bundesliga. Bayern München (2nd) could even return to their familiar perch at the top of the table if they pick up at least a point against Mainz 05 (6th). Bo Svensson’s side are a decent proposition for earning that point, with Mainz currently boasting the best away record in the league.
In the evening fixture, Borussia Dortmund (5th) will be battling it out with Eintracht Frankfurt, the side just above them in fourth. One factor that might come into play in this one is the side’s upcoming games on Matchday 6 in the Champions League – Dortmund are safely through after the draw with City but Frankfurt still need to go to Sporting on Tuesday and get a win to ensure qualification for the knockout stages.
🏆 The showcase game in South American club football is another fixture we’re really looking forward to this weekend as Flamengo meet fellow Brazilians, Athletico Paranaense, in what is the 63rd Copa Libertadores Final.
This will be Flamengo’s third finals appearance in the last four years – they beat River Plate to lift the 2019 edition but lost to Palmeiras in 2021. In what has been a period of dominance for the Rio side, they’ve also won the Brazilian league twice and finished runners-up once. And there’s still a chance that they’ll match that this year. They’ll take on an Athletico side who’ve never won the top prize in South America but who have finished runners-up once, back in 2005.
Athletico are coached by the legendary Luiz Felipe Scolari, who’s enjoying something of a surprise swansong having only agreed to take on a sporting director job at the start of the year before heading down to takeover in the dugout after the side’s slow start. A win would be give him the third Libertadores title of his long and illustrious career.
🇿🇦 Finally for Saturday, watch out for one of Africa’s biggest match-ups – the Soweto Derby between South African giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Both sides are somewhat off the pace in the Premier League, sitting fourth and fifth, but that won’t matter as the Pirates look to stop a three game losing run against their rivals.
Sunday
🇪🇸 There’s two games of note in LaLiga on Sunday, the first of which involves leaders Real Madrid as they face Girona at the Bernabéu. The visitors have struggled their way to nine points following promotion but that’s not enough to see them sit any higher than 18th and inside the relegation zone. And Madrid’s surprise midweek defeat to RB Leipzig – their first defeat all season – probably doesn’t bode well for a side that haven’t kept a clean sheet in 15 matches.
The other game pits fourth against fifth as Real Sociedad take on Real Betis. Both have threatened to break the status quo of the top three this season but inconsistency may yet be their undoing – Real Sociedad won five straight games before losing at Valladolid last weekend and Betis have won just two of their last six.
🏴 In England, its top vs. bottom (at the time of writing) as Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees did, of course, cause the surprise of the round as they beat Liverpool last time out but do they stand a chance of repeating that at the Emirates? They knocked Mikel Arteta’s side out of the FA Cup last season but the Gunners look transformed since then – Thursday’s defeat at PSV not withstanding.
The day’s only other game in England’s top tier sees Manchester United host West Ham. Both secured their progression from their groups in UEFA’s Thursday night competitions this week – United in the Europa League, and West Ham in the Europa Conference League. Six points and four places separate them going in to this league meeting.
🇩🇪 This weekend might be the one that sees Union Berlin‘s lead in the Bundesliga finally overhauled but we’ve said that before and the club from the capital will no doubt be fully confident they can restore their advantage – whatever Bayern do – when they face Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday.
Third placed Freiburg are also in action – they visit bottom of the table Schalke.
🇺🇸 The MLS Cup Play-offs reach the Conference Finals stage as the weekend draws to a close. True to form, both games feature the side who finished top of their region – Supporters Shield winners LAFC in the West, and Philadelphia Union in the East.
After their derby win over their city rivals in the last round, LAFC now face Austin FC, who won a regional derby of their own – beating Dallas, their fellow Texans. During the regular season, LA only lost nine of their 34 games but two of those defeats came against Austin. The Verde won 2-1 in LA back in May before battering them 4-1 at home in August.
On the other side of the draw, the Union come up against MLS Cup holders New York City. No one has retained the title since LA Galaxy did so a decade ago and NYCFC will have their work cut out against a side who accrued 12 points more than them – and beat them twice – during the regular season.
🇮🇹 Back in Serie A, Sunday’s schedule includes fixtures for those sides sat closest to leaders Napoli as we head in to the weekend. Defending champions Milan (2nd) go to Torino – a side they’ve not conceded so much as a goal to in six previous meetings. And Lazio (3rd) will test their eight game unbeaten run – and the best defensive record in the division – against Salernitana at home.
🇸🇪 Häcken could be crowned as Swedish champions for the first time in their 82 year history as the Allsvenskan season comes to a head. A win, at city rivals IFK Göteborg in the penultimate round would be enough to seal the title.
