FotMob TOTW – Round 11
Rayo Vallecano and Barcelona posted the biggest wins in the league and that’s reflected here. But how about that LaLiga dream team upfront!? Griezmann, Vinícius Júnior and our top rated player of the round, Ousmane Dembélé, who earned a 9.7.
Have your say on the TOTW in the comments on Instagram.
FotMob TOTW – Round 13
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.
Who missed out? Have your say in the comments on Instagram.
It was a weekend of surprise results as a number of struggling teams ended losing streaks and the league leaders dropped points for only the second time this season. Here’s a round-up of the biggest talking points and the best stats.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
Taiwo Awoniyi has just three goals for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this season but two of them have been winners. He scrambled the ball past Alisson Becker on Saturday to give Forest all three points against Liverpool as the team that had been rooted to the bottom of the table climbed level on points with Leeds and Wolves.
Awoniyi was a Liverpool player for six seasons but work permit issues meant he never turned out for the Reds. He was given the nod by Steve Cooper to lead the line at the Forest Ground this weekend and he repaid the manager’s faith. Only Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho (both four) had more shots than the 25-year-old while teammate Dean Henderson was the only player to have a higher FotMob rating (8.4 to 8.2).
Miguel Almirón scored one goal in the Premier League last season. He scored what turned out to be the winner against Spurs on Sunday to take his tally for the campaign to six. The 28-year-old has five in his last five starts for the Magpies and his goals are one of the reasons they now find themselves in fourth place in the Premier League.
He took six shots against Tottenham Hotspur in what was a productive display. Almiron also won 100% of his tackles and recovered the ball on six occasions as the team with the best defensive record in the league limited Antonio Conte’s men to just one goal.
Only four players have more goals than Almirón this term.
Heading into the match against Brentford, Aston Villa had won just two of their 11 matches in the Premier League this season. They were on a four-game winless streak and had scored just once in that period.
At Villa Park on Sunday, they were 3-0 up inside of 14 minutes and they eventually coasted to a 4-0 win over the Bees in what was one of the most dominant performances of the season. They racked up an extraordinary xG total of 2.87 in a ridiculously one-sided game as Danny Ings, Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendía and Leon Bailey all impressed in a much-changed starting XI.
Arsenal remain top of the league by two points following a 1-1 draw with Southampton on Sunday afternoon. However, Mikel Arteta’s side aren’t looking quite as sharp as they were earlier on in the season. Gabriel Jesus is now three Premier League games without a goal and for a second successive match, the Gunners failed to create chances with an xG value of over one.
They were held to an xG total of 0.99 by Southampton and this arrived just a week after Leeds limited them to 0.55. Arsenal are struggling to turn their dominance into goals and this wasn’t a problem earlier on in the season.
After a blank at Anfield last week, Erling Haaland was back amongst the goals as Manchester City returned to winning ways against Brighton. The reigning champions ran out 3-1 winners at the Etihad with Haaland netting twice to take his tally to 17 (SEVENTEEN!) in the Premier League.
The goal machine had just three shots on Saturday, a relatively quiet afternoon for the No.9 in that regard, but he did also create a chance on his way to an 8.8 FotMob rating.
(Images from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Premier League season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
With Round 11 now at a close, it’s time for three talking points from a league where Napoli remain the only unbeaten side and Milan, and Lazio, lead the chasing pack.
By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert
Throughout the summer, much of the talk was about one Roman club in particular – not Lazio, but their biggest rival, Roma – and for good reason. The Giallorossi had just signed a slew of talent like Paulo Dybala and Giorginio Wijnaldum.
Lazio on the other hand, quietly went about their business without a marquee signing. A lot of credit must be given to the club for being able to keep their best players in Ciro Immobile, Sergej Milinković-Savić and Luis Alberto, all of whom have all been at Lazio for a long time and have developed one of the best partnerships in the league. In terms of new additions, the Biancocelesti refurbished their centre-back pairing. Gone was the veteran Francesco Acerbi and the talented but injury-prone Brazilian defender Luis Felipe. In their place arrived the Italian pairing of Alessio Romagnoli and Nicoló Casale – the former, desperate for a change of scenery after his involution at Milan which saw him lose his starting place; the latter, an impressive 24-year-old defender from Hellas Verona, with a bright future ahead of him.
