Preview

Jan

2025

Preview: Qualification is on the line for Man City and Club Brugge

Pep Guardiola and co may not be In Bruges but they do play them in the Champions League on Wednesday, knowing they may not see the knock-out rounds of Europe’s elite competition for the first time since the Spaniard coach joined the club.

By Alex Roberts

City’s 4-2 capitulation against PSG in their previous fixture was somewhat offset by a 3-1 Premier League win over Chelsea over the weekend but the cracks were still visible, and they’ll have to work hard to get the better of Club Brugge.

The Belgian club currently sit 20th, five places above City in the new-look league phase table, and have claimed a Premier League scalp already, beating Aston Villa 1-0 back in early November 2024.

A rocky start for Abdukodir Khusanov

The Uzbek centre-back wasn’t at his best on his debut. A clear miscommunication between himself and Ederson allowed for Chelsea to open the scoring after just three minutes through Noni Madueke.

Khusanov allowed the ball to bounce while under immense pressure from Nicolas Jackson, heading it back to his ‘keeper but it was too light, and the striker latched on to it before laying it off to Madueke.

Guardiola admitted it was a baptism of fire for the 20-year-old having hooked him off in the 54^th minute, but a relatively low-pressure game against Club Brugge might be the perfect opportunity to ease him in a little.

Struggled in the Prem, thriving in Belgium

When Norwich signed Greek winger Christos Tzolis from PAOK in 2021, they thought they were picking up one of Europe’s hottest prospects, and for good reason, he was tearing it up back in his home country.

Unfortunately for everyone involved it didn’t work out, and he was eventually sold to Fortuna Dusseldorf, where he scored 24 goals and provided eight assists in his 37 games across all competitions.

Now at Club Brugge, and still only 22-years-old, he’s continued his fine form, bagging 19 goal contributions in his 33 games so far. Tzolis’ confidence is brimming, City should be wary.

An unexpected Kyle Walker replacement

Kyle Walker is gone, joining AC Milan on loan for the rest of the season, having spent seven-and-a-half years at City, winning 19 trophies in the process and establishing himself as arguably the best right-back in Premier League history. With apologies to Gary Neville.

Although he hadn’t exactly set the world alight for City this season, he will be missed, and Guardiola needs to work out how to fill his void. Matheus Nunes has stepped up for their last three games and done a pretty good job.

Against Chelsea he was one of their stand-out performers, providing the assist for Joško Gvardiol’s equaliser, winning 100% of his tackles, and making eight defensive actions. He may not be there forever, but he’s doing well in the meantime.

Hans Vanaken rolling back the years

In footballing terms, if you’re 32, you’re essentially on life support. OK, that might be a little harsh, but in a world where 17-year-old’s can become one of the best in the world – we’re looking at you Lamine Yamal – Vanaken is an elder statesman.

He earned the player of the match award in their 0-0 draw with Juventus, a side who beat Man City 2-0 earlier in the season, in Brugge’s previous Champions League game.

It was a fairly dull contest, but the attacking midfielder shined, creating one chance, having 2/3 successful dribbles, and made seven passes into the final third. Considering City aren’t the best defensively at the moment, he’s another they need to keep an eye on.

Prediction

However shocking it would be to see City get knocked out of the Champions League so soon, it really is unlikely to happen. Against Club Brugge, at the Etihad, we’re going to go with a 4-0 win for the home side.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, player ratings, and a new super-intuitive knockout stage bracket. Download the free app here.

Jan

2025

Preview: Barcelona face an Atalanta side hunting for points

Champions League top spot is just about still up for grabs for Barcelona after their wild comeback win at Benfica last time out, but for Hansi Flick the bigger picture is about a return to form in the new year as he chases major titles.

By Karl Matchett

Bounceback for Barca

After a fine first third of the new campaign, Barca were looking strong at the top of LaLiga, flying well enough in Europe and picking up notable results along the way – such as the demolishing of Real Madrid. Fast forward to mid-November and the wheels started to come off, though. A nine-game run in all competitions yielded three wins and, in the relentless nature of elite domestic competition, that’s enough to see you fall off the pace these days.

