Preview

Sep

2024

Preview: Villarreal vs. Barcelona

The good news for Barcelona? They don’t have to face Monaco for at least another five months. The bad news? They’ve got to travel to one of the hottest teams in Spain and face a Villarreal side that is making an early push for a top-four finish.

By Zach Lowy

After losing 3-0 to Monaco in the 59th edition of the preseason Joan Gamper Trophy, Barcelona began the Hansi Flick era with three consecutive 2-1 victories before obliterating Real Valladolid 7-0 and demolishing Girona 4-1.

With 17 goals, Barcelona boast the best attack in LaLiga (four above second-placed Celta de Vigo) and sit four points clear of Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Villarreal. They have done so amid a mounting injury crisis that has seen key players like Ronald Araújo, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, and Gavi suffer long-term absences, with Dani Olmo becoming the latest victim. Olmo was Barcelona’s sole summer arrival (€55m) apart from the €2.7m capture of Pau Víctor from Girona, and after scoring in each of his first three matches for Barça, he looks set to miss the next month with a hamstring problem.

Like Girona, Barcelona also lost to a French side in the UEFA Champions League, falling to 10 men early on and succumbing to a 2-1 defeat at Monaco, and they will be looking to bounce back on Sunday as they travel to a Villarreal side that is the sole unbeaten team outside of LaLiga’s Big Three. Villarreal held Atleti to a 2-2 draw on the opening day before beating Sevilla 2-1 thanks to a 95th-minute winner from Ayoze Pérez and escaping with a 4-3 victory against Celta via Dani Parejo’s 100th-minute goal from the penalty spot.

Despite losing key players like goalkeeper Filip Jørgensen and top scorer Alexander Sørloth, the Yellow Submarine are going full steam ahead under Marcelino, and one of the biggest reasons has been the clutch form of Ayoze Pérez. After making his first appearance for Spain and winning the Euros, Pérez left Real Betis for Villarreal for €4 million, and it hasn’t taken long for him to make an impact at El Madrigal. Having relinquished an early lead at Mallorca, Villarreal were struggling to make the most of their man advantage and looked headed for a draw until the 94th minute, when Yeremy Pino rewarded Pérez’s near post run with a teasing cross. Pérez made no mistake from close range, finding the back of the net for the third time in four matches. If Villarreal are to put an end to Barcelona’s perfect domestic form, expect Pérez to have a big role to play.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Real Madrid vs. Espanyol

Although they remain unbeaten after the first five rounds of the 2024/25 season in LaLiga, it’s fair to say that Real Madrid fans would have been hoping for, and probably even expecting, more than the 11 points they’ve amassed so far.

By Nathan Evans

Is that unfair to say? Perhaps, but after adding Kylian Mbappé to their ranks over the summer from PSG, many would have been expecting Carlo Ancelotti’s side to have made the perfect domestic start, especially with their opening list of fixtures.

That’s not been the case though, and with disappointing draws on the road against Las Palmas and Mallorca, this Real team has already been exposed, on occasion. As such, they already sit four points behind fierce rivals Barcelona.

Granted, there are explanations for that, mainly in the fact that star midfield Jude Bellingham has missed most of the action through injury. But even after recording successive 2-0 wins over Real Betis and Real Sociedad in LaLiga over the last week or so, again, the Galaticos struggled for large parts of their eventual 3-1 victory at home to Stuttgart in midweek UEFA Champions League action.

What will likely serve as a welcome additional boost is the arrival of Espanyol for this next league fixture. That’s mostly due to the fact that Real have lost just two of their last 29 league fixtures against the side from Catalonia, winning 23 of those matches in the process, whilst on home soil they’ve not lost to this opposition since all the way back to April 1996.

That said, the visitors arrive here after making their own solid start to the new campaign following promotion from Spain’s second tier last season. An even record of two wins, two losses and one draw to date means that they enter this latest matchday sat safely in midtable and if they can achieve that feat come the end of this term, it will have been a very good showing from Espanyol.

