Page 179 – The Pulse of Football

Sep

2022

Last Weekend: England’s Relegation, a historic North London Derby, Puebla in the Play-offs and more

This was the final weekend without elite-level club football around most of Europe prior to the World Cup, but if you looked closely enough, there was lots of action to tuck into. That included the UEFA Nations League and Liga MX among other competitions, which we will cover in this edition of Last Weekend.

By Neel Shelat

🏆 UEFA Nations League, League A: Italy 1-0 England

For many sides in the Nations League, their matches would serve as dress rehearsals ahead of the World Cup. Italy, of course, were not one of those sides since they failed to qualify, but their opponents England had more on the line too, as a loss would mean relegation from League A for them.

While the Italians experimented with a back-three, Gareth Southgate named a fairly strong XI, although there were a couple of interesting decisions he made such as deploying Bukayo Saka at left wing-back and starting Harry Maguire on the left of defence. Frustratingly, England’s performance was about as bland as it had been in the last few matches. They kept a good amount of possession but simply failed to create any meaningful chances, so their non-penalty goals tally in this Nations League campaign remained zero.

Overall, the visitors did a decent job defensively, but a slight lapse led to the decisive moment of the match. Giacomo Raspadori wonderfully plucked a long ball out of the air at the edge of the box, and he navigated his way around Kyle Walker before finding the far corner with a superb finish.

That goal sealed England’s fate, as they suffered Nations League relegation against the very same opposition that prevented them from lifting the Euro 2020 trophy at home a little over a year ago.

Italy, on the other hand, have much to play for when they face Hungary on Monday evening. The Azzurri will have to defeat them in order to secure a place in the Nation Leagues Final.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Arsenal 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Over in England, we were treated to a full round of top-flight fixtures as the second matchday of the 2022/23 Women’s Super League was played. The majority of those matches were played on Sunday, but Saturday’s solitary fixture will live long in the memory of all those who were watching, whether at the stadium or at home.

With no fixtures for the men’s side this week, Arsenal Women were able to play their match at the Emirates Stadium, and their opponents were none other than local rivals Tottenham Hotspur. That attracted a WSL record crowd as over 53,000 tickets were sold, and none of the Arsenal faithful would have regretted spending their money to see this match.

The home side were utterly dominant from start to finish as they kept over two-thirds of possession and outshot their opponents 16 to 3. Beth Mead opened the scoring within five minutes, and Vivianne Miedema ensured Arsenal took a two-goal lead into half-time. On the other side of the break, centre-back Rafaelle’s header and Miedema’s second capped off an unforgettable win for Arsenal.

They cannot afford to celebrate too much, though, because a tough Champions League qualifying play-off tie against Ajax awaits them in midweek. It is all to play for after the first leg ended 2-2 in London, so this is set to be a tough fixture that will have major ramifications on both sides’ seasons.

🇲🇽 Mexico: Puebla 2-1 Pumas UNAM

There wasn’t a full round of Liga MX fixtures over the weekend, but a couple of rescheduled fixtures had to be played ahead of the final set of league fixtures for the 2022/23 Apertura next weekend.

Unsurprisingly at such a crucial time in the season, a lot was on the line in these fixtures. Pumas’ visit to Puebla proved to be the decisive match for both sides’ league campaigns. The visitors needed to win to realistically keep their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs alive, while Puebla’s target was to come away with three points and confirm a postseason berth.

The home side proved to be successful after a superb start to the match, which saw them establish a two-goal lead in the first half hour. Pumas naturally tried a lot harder to score thereafter and finished the match with thrice as many shots as their opponents, but they only found the back of the net in the 83rd minute, and that proved to be a case of too little too late.

Necaxa and Mazatlán’s draw in the other match leave just two play-off spots open, but with five teams still in contention for them, there will be lots to keep an eye on in Mexico next weekend.

🇦🇷 Argentina: Gimnasia 0-1 Tigre

The Argentine top-flight was one of the few leagues to remain undeterred by the international break as there was a full round of fixtures held over the weekend. There are twists in the title race at effectively every turn at this point, and it was no different this time around.

After both Boca Juniors and Huracán won their matches on Friday night, the first big result came on Saturday when River Plate conceded in the final minute of their match against Talleres, drifting seven points away from their arch-rivals.

Then, on Sunday, Gimnasia La Plata had the opportunity to go back above Boca Juniors and temporarily occupy the top of the table when they took on Copa de la Liga finalists Tigre. It was a close match, but the home side were defeated thanks to the only goal of the match, scored at the half-hour mark after a well-worked team move.

The defeat meant that Gimnasia lost their unbeaten home record in the league this season, leaving Atlético Tucumán as the only side to have one. They preserved theirs thanks to a 3-1 win over Estudiantes, restoring their two-point lead at the top of the table in the process,

🇺🇸 MLS: San Jose Earthquakes 2-3 LA Galaxy

There was lots of action in LaLiga this weekend, so we were spoilt for choice while picking the match to cover. The Madrid derby obviously stood out, while the high-flying Athletic Club provided an alternative. Naturally, therefore, we decided to go with the Friday night clash between Real Valladolid and Cádiz.

Up in the States, there was just one MLS match this weekend as the rest of the league got some much-needed rest in the international break. The solitary match was a pretty important one – a California Clásico which had the potential to severely impact LA Galaxy’s chances of qualifying for the play-offs.

On the back of his impressive season, there was a fair amount of clamour surrounding a potential return to the Mexican national team for Javier Hernández. Gerardo Martino decided against that, though, and LA Galaxy fans will sure be glad about that after this match. Chicharito put in a man-of-the-match performance as he scored two very well-taken goals to help the visitors come away with three crucial points.

That brace took his tally up to 17 MLS goals this season, matching his best-ever tally in the league that he set last year. More importantly, the win placed the Galaxy back in the top seven, but they are just one point above the play-off line.

Their next match sees them take on eighth-placed Real Salt Lake, so this could be a make-or-break match in the context of their season.

UEFA Nations League, League B: Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 Montenegro

Back in the UEFA Nations League, Bosnia and Herzegovina ensured that they would go in the opposite direction to England by sealing promotion to League A on Friday.

