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.
đŽó §ó ąó „ó źó §ó ż 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.
đźđč 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.
đȘđž 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.
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.
đ 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.
đżđŠ 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.
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.
đŽó §ó ąó „ó źó §ó ż 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.
Third placed Freiburg are also in action – they visit bottom of the table Schalke.
đșđž 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.
đźđč 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.
đžđȘ HĂ€cken 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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Benzema did not play but presented his Ballon dâOr to the Bernabeu faithful. But after Valverdeâs wonder strike late in the game, the home fans chanted âFede, Ballon dâOr.â Asked afterwards about that, Ancelotti said: âLetâs wait a bit, shall we?â
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.
âI donât know if itâs the most reliable team I have had, but itâs one I like to coach,â Ancelotti said. âItâs a team that doesnât give me problems. Itâs respectful. And in terms of quality, itâs one of the best I have had. If not the best.â
Despite their recent improvement under Jorge Sampaoli, Sevilla are only a point above the relegation after 11 rounds of LaLiga.
That remains Barçaâs only defeat in LaLiga this term, with nine wins and a draw in their other 10 domestic fixtures so far in 2022-23.
Lewandowskiâs 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: âFerran [Torres] and Ansu [Fati] can play in Robertâs role, if we rest him. There are several options.â
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 monthâs World Cup.
âIâm very happy for Griezmann,â Diego Simeone said. âHe 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.â
This was the first match at the CerĂĄmica since Llanezaâs passing and turned out to be the last for Unai Emery as Villarreal coach following the announcement that the Basque is joining Aston Villa.
âIt was a great day for Villarreal and a good homage to Llaneza on the field of play,â Emery said. âSometimes you need heart to win matches.â
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 Aguirreâs 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 â featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
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. Hereâs 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.Â
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 managerâs 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 AlmirĂłn 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.Â
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 Conteâs men to just one goal.
Only four players have more goals than AlmirĂłn this term.Â
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 BuendĂa and Leon Bailey all impressed in a much-changed starting XI.Â
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 Artetaâs side arenât 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 wasnât a problem earlier on in the season.Â
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.Â
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)
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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 MilinkoviÄ-SaviÄ 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 NicolĂł 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.
Lazioâs defence is currently ranked first in Serie A, with only five goals conceded after 11 rounds. It isnât 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 LuĂs 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 Maximianoâs one game suspension.
Sarriâs Lazio is one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. Theyâre playing their usual âSarriBallâ style of high press and a lot of possession, but theyâre winning mostly because of a surprisingly stellar defensive unit of former cast-offs and players inexperienced at the highest level.
What stands out more than anything about the way Napoli play is how they donât change their style for anyone. Whether itâs at home against a provincial or away against a direct Scudetto rival, Luciano Spallettiâs side tries to dominate possession and plays high press off the ball. Napoliâs 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 couldnât build up slower possession.
Victor Osimhenâs stunning goal was even more impressive when you looked at it more than once â it was such a narrow angle that he had, meaning the shot had to be perfect to beat Romaâs 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. Heâs been incredibly unlucky with bad injuries in each of his Napoli seasons â from the fractured orbital/cheek to hamstring issues, Osihmen hasnât 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
Milanâs no.10 Brahim DĂaz 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, âCDKâ came to the club with the expectation of being the new star in the trequartista role. Last year, Brahim DĂaz 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 KruniÄ to play as the forward destroyer. It seemed like Brahimâs 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 â 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 heâs been given. Pioli has been quick to support the young Belgian by saying that it took both Raphael LeĂŁo 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. Itâs 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 thatâll continue throughout the season. CDK will need plenty of minutes to improve, so itâs Brahimâs job now to make himself undroppable if healthy. Perhaps the two could even play together under Pioli â 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 â featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
As we approach the World Cup in November, many summer leagues are drawing to a close. Elsewhere, the big games are continuing to come thick and fast in the big winter leagues around Europe. We will be rounding up all the major action from the last couple of days in this edition of Last Weekend.
After 26 games, the Liga Profesional title race boiled down to the final matchday. Boca Juniors were leading the league but had a tough test against Independiente, whose local rivals Racing Club were one point off the top spot. Funnily enough, they were facing Boca’s arch-rivals River Plate, for whom Marcelo Gallardo was overseeing the final match of his long and memorable tenure.