This is no mean feat for a side who’s previous best finish came back in 2012 and in a league dominated by Malmö and the Stockholm clubs in recent years.
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Matchday 5 in the Champions League produced some big individual performances. The lowest rating to make the FotMob TOTW was Napoli’s goalscoring centre-back Leo Østigård with a 8.3 while PSG pair Mbappé and Messi each topped out with a 9.6. And at Camp Nou, Serge Gnabry was the scourge of Barcelona as Bayern consigned their hosts to Europa League football.
Real Madrid scored three goals for the third consecutive match in LaLiga and stay top of the table after Saturday’s 3-1 win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabéu. Carlo Ancelotti’s side took a first-half lead through Luka Modrić – playing his 450th match for the club – after an excellent run and cutback from Vinicíus Júnior, but looked as if they may have to settle for a point as Erik Lamela levelled in the second period. But Lucas Vázquez restored Real’s advantage following a devastating counter 11 minutes from time and Fede Valverde added another spectacular strike to his collection shortly afterwards. That is seven goals for the Uruguayan now in 2022-23 and the 24-year-old’s new-found form in front of goal is a welcome boost for Los Blancos – particularly with Karim Benzema forced to sit this one out due to muscle fatigue.
Benzema did not play but presented his Ballon d’Or to the Bernabeu faithful. But after Valverde’s wonder strike late in the game, the home fans chanted “Fede, Ballon d’Or.” Asked afterwards about that, Ancelotti said: “Let’s wait a bit, shall we?”
On a more serious note, Madrid have now won 10 of their 11 LaLiga games and drew the other. Even without Benzema or Thibaut Courtois, who was back in goal on Saturday after recovering from sciatica, this team is impressively consistent.
“I don’t know if it’s the most reliable team I have had, but it’s one I like to coach,” Ancelotti said. “It’s a team that doesn’t give me problems. It’s respectful. And in terms of quality, it’s one of the best I have had. If not the best.”
Despite their recent improvement under Jorge Sampaoli, Sevilla are only a point above the relegation after 11 rounds of LaLiga.
Dembélé shines as Barça beat former coach
Barcelona brushed aside Athletic Club in an emphatic 4-0 win at Camp Nou on Sunday to stay within three points of rivals Real Madrid. Ousmane Dembélé opened the scoring with a downward header shortly after his own long-range effort had been acrobatically saved by Unai Simón and the French forward went on to add a hat-trick of assists – for Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres. That ensured an unhappy return to Camp Nou for former coach Ernesto Valverde, but the match had been over as a contest very early on as Barça scored three times in the opening 22 minutes.
“Dembélé was especially good,” Xavi said afterwards. “He made the difference. We circulated the ball well high up the pitch. We killed the game off in the first half.” And he added: “We have taken a step forward since El Clásico.”
That remains Barça’s only defeat in LaLiga this term, with nine wins and a draw in their other 10 domestic fixtures so far in 2022-23.
Lewandowski’s goal means he has 17 in 15 games overall this season and 12 in 11 LaLiga appearances. The Pole may have to be rested at some stage, but Xavi said: “Ferran [Torres] and Ansu [Fati] can play in Robert’s role, if we rest him. There are several options.”
The one blip for Barça was a shoulder injury suffered by Sergi Roberto, who is expected to be out for up to six weeks and is therefore out of next month’s World Cup.
Atlético move up
It already looks like a two-horse race for the title in LaLiga, but Atlético Madrid moved back up to third with a win at Real Betis on Sunday. Antoine Griezmann scored both goals for the Rojiblancos, the first direct from a corner and the second with a low shot which went through the legs of Rui Silva before trickling into the corner. In both cases, the Betis goalkeeper could probably have done better. Nabil Fekir pulled one back with a fine free-kick after 84 minutes, but Atleti survived a late onslaught – including a header against their crossbar and a penalty appeal in added time – to take all three points.
“I’m very happy for Griezmann,” Diego Simeone said. “He worked hard to be here. It looks like we are seeing the Griezmann who left [for Barcelona in 2019], who is a leader with his play. We need leaders.”
But Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini was unimpressed with Atlético’s approach. “A team that set out not to lose, won,” he said. “And a team that set out to win, lost.” Despite defeat, Betis are in fifth place, just three points behind Atleti.
Villarreal win in Emery’s last game
Despite playing over half an hour with 10 men and conceding a number of chances, Villarreal managed to beat Almería 2-1 thanks to a goal from youngster Nico Jackson deep into added time at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Sunday. Earlier, winger Alex Baena was shown a second yellow card after his equaliser for lifting up his shirt to reveal an emotional thank you message for the club’s vice-president José Manuel Llaneza, who passed away last week.