Lazio’s defence is currently ranked first in Serie A, with only five goals conceded after 11 rounds. It isn’t just the new centre-backs who have impressed, but their new goalkeeper too. Ivan Provedel was one of two goalkeepers to join the club last summer alongside former Granada shot-stopper Luís Maximiano. Maximiano was red carded after six minutes in round one and is yet to play another minute for the club. This has been a blessing in disguise for Maurizio Sarri, who was forced to play his backup Provedel. The Italian has since been outstanding and maintained a starting role well beyond Maximiano’s one game suspension.
Sarri’s Lazio is one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. They’re playing their usual “SarriBall” style of high press and a lot of possession, but they’re winning mostly because of a surprisingly stellar defensive unit of former cast-offs and players inexperienced at the highest level.
Napoli are the only team in Serie A that has yet to lose a game this season. Nine wins and two draws, a stunning style of play and first place in their Champions League group. Over the weekend, they had one of their stiffest tests of the season, playing José Mourinho’s Roma at Stadio Olimpico.
What stands out more than anything about the way Napoli play is how they don’t change their style for anyone. Whether it’s at home against a provincial or away against a direct Scudetto rival, Luciano Spalletti’s side tries to dominate possession and plays high press off the ball. Napoli’s style meant Roma was rooted deep in their own half for most of the match, often having to play vertically on the counter as they couldn’t build up slower possession.
Victor Osimhen’s stunning goal was even more impressive when you looked at it more than once – it was such a narrow angle that he had, meaning the shot had to be perfect to beat Roma’s goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Osimhen got himself free by being able to bully his way through Chris Smalling in a one-on-one battle. The biggest hope for Napoli is that their Nigerian striker can stay healthy for the rest of the season. He’s been incredibly unlucky with bad injuries in each of his Napoli seasons – from the fractured orbital/cheek to hamstring issues, Osihmen hasn’t had a full season to show off his goal scoring prowess.
Napoli have already picked up three points away to Roma, Milan and Lazio in Serie A. These are the types of performances that show their confidence and personality, especially with a team that was supposed to be in a rebuild this season.
Milan’s no.10 Brahim Díaz thought he had lost his starting spot for good after the club spent nearly the entire summer trying to sign Belgian wonder boy Charles De Ketelaere. After finally convincing Club Brugge to accept their 35m Euro offer, “CDK” came to the club with the expectation of being the new star in the trequartista role. Last year, Brahim Díaz began the campaign as a starter, but inconsistent play in the second half of the season saw coach Stefano Pioli switch to the more industrious Rade Krunić to play as the forward destroyer. It seemed like Brahim’s future at Milan as the starting attacking midfielder was pretty much done with, apart from being a situational substitute and rotation guy.
Fast forward to October 2022 and Brahim has thoroughly outplayed De Ketelaere and as a result, taken back his spot in the line-up. Brahim has scored three goals in his last three Serie A games, all of them wonderful efforts – two magical solo runs to split multiple defenders, and a quick turn and fire inside the box, which showed off his clinical touch.
While Brahim has been shining, CDK has been regressing further with every chance he’s been given. Pioli has been quick to support the young Belgian by saying that it took both Raphael Leão and Sandro Tonali more than a full season to get acclimated to their new club and start producing at a high level.
De Ketelaere seems jittery and nervous with his play now. It’s clearly a by-product of the massive expectations heaped onto him by the Italian media and seemingly not being able to perform at the level that made him a stand out at Club Brugge.
This is a battle that’ll continue throughout the season. CDK will need plenty of minutes to improve, so it’s Brahim’s job now to make himself undroppable if healthy. Perhaps the two could even play together under Pioli – Brahim has featured in a wider position in the past, while the Belgian is quite versatile and can fill a few positions throughout the frontline.
(Images from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2022/23 Serie A season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
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.
By Neel Shelat
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 Sebastián 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 Racing’s 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 Galván 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.
You’d 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 Spalletti’s 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 Roma’s 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.
In his last column, our Serie A expert Matteo Bonetti explored Napoli’s chances of finally lifting the Scudetto this season, and they seem to be getting increasingly better with every passing week. They still have a long way to go, but we might start calling them favourites at this stage.