The tension was palpable at La Bombonera and El Cilindro de Avellaneda, which heightened the drama as both title race protagonists were playing at home. After a cagey first half-hour in both matches, Racing fans began to celebrate an Independiente goal for probably the first and only time in their lives. By the time word reached every spectator in the stadium, though, Boca had already equalised. So, we went into the half-time break with level scores in both matches.
Just five minutes into the second period, substitute SebastiĂĄn Villa whipped a free-kick into the top corner for Boca, but soon thereafter, Racing won a penalty, which was converted by Matias Rojas. As it stood, though, that goal meant little because Boca were winning too. Hope slowly began to fade at the Cilindro as we entered the last 15 minutes of the match, and Racingâs title hopes suffered a huge setback when Miguel Borja equalised in the 80th minute.
No more than a minute later, the Racing fans started urging their players on with renewed vigour because Javier Vallejo equalised for Independiente, so Racing needed to win their match to lift the title. They were given a golden chance to do just that when they won another penalty in the dying stages of the match. Rojas had been substituted off, so Jonathan GalvĂĄn stepped up to take it. His effort was incredibly tame, so Franco Armani was able to keep it out after diving the right way.
To add insult to injury, Borja scored a last-minute winner for River Plate, but the difference between a draw and a loss was as good as nothing for Racing in this context. So, in the most incredible circumstances, River Plate effectively won the title for Boca Juniors.
Youâd do well to write a script as good as that.
The big Serie A match on Sunday night saw league-leaders Napoli visit the capital, where they faced the only side in the division with a better xGD (Expected Goal Difference) than them. Luciano Spallettiâs side were on a six-match winning streak domestically going into this game, yet Milan were level on points with them after their win over Monza earlier in the weekend.
It was a typically staunch defensive performance from Roma, who were happy to cede possession as long as it meant they could better protect their goal. As a result, there were no clear-cut chances to speak of in the first half, so the match was goalless at half-time. As the match wore on in the second period and crossed the hour mark, Napoli began to fashion some openings by capitalising on lapses from the tiring Roma defenders.
Their star striker Victor Osimhen was back in the starting line-up for the first time since he sustained an injury against Liverpool in early September, and although Napoli coped very well in his absence, he showed just how important he can be in this match. The direct threat that he poses with his runs in behind led him to get on the end of a gilt-edged chance in the 70th minute when he went through on goal on the right, but he dragged his finish well wide of the far post. Still, he persevered, and 10 minutes later, he was in behind at a much tighter angle, but this time he superbly struck the ball across the face of goal and into the far corner, putting his side in front in the process.
That was enough for Napoli to take home all three points and put an end to Romaâs unbeaten record in the league, so now they are the only side that can boast of that. It is safe to say that their victory was deserved too.
The weekendâs action in Portugal kicked off with O ClĂĄssico, where the top two faced off at the EstĂĄdio do DragĂŁo with three points separating them. Benfica were leading the way this season, but having gone three years without a league trophy, this was set to be a real test of their title credentials.
The home side looked the stronger of the two early on, but the match changed in the 27th minute when Stephen EustĂĄquio picked up a second yellow card in the span of three minutes. Benfica were then able to get a stronghold on proceedings, but Porto did defend admirably for the rest of the first half.
Roger Schmidt made some crucial decisions at half-time as he made three substitutions that saw three booked players come off, while their replacements helped make Benfica more attack-minded. Their endeavours were finally rewarded in the 72nd minute when Rafa Silva found the back of the net with a goal that was initially flagged for offside, but later given by VAR.
With that, Benfica earned a deserved victory in this ClĂĄssico â their first in over three years â and remained the only side in the Portuguese top flight with an unbeaten record. The title charge is very much on for them.
It has been an intense week of Jupiler Pro League action, where some big midweek clashes added to the talking points ahead of the weekendâs fixtures. Last seasonâs top two squared off on Saturday night, this seasonâs top two kicked off the action for Sunday, but our focus will be on the Belgian Clasico between a rejuvenated Standard LiĂšge and a struggling Anderlecht.
Standard had been regular European challengers since the turn of the century, but they had a torrid time last season when they finished 14th. They were taken over by 777 Partners heading into this season, and they brought in New York City FCâs most recent title-winning manager Ronny Deila to start the rebuild.