Last time out in the capital at the end of August, Manolo González’s side put together a fantastic and spirited showing to claim an important point against Atlético (0-0) and if they can produce similar here, a three-point haul for Real will be much tougher to acquire than many will be predicting.

Expect the away side to sit deep in their very rigid 4-4-2 shape throughout and counter attack when they get the chance. That’s proved to be a worthy game plan for Espanyol so far and with players like Javi Puado – who hit his second senior hat-trick last time out at the expense of Alavés – finding form recently, they remain relatively well-placed to potentially cause a huge upset in this one.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United

After having been quite significantly talked up before this season started, Crystal Palace go into their home match against Manchester United still looking for their first Premier League win of the season.

By Ian King

Palace have taken just two points from their first four matches so far, and while it remains unlikely that they will be sucked into a relegation fight, supporters will not be wanting to wait until October to get things moving.

There is room for optimism, most notably that they did a League double over United last season, with an aggregate score of 5-0. But then again Manchester United have run up an aggregate score of 10-0 in their last two matches. Admittedly, that combined scoreline came against Southampton, one of the two weakest teams in their division so far, and Barnsley, who are in League One, but confidence counts for a lot at this level of the game, and if whacking seven goals past League One opposition, as they did on Tuesday night, works for them, it works for them.

Trevoh Chalobah faces a fitness test, but otherwise there are no known new injury issues for Oliver Glasner to have to deal with. Adam Wharton and Cheick Doucoure may return in midfield in place of Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma. Up front, Eddie Nketiah is still awaiting his first goal for the Eagles. Top scorer with two of their four goals so far – Own Goal is joint second – is Jean-Philippe Mateta for his brace against Leicester City last weekend, when a stoppage-time penalty was required to salvage a point after they’d fallen 2-0 behind.

Manchester United may have that 10-0 aggregate score over their last two matches, but they’re also 10th in the Premier League following a patchy start to the season. Their opening day win against Fulham was uninspiring, their performances against Brighton and Liverpool were poor and abysmal respectively, and those big two wins were both against the weakest opposition that they’ll likely face all season.

To that end, this match is more of a test for Erik ten Hag than it at first looks. So far, if you squint hard enough, United’s season has kind of gone the way you’d have expected to. Not quite the darkest timeline, but still not… great. But Crystal Palace can be volatile, as United found to their cost last season. And Palace really do need to get their season going.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Liverpool vs. Bournemouth

Following on from a shock home defeat to Nottingham Forest last week, Liverpool had to quickly provide a response – and did so in emphatic fashion, beating AC Milan in midweek in their Champions League opener.

By Karl Matchett

That 3-1 result at San Siro answered questions over Arne Slot’s side about whether they could rise to challenges after a flawless start to the Premier League season; now their next task is to start proving their relentlessness again, as Bournemouth visit Anfield.

It appears the Reds will be without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, through a minor injury, but Caoimhin Kelleher has long since proven his worth as a stand-in – even if the club no longer see him as a viable long-term starter. Expectation weighs on Slot’s side, but they have shown at the start of the campaign they are good enough to cope with that. The bigger question is now about consistency, which will dictate if they are involved in a title challenge or not.

The Cherries will not be easy opponents to bounce back against domestically. Andoni Iraola has constructed a side with plenty of attacking outlets, though with Evanilson yet to fully settle in as Dominic Solanke’s replacement in attack, the final touch can at times be lacking. Six big chances created is slightly on the low side perhaps at this stage, but 106 touches in the box (ninth in the Premier League), 6.5 average times they’ve won possession in the final third (third) and a total xG of 7.6 (fourth) all show they are going forward plenty and having efforts at goal.

Add in the late turnaround against Everton and the fact they pushed Chelsea so close last weekend, and there’s little reason to doubt Bournemouth will take the game to Liverpool whenever they can.

In turn, though, while Forest shut up shop in the middle of the park last week, the more adventurous mentality can leave Bournemouth vulnerable to Liverpool’s dominance, counter-attacks and creativity outside the box.