The weekend’s action in Portugal kicked off with O Clássico, where the top two faced off at the Estádio do Dragão 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 Eustáquio 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 Clássico – their first in over three years – 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 weekend’s fixtures. Last season’s top two squared off on Saturday night, this season’s top two kicked off the action for Sunday, but our focus will be on the Belgian Clasico between a rejuvenated Standard Liège 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 FC’s 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-Gilloise’s miracle-mastermind Felice Mazzù to replace him. Mazzù had a great track record of success at ‘smaller’ clubs like Union and Charleroi, but his last ‘big’ 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 Liège scored twice in the space of seven minutes before the half hour through Nicolas Raskin and Marlon Fossey.
As the away side’s 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. Anderlecht’s 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 fans’ 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 Mazzù, 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 United’s visit to Stamford Bridge, Tottenham’s loss at home to Newcastle, Arsenal’s draw with Southampton and Manchester City’s 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 Núñez 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 league’s worst defences.
The visitors created some good chances in the first half but largely looked uninspired, while Forest’s disciplined defending in their 4-5-1 formation was deserving of a goalless half. Steve Cooper’s 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 Lille’s win over Monaco in a seven-goal thriller. It featured superb attacking, poor defending and sloppy goalkeeping in equal measure.
Alexsandro Ribeiro opened the scoring 22 minutes in with a header from a set-piece, but Monaco were back level just over 10 minutes later when Lucas Chevalier let Caio Henrique’s seemingly harmless free-kick slip through his hands. It was 2-2 within the next 10 minutes, as Rémy Cabella put Lille back in front after some great work by Jonathan David but Axel Disasi equalised from a corner soon thereafter.
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 sides’ 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.
Cover Image from IMAGO
The best action to follow this weekend
🏴 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?
🇪🇸 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.
🇮🇹 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.
🇩🇪 As in Italy, a lot of the Bundesliga clubs have been involved in domestic cup action over the past few days so watch out for a few sides who may get caught out in terms of their recovery. Bayern ended their recent hoodoo at near neighbours Augsburg – beating them 5-2 having lost a league meeting there earlier in the campaign. The 10-time champions play fourth placed Hoffenheim, who smashed five past Schalke in the week, the same side they’d beaten in the league last weekend.
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.
🇫🇷 With PSG involved in this week’s Friday night game – the weekend’s focus will be on those sides sat just behind them in the table. Luckily for those with a short attention span, two of them meet at Marseille‘s Vélodrome. RC Lens, who sit third, are the visitors with Marseille currently a point below them, in fourth, following defeat in last weekend’s Classique against the Parisians.
🇹🇷 There’s top of the table action in Türkiye as well – with Fenerbahçe hosting Istanbul Başakşehir. 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.
🇪🇸 LaLiga provides not one, but two top-six clashes on Sunday. Barcelona (2nd) bounced back from that Clásico 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.
The other big game involves Real Betis and Atlético Madrid, two sides locked together on 20 points. Diego Simeone’s Atleti have a superior goal difference – albeit only +1 but they also have a decent recent record against Betis, going six games unbeaten, and winning five of those meetings.
🏴 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.
🇮🇹 Serie A’s largest fixtures of the weekend involve both the sides from the capital. José Mourinho’s Roma face unbeaten leaders Napoli at the Stadio Olimpico, a side they’ve not beaten in five previous meetings. Can Luciano Spalletti continue that run, and thus the Neapolitans’ Scudetto charge with his young dynamic squad?
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.
🇩🇪 It’s top vs. bottom in the Bundesliga as Germany’s surprise leaders (can we still call it a surprise?) Union Berlin travel to Bochum. With the lowest amount of goals scored and the most goals conceded, the basement side might just be dreading this one. Union, have proven themselves to be very resilient in recent weeks – winning their last five straight without conceding a goal against the likes of Dortmund, and Malmö in the Europa League (twice).
🇦🇷 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!?
🇨🇦🇺🇸 Sunday sees the remaining Conference semi-finals in the MLS Cup Play-offs. In the East, in-form Montréal meet New York City for the right to face top seeds Philadelphia Union in the conference final. And in the West, Austin are looking to extend their first post-season appearance by beating Texan rivals FC Dallas. The winners of that one will go on to face Supporters’ Shield holders LAFC.
🇧🇪 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.