This was the first match at the Cerámica since Llaneza’s passing and turned out to be the last for Unai Emery as Villarreal coach following the announcement that the Basque is joining Aston Villa.
“It was a great day for Villarreal and a good homage to Llaneza on the field of play,” Emery said. “Sometimes you need heart to win matches.”
Emery leaves the Yellow Submarine in seventh place in LaLiga and although the timing of his exit is a disappointment, he will be remembered in Villarreal as the coach who brought a first-ever major trophy to the club (the Europa League in 2020/21) and led the team to the Champions League semi-finals a year later.
Special mentions…
Notable mentions are also necessary for Real Valladolid and Real Mallorca. Valladolid beat high-flying Real Sociedad 1-0 on Saturday to secure a second straight win and move to within a point of the top half of the table, while Mallorca stunned Valencia with an impressive 2-1 victory at Mestalla. South Korea attacker Lee Kang-in, formerly of Valencia, netted a late winner for Javier Aguirre’s side with a neat cutback and ferocious finish before holding his hands up in a gesture of apology to the home fans. Mallorca are up to 12th.
(Images from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2022/23 LaLiga season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
Rayo Vallecano and Barcelona posted the biggest wins in the league and that’s reflected here. But how about that LaLiga dream team upfront!? Griezmann, Vinícius Júnior and our top rated player of the round, Ousmane Dembélé, who earned a 9.7.
Kurt Zouma played his way in to the side with his goal in the Monday night game, Erling Haaland returns up front, while there’s a place for two of Nottingham Forest’s heroes against Liverpool. And Danny Ings top scored with a 9.0.
It was a weekend of surprise results as a number of struggling teams ended losing streaks and the league leaders dropped points for only the second time this season. Here’s a round-up of the biggest talking points and the best stats.
Taiwo Awoniyi has just three goals for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this season but two of them have been winners. He scrambled the ball past Alisson Becker on Saturday to give Forest all three points against Liverpool as the team that had been rooted to the bottom of the table climbed level on points with Leeds and Wolves.
Awoniyi was a Liverpool player for six seasons but work permit issues meant he never turned out for the Reds. He was given the nod by Steve Cooper to lead the line at the Forest Ground this weekend and he repaid the manager’s faith. Only Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho (both four) had more shots than the 25-year-old while teammate Dean Henderson was the only player to have a higher FotMob rating (8.4 to 8.2).
Magic Miguel continues fine form
Miguel Almirón scored one goal in the Premier League last season. He scored what turned out to be the winner against Spurs on Sunday to take his tally for the campaign to six. The 28-year-old has five in his last five starts for the Magpies and his goals are one of the reasons they now find themselves in fourth place in the Premier League.
He took six shots against Tottenham Hotspur in what was a productive display. Almiron also won 100% of his tackles and recovered the ball on six occasions as the team with the best defensive record in the league limited Antonio Conte’s men to just one goal.
Only four players have more goals than Almirón this term.
A post-Gerrard Aston Villa
Heading into the match against Brentford, Aston Villa had won just two of their 11 matches in the Premier League this season. They were on a four-game winless streak and had scored just once in that period.
At Villa Park on Sunday, they were 3-0 up inside of 14 minutes and they eventually coasted to a 4-0 win over the Bees in what was one of the most dominant performances of the season. They racked up an extraordinary xG total of 2.87 in a ridiculously one-sided game as Danny Ings, Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendía and Leon Bailey all impressed in a much-changed starting XI.
The Gunners are firing blanks
Arsenal remain top of the league by two points following a 1-1 draw with Southampton on Sunday afternoon. However, Mikel Arteta’s side aren’t looking quite as sharp as they were earlier on in the season. Gabriel Jesus is now three Premier League games without a goal and for a second successive match, the Gunners failed to create chances with an xG value of over one.
They were held to an xG total of 0.99 by Southampton and this arrived just a week after Leeds limited them to 0.55. Arsenal are struggling to turn their dominance into goals and this wasn’t a problem earlier on in the season.
The Haaland Show resumes
After a blank at Anfield last week, Erling Haaland was back amongst the goals as Manchester City returned to winning ways against Brighton. The reigning champions ran out 3-1 winners at the Etihad with Haaland netting twice to take his tally to 17 (SEVENTEEN!) in the Premier League.
The goal machine had just three shots on Saturday, a relatively quiet afternoon for the No.9 in that regard, but he did also create a chance on his way to an 8.8 FotMob rating.
(Images from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Premier League season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
With Round 11 now at a close, it’s time for three talking points from a league where Napoli remain the only unbeaten side and Milan, and Lazio, lead the chasing pack.