Going into the match, they were at the top of the table with a one-point lead over Montenegro, so they knew that a win here would ensure promotion with a match to spare. They looked to be the better team for most of this game, but of course, the most important thing was to score.

Ermedin Demirović thought he had done that after the half-hour mark, but his goal was ruled out due to offside. He put the ball in the back of the net again on the stroke of half-time, and on this occasion, VAR did not spoil the party. That strike proved to be enough for the hosts to secure the three points, and with them a spot in League A next season.

🌐 Sidemen Charity Match: Sidemen FC 8-7 YouTube AllStars

You know it’s the international break when you see this.

The first Sidemen Charity Match in four years was played at The Valley on Saturday, and it was indisputably the most entertaining 90 minutes of football on offer this weekend. The match produced 15 goals that had it all – incredible long-range strikes, stunning passing moves, dodgy defending and poor goalkeeping. All of that led to the creation of one of the greatest-ever shotmaps that has graced the FotMob app.

The YouTube Allstars may have lost, but it was the xG Gods who were truly defeated in this fixture. Miniminter in particular was out to get them, as he scored a hat-trick from 10 shots worth a cumulative 0.37 xG.

Ultimately, though, it was all for a good cause, as over a million pounds were raised for charity by the time the trophy was lifted. That tally can continue to go up, as donations are still open here.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Sep

2022

This Weekend: UEFA Nations League, international friendlies and the Sidemen Charity Game

The best action to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Friday

The last international break before the 2022 World Cup is upon us and here’s a selection of games that should keep you going through the next few days.

🇮🇹🆚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Arguably the day’s biggest fixture in the UEFA Nations League is a repeat of the 2021 Euros Final as Italy take on England in Milan. The two sides played out a 0-0 draw back in June but with the Three Lions looking to avoid relegation from the competition’s top level and Italy being the side sat above them in the table, you can expect more fireworks from this one.

The other match in the group; Germany vs. Hungary will probably determine who qualifies for the Nations League Finals. Surprise package Hungary currently lead the way after back-to-back wins over England but they’ll need to be at their best to end Germany’s 13-game unbeaten run.

🇧🇷🆚🇬🇭 If you’re up to date with certain online trends this week, you’ll know all about the strength of Brazil‘s squad and the abundance of attacking talent that coach Tite can call upon going in to the World Cup. Today though, all that will be put to the test against a Ghana side who will be introducing some new players of their own. With the likes of Athletic Club’s Iñaki Williams switching allegiance to the nation, the Black Stars are looking for a good showing ahead of their first World Cup since 2014.

Saturday

🇪🇸🆚🇨🇭On Saturday, Group 2 in the UEFA Nations League’s top division will take centre-stage. Leaders Spain face bottom side Switzerland knowing that a win will likely set them up for a winner-takes-all game against Portugal this coming Tuesday. Luis Enrique’s side are unbeaten since losing the final of the last edition of the Nations League back in October 2021, a run of eight games.

Meanwhile, Portugal travel to Czechia needing a win to guarantee that grandstand finish to the group in the week. The Czechs aren’t out of it themselves but will need to win both their final games, and hope Spain drop points in order to qualify for the tournament finals.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🆚🇮🇪 Down in League B, Scotland boosted their chances of promotion with a resounding 3-0 win over Ukraine on Wednesday evening. They now lead Group 1 going into Saturday’s game against Ireland. A draw would end Ireland’s outside chance of moving up and indeed, put them at risk of relegation, whilst a point for Scotland sets up another decisive game for them – away to Ukraine on Tuesday (that game will take place in Poland, for obvious reasons).

There is, of course, plenty of lower league domestic action available to follow in the app this weekend so remember that our coverage reaches as far as the fourth tier in a number of large footballing nations plus all the way down to the seventh level in England.

🇺🇸 Having said that, there is some top flight action to get excited about – not least in MLS where one fixture remains on the schedule. And it’s a biggy – the California Clásico between San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy.

The Quakes may be languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference while the Galaxy are fighting for a play-off place but they have beaten their rivals in their last two meetings – including a thrilling 3-2 win in LA back in July.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 There’s also a full round of games in the English WSL – with the women’s North London Derby undoubtably the biggest draw of the weekend. Arsenal face Spurs at the Emirates and should smash the league’s attendance record with over 40,000 tickets sold.

📹 And now for something completely different… We’ve got the Sidemen listed in the app as the YouTube legends (16.5 million subscribers and counting) take on a team of international YouTube stars in a charity match.

The game takes place at a sold-out Valley, home of Charlton Athletic in London and will feature Sidemen members such as KSI, Miniminter and Vikkstar123 along with a host of well known names including MrBeast, ChrisMD, Deji, Chunkz, and Danny Aarons.

Sunday

🇩🇰🆚🇫🇷 Back in the Nations League, Sunday sees a number of groups play to a conclusion. World Champions France eased the risk of an embarrassing relegation from the competition’s top tier with victory over Austria on Thursday evening but will still be looking to get something out of their fixture against Denmark. The Danes meanwhile lost top spot following their defeat to Croatia on the same evening and will still hope a win here (and an unlikely result for Croatia in Austria) will see them take Group 1’s place in the Nation League finals.

🇳🇱🆚🇧🇪 In Group 4 there’s something of a decider between Benelux neighbours – Netherlands and Belgium. The Dutch have a three-point lead but a big win for Roberto Martinez’s Red Devils could see them pip their local rivals to the post. And by big, we mean Belgium must win by +4 goals!

🇫🇴🆚🇹🇷 Further down the Nations League pyramid, Turkiye went behind three times against Luxembourg in their midweek game before recovering to take the point they needed to confirm promotion. They now face the long trip to the Faroe Islands for their final group game in a clash between two of Europe’s most contrasting nations.

🇳🇿🆚🇦🇺 Until Thursday, New Zealand hadn’t played near neighbours Australia for 11 years. Now, they’re set to play them for the second time in a week! The second friendly match of this mini-series makes up part of the Socceroos’ 100 anniversary celebrations and acts as a farewell game before Australia compete in what will be their sixth World Cup Finals later this year.