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
There’s been a full round of games in LaLiga this week so let’s break it all down for you.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Real Madrid consolidated their lead at the top of LaLiga on Wednesday night after beating bottom club Elche 3-0 away from home. Carlo Ancelotti’s side scored six times at the Martínez Valero, but saw three of those ruled out by VAR (two netted by Karim Benzema and the other a fine team move finished by David Alaba). No matter. Benzema continued his memorable week with a lovely strike from the edge of the box to follow up his goal in El Clásico on Sunday and his Ballon d’Or triumph on Monday.
Earlier, Fede Valverde scored another lovely goal from the edge of the box to make it five in 10 LaLiga appearances in 2022-23 and six in all competitions. That doubles his previous best return for a campaign and he has only played 15 games this term. Coach Carlo Ancelotti had joked in September that he would tear up his coaching badge if he could not get the Uruguayan to score 10 in a season. “I took a risk asking him for 10 goals,” the Italian said on Wednesday. “If he scores four more, my badge won’t be torn up and will stay intact.”
And on a more serious note, he added: “He is a player who surprises me because he is doing everything well – both in defence and attack. If you think of a modern ‘interior’, you think only about Valverde.”
Marco Asensio made it 3-0 to Real Madrid late in the game to round off a professional performance from Los Blancos following their exertions in El Clásico. After 10 rounds of LaLiga, the champions lead the way and are the only unbeaten team left in the competition. “We’re in an important moment of the season,” Ancelotti said. “We’re showing a lot of solidity on the pitch. Physically we’re in good shape and we need to take advantage of this moment.”
One player who is taking advantage of his chance is goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who continues in the absence of Thibaut Courtois as the Belgian sits out with sciatica. “He has done well,” Ancelotti said. “He has shown he is ready. When Courtois comes back, Luni will be back on the bench. But he is better every match and he’s accumulating experience, which he needs because he is young.”
Barcelona came into their match against Villarreal on Thursday with their morale dented following a frustrating draw against Inter in the Champions League last week and then a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in El Clásico on Sunday. Xavi asked his players for a reaction and he got it as Barça sealed an emphatic 3-0 win. Two golazos from Robert Lewandowski, the second a super curled effort from the edge of the area, and a third from Ansu Fati – all arriving late in the first half – sealed a comfortable victory for the Blaugrana and saw FCB move back to within three points of Real Madrid after 10 games.
“I think we played a great game, we needed it,” Xavi said. “We had to react. It wasn’t an easy day after losing at the Bernabéu and drawing with Inter. There is a lot of expectation in this team, a lot is expected. We showed up, with character, good intensity, playing well in defence and especially in attack.”
Lewandowski’s brace means the Pole now has 16 goals in just 14 matches for Barcelona this season and Xavi said: “He’s insatiable. He has goals in his head. He’s a killer, a goalscorer. He sees the angles, he’s intelligent, he looks for the spaces. He’s a great striker.”
In midfield, Frenkie de Jong also impressed for Barça. “He enjoyed the game. I’m happy for him, he deserves it,” Xavi said of the Dutch international, who was close to leaving the Catalan club in the summer.
However, Xavi was unhappy with the whistles for Gerard Piqué as the defender was introduced late in the match. “At the Gamper [Trophy], I asked for unity,” he said. “It’s a time to be together. Whether Piqué plays or not, all I can say is that in the dressing room he is an example in capital letters. He sets the example as a captain and the people need to know that.”
Atlético Madrid drop to fourth following a disappointing draw at home to Rayo Vallecano. Diego Simeone’s side took the lead through Álvaro Morata after 20 minutes. The Spain striker was set up by Antoine Griezmann, who later saw an effort ruled out when he was narrowly offside before netting with 10 minutes left. And there was late frustration for the Rojiblancos as José María Giménez was penalised for handball right at the end and former Atleti icon Radamel Falcao blasted home the spot-kick to earn the visitors a point. “If VAR and the referee determine that it’s a penalty, it’s because they saw handball,” Simeone said. But he admitted: “We have to work and improve on finishing off games.”
Atlético fall one place to fourth and are overtaken by Real Sociedad, 1-0 winners at home to Mallorca thanks to an early Mikel Merino strike. Real Betis stay fifth and level on points with Atlético following a 0-0 draw at Cadíz, while Athletic Club are in sixth after they were twice pegged back in a 2-2 tie at Getafe. Osasuna are up to seventh after beating Espanyol 1-0 and ending a disappointing run which saw the Pamplona outfit pick up just a point from their previous four fixtures.