Post-Christmas, though, Flick’s side have won the Supercopa, won another Clásico, rediscovered their scoring touch and plundered 12 goals in their last two games, including smashing seven past Valencia.

Flick doesn’t need his side to finish top of the initial Champions League phase to show how they’ll be a danger in the knockouts, and the boss has noted winning LaLiga remains the priority. But he also won’t want to give up momentum again and that means possible trouble for Atalanta, who themselves need a result to guarantee a top-eight finish.

The Serie A side are seventh, one point above the dotted line – but 14 points probably won’t be enough to see them avoid the playoffs. It’ll take an almighty effort for them to win this game…but with three wins from three on the road, they do actually have the best away record in the Champions League this term (along with Liverpool.)

Recent form

After going from late September to late December with just a single defeat to Real Madrid against them, Atalanta then recently went five without a win. That unhelpful spell has been ended by two straight victories, but Barcelona is a different test to Sturm Graz and Como. They may well see a draw as a great result on the night but a disappointing outcome overall, if the likes of Aston Villa and Feyenoord or Lille find a win of their own.

Barcelona have won six and drawn one of their last seven in all competitions, scoring an amazing 29 goals in that time. They have hit five or more in four of their last five games.

Team news

Dani Olmo has joined the treatment table which already had Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Iñigo Martínez on it. Ademola Lookman – star of last season’s Europa League triumph, Odilon Koussounou and Gianluca Scamacca are all missing in action for the visitors.

Key player

Not to put too much expectation on Barcelona scoring a hatful more if they rotate their team too much, but Atalanta’s back line needs to be on point. Berat Djimsiti has been their main man: the do-everything defender tops their stats for tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks per 90 this season.

Prediction

Barcelona to wrap up their campaign with another high-scoring game – which will probably see Atalanta just miss out on the top eight: Barcelona 3-2 Atalanta.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Jan

2025

Preview: Arsenal travel to Girona looking to secure direct path to the R16

Girona will host Arsenal in the Champions League at the Estadi Motilivi in a game that means very little to one side and plenty to the other. The Spanish outfit have already succumbed to an early exit, while the Gunners could secure their place in the next round.

By Matt Smith

This will be the first time the two sides have met in their history, with it being the first season Girona have ever competed in the Champions League. The Gunners are currently sitting in third place in the table and need just one point to ensure their place in the final 16.

Tottenham loanee will miss out

Girona coach Michel will be without tricky attacker Bryan Gil for the clash with Arsenal after the Tottenham loanee picked up his third yellow card of the competition, meaning he will serve a one-game ban.

Paulo Gazzaniga and Daley Blind both suffered injuries against Rayo Vallecano in LaLiga last time out, so they might not be available for this one.

Girona’s lack of pressing won’t suit Arsenal

Arsenal have struggled at times this season against sides who sit deep and look to absorb the pressure. Girona have set up just like that in their debut Champions League appearance, rarely pressing high up the pitch and allowing opposition teams to play.

*Girona sit 36/36 in terms of possession won in the final third*

In fact, no side in the competition has won possession in the final third than Girona, doing so just 2.4 times per game. In possession, Girona will look to keep the ball, but without it, they could frustrate an Arsenal side who will be desperate to secure the three points.

Arteta will be sweating on Ødegaard readiness

Martin Ødegaard missed Arsenal’s trip to Wolves last time out, alongside Mikel Merino. The duo had been involved in recent weeks, but were unexpectedly absent from their previous match in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta will be hoping they’ve shaken off their troubles and will be available to face Girona.

Long-term absentees Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Jesus, and Bukayo Saka will all be unavailable for the Gunners as they continue their recovery from injury.

Havertz flying high in Europe

Despite some inconsistent form in the Premier League, Kai Havertz has been prolific in front of goal in the Champions League. The German international has scored four times overall, finding the back of the net in three consecutive games.