While Diogo Jota is underperforming in front of goal so far in terms of cleanliness of strikes and taking the chances which fall his way, Mohamed Salah has started the campaign in startlingly good form and there’s a battle developing on the left for who is in better form: Luís Diaz and his early-season goals, and Cody Gakpo, so impressive against Milan.

As always it’s tough to not see Liverpool winning at home, but if Forest provided the blueprint for stopping that happening, it would still be a surprise to see Iraola following any plan but his own.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Spurs vs. Brentford

Although Tottenham made further progress in the Carabao Cup in midweek, all does not seem well in the white half of North London and with a late turnaround required to dump out Championship outfit Coventry, manager Ange Postecoglou will rightly be breathing a huge sigh of relief.

By Dan Tracey

The affable Australian has taken on a far grumpier demeanour in the past few days and with a scrappy cup win following two successive defeats in the League, the reverses to Newcastle and Arsenal have once again placed the former Celtic manager’s tactics under the spotlight.

No Plan B to fall back on, just a desire to make Plan A even better and as admirable as those principles may be, the failure to install flexibility in his Tottenham side when it matters most, matters to a growing portion of the club’s fanbase – as we reported here, earlier in the week.

A fanbase that is even deliberating whether Postecoglou will still be in his North London post by the time the festive period comes around and those deliberations will only get louder if he fails to get the better of Brentford on Saturday.

The stock of the hosts’ managers might be on the decline, but the stock of his opposing counterpart seems like a surefire investment at present, and if Thomas Frank was to oversee victory in N17 for the second season in a row, he may even position himself in the frame to eventually replace Postecoglou.

Not that will be on the Dane’s mind, his most pressing thought will be the injury that Yoane Wissa suffered at the Etihad last weekend and with the DR Congo forward ruled out for this London derby and the two months that follow, Brentford’s attack will now be even lighter in terms of personnel.

Wissa’s ankle injury coming not long after he stunned Manchester City with a goal in the opening 60 seconds and were it not for more composure in front of goal, Brentford could have easily seen their early advantage doubled at the home of the defending champions.

However, that early goal from Wissa only served to wake the beast which is Erling Haaland and with the Norwegian scoring goals eight and nine of his Premier League campaign, the Bees would eventually be dealt their second defeat of the season.

Even with that second loss, they still find themselves four places better off than Saturday’s hosts and although logic would suggest a home win at the weekend, this Tottenham side have been far from logical since the start of September.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: West Ham United vs. Chelsea

The Premier League serves up two London derbies this weekend and the first of those takes us to the east of the capital as West Ham play host to Chelsea.

By Dan Tracey

The Hammers will be keen to build on their point at Fulham, the Blues will certainly be keen to build on their win at Bournemouth.

Contrasting fortunes, then, for the two crosstown rivals and were it not for Danny Ings’ injury time equaliser at Craven Cottage, there would have been even greater variance in the two respective results from last Saturday.

With West Ham now being placed under the stewardship of Julen Lopetegui, the former Wolves manager is still trying to work out how to get the best out his newly inherited charges and with a slew of new signings also needing to be integrated, it does feel like a work in progress at present.

One which has seen the London Stadium outfit win just one of their first four league outings of the season and with their sole victory to date coming against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, the first thing Lopetegui and his players need to do is turn their home into more of a fortress.

Home defeats to both Aston Villa and Manchester City are already in the 2024/25 edition of the history books and although you can offer the mitigating circumstance of difficult opposition, the overall start to West Ham’s campaign has been largely underwhelming.

Not the same level of criticism that can be attached to Chelsea at present, and after suffering an opening weekend defeat at home to Manchester City, the Blues have since gone on a three-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Seven points from the last nine on offer has removed some early season pressure off the shoulders of manager Enzo Maresca and although they rode their luck at Bournemouth last weekend, their luck was in thanks to Christopher Nkunku’s late winner.

The former RB Leipzig forward came of the substitutes bench to score the game’s only goal with just four minutes remaining and in doing so, made a strong case to be in the starting eleven at West Ham this Saturday lunchtime.