Elsewhere, Sevilla earned a point thanks to Erik Lamela’s late goal at home to Valencia – and an even later penalty miss from the visitors. The Andalusians face another tough test this weekend as they travel to Real Madrid on Saturday. And perhaps the performance of the week came from Real Valladolid, who beat Celta Vigo 4-1 at the José Zorrilla on Wednesday to move up to 11th in the table.
(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.
Goals were at a premium as 18 clubs faced off in this mid-week round of matches. Just 13 goals were scored across the nine games, but a number of these were key in shaping the future of a club. We take a look back at some of the biggest talking points.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
Steven Gerrard watched on as his Aston Villa side crumbled at Craven Cottage. The away side had a man sent off, conceded a penalty and put the ball into the back of their own net in a 3-0 loss. The former Liverpool midfielder was sacked not long after the final whistle. This isn’t a kneejerk reaction from those in charge at Villa Park. The team have taken just nine points from their 11 matches this season and are only outside of the relegation places due to goals scored.
Gerrard needed a reaction last night. He didn’t get one. Instead, they were blown away by a team that was winless in three heading into the game.
Darwin Núñez finally scored his first Anfield goal for Liverpool. It proved to be the winner against West Ham as the Reds climbed up to seventh in the Premier League table. It turned out to be a scrappy match against the Hammers but Nunez was able to show glimpses of his class.
He forced Łukasz Fabiański into a fine save after connecting with a stunning left-footed half volley and he cracked the post with another effort from just outside of the area. His goal was one that an old-school centre-forward would be proud of after he timed his run to get across the defenders and emphatically nod home. In total, he had six shots during his 57 minutes on the pitch with an Expected Goals total of 0.46. The impressive metric, however, was the xG on target total – 1.07. He was adding real value to his efforts with his shot selection.
Frank Lampard was able to name Anthony Gordon and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in his attack against Newcastle United. The hope was that the Toffees would be more of a threat than they were against Spurs over the weekend when they managed just four shots.
It didn’t work out and Lampard’s team mustered just one effort on goal. One shot in the entire 90 minutes. To make matters worse, Everton weren’t at their defensive best and allowed the hosts 16 shots in total with an xG of 1.46. The third consecutive defeat was, in truth, deserved.
Hugo Lloris singlehandedly kept Spurs in the game against Manchester United.
The Frenchman made an astonishing eight saves as the hosts took an incredible 28 shots in a 2-0 win. Fred’s deflected effort broke the deadlock just after half-time and it was the slice of look Erin ten Hag’s men needed to beat the Tottenham captain between the sticks. Bruno Fernandes added a second to make it appear like a comfortable victory. On another day, without this Lloris masterclass, that is a statement victory.
Crystal Palace came from a goal behind to beat Wolves. Wilfried Zaha scored the winner but the start of the show was Eberechi Eze.
The 24-year-old is reportedly going to be named in the preliminary England squad and after that performance on Tuesday night, you can understand why. He finished with one goal from two shots, created three chances and completed all of his dribbles on the night.
A lot of Chelsea players have benefitted from Graham Potter’s revival but few have had their luck transformed in the way Kepa has.
Frozen out by Thomas Tuchel in favour of Edouard Mendy, Kepa is back in the first-team picture and kept another clean sheet for the Blues in the draw with Brentford. He’s now kept five successive clean sheets. The world’s most expensive goalkeeper is finally living up to the price-tag, making a string of stunning saves to extend Potter’s unbeaten run as Chelsea manager.
(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.
In the first of a new series of special features, we take one of the most talked about tactical storylines in the Premier League season and break it all down for you.
By Sam McGuire, Premier League expert
He had 10 goals and five assists in ten matches across multiple competitions for Liverpool heading into the October international break, midway through the month.
This time around, however, his 13 outings have returned just eight goals and three assists. And it is worth noting that he’s scored four in his last two to boost those totals.
Heading into the game against Manchester City, his last open-play goal for the Reds in the Premier League was back in August.
Statistically speaking, Salah was more dangerous than ever during the 2021/22 campaign. Yet recently, the 30-year-old had been posting some of his worst numbers in the red of Liverpool. So what is going on?
To start, we’ll focus on what was occurring before the recent system change. His shots per 90 average had dropped from 4.5 to just three and, as a result, his Expected Goals per 90 average had almost halved from 0.77 per 90 to just 0.41. The former Roma man looked isolated and predictable.