With Jesus out injured at the moment, there is plenty of pressure on the shoulders of Havertz. The Gunners are yet to sign a new centre-forward in the January transfer window, so it’s an opportunity for the former Bayer Leverkusen man to prove that he’s the man to lead the line for Arteta for the rest of the campaign.

Prediction

Arsenal should have too much quality for Girona. Arteta’s side are playing for qualification, while it’s a meaningless game for Girona due to the Spanish side already being eliminated.

We’re going for a 2-0 victory to the Premier League giants.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Jan

2025

Preview: Liverpool visit PSV looking to complete unbeaten League Phase

PSV and Liverpool have already secured their place in the Champions League knockout rounds, but both teams are aiming to finish their league phase on a high note.

By Graham Ruthven

Mission accomplished

On a night that promises chaos across 18 simultaneous matches to conclude the league phase of this season’s Champions League, this game doesn’t have so much riding on it.

Liverpool arrive in Eindhoven at the top of the 32-team table having won seven out of seven so far while PSV have already secured their place in the knockout rounds. For both teams, the hard work has already been done.

Nonetheless, Wednesday’s encounter at the Philips Stadium promises to be an entertaining one between two sides that like to attack – both teams are the current top scorers in their respective domestic leagues.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool are widely considered the strongest team in English, and European, football right now, but the former Feyenoord boss has won just one of his previous seven matches against PSV.

Of course, this will have little bearing now that Slot is at the helm of a different team, but Liverpool will have to improve on a stodgy performance in their last Champions League outing against Lille.

While a top eight finish might be beyond PSV, a positive result in their final league phase fixture could see them secure a seeded position for the first round of the knockouts.

Key players

Ricardo Pepi is PSV’s top scorer this season and increased his tally to 11 goals by finding the back of the net in the weekend win over NAC Breda.

However, Pepi is likely to start on the bench with Luuk de Jong favoured as Peter Bosz’s first-choice number nine. Johan Bakayoko and Noa Lang will also provide goal threat from the wide areas.

*PSV’s top goalscorers, Eredivisie 2024/25*

Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman will have their work cut out to disrupt Liverpool’s rhythm in central midfield. Indeed, the Reds are expected to field a formidable midfield unit including Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch.

Darwin Núñez is in line for another start at the head of Liverpool’s forward line even though the Uruguayan striker has only scored once in seven Champions League appearances this season.

Naturally, Mohamed Salah will be Liverpool’s biggest goal threat having registered 23 strikes in all competitions this season. Cody Gakpo is also in good goal-scoring form and is fresh from bagging a brace against Ipswich Town.

Team news

After seeing red against Crvena Zvedza, the wonderfully named Ryan Flamingo will miss Wednesday’s match through suspension while Sergino Dest remains a long-term absentee through injury. This leaves PSV short of options at right back.

Malik Tillman similarly would have missed the match against Liverpool through suspension, but the USA international is currently injured anyway. Adam Nagolo is also a doubt for the Eredivisie table-toppers.

Curtis Jones could be sidelined after being forced off against Lille last week with Diogo Jota and Joe Gomez still not ready to return to action. Otherwise, Slot has a full squad to choose from.

Prediction

As the current league leaders, and top scorers in the Netherlands, PSV should get on the scoresheet, but they might not be the side to halt Liverpool’s perfect record in the Champions League this season: PSV 1-3 Liverpool.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Jan

2025

Preview: Barcelona face improving Valencia at Montjuic

Barcelona will be hoping to put an end to a drop-off in league form as they host Valencia in LaLiga.

By Matt Smith

The away side have seen an improvement on results under new manager Carlos Corberan, and he’s preparing to face Barcelona for the first time in his managerial career.

Valencia have struggled in recent years on their travels to Barcelona, failing to pick up three points since 2016 in LaLiga. When the two sides met earlier in the season, Barca secured the victory with a 2-1 win thanks to a brace from Robert Lewandowski.

Dani Olmo could miss out

Dani Olmo wasn’t named in the squad to face Benfica in the Champions League earlier this week, so it will be interesting to see if he recovers in time to make this one.