It was Australia who won the game in midweek with Cadíz forward Awer Mabil scoring the only goal.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Back in the WSL, two of the leagues’ biggest teams clash as Manchester City go to defending champions Chelsea. Both sides were subject to unexpected upsets on the opening weekend of the season – Chelsea losing at newly promoted Liverpool while City went down 4-3 to a Rachel Daly-inspired Aston Villa.

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO

Sep

2022

The Sidemen Charity Game

This Saturday, September 24th, the biggest YouTube football match in history will be played at Charlton’s home stadium, The Valley, in London.

By Bill Biss

What is the Sidemen Charity Match?

Hosted by the famous UK influencer group, Sidemen, the fourth instalment of the Charity Match will be played this year – the first since 2018.

With a combined total following of more than 130 million people worldwide, the group is set to host the biggest football match on YouTube in history.

Alongside the Sidemen, other famous UK creators such as ChrisMD, Deji, Chunkz, and Danny Aarons will participate and leave their mark on YouTube history.

In addition, some of the most prominent American creators are joining for the first time ever, with names like MrBeast, IShowSpeed, and Noah Beck all taking part in the game.

With Mark Goldbridge and Billy Wingrove managing the respective teams, it’s sure to be a spectacle. It will all be streamed live on the Sidemen’s YouTube channel on Saturday, free to watch!

FotMob will cover the game with complete stats, player ratings, live scores, and everything else you’re used to from professional games. Click here to add the game to those you’re following in the app!

Set a reminder in the app to ensure you’re part of the action!

To watch the game live, click – here

Sep

2022

Bundesliga Review: The full picture going in to the International Break

If last month brought a surprise to the Bundesliga then September comes armed with shocks. We’ve clubs in crisis, dugout dismissals and a clear leader at the top.

By Chris Williams, our Bundesliga expert

Bayern’s bubble burst?

It’s been a long few weeks for Bayern München, with just three victories in their opening seven league matches the question now is one of crisis. The Bavarians find themselves in fifth and on a run of form that is their worst start to a Bundesliga campaign for over a decade.

Saturday saw their first defeat of the season, to Augsburg. If this loss wasn’t shocking enough it follows a run of three draws – winless in four games for the first time since 1990.

Now, before we start heralding the end of an era it’s probably worth remembering that when Hansi Flick took over from Niko Kovac in November 2019, Bayern were also in a mess. They went on to win the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and UEFA Champions League.

But, for as poor as they’ve been this season Bayern still top the charts in a number of areas. Nagelsmann’s side lead the way for goals per match (2,7), possession (60%), expected goals (17,5) and shots on target per match (9,7).

Crucially where their season can be seen in explicit detail is matching big chances created to big chances missed – 20 each.

After the defeat to Augsburg Nagelsmann said “We’re just very, very laissez-faire in the last third,” – there’s a Robert Lewandowski shaped hole in the Bayern attack and Sadio Mané centrally doesn’t seem to be the answer.

Dugout departure

Last month I identified three head-coaches for whom the pressure was mounting and it eventually told for one. RB Leipzig acted swiftly, bringing an end to the nine month tenure of Domenico Tedesco.

Die Roten Bullen wasted no time in hiring Marco Rose, ex-Gladbach and Dortmund – but more importantly ex-RB Salzburg, a company man who knows the expectations that accompany the role and he wasted no time in overseeing a 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund.

However, his next match against Borussia Mönchengladbach saw a 3-0 defeat, thankfully for Rose Leipzig have no upcoming game against Salzburg to make it a trio of ex-clubs he must face.

Gerardo Seoane saw Bayer Leverkusen climb into 15th with a draw against Werder Bremen, but the Werkself face Bayern next, if it gets messy expect the next departure imminently.

Derbysieger

Nothing lifts the gloom better than a derby day victory and this was witnessed at the Westfalenstadion last weekend for Borussia Dortmund.

The clouds had appeared after their whipping from Leipzig but a good display against Manchester City in the Champions League was followed with victory against Schalke 04.

Teenage sensation Youssoufa Moukoko came off the bench to settle the game with a close range headed finish. With that goal he became the youngest ever scorer in a Revierderby, another record to add to his already impressive tally he’s been collecting since 15 years old.

It wasn’t all smiles Saturday though as Marco Reus left the field with an ankle injury, the timing couldn’t be worse for the Dortmund captain as he once again faces a battle to be fit for a major international tournament.

Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl described Reus as having “no fracture, just a lateral ligament injury at the ankle” – can he make the FIFA World Cup in December? We’ll have to wait and see.

The Best in the League

Last month I remarked how Jordan Pefok and Sheraldo Becker have lit the league up as a partnership, well this hasn’t just continued it’s skyrocketed – so much so, Union Berlin now top the table with daylight behind them.

Die Eisernen sit atop of everyone else in Germany with 17 points, two clear of Dortmund in second and unbelievably five clear of reigning champions Bayern who languish in fifth.

The duo were on the scoresheet again as Union breezed past Wolfsburg to claim first place as their own in the Bundesliga.

It’s Becker who tops the charts as the league’s top scorer with six strikes and he can add to that a further three assists. It’s given the Suriname international an overall FotMob rating of 7.81.

Can Union keep their lofty position? If we next speak and they have then we could be looking at a serious title challenger.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Bundesliga season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Sep

2022

Serie A Review: Three takeaways from a round full of surprises

Matchday seven saw by far the biggest round of upsets this season, with Inter, Roma, Milan and Juventus all losing. There are also surprises in the standings, with Atalanta tied for first place and Udinese in third place.

By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert

New low for Juventus

With Juventus now winless in their last five matches in all competitions, it seems the club has entered a new low. For the first time in their history, the Bianconeri lost their first two Champions League group stage matches. Even more disappointing is their current form in Serie A, where Juve drew against Salernitana last round and followed it up with another terrible performance against newly promoted Monza.

Once again, Juventus were completely outclassed by a team they should be easily taking care of – outshot and out-possessed even before losing Ángel Di María to a straight red card. Ironically, one of Monza’s starting midfielders is Bianconeri loanee Nicolo Rovella, who looked more than comfortable taking control of his new midfield. Juve has continued to back Allegri, saying that it’s a four year project that he’s working on. Whether or not this vote of confidence continues remains to be seen, as you figure things cannot possibly get any worse for a club with their expectations. This was opposition manager Raffaele Palladino’s first game in Serie A and he was able to beat Juventus – the team that has had Max Allegri at the helm for over fourteen months now.