The confusing thing is that this is all by design.
Jürgen Klopp had tweaked things this term following the arrival of Darwin Núñez. Instead of being the main goal threat for the Reds, Salah had been tasked with more of a creative role. Deployed in his usual position on the right, the Egypt international would hold the width a little more and look to isolate full-backs in one-on-one situations with space to attack before getting the ball into the penalty area.
In many ways, that had been a success. Salah, for example, ranked second for chances created (26), though just two of those are classed as big chances, and he was fourth for Expected Assists behind Kieran Trippier, Gabriel Martinelli and Kevin De Bruyne. So it has been a successful experiment if you solely focus on those numbers. But you can’t just do that, can you?
Salah is a three-time Golden Boot winner. He holds the record for most goals scored in a single Premier League campaign and he is one of the best chance-getters in the competition’s history.
He looked a shadow of his former self and it cannot be a coincidence that Liverpool find themselves in mid-table now that Salah’s goals have dried up. The prolific wide forward ranked 22nd in the Premier League for xG90. He was first for this particular metric last season.
Against Arsenal, he had just one shot and he was replaced after 69 minutes. The Reds, without a win since August, replaced Salah with Fabinho at 2-2. That alone says a lot about the predicament that the club found themselves in.
Liverpool were forced into changing their shape with Klopp saying they needed to go back to basics. A 4-2-4 shape was used in the following matches – successfully against Rangers and unsuccessfully at the Emirates. This system gave the Merseysiders more attacking options but isolated Salah even further, as seen below.
Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz and Núñez are all in central areas as Liverpool look to progress the play while Salah holds the width on the right. Jordan Henderson picks him out with a pass and he is immediately closed down by Takehiro Tomiyasu and Martinelli. The ball goes back to the captain who clips it into the box where all of the forwards, with the exception of Salah, are waiting.
We see another similar situation above. Henderson is working the ball out to the right with Salah initially positioned in space. The other Liverpool forward are highlighted in central areas.
The No.11 is fronted up by Tomiyasu and is unable to beat the Arsenal left-back. But had he done so, Granit Xhaka was filling in at left-back meaning Gabriel, the left-sided centre-back could remain in the middle of the box with partner William Saliba.
For Salah to do anything in this phase of play, he needs to beat Tomiyasu and Xhaka before finding space in a crowded penalty area to get a shot off. It was by no means impossible for a player of his quality, but it was far more complicated than it should have been.
The Salah of yesteryear would have been making the run highlighted in the graphic. He may not have received the pass, after all it is a tricky one to execute, but his presence would’ve created space for others and Liverpool could’ve created something in the ensuing chaos. Perhaps Tomiyasu tracks the run and this frees up an area for Jota, as an example. All of a sudden the Reds have a bit of an overload on that flank.
Salah doesn’t even attempt to make that run. He just holds his position and Díaz’s floated pass eventually finds him. By this stage though, Arsenal have plenty of bodies back and it is an easy situation to defend. It was not an opportunity for Liverpool, but it was a situation that would’ve been leveraged a little better.
Klopp started Salah on the bench against Rangers but came on with 22 minutes to play, replacing Núñez in one of the central positions.
He proceeded to score the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history and was praised by his manager afterwards, with the German tactician saying: “Different position, more inside. Outstanding player.”
The subtle tweak transformed, well, everything for the Liverpool No.11.
Instead of having to occupy wide areas, Salah was able to play against a centre-back. He was a threat in behind. His first was a little fortunate, with the ball falling kindly for him but it comes about because of where he’s positioned.
For his second, he is stationed between the centre-backs instead of being pinned against the touchline. Salah had four shots during his 20 minute cameo and could’ve had an assist after playing in Jota from the right. Another perk of playing centrally – he can impact the game across the final third.
His faith was rewarded with the 30-year-old netting the winner. He caused all kinds of problems for the away side and at times he single-handedly occupied their entire back three. It was a proper No.9 performance from Liverpool’s No.11. The highlight being when he forced Ederson into the save of the match.
Salah initially dropped deep to drag Rúben Dias into the Liverpool half. He then spins the former Benfica man and attacks the acres of space behind City’s defensive line.
It was an old-school drop deep and then spin in behind move, and it worked so well. Firmino played the ball to his strike partner and Salah raced through only to be thwarted by a fingertip save by Ederson.