Anderlecht, on the other hand, finished third last season but were always a good distance away from the title race. Head coach Vincent Kompany left at the end of the season, making way for Union Saint-Gilloiseâs miracle-mastermind Felice MazzĂč to replace him. MazzĂč had a great track record of success at âsmallerâ clubs like Union and Charleroi, but his last âbigâ job at Genk did not end well.
Things were already rocky for him going into this match, as Anderlecht came on the back of a three-match losing streak in all competitions that saw them fall out of the top two of their Europa Conference League group, and drop out of the European spots in the league after losses to rivals Club Brugge and bottom-club Zulte Waregem.
The travelling fans finally had something to celebrate just three minutes into this match as Yari Verschaeren opened the scoring, putting Anderlecht on course for what would just be their second win in their last six competitive fixtures. They were soon derailed from that course, though, as Standard LiĂšge scored twice in the space of seven minutes before the half hour through Nicolas Raskin and Marlon Fossey.
As the away sideâs supporters began to grow disgruntled in the second period, Philip Zinckernagel added a third for Standard, and that proved to be tipping point. Flares were thrown onto the pitch from the away section and the match had to be suspended and eventually abandoned. Anderlechtâs players could only leave their dressing room two and a half hours after that due to security concerns, and their drive back to Brussels must have been made even less enjoyable by the broken glass at the back of their bus.
Besides the visitors getting fined for their fansâ actions, Standard were of course awarded the 3-1 win which takes them all the way up to fifth. Anderlecht, meanwhile, are down in 12th and have a whopping 21-point deficit to Genk, but are just five points ahead of Zulte Waregem at the foot of the table.
On Monday, Anderlecht announced that they had parted ways with MazzĂč, for whom this looks to be a repeat of his experiences at Genk. The next head coach will have quite a job on their hands.
The Premier League also gave us some great action this weekend including Manchester Unitedâs visit to Stamford Bridge, Tottenhamâs loss at home to Newcastle, Arsenalâs draw with Southampton and Manchester Cityâs win over Brighton & Hove Albion, but the most shocking result came in the first match of the weekend.
Last-placed Nottingham Forest welcomed a depleted, yet in-form Liverpool, who had beaten Rangers, Manchester City and West Ham in the previous ten days, although they lost Diogo Jota and Darwin NĂșñez to injuries in those fixtures. Still, they would have been expected to make light work of a newly-promoted side that had one of the leagueâs worst defences.
The visitors created some good chances in the first half but largely looked uninspired, while Forestâs disciplined defending in their 4-5-1 formation was deserving of a goalless half. Steve Cooperâs side knew that they needed a one-off chance like a set-piece to cause further problems to their opponents, and they made the most of just that in the 55th minute when former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored the rebound after initially hitting the post.
Liverpool naturally began to push harder for an equaliser as the full-time whistle got closer, but Forest were also able to fashion a number of chances to double their lead. Both goalkeepers produced some spectacular saves as big chances were missed at both ends, but on the balance of play, Forest were good value for their win.
Nottingham Forest are still at the foot of the table, but their second win of the season means that they are now level on points with the other two sides in the relegation zone, and are just two points away from safety. Liverpool, on the other hand, are down in 8th and 12 points behind league-leaders Arsenal, while their injury issues do not seem to be getting resolved anytime soon.
One of the more entertaining matches of the weekend was Lilleâs win over Monaco in a seven-goal thriller. It featured superb attacking, poor defending and sloppy goalkeeping in equal measure.
The away team took the lead for the first time in the match on the other side of the half-time break through Wissam Ben Yedder, but Lille made a comeback after the hour through goals from Cabella and Jonathan Bamba, which proved decisive when the full-time whistle was blown.
While it was a very fun spectacle for the neutral viewer, this match really summed up the two sidesâ seasons so far. Both Lille and Monaco have shown sparks of brilliance going forward, but their defences have been pretty shaky, as is highlighted by their goal records of 25-21 and 23-18 respectively. Entertainment is good, but it does not always lead to success in football.
đŽó §ó ąó „ó źó §ó ż Swiftly following the midweek matches in the Premier League, the next round starts with four fixtures on Saturday. They include a meeting between Liverpool – who looked a bit more like their former selves when they beat West Ham on Wednesday, and Nottingham Forest – who slipped to the bottom of the table despite drawing at Brighton on Tuesday.