It’s hard to know which part of Juve’s game is the most troubling. Between lacking fitness, an identity or a coherent playing style, the club is an absolute mess at the moment. Just look at their midweek match against Benfica in the Champions League. The first twenty minutes were promising, then came a collapse where they could’ve conceded five goals if a bit more luck went the way of the Portuguese side. Sure, the excuse can be made that Juventus have injuries, but you need to compare the starting XI that Allegri still has at his disposal, to the one of Salernitana or Monza. There’s no excuse in the world that could justify those performances.

Atalanta’s best ever start

Every summer Atalanta is seemingly forgotten in the conversation about the top four. Apart from last season’s blip, they’ve been contending for a Champions League place since Gianpiero Gasperini took over the club in 2016 as manager and started this incredible run. Having no European competition midweek to bog them down has helped them fully focus on Serie A and getting themselves back into contention. It’s incredible when you consider Atalanta’s wage bill has usually been in the second half of the table. Their scouting department has been on a different stratosphere compared to most of the league. Atalanta’s reality is that they cannot go and buy the finished product from a top five European league, so most of their work has been in the smaller leagues that might not have as much attention placed on them by the state-owned superpower clubs. Take a look at some of their most important players – Teun Koopmeiners, who was in the voting for the August player of the month in Serie A, joined from AZ in the Dutch Eredivisie. Their big summer signing, the talented and promising Rasmus Højlund, came from Sturm Graz in Austria.

This is a pattern you’ll see throughout the squad. Somehow, Atalanta have a knack for bringing over players that are ready to make the jump and actually raise their level once they get into the much tougher Serie A. Such a talented scouting network has allowed La Dea to sell the players that flourish and use that money to buy two or three new pieces who then go on to tenfold their value. Obviously it takes more than just buying the right players – the right system needs to be in place with a clear identity. That’s exactly what’s been happening with Gasperini, who is now the longest tenured manager in the league.

Atalanta have a distinct formation (3-4-3) that they don’t stray away from, with a style that can best be described as intense. They press very well and transition from attack to defence quickly. When they’re in possession, they can play vertically through their quick wide players and creative midfielders, or break you down with fast passing combinations. They’ve been one of the most aesthetically pleasing sides in the league, and this season they’re here to challenge for a top four spot.

Napoli’s personality

If there’s one thing we learned this weekend, it’s that Milan and Napoli are the two best teams in the league at the moment. The game at San Siro was proof of that. Luciano Spalletti’s side took a massive three points from Milan’s home ground in a closely contested game that could have gone the other way. Milan had better chances and missed some shots that they would normally put away, but had to deal with a Napoli side that once again showed plenty of personality. Luciano Spalletti’s done a brilliant job with a much younger and inexperienced team. They don’t seem to be intimidated by anyone – whether it’s Liverpool in the Champions League or the reigning Serie A champions from last season in a sold out San Siro.

Napoli’s depth has been another strong point. Going from Andrea Petagna as Victor Osimhen’s backup to now two better options in Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone, has proven to be the deciding factor once again. It was Simeone coming off the bench who was the catalyst for the winning goal, showing brilliant hold up play and then a world class glancing header to the back post that was impossible to save. The league’s player of the month in August, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was once again influential despite not having his best performance. The Georgian winger drew three yellow cards from nervous Milan defenders who man marked him throughout the entire game. This type of respect is rare to see for a 21 year old, but Rossoneri manager Stefano Pioli clearly had a plan to try and take Kvara out of the game with aggressive man marking. It was this type of defense that drew the penalty, as Sergino Dest (who had replaced the carded Calabria) put in a clumsy tackle inside the box on Kvaratskhelia.

Lastly, the midfield play has allowed Napoli fans to forget about the loss of their wonderful talent Fabián Ruiz. Zielinski has become one of the best midfielders in the league, while Zambo Anguissa is playing some of the most consistent football of his career as that box-to-box presence. The balance that Spalletti has been able to achieve with his midfield three has been deadly. Stanislav Lobotka sits as the holding midfielder and has been doing his best Marco Verratti impression, while Zielinski and Anguissa have done a terrific job of getting in between the lines and connecting with the front men.

I said last week I had Napoli as a dark horse pick for a Scudetto – one round later, they go and take three points from the defending champions in their home ground. Napoli’s first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona in 1992 might no longer be a pipe dream.

(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.

Sep

2022

Last Weekend: Bayern beaten, Son on Song, Mexico’s Súper Clásico and more

We are entering the final international break before the World Cup, so this weekend gave us the last taste of elite-level club football we’ll get for a couple of weeks. It certainly left us looking for more because there was plenty of drama and intrigue all around the world. We will go over some of that here, including Bayern’s loss to Augsburg and Tottenham’s big win over Leicester City in this edition of Last Weekend.

By Neel Shelat

🇩🇪 Germany: Augsburg 1-0 Bayern München

Saturday’s Konferenz kick-offs saw the Bundesliga’s first Revierderby with fans in about three years, so it was going to take something special to stop us from talking about that. FC Augsburg came up with the goods in a little derby of their own as Bayern München were defeated for the first time this season, although the relationship between the two clubs and their fanbases has no animosity at all.

This was the first time since February 2020 that Bayern Munich drew a blank in a league fixture. The last time that happened, Julian Nagelsmann was in the opposition dugout as he saw his RB Leipzig side come away with a 0-0 draw against the would-be champions. Looking at the bigger picture, Bayern are down in 5th and five points away from the top of the table, as they have failed to win four consecutive league matches for the first time in almost two decades.

Before the alarm bells start ringing at the Allianz Arena, though, it is important to take a closer look at what is going on. Although results have not been going their way, Bayern’s performances have been alright and their underlying numbers look very impressive indeed, so all indications are that they can turn this around quite quickly. Additionally, it is also clear that there are no strong contenders that can challenge Bayern for the title, so the Rekordmeister remain the overwhelming favourites.