However, with the depth of talent that manager Maresca can call upon at present, many other names will also be keen to avoid the substitutes bench and it is that strength in depth that may end up giving Chelsea the edge at the London Stadium.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Atalanta vs. Arsenal

Atalanta know how to win in Europe. This is, after all, a team that achieved Europa League glory last season by upsetting Bayer Leverkusen in the final and Gian Piero Gasperini’s team will need a similar level of performance to overcome Arsenal in La Dea’s opening Champions League fixture on Thursday.

By Graham Ruthven

As an attacking force, there are few in Serie A as potent as Atalanta. This was highlighted by the 3-2 win over Fiorentina on Sunday which saw Europa League final hat-trick hero and Ballon d’Or nominee Ademola Lookman score his first goal of the season. The Nigerian will carry a threat against the Gunners.

Alongside Lookman, Italian international Mateo Retegui and the highly rated Charles De Ketelaere will form the rest of Atalanta’s forward line with Gasperi expected to line up his team in a back three with wing backs to get down the outside of the opposition. This could be an effective ploy due to Arsenal’s tendency to push their full backs inside.

Mikel Arteta will once again have to make do without Martin Ødegaard due to injury, but Declan Rice will return after missing Sunday’s North London Derby win over Tottenham Hotspur due to suspension. This should give Arsenal more control in the centre of the pitch which could prove crucial against an opposition team intent on running over the top of them.

Arsenal’s defence held firm against Spurs on Sunday and Thursday will present another tough test before this week’s clash against title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. With that looming fixture in mind, it’s possible Arteta will rotate in a few positions to keep his team as fresh as possible.

Bukayo Saka could be one of those players rested after the winger was withdrawn against Tottenham with a minor injury. This could open up a spot for Raheem Sterling to make his first start as an Arsenal player after joining on loan from Chelsea. The English winger could play on either the left or right wing depending on whether or not Arteta also wants to rest Gabriel Martinelli.

Ultimately, Arsenal’s superior talent could tip Thursday’s match in their favour, but Atalanta have a history of rising to the occasion against stronger opponents. Gasperini will set up his team to be attack-minded and play on the front foot. This has the potential to make Thursday’s game at the newly renovated Gewiss Stadium one of the most entertaining of the week in the Champions League.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Manchester City vs. Inter

Manchester City and Inter Milan go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium in their opening game of the Champions League campaign.

By Matt Smith

The two teams face each other for the first time since the 2023 final in what is now the first match under the new format of the competition.

It’s been a perfect start to the 2024/2025 campaign for Pep Guardiola’s side who are yet to drop a point in the Premier League. Continuing their form into the European competition will be imperative for the Citizens, and they kickstart their Champions League campaign at home, a place where they are unbeaten in 46 matches.

Erling Haaland is the obvious danger man on the night with the Norwegian already having plenty of Champions League experience under his belt at a young age across spells with Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Man City. Haaland is in unfathomable form at the moment, scoring nine goals in just four matches in the Premier League.

Guardiola’s men have been creating chances at ease so far this season, producing 9.3 xG in their opening Premier League fixtures. City will be hoping to replicate their form in the Champions League as they look to improve on their quarter-final exit to Real Madrid last term.

Inter have endured an inconsistent start to the campaign, sitting in third place with two wins and two draws from their opening four matches in Serie A. Although yet to lose, Simone Inzaghi will be disappointed to have dropped points to Genoa and Monza already this campaign.

Although usually a possession-dominant side, keeping 60.8% of the ball in Serie A this season, Inzaghi may have to adapt his strategy against City. When the two sides last met, Guardiola’s men were in control of the possession, but Inter showed a real threat in attack, creating four big chances and producing six shots on target.

*Key stats, 2023 Champions League Final*

Inter will be hoping Marcus Thuram can continue his fine form from Serie A with the French attacker scoring four times already this term. Regularly partnering Lautaro Martínez in attack, Thuram has stolen the limelight so far, but it’s a centre-forward duo that has all the tools to cause plenty of problems for Man City on Wednesday.