Manchester City return to action after sitting it out during the week as they host Brighton. City can move to within a point of leaders Arsenal if they can continue Roberto De Zerbi’s winless start to life with the Seagulls. And in the evening fixture, Graham Potter – still unbeaten with Chelsea – will face a test as Manchester United go to Stamford Bridge. The visitors will most definitely be without Cristiano Ronaldo following his disciplinary issues but as the 2-0 win over Spurs on Wednesday showed – does Erik ten Hag need him?
đȘđž There were midweek games in LaLiga too, where leaders Real Madrid will be in action again on Saturday, after following last weekend’s victory over arch-rivals Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Elche on Wednesday. That result included a goal for the newly crowned Ballon d’Or, Karim Benzema – not that Madrid need their talisman to score with contributions currently coming from all over the pitch!
Madrid play Sevilla, who’ve enjoyed a four game unbeaten run since the return of Argentinian coach Jorge Sampaoli. Also on Saturday – we’ll get another look at form side Real Sociedad as they go to Real Valladolid. The Basques have won eight straight games in all competitions but will come up against a team with fresh confidence after Valladolid enjoyed a rare 4-1 win over Celta Vigo during the week.
đźđč Serie A throws up an interesting clash as third placed Milan prepare to host Monza, who are, of course, owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the Political behemoth who also used to own Milan. The newly promoted side appear to have settled in to their first tilt at the top tier of Italian football having won two of their last three and they also defeated high-flying Udinese in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday.
Another side finally showing a bit of form are Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan – they’re unbeaten in four having won twice in the league and taken four points from two Champions League meetings with Barcelona. They face strugglers Fiorentina on Saturday evening, a side who’s current plight was covered here, in our most recent Serie A column.
Elsewhere, Dortmund – who are winless in three league games – enjoyed some respite with a win at second tier Hannover. Just what they needed as they look to refocus for their home clash with mid-table Stuttgart. And third placed Freiburg, who were taken to extra-time by St. Pauli but were eventually victorious go up against Werder Bremen. Werder were not so lucky after they were knocked out of the cup by Paderborn on penalties.
đčđ· There’s top of the table action in TĂŒrkiye as well – with Fenerbahçe hosting Istanbul BaĆakĆehir. The prize for a winner is the honour of leapfrogging leaders Adana Demirspor – at least until they play their game against fifth placed Konyaspor on Sunday.
Sunday
đȘđž LaLiga provides not one, but two top-six clashes on Sunday. Barcelona (2nd) bounced back from that ClĂĄsico defeat by comfortably beating Villarreal in midweek and they now face former manager Ernesto Valverde and his Athletic Club side (6th). Athletic have started the season brightly only to stutter in recent games – they’re now winless in three.
đŽó §ó ąó „ó źó §ó ż Back in the Premier League and there’s a busy Sunday programme with five games lined up. The highlights of which include Arsenal’s visit to Southampton, where they’ll be looking to open up their lead at the top of the league table, after the important business of sealing qualification from their Europa League group with Thursday’s win over PSV.
Third placed Spurs face the side with the tightest defence in the league: Newcastle United. Eddie Howe’s Magpies are enjoying a six game unbeaten run in which they’ve conceded just three goals while scoring 11. And there’s an early season six-pointer in the midlands as Wolves and Leicester meet to see if either of them get out of the relegation zone with a win.
Meanwhile Lazio, the Olimpico’s other tenants, go to second placed Atalanta. This will be a meeting between the league’s two meanest defences but with Ciro Immobile leading the way in the goalscoring charts, Lazio might just have the edge in this one.
đŠđ· The title will be decided in Argentina on Sunday and there could be just the right amount of skullduggery that you’d expect from a major footballing story in South America. In a strange twist of fate, the final games for the two sides battling it out for the title – Boca Juniors and Racing – come against each other’s major rivals.
Boca lead by a single point and go up against Independiente – who share the same block with, but do not get on with neighbours Racing. Meanwhile, kicking off simultaneously, Racing play Boca’s bitterest rivals River Plate.
Will either opposition side want to win knowing they could gift the title to the club they hate the most!?
đ§đȘ Two of the sides who’ve enjoyed the best start to the season anywhere in Europe – Royal Antwerp and Genk – will go head-to-head on Sunday. In any other year, one of them would be running away with the league but unfortunately, they’re stuck with each other!
Genk lead the table by a point after going 12 games unbeaten since losing to Club Brugge on the opening day while Antwerp won nine straight games but have since lost two of their last four.
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