This was arguably their worst performance of the season, but Augsburg will certainly feel that they did enough to merit the win as they constantly posed a threat throughout the match despite having less than a quarter of possession.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Tottenham Hotspur 6-2 Leicester City

Spurs are enjoying a very good start to the season. They are one of just two unbeaten teams in the Premier League at the moment and are level on points with defending champions Manchester City (who, of course, are the other team). One of their players who might not have been enjoying it as much as the others, though, is Son Heung-min.

Having failed to score in eight competitive matches this season, the South Korean international’s campaign seemed to be getting even worse during Leicester City’s visit to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Saturday when he found himself starting a Premier League match on the bench for the first time since April 2021, and therefore the first time in Antonio Conte’s tenure at Tottenham.

That meant that he had quite a point to prove when he was sent on just before the hour-mark, with the scoreboard reading 3-2 after an entertaining first half that saw the sides going in level at the break, with four goals scored. He probably considered his outing a success as he scored a wonderful hat-trick, which featured two sublime curling efforts from outside the box, one with either foot, and a clinical one-on-one finish.

That made the result go from bad to a little ugly for Leicester, who remain rooted to the foot of the table with just one point. Clearly, their start to the season has been far worse than Son’s, but that is a story for another day.

🇲🇽 Mexico: América 2-1 Chivas

We covered El Superclásico in the previous edition of the column, and we will be doing the same this time, but with an extra space between the words. Mexico’s biggest derby – El Súper Clásico – features capital club América and Chivas from Guadalajara.

The home side were the favourites for this fixture as they led the league standings going into the weekend, but had dropped to second by the time this match kicked off after Monterrey beat defending champions Atlas. They were also on a ten-match unbeaten run in the league heading into this fixture, having won nine on the bounce before drawing against Santos in midweek.

América took just four minutes to take the lead as Henry Martin, the league’s most dangerous forward this season in terms of goals and assists, won and converted a penalty. He also played a part in his side’s other goal, setting up Alex Zandejas’ strike just a few minutes after half-time. Cristian Calderón pulled one back for Chivas about 10 minutes later, but they failed to find an equaliser.

The win meant América restored their one-point lead over Monterrey at the top of the standings. With just one match left for them in the 2022/23 Apertura, a visit to Puebla, they will fancy their chances of finishing first.

Of course, they will not get any trophy for that, because the Liga MX champions are crowned after the play-offs, for which the top four directly qualify. América already had assurance of that heading into this fixture, so in the grand scheme of things, they were not playing for much more than bragging rights.

🇮🇹 Italy: Monza 1-0 Juventus

We covered the incredible late drama at the Allianz Stadium last weekend with a slightly tongue-in-cheek tone. It is time to get more serious this time, though, because there are some real problems at Juventus.

Their draw with Salernitana made it three consecutive matches without a win in all competitions, but things went from bad to significantly worse in the subsequent seven days. Their loss to Benfica in midweek left them rooted at the bottom of their Champions League group, and they faced another bad result on Sunday.

On Sunday, they were visiting the Stadio Comunale Brianteo, just eight kilometres away from the site of Max Verstappen’s latest F1 race victory. Monza is, of course, best known for its famous racetrack, but the local football club has also come to prominence of late after securing their first-ever promotion to Serie A last season. They were finding life in the big time quite tough, though, as they lost their first five matches before picking up their first point against Lecce last week.

Massimiliano Allegri was not on the touchline for Juventus’ visit since he had been sent off last weekend, so we did not get to see his full reaction when Ángel Di María saw red towards the end of a relatively uneventful first half, but we can imagine it was not positive. The home side proceeded to totally dominate the match thereafter, eventually taking the lead through Christian Gytkjær in the 74th minute and then comfortably holding on for their first-ever Serie A win against the league’s most decorated club.

It was by no means undeserved either because they were the better team in this match by some margin and arguably should have scored more.

That shotmap is a damning image for Juventus, who surely have to be conducting a detailed introspection and change something during the international break.

🇪🇸 Spain: Real Valladolid 0-1 Cadíz

Fans of the intricate tiki-taka style of Spanish football would not have lasted long watching this match, but what else should you expect from two relegation candidates? To be fair to them, Valladolid put out a good performance and created a number of good chances, so the only thing Pacheta would have been frustrated by was their inability to take them.

Cádiz, on the other hand, looked as drab as they have done throughout the season. Heading into this match, they were on zero points after five matches, having failed to score a single goal against Real Sociedad, Osasuna, Athletic Club, Celta Vigo and Barcelona while shipping 14 at the other end.

As the match entered stoppage-time with no goals scored, everyone quickly realised that there could only be one outcome. Álvaro Negredo’s finish in the 92nd minute broke the home fans’ hearts as his goal propelled Cádiz off the foot of the table, taking them just one point and place behind their opponents.

If you are a Valladolid fan and have somehow managed to read on to this point, we advise you to look away now, because the match’s shotmap will make for very painful reading.

The beautiful game at its very best.

🇫🇷 France: Stade Brestois 0-1 AC Ajaccio

It was also a good weekend for one of the relegation candidates in France. The league’s two bottom clubs, namely Brest and Ajaccio, were squaring off on Sunday afternoon at the Stade Francis-Le Blé, and although their match was quite forgettable, the result was not, especially for the small contingent of travelling fans.

Many of those supporters had made the 1,600-kilometre journey from the island of Corsica, where Ajaccio is located, to Brest on the Northwestern tip of France. After watching their side suffer five consecutive defeats in the league, they would have been overjoyed to see their first win of the season, which also happened to be their first top-flight win on the French mainland in over eight years.

Unfortunately, Ajaccio are still at the foot of the table, but they have closed the gap to Brest to just one point. In a season where four sides are set to be directly relegated from Ligue 1 as the division is trimmed to 18 teams, their chances of survival are even slimmer than they otherwise would have been. Nonetheless, they should enjoy their top-flight trips to the mainland while they last.

🇫🇴 Faroe Islands: HB Tórshavn 2-1 Víkingur

The Faroe Islands Premier League is always fun to watch, as many of you will have found during the dark days of the pandemic, when the league was one of only a handful to forge ahead with fixtures.