Barcelona confirmed last week that Olmo would miss the trip to Portugal due to picking up a ‘right soleus strain’. Iñigo Martínez, Marc Bernal, and Marc-André ter Stegen remain out.

Barcelona need to shake off disappointing form

Although Barcelona have been in impressive form in all competitions, Hansi Flick’s side have struggled in LaLiga of late. Sitting 18^th in the form table, Barcelona will need to start picking up results in the league if they want to mount a serious charge for the title.

Raphinha has undoubtedly been one of Barcelona’s key stars over the last few weeks and has been at the heart of everything. The Brazilian forward has provided six goals and assists combined in his last four games in all competitions, including a 9.4-rated performance against Real Madrid.

Barcelona’s home form has been a bit of a worry this season, already losing three games from eight on their own turf.

Corberan has injury doubts

Thierry Correia will be unavailable for Valencia ahead of their trip to Barcelona, while Mouctar Diakhaby, Rafa Mir, and Umar Sadiq are doubtful.

Dimitri Foulquier was also unable to complete training this week, so it will be interesting to see whether he makes the squad.

Turning a corner under Corberan

Valencia are starting to steer in the right direction after Corberan was appointed just a few weeks ago. Starting with an unfortunate 2-1 defeat at home to Real Madrid, Valencia have since been unbeaten and are slowly battling to climb out of the relegation zone.

Last time out, Valencia secured an impressive 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in LaLiga, with a game plan that Corberan will likely have to replicate. Valencia had just 35% possession, but they produced 1.64 expected goals from just seven shots.

Barcelona are likely to dominate the ball against Corberan’s side, so hitting them on the counter-attack and creating chances when they do have possession will be pivotal.

Prediction

Corberan has certainly tightened Valencia up defensively, so we’re not expecting too many goals in this one. Barcelona have been finding the net regularly of late, but Valencia will be sitting deep and absorbing the pressure. We’re going for a 2-0 victory for Barcelona, who could have too much quality for the away side.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Jan

2025

Preview: Fulham welcome Manchester United to the Cottage

At risk of being the worst version of Manchester United ever, a last-minute winner did move them closer to Europa League last-16 qualification in midweek – are things suddenly looking up for Rúben Amorim and his inconsistent crew?

By Karl Matchett

From midweek smiles to weekend reality checks

Probably it’s a bit early to be drawing such optimistic conclusions. While incremental improvements and stoppage time celebrations are all positive and lead to an uplift in morale, the brutal truth is United head to Fulham, hardly one of the Premier League’s superpowers, three places lower than them in the table and a full seven points adrift.

Amorim may spin it as one defeat in United’s last five, but in the top flight it’s still one win in six – and that came against the bottom club. Add in the fact that United have managed two wins in ten on the road this term and this isn’t likely to be an away day they relish in West London. Amorim still hasn’t worked out his strongest team, and while that’s fine considering the time he’s had at the club, a bigger issue is how vulnerable they look on the road. Only Bruno Fernandes has averaged two shots or more in away games this term and the team as a whole only has six open play goals away too.

Recent form

Fulham are the draw specialists recently. Four straight draws on home soil mean they’ve only lost two of 11 at Craven Cottage, but have also drawn nine of 22 in total – only Brighton have drawn more. Factoring in FA Cup as well as league, it’s just one defeat in 11 for the Cottagers, four of them wins – and they’ve played each of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in that period.

Go back to the opening day of the campaign, mind, and it was Man United who emerged triumphant as these two sides met – a late Joshua Zirkzee goal enough to earn Erik ten Hag three points. He didn’t get too many more thereafter.

Team news

Fulham are missing right-back Kenny Tete and squad winger Reiss Nelson, but are otherwise at full strength. Amorim is without Luke Shaw and Mason Mount as usual, while centre-backs Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans are sidelined too. Everyone else is available, with some suggesting Altay Bayındır may have shown enough in Europe to get a chance in goal domestically.

