The best action to follow this weekend
Saturday
??????? There’s five Premier League games tomorrow, with all four of England’s representatives involved in next Monday’s draw for the Champions League Round of 16 playing across the afternoon.
The day’s main draw will of course be Steven Gerrard’s return to Anfield as manager of Liverpool’s opponents Aston Villa. Elsewhere, reigning European champions Chelsea play old foes Leeds United, a rivalry born on the terraces in the 70s and 80s.
After their midweek setback at Leipzig, current leaders Manchester City face Wolves and we’ll have to see whether new interim manager Ralf Rangnick will make another 11 changes to his Manchester United line-up for the trip to Norwich City.
?? The delayed MLS season finally got underway on 16 April this year, and now eight months later it draws to a close with the MLS Cup Final. Having finished the regular campaign fourth in the Western Conference, three time finalists Portland Timbers are back at this stage for the first time since 2018 where they face New York City (4th in the Eastern Conference), who have never previously made it past the quarter-finals in the play-offs.
NYCFC will be boosted by the return of the league’s top scorer, Taty Castellanos (19 goals in 32 games) after he served a one-game suspension in the previous round.
?? The Bundesliga is as busy as ever on Saturday afternoon and after their big midweek wins in the Champions League both Bayern and Dortmund return to the nit and gritty of the league. Bayern play Mainz, a side who’ve lost just one of their last seven whilst Dortmund go to Bochum who are more than holding their own after promotion to the top flight this season.
And new Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco will be in the dugout to try and arrest their poor league form at home to Gladbach.
?? In Italy, an improving Juventus side go to Venezia on the back of three wins and three clean sheets plus the boost of finishing top of their group in the Champions League.
Milan though, must put their midweek disappointment at having crashed out of Europe to one side as they look to consolidate their position at the top of the Serie A table with a positive result at Udinese.
?? Of the current top six in La Liga, only Sevilla play tomorrow. They travel to Athletic Club knowing a win would temporarily cut the gap to leaders Real Madrid down to five points.
Their Basque opponents have drawn more games this season (nine) than any team in any of Europe’s top five leagues.
Sunday
?? Sticking with La Liga we start our look at Sunday’s biggest games with the Madrid Derby. And they don’t come much bigger than that. Atlético travel across town to face Real Madrid as defending champions but trailing them by a full ten points in the league. Ominously, Madrid come in to the game on a run of nine straight wins in all competitions with Atleti winning just four across the same period.
Also tomorrow, 3rd play 5th as Real Betis host Real Sociedad and Europa-bound Barcelona play at Osasuna.
?? There’s more top level action in Serie A with Inter, Napoli and Atalanta all involved.
Inter have perhaps the easiest task of the three as they welcome Cagliari to the San Siro, the side with the worst away record in the division. Napoli play mid-table Empoli and Atalanta go to Verona, where they’ll have to look out for 11-goal striker Giovanni Simeone (son of Diego), who is averaging a goal every 88 minutes.
??????? We’re down a game in England as the COVID outbreak at Spurs has put paid to their clash with Brighton. From the matches that are going head, West Ham are the highest ranked side involved as they go to Burnley.
Elsewhere, Leicester City face Newcastle United with the Magpies looking up after finally getting off the foot of the table last weekend. And Everton visit Crystal Palace, a side they’ve not lost against in 13 meetings.
?? Ligue 1 provides some high profile fixtures on Sunday with Kylian Mbappé’s PSG facing his former side Monaco and last year’s champions Lille hosting Lyon.
But perhaps the most intriguing fixture is that between two of this season’s success stories – Rennes (2nd) vs. Nice (4th). Can either side maintain a significant challenge for the second Champions League spot, behind the frontrunners from Paris?
?? In Brazil, where the final round of the league season took place on Thursday it’s now time for the first leg of the Copo do Brasil final. And we’ll see whether Hulk’s Atlético Mineiro, who have just won their first title since 1971 can go on to complete a historic double.
They face Athletico Paranaense, who are gunning for a double of their own. They finished their league campaign with a 14th place finish but did win the Copa Sudamericana, South America’s second biggest club tournament back in November.
?? Finally, spare a thought for the Brann fans in the FotMob office as Norway’s Eliteserien comes to a dramatic close on Sunday. Our home town team go in to the final round with a chance of avoiding automatic relegation and instead qualifying for a relegation play-off against a team from the second tier.
Brann need a win, at home to Sarpsborg combined with dropped points for relegation rivals Stabæk, who play at Odd. Odd last won a game in September but there’s always hope, right!?
Perhaps of more interest to the outside world is the battle at the top of the table where defending champions Bodø/Glimt are looking for the point they need to confirm back-to-back titles. Glimt play bottom side Mjøndalen where any slips ups could allow Molde to steal the championship, should they win their own fixture.
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Cover Image from IMAGO