This year has been no exception and on Saturday, the sides in third and second faced off as HB Tórshavn, better known as Havnar Bóltfelag or simply HB, played hosts to Víkingur. The result was very good news for league-leaders Klaksvík, who consequently became the first top-flight side to be crowned champions in Europe’s 2022 summer season.

This is Kí’s third title in four years and their 19th overall, which makes them the second-most successful club in the league’s history. They failed to qualify for the Europa Conference League this season after losing to Ballkani, but at least they can now get on with celebrating all the way through to the end of the domestic season.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Sep

2022

LaLiga Review: All the major stories from Round Six in Spain

Real Madrid won a Derby that left a bitter taste in the mouth while Barca’s league form continued vs. Elche. We’ll cover all that and more in this week’s column.

By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert

Madrid Derby overshadowed by racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Juníor

Real Madrid’s derby win over Atlético at the Metropolitano made it six out of six for Los Blancos in LaLiga this season, but the match was marred by racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Juníor by the home side’s ultras before and during the match.

Sickening videos emerged ahead of the game in which chants of ‘Vinícius is a monkey’ could be clearly heard. Those continued inside the stadium and highlighted a serious issue in Spanish sport and also society.

Vinícius had been the subject of criticism last week for his dance moves when celebrating his goals and a guest on Spanish sports show El Chiringuito used an expression – ‘hacer el mono’ (loosely ‘to monkey around’) – when calling for the Brazilian to ‘respect his opponents’ on the pitch and suggested he should ‘go to a sambadrome’ if he wants to dance.

Whether the expression was meant as a racial slur or not by the president of Spanish football agents Pedro Bravo, it was an unfortunate choice of words at best and clearly his rant contained racial and zenophobic undertones, even if El Chiringuito have claimed otherwise.

On Saturday, Vinícius released a video on Twitter in which he condemned the racial abuse and vowed to keep on dancing. And he was good to his word as he and compatriot Rodrygo danced together after the latter gave Madrid the lead in the derby following an exquisite chipped pass by Aurélien Tchouaméni and a fine first-time finish from the Brazilian.

Vinícius almost made it 2-0 himself later in the half, but his shot after a trademark run down the left cannoned off the post and into the path of Fede Valverde, who fired in his third goal in as many games.

Mario Hermoso headed a late consolation for Atletico following a corner, but Madrid march on and significantly, Los Blancos have found a way to win games without the injured Karim Benzema.

“I think the team has replaced Karim well,” Carlo Ancelotti said after the game. “Everyone who has played in his position has done well. Today, Rodrygo scored a spectacular goal. The squad is in very good health.”

It certainly looks that way as Madrid sit on top of the table with 18 points, eight ahead of seventh-placed Atlético.

Atlético coach Diego Simeone handed a rare start to Antoine Griezmann, who is being restricted in terms of minutes in order for the club to avoid an automatic €40 million payment to Barcelona, but the French forward’s presence could not prevent a second defeat of the season for the Rojiblancos.

“We understood that Antoine could go out from the start and he worked hard as a second striker, dropping deep to link up and to the wings in the second half in order to play with the forwards,” Simeone said. “He played an important game, like several others.”

The Argentine could not resist a veiled dig at Madrid and also the media, though. “They remind me of the team we had with [Diego] Costa,” he said. “When people criticised us…”

Atletico travel to the Sánchez Pizjuán after the international break in another big game. “We’ll keep working,” Simeone said. “And we look to Sevilla knowing what we have to improve and what we are doing well.”

Three and easy for Barcelona

Barcelona did not have to be at their best against Elche, but still scored three times in a routine win at Camp Nou.

Robert Lewandowski was on target twice, taking his tally for the season to 11 goals in just eight games – and eight in six in LaLiga. The Polish striker opened the scoring and netted the third early in the second half with two fairly simple finishes by his standards, with Memphis Depay netting the pick of the three as he turned skilfully and smashed a shot into the roof of the net for the second. Pedri also saw a goal ruled out by VAR in a match Barça were expected to win easily anyway, but which was conditioned somewhat by the red card for Elche’s Gonzalo Verdu inside 14 minutes.

Barça remain unbeaten, with five wins and a draw from their six games – and only one goal conceded in LaLiga this season. The Blaugrana stay just two points behind Real Madrid ahead of the international break.

Xavi’s team selection caused some surprise here, with Depay and Franck Kessié both in the line-up against Elche, but the coach said: “It’s squads that win titles, not one starting XI.”

Barça’s former midfield great is approaching a year in the job. “We have a very clear idea of how we play: to be protagonists with the ball,” he said. “We know the pressure and the demands at this club. The team has improved a lot since we arrived in November.” No doubt.

Betis and Athletic impress early on

Real Betis and Athletic Club might not have been the favourites for the two remaining Champions League positions behind Real Madrid and Barcelona at the season start, but those two clubs currently occupy third and fourth in LaLiga.

Betis made it five wins out of six, this time beating promoted club Girona 2-1 at the Benito Villamarín on Sunday. Both goals were scored by the dependable Borja Iglesias, who now has six in as many games this season. “Starting the season with 15 points from 18 is a very high level of performance,” coach Manuel Pellegrini said. Their only blip? A narrow 2-1 loss at Real Madrid. Impressive.

And at San Mames on Saturday, Athletic came out on top in an entertaining encounter against Rayo Vallecano. Brothers Iñaki and Nico Williams were on the scoresheet together for the first time, both latching onto long passes with extraordinary control and speed before producing fine finishes. Iñaki is set to make his debut for Ghana in this international break, while Nico has been called up to the Spain squad. Under Ernesto Valverde, Athletic have made their best start in 27 years and fans gave a warm welcome to midfielder Ander Herrera, who recently returned to the Basque club after signing from PSG on loan and came on as a substitute. “It’s a perfect night,” he said. “But the season is long and the marks are handed out in May.”

Osasuna, beaten 2-0 at home by Getafe on Sunday, drop to fifth. Villarreal are sixth after a 1-1 draw with improving Sevilla (now 15th, also on Sunday) and Valencia move up to ninth after a 3-0 win at home to Celta Vigo on Saturday.

(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.