Key player

Fulham make more accurate crosses per game than any other team in the league (6.2) and have been awarded the third-highest number of penalties (four). Add those two attacking traits together and what you get is a rejuvenated Raúl Jiménez, with eight goals this term from an xG of 8.1. He’s averaging 3.5 shots per 90, plus has created five big chances and has won 40 aerial duels – more than 85 per cent of strikers in the league. The Mexican finally looks like he’s back to near his old effective self and Fulham are reaping the rewards.

*Jiménez shooting stats, Premier League 2024/25*

Prediction

More away day misery for United and Amorim. Fulham 2 United 1.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Jan

2025

Preview: Leicester look to break seven game losing streak at Spurs

Spurs managed to get past Bundesliga crisis club Hoffenheim; can they continue this run against a similarly out-of-sorts Leicester City?

By Ian King

One dismal run must end

A narrow-ish win against a pretty dismal-looking Hoffenheim in the Europa League and that win against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup notwithstanding, Spurs’ recent form has been dismal, with the small consolation from their trip Everton being that they at least kept the score respectable after having gone in at half-time three down. It’s now one win in ten in the League.

Leicester City’s new manager bounce following the appointment of Ruud Van Nistelrooy at the start of December fell quickly back to earth; one win and one draw on the way down, followed by seven consecutive defeats during which they’ve scored two goals and conceded eighteen. It doesn’t say much for the two teams above them that a win against Spurs could lift them out of the bottom three.

History

Spurs and Leicester have played each other twice in cup finals with Spurs winning both, 2-0 win in the 1961 FA Cup final and 1-0 in the 1999 League Cup final. More recently, this fixture has often brought goals. Over the last decade Spurs have won 6-2, 6-1 and 5-4, while Leicester won 4-1 at The King Power Stadium in 2023. They drew 1-1 on the opening weekend of this season, with a Jamie Vardy goal cancelling out Pedro Porro’s opener for Spurs.

Familiar faces

James Maddison has spent seven out of 23 on the bench for Spurs this season, but his early goal in Germany on Thursday could mean that he is given a more central role against his former club. For Leicester, a lack of goals has been as severe as the weak defending, but they have two former Spurs players, Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp, among their available midfielders.

Team News

Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Yves Bissouma have all joined the Spurs injury list–now 14 in total–over the last couple of weeks. But it’s not quite all bad news. Antonín Kinský is available again after missing Hoffenheim and Richarlison came through the trip without incident.

Woyo Coulibaly should make his debut for Leicester following his transfer from Parma, while at the other end of the scale Jamie Vardy is now in 10th season with them, a period during which he has now scored 180 League goals.

Prediction

Their Europa League win in Germany was an improvement, but Spurs still looked brittle, particularly throughout the first fifteen minutes of the second half, and when pegged back to 2-1 it felt as though a very familiar script was playing out yet again. But they managed to hold on this time, and that’s something to carry back into a Premier League campaign that has fallen spectacularly off the rails in recent weeks. Leicester have been pretty bad these last couple of months, a badness arguably masked a little by Southampton’s even-worseness, and beating a running on vapours, out-of-sorts Spurs by 3-2 sounds in line with this fixture’s goal-laden history.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Jan

2025

Preview: Man City meet Chelsea for late kick-off

A well-rested Chelsea travel north to face a Man City side reeling from their midweek Champions League defeat to French champions PSG in what could be a pivotal game for both club’s European ambitions.

By Alex Roberts

Pep Guardiola’s boys went 2-0 up against the Parisians before completely capitulating, conceding four goals in the final 35 minutes, leaving them on the brink of elimination from Europe’s elite club competition.

Chelsea had no such worries, but that doesn’t mean Enzo Maresca will have taken his eye off the ball… literally. The West London club impressed against City in their first game under the Italian but were powerless to resist their overwhelming firepower. They’ll want revenge this time out.

The prodigal son makes an impressive return

It’s almost as if Trevoh Chalobah never left, or at least he shouldn’t have. The centre-back absolutely bossed it in their 3-1 win against Wolves in their previous Premier League fixture.

Chalobah ended the win over Wolves with a 96% pass accuracy rate, two chances created, and an assist: winning the Player of the Match award in his first game back since being recalled from his loan at Crystal Palace.