We’re all set for an enticing showdown as both teams look to get points on the board early on in the Champions League, while Inter have the added spice as they seek revenge for the 2023 final defeat in Istanbul.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Sep

2024

Preview: Real Madrid vs. Stuttgart

Stuttgart make their return to the Champions League this week following an absence of 15 years, and they couldn’t have been handed a more daunting place to do so.

By Ian King

They return to European football’s premier competition with a trip to the Bernabéu to play Real Madrid in the first round of ‘Swiss model’ matches which have replaced the group stages from this year on.

But should they be considered callow just because they haven’t played in this competition for some years? They ended last season in the Bundesliga above Bayern Munich as the runners-up to Bayer Leverkusen with a run of just one defeat in their last sixteen league matches and while this season started poorly, with a point from their first two matches, they’ve recovered since by easing through the first round of the DFB-Pokal and recording a convincing 3-1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach last Saturday.

Coached by Sebastian Hoeneß, who’s the son of the former Stuttgart player Dieter Hoeneß and the nephew of the legendary Uli, this is no team of superstars, with the most familiar name being Deniz Undav, who signed a season-long loan from Brighton last summer, scored 18 goals in the Bundesliga, and made his signing permanent in August. They’re only in 10th place in the current table, but with only three games played so far that doesn’t necessarily tell us very much.

The array of platinum-plated superstars facing them is, following the arrival of Kylian Mbappé during the summer, more daunting than ever, but that’s not to say that Real Madrid have been particularly glittering so far. They’ve already picked up their first piece of silverware of the season by comfortably beating Atalanta to win the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw last month, but their form in La Liga has been a little patchier.

They’ve only won three of their opening five games, with disappointing draws at Mallorca and Las Palmas in their first two away games. They’ve won their last two league matches, but that took two penalty kicks to get past Real Sociedad last Sunday; indeed, their last three goals have all come from the penalty spot. Almost entirely predictably, there have already been stories about the problems in combining Mbappé with Vinícius Júnior, but there’s a reason why Real are almost always favourites or second favourites to win this competition, and there have been few signs of that balance of power shifting.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Sep

2024

Preview: Milan vs. Liverpool

Liverpool travel to Milan this week to face off against the Rossoneri as the Champions League returns for the 2024/25 campaign.

By Sam McGuire

The new format for the competition won’t impact Matchday One. Every single team will want to start with a win.

And this is an intriguing match-up.

These two sides have a storied history in this competition. They are juggernauts of European football, but right now, both are a bit of an unknown. Both are under new management. Both are looking to bed in a new style of play. Both have had disappointing results this season. Both will want to make a good first impression in the Champions League with their new managers at the helm.

The Reds suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday. They conceded their first goal of the Arne Slot era as Nottingham Forest rocked up to Anfield and claimed all three points. It brought Liverpool’s 100% record in the Premier League to an abrupt halt and, having seen how Slot struggled to manage the game, has heaped the first bit of pressure onto the Dutch tactician.

It doesn’t necessarily make this game a must-win but it is now very much a must-not lose match.

Milan, meanwhile, come into this game on the back of a 4-0 win over Venezia. It was their first win of the season. They have five points in Serie A having lost to Parma while drawing against Lazio and Torino. Interestingly, they are the joint-highest goalscorers in the Italian top flight under new boss Paulo Fonseca. The former-Lille manager was also believed to be on Liverpool’s shortlist as they assessed options following Jürgen Klopp’s departure. The Reds opted for Slot and Milan moved to bring him to Italy to replace Stefano Pioli.

They’re scoring goals but they’re also conceding goals. They have been breached on six occasions this term having conceded two goals in three of their four outings. They aren’t resolute defensively and they’ll have to be wary of this against a Liverpool side with seven goals in four games.

The Rossoneri had a good home record in Serie A last term, winning 12 of their 19 matches and losing on just three occasions. They were unlucky not to escape the Champions League group stage having finished level on points with PSG in a group containing the French giants, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United.

Both teams will want a good start in Europe and both managers will want to kick off their campaigns in the Champions League with a win. The pressure is on Liverpool but Milan have home advantage at the San Siro, let’s see if they can make it count.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every Champions League game with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.