Sep

2022

Premier League Team of the Week

FotMob TOTW – Round 8

Super Sub Heung-Min Son earns the week’s highest rating after scoring a 14 minute hattrick in Spurs’ 6-3 win over Leicester. Tottenham make up the spine of this week’s TOTW, with five players earning a place in the XI.

Sep

2022

Premier League Review: Your essential recap of a depleted Round 8

Premier League football returned this weekend with a reduced offering. However, it was still a matchday filled with goals and drama. Here, we take a look at some of the biggest talking points.

By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert

The curse of the draw

Newcastle United are winless since their opening day victory over Nottingham Forest. Since then, Eddie Howe’s side have drawn five of their six matches. Their return of five draws is a total no other team in the Premier League can match.

The Magpies huffed and puffed against Bournemouth on Saturday but failed to capitalise on their superiority. They dominated the ball with 72% possession while also attempting double the number of efforts and having a significantly higher Expected Goals total – 1.92 to 0.75.

Yet they required an Alexander Isak penalty to restore parity after Phillip Billing had opened the scoring for the Cherries.

If Newcastle are unable to turn their dominance into victories, as has been the case so far this term, it could be a season of frustration for the Toon Army.

A continuous hot-streak

Heung-Min Son continues to break Expected Goal models. The Spurs forward has regularly outperformed his underlying metrics since moving to the Premier League and he put on a goalscoring clinic against Leicester City on Saturday.

The versatile attacker opened his account for the season against Leicester City after replacing Richarlison on the hour mark. He then finish the match the a hat-trick despite his opportunities amassing an xG total of just 0.67.

Son also landed all four of his attempts on target to complete one of the most ruthless showings of the season just as it looked as though the Foxes might take something from what was an end to end game.

The machine

Erling Haaland just scores goals. It is what he does.

Manchester City’s No.9 added to his tally this term against Wolves to make it 11 goals – five more than anyone else in the race for the Golden Boot.

The former BVB forward is on course to break the record for goals scored in a single Premier League season and he is doing it playing his own unique way. Haaland hasn’t adapted to life at the Etihad and the players haven’t really had to adapt to him.

On Saturday, he attempted just 17 passes and found a teammate 71% of the time. Haaland is not heavily involved but he’s involved enough to impact the scoreline, and that is why City added him to their ranks.

The wildcard

Eyebrows were raised when Arsenal added Fábio Vieria to their ranks this summer. The Portuguese playmaker excelled in areas usually occupied by club captain Martin Ødegaard and the Gunners had other departments that needed to be worked on.

However, the former Porto man really turned it on against Brentford, filling the void left by the absent Arsenal No.8.

His nonchalant finish – the third for Mikel Arteta’s side – capped off a fine performance. The 22-year-old had a FotMob rating of 8.2 having scored one and created one chance while finishing the game with a pass success rate of 82%. If this is a sign of things to come, the Gunners have a player on their hands.

A disappointing return

David Moyes took his West Ham United side to Goodison Park as they looked to get back to winning ways in the Premier League.

The Hammers had won just one of their six outings prior to the trip to Merseyside, a disappointing return after a summer of spending.

West Ham suffered yet another loss with Neal Maupay opening his account for the Toffees in the second half to claim all three points.

An alarming stat for Moyes is that prior to the match yesterday, Everton had averaged just 40% possession in their games this season. Against his side, though, Frank Lampard’s side had more of the ball, finishing with 53% of the possession.

This was supposed to be the season that West Ham challenged for a top four spot after adding Gianluca Scamacca, Lucas Paquetá, Maxwel Cornet and a handful of other talented players. Instead they find themselves in the bottom three with star summer signing Paquetá having a FotMob rating of 5.7 before he was replaced.

(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.

Sep

2022

This Weekend: The Madrid Derby, the Revierderby and a reduced Premier League schedule

The best action to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 As England and the wider UK continues to deal with the logistical challenges around staging major sporting events at the same time as a change in the Head of State, and arrangements for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the Premier League will be running a reduced number of games this weekend. They start with two fixtures on Friday evening – at Villa and Forest, then continue with three games on Saturday.

Manchester City return to league action after consecutive wins over Sevilla and Dortmund in the Champions League when they face Wolves. Bruno Lage has seen his ranks bolstered by the signing of Diego Costa in recent days and they’ll be hoping he can improve their record of three goals from their first six games of the season.

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United welcome Bournemouth (his former charges) to Tyneside as they look to halt a run of five games without a win in the league. And the day ends with third placed Tottenham Hotspur testing their unbeaten record against bottom side Leicester City.

🇩🇪 In Germany, Schalke have endured a slow start to life back in the top flight, only picking up their first win at the sixth time of asking, last weekend. The 3-1 victory over Bochum should at least give them a little confidence going in to their reunion with Borussia Dortmund in the Revierderby – perhaps the Bundesliga’s most fierce rivalry.

Dortmund scored seven unanswered goals against their rivals in Schalke’s relegation season (2020/2021) and are on a run of four clean sheets in the derby dating back to 2018/19. They do however come in to this game after morale-sapping defeats to City in the Champions League and against former manager Marco Rose, at Leipzig.

Bayern also have a Derby on Saturday as they make the short trip to Bavarian neighbours Augsburg. The 10-time reigning champions are technically on their worst start to a season since 2010/11 (3 wins, 3 draws) so now might not be a good time to remind their fans of the 2-1 defeat they suffered in this fixture last year!

Having nullified the threat of Barcelona, and former striker Robert Lewandowski, in Tuesday night’s Champions League win however, Bayern are probably looking to build on that impressive result rather than dwell on old news.

🇪🇸 Speaking of Barcelona, the Catalan club are back in LaLiga action with a game against Elche on Saturday afternoon. In fact, a win would take Xavi’s side top of the table – at least until Madrid play in Sunday’s headline game against Atlético.

Since drawing a blank in their season opener, Barça have matched Madrid in terms of goals scored and have proved miserly at the back, conceding just once, in a run of four league wins.

Athletic Club – managed by former Barça coach Ernesto Valverde, also boast an impressive defensive record this season. They sit sixth after five rounds with a goal difference of +7 and will test their unbeaten home run against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday night.