City could not cope with Salah. They feared him and that has been missing over recent months. The return of the fear factor can only be a positive for Liverpool.
On another day, he finishes with two goals and an assist. And this against the team with one of the best defensive records in the league. It was a statement performance.
With Jota and Díaz now both ruled out for the foreseeable future, the Reds can’t afford to isolate Salah in wide areas. He needs to be the man leading the line. If the last two outings are anything to go off, last season’s form could well return.
(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.
Ahead of the midweek round of games in LaLiga, let’s look back at all the action from a potentially pivotal weekend.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Real Madrid are now the only unbeaten team in LaLiga this season after Sunday’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in El Clásico. Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Los Blancos after a fine run from Vinícius Júnior, whose shot was saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen but found its way into the Frenchman’s path. It was his 12th goal against Barcelona and set up a big win for the champions ahead of his trip to Paris to receive the Ballon d’Or on Monday. Not a bad couple of days for the French forward.
Barcelona played well enough in the first half and Robert Lewandowski missed a great chance as he slid in on the stretch at the far post but hit his shot over the bar from close range. Fede Valverde was then left in lots of space to make it 2-0 following another counter-attack 10 minutes after that, the Uruguayan hitting a low drive into the corner from outside the box for his fifth of the season – already his best return as a Real Madrid player.
Substitute Ansi Fati gave Barça a lifeline with an excellent run down the left and cross for Ferran Torres to pull a goal back in the closing stages, but the referee brought play back to award Rodrygo a penalty – following a VAR check – right at the end after what had looked like an innocuous challenge by Eric García. The Brazilian scored the spot-kick himself to round off a fairly comfortable win, which sees Carlo Ancelotti’s side move three points clear of their fierce rivals at the top of the table with nine fixtures played.
“In the first half we were better, more clinical, more effective,” Ancelotti said after the game. “They tend to press high and we had the confidence to play out from the back. Defensively we did well. The team was committed, we didn’t leave any spaces. The first half was the key to the game.”
Valverde’s new-found goal threat has been a feature of Madrid’s season and the Uruguayan’s strike gave Madrid a cushion at the break: “He is getting used to playing in this position [on the right]. He’s scoring goals, and he has spectacular energy,” Ancelotti said.
For Barcelona, it was a disappointing defeat on the back of the midweek draw at home to Inter in the Champions League, which leaves the Blaugrana in danger of dropping down to the Europa League for a second season in a row.
“The feeling is that we are in a negative dynamic,” Xavi said. “That we tried. We had faith and pride in what we were doing. Luckily, it’s just three points. It was an opportunity to stay leaders and we leave with nothing.
“We couldn’t take advantage of our good moments and they defended very well. We have to change the dynamic.”
Xavi added that Barça were ‘in construction’ and said: “We have to improve a lot.”
For Madrid, it was a welcome win after last season’s 4-0 loss in the same fixture.
“Last season I tried to invent something,” Ancelotti said in reference to that defeat. “This time, I put the players in their [rightful] positions.”
Atlético Madrid are up to third place in LaLiga following a hard-fought 1-0 win at Athletic Club. Álvaro Morata saw an early effort ruled out by VAR but set up Antoine Griezmann for the only goal of the game early in the second half, the French forward – who is starting games again now his permanent return from Barcelona has been negotiated – beating Unai Simón with a neat finish. Atleti also had goalkeeper Jan Oblak to thank for two superb saves and there was a vital block from Reinildo Mandava as the Rojiblancos clung on for three vital points. “After 11 years [here], I still get excited by winning like we did today,” Diego Simeone said.
Elsewhere, Real Betis moved level with Atlético in fourth by beating Almería 3-1 at the Benito Villamarin. Real Sociedad also have 19 points and are fifth after a 2-1 win at Espanyol and Villarreal are seventh (behind Athletic) following a 2-0 victory at home to Osasuna.
A bit lower down, Sevilla are also on the up after registering their first win in Jorge Sampaoli’s second spell in charge – a 1-0 success at Mallorca – to climb to 14th.
And at the very bottom, Elche are the only LaLiga team without a win in 2022-23, although they did earn a creditable 2-2 draw at Valencia to claim only their third point of the season. Edinson Cavani scored both of Valencia’s goals, his first since signing for the club in late August.
(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.