Throughout the summer, much of the talk was about one Roman club in particular – not Lazio, but their biggest rival, Roma – and for good reason. The Giallorossi had just signed a slew of talent like Paulo Dybala and Giorginio Wijnaldum.
Lazio on the other hand, quietly went about their business without a marquee signing. A lot of credit must be given to the club for being able to keep their best players in Ciro Immobile, Sergej Milinković-Savić and Luis Alberto, all of whom have all been at Lazio for a long time and have developed one of the best partnerships in the league. In terms of new additions, the Biancocelesti refurbished their centre-back pairing. Gone was the veteran Francesco Acerbi and the talented but injury-prone Brazilian defender Luis Felipe. In their place arrived the Italian pairing of Alessio Romagnoli and Nicoló Casale – the former, desperate for a change of scenery after his involution at Milan which saw him lose his starting place; the latter, an impressive 24-year-old defender from Hellas Verona, with a bright future ahead of him.
Lazio’s defence is currently ranked first in Serie A, with only five goals conceded after 11 rounds. It isn’t just the new centre-backs who have impressed, but their new goalkeeper too. Ivan Provedel was one of two goalkeepers to join the club last summer alongside former Granada shot-stopper Luís Maximiano. Maximiano was red carded after six minutes in round one and is yet to play another minute for the club. This has been a blessing in disguise for Maurizio Sarri, who was forced to play his backup Provedel. The Italian has since been outstanding and maintained a starting role well beyond Maximiano’s one game suspension.
Sarri’s Lazio is one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. They’re playing their usual “SarriBall” style of high press and a lot of possession, but they’re winning mostly because of a surprisingly stellar defensive unit of former cast-offs and players inexperienced at the highest level.
Napoli remain undefeated
Napoli are the only team in Serie A that has yet to lose a game this season. Nine wins and two draws, a stunning style of play and first place in their Champions League group. Over the weekend, they had one of their stiffest tests of the season, playing José Mourinho’s Roma at Stadio Olimpico.
What stands out more than anything about the way Napoli play is how they don’t change their style for anyone. Whether it’s at home against a provincial or away against a direct Scudetto rival, Luciano Spalletti’s side tries to dominate possession and plays high press off the ball. Napoli’s style meant Roma was rooted deep in their own half for most of the match, often having to play vertically on the counter as they couldn’t build up slower possession.
Victor Osimhen’s stunning goal was even more impressive when you looked at it more than once – it was such a narrow angle that he had, meaning the shot had to be perfect to beat Roma’s goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Osimhen got himself free by being able to bully his way through Chris Smalling in a one-on-one battle. The biggest hope for Napoli is that their Nigerian striker can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He’s been incredibly unlucky with bad injuries in each of his Napoli seasons – from the fractured orbital/cheek to hamstring issues, Osihmen hasn’t had a full season to show off his goal scoring prowess.
Napoli have already picked up three points away to Roma, Milan and Lazio in Serie A. These are the types of performances that show their confidence and personality, especially with a team that was supposed to be in a rebuild this season.
Brahim the dream
Milan’s no.10 Brahim Díaz thought he had lost his starting spot for good after the club spent nearly the entire summer trying to sign Belgian wonder boy Charles De Ketelaere. After finally convincing Club Brugge to accept their 35m Euro offer, “CDK” came to the club with the expectation of being the new star in the trequartista role. Last year, Brahim Díaz began the campaign as a starter, but inconsistent play in the second half of the season saw coach Stefano Pioli switch to the more industrious Rade Krunić to play as the forward destroyer. It seemed like Brahim’s future at Milan as the starting attacking midfielder was pretty much done with, apart from being a situational substitute and rotation guy.
Fast forward to October 2022 and Brahim has thoroughly outplayed De Ketelaere and as a result, taken back his spot in the line-up. Brahim has scored three goals in his last three Serie A games, all of them wonderful efforts – two magical solo runs to split multiple defenders, and a quick turn and fire inside the box, which showed off his clinical touch.
While Brahim has been shining, CDK has been regressing further with every chance he’s been given. Pioli has been quick to support the young Belgian by saying that it took both Raphael Leão and Sandro Tonali more than a full season to get acclimated to their new club and start producing at a high level.
De Ketelaere seems jittery and nervous with his play now. It’s clearly a by-product of the massive expectations heaped onto him by the Italian media and seemingly not being able to perform at the level that made him a stand out at Club Brugge.
This is a battle that’ll continue throughout the season. CDK will need plenty of minutes to improve, so it’s Brahim’s job now to make himself undroppable if healthy. Perhaps the two could even play together under Pioli – Brahim has featured in a wider position in the past, while the Belgian is quite versatile and can fill a few positions throughout the frontline.
(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.