🇺🇸 We’re reaching crunch time in the MLS regular season with most sides having just three games to play before the top seven from the East and West conferences progress to the play-offs. New York Red Bulls are one of three Eastern sides who’ve already confirmed their post-season spot but they still face a very important game this weekend – against rivals New York City, in the Hudson River Derby.

NYCFC might be the reigning MLS Cup champions but they currently find themselves in the midst of a winless run that has seen them pick up just one point in their last six. They still sit fourth in the conference but with all the sides below them having games in hand they really need to pick up a win soon, and there’s no better time to do that than against your main rivals.

Atlanta United are one of the sides who currently sit outside the play-off picture looking in but they face the daunting task of a home game against Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield leaders Philadelphia Union.

🇲🇽 We also have a longer-running feud to look forward to elsewhere in the Concacaf region on Saturday. That comes in the form of Mexico’s Súper Clásico between national rivals América and Chivas.

And as if this fixture needed any more riding on it, both teams need a win. América are unbeaten in ten and currently lead the Apertura table but still require three points to guarantee their place in the play-offs. And despite their poor start to the season, Chivas still have a mathematical chance of reaching the top four – but only if they get one over their rivals at the Azteca. Something they’ve not done in the last three derby games.

This rivalry dates back to the 1940s, with América having the upper hand in both the all-time head-to-head record, and more recently – as the FotMob records show (from 2010 onwards)!

Sunday

🇪🇸 The major Derbies keep coming on Sunday with the Estadio Metropolitano the setting for the biggest LaLiga game of the season so far. Atlético Madrid host city-rivals Real in Round 6 hoping to repeat last season’s 1-0 home win and put a stop to Madrid’s perfect start to the campaign.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side lifted the UEFA Super Cup in August and haven’t looked back – winning seven straight games and scoring 15 goals in the process. And that run has continued despite the absence of talisman Karim Benzema through injury in recent weeks.

After enduring a slightly rockier path to date, Atlético looked strong in wins against Porto and Celta Vigo last week, before then coming unstuck, at Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 2 in the Champions League. Diego Simeone will be wondering which version of his side will turn up for the Derby.

Also among the games taking place on Sunday, high-flying Betis face Girona, who’ve had an encouraging return to LaLiga (W2, D1, L2) and Villarreal host Sevilla. The Yellow Submarine and the Blanquirrojos couldn’t have had more contrasting season starts – Villarreal going four goals without conceding a goal until last weekend’s defeat at Betis, and Sevilla failing to pick up a win until a nervy 3-2 victory, at Espanyol last Saturday.

🇮🇹 All of the key action in Italy comes towards the end of the weekend with six fixtures lined up across the day.

Udinese – who’ve impressed so far, kick things off with a home game against Inter. That’s fourth vs. sixth in the fledgling Serie A table.

Later, joint leaders Atalanta travel to José Mourinho’s Roma (second vs. fifth) and then just to cap things off, there’s the real heavyweight clash between reigning champions Milan (third) and Napoli (first) – perhaps this season’s most interesting story among the form teams.

Unbeaten in their Champions League group and in the league, Luciano Spalletti’s totally refreshed squad have outscored everyone while maintaining the second best defensive record. Central to that has been the form of newcomers Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a winger with four goals and one assist in his first six games. And South Korean centre-back Kim Min-jae. Kim has weighed in with two goals himself and currently has the second best FotMob average rating in the league behind Paulo Dybala (7.96 to Dybala’s 8.04).

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Back in the Premier League, two of four scheduled games are taking place. Chelsea vs. Liverpool and Manchester United vs. Leeds United are the headline clashes that have been postponed but there’s still the prospect of leaders Arsenal playing away at Brentford. And Everton‘s meeting with West Ham at Goodison Park.

Arsenal famously came unstuck at the Bees in the very first game of last season but Mikel Arteta’s side look much more settled this time around – albeit they did lose their 100% record in spectacular fashion at Manchester United before the enforced break in their fixtures.

For their part, both Everton and West Ham are lingering towards the bottom of the table, with goals, or the lack of them seemingly being the root cause of the issue. Everton have found the net just three times and are on a run of four straight draws while there have at least been more encouraging signs for West Ham in the Europa Conference League. They’ve only won once in the league but have scored six across consecutive wins over FCSB and Sikeborg.

🇩🇪 Going in to the weekend, Union Berlin are the somewhat surprise leaders in the Bundesliga and depending on other results – they may well need a win against Wolfsburg in Sunday’s game to take that position in to the international break. The East Berliners’ historic unbeaten start to the campaign has seen them win four of their six games and only Bayern München have scored more than their 13 goals.

The match between Hoffenheim (fourth) and Freiburg (second) should also be worth a watch as two of the league’s early pacesetters meet at the PreZero Arena. Hoffenheim put four past Mainz last week while Freiburg are on a run of six unbeaten games, including impressive wins over Qarabağ and Greek champions Olympiacos in the Europa League.

🇫🇷 The form of France’s big two has been the talk of the opening months in Ligue 1 – with Marseille matching PSG point-for-point. In fact, with 19 points from their first seven games, this is Marseille’s best ever start in the top flight.

On Sunday, L’OM face sixth placed Rennes while PSG face a tough trip to Lyon, who sit fifth. Christophe Galtier will be hoping that his superstar front three can once again come good. The resurgent Neymar, Mbappé and Messi all scored in PSG’s Champions League win at Maccabi Haifa in midweek and all three have looked unstoppable in the league.

🚨 We’ve already mentioned the weekend’s big Derbies in the UEFA and Concacaf federations so we’ll end this preview with two of the biggest games coming up in Conmebol.

The Maracanã plays host to the latest edition of the Fla-Flu, the major Rio de Janeiro clash between Flamengo and Fluminense. This is a rivalry that has been somewhat revived with the upswing in fortunes that Fluminense have enjoyed this season and the sides go in to this one locked level on points, third and fourth in the Brasileirão.

And in Ecuador, there’s the Clásico del Astillero that pits together the two Guayaquil clubs, Emelec and Barcelona. You can expect plenty of colour in this game, albeit TV coverage might be harder to come by.

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

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Cover Image from IMAGO