Yes, those are all attacking stats, because, honestly, he didn’t have to do that much at the back, and when he did, he was as calm as ever. The academy star may have saved his boyhood club millions.

A flurry of new Man City signings

City have spent big in the January transfer window, bringing Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov, and now Omar Marmoush to the club as they seek to refresh an aging squad before any ruling is made regarding those ominous 115 charges.

The current champions are confusing enough as it is, and should Guardiola decide to give his three new boys their debuts against Chelsea, it could throw a serious spanner in the works for Maresca.

Marmoush in particular could cause problems. The forward played at a higher level than the other two, scoring 20 goals and providing 13 assists in the first half of the season at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Over a billion spent and still in need of a goalkeeper

The Stamford Bridge faithful aren’t starting to lose faith in Robert Sánchez, they lost it some time ago. Maresca continues to back him, despite a number of high-profile mistakes, including the one against Wolves, but his hands may be tied in the near future.

Only Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric has made more mistakes leading to goals in the Premier League this season with five, one more than Chelsea’s Sánchez. A worrying stat for a side trying to secure a top four spot.

Being a goalkeeper is hard, it’s arguably the most confidence-based position in the sport, and that will make it even harder for Sánchez to redeem himself in the eyes of the Chelsea fans.

Starting to worry about Bernardo

Bernardo Silva has been one of City’s most consistent players over the last few years, but a string of poor performances against the big boys this season should be cause for concern for both Guardiola and the fans.

It was a miracle he wasn’t brought off in the defeat to PSG, losing seven duels, more than any other player on the pitch. The struggle was as clear as day on his face after Ousmane Dembélé nut-megged him before smashing the crossbar.

All things must come to an end, and it’s incredible he’s managed to play at such a high level for such a prolonged period of time, but he may be another aging star City look to move on in the not-so-distant future.

Prediction

City and Chelsea are two of the Premier League’s more unpredictable sides this season, it’s hard to determine which version will turn up for any given game. We’re going to go with a 3-1 win to City, but don’t hold us to it!

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Jan

2025

Preview: Injury-hit Arsenal visit Wolves

Arsenal’s season has been rather derailed in January as they have suffered big setbacks in all three domestic competitions. Anything but a win against Wolves today could see them drop to a double-digit net deficit from league leaders Liverpool.

By Neel Shelat

Arsenal’s recent domestic struggles

Arsenal have won just one of their last five domestic matches, dropping four points in the Premier League and suffering setbacks in both cup competitions.

Their disappointing run of form started with a score draw at Brighton, which was followed by two cup defeats. First, Newcastle United took away a two-goal lead from the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, and then Manchester United scored a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory to send Arsenal crashing out of the third round of the FA Cup. The Gunners did register big xG tallies in excess of 3 in both of those games, so it was their finishing that let them down.

*Key stats, Arsenal vs. Newcastle, Carabao Cup first leg*

Arsenal did not dominate their next two matches quite as much. They did edge out a crucial North London derby victory over Tottenham but then squandered a two-goal lead against Aston Villa to register their eighth draw of the Premier League season.

Wolves reinvigorated after Vitor Pereira’s arrival

Wolverhampton Wanderers spent the vast majority of the first half of the season in the relegation zone and had a single-digit points tally when Gary O’Neil was sacked before Christmas. Few were optimistic about Vitor Pereira’s ability to turn things around when he was brought in from Al Shabab, but he has proven the doubters wrong so far.

Wolves defeated Leicester City and Manchester United in their first two matches under the new head coach to surge out of the relegation zone. They also went on to take a point off Tottenham Hotspur and defeat Bristol City in the FA Cup’s third round. Although they have lost their last three league games, that should not be too big a cause for concern since each of their opponents is in the current top six.

Pereira has hardly overseen a tactical overhaul as he is using the same 3-4-2-1 formation that O’Neil often deployed, but he has shored up the defence a bit and thus improved the team’s counterattacking threat.

Cunha the key against Arsenal’s weakened right side

Injuries have been a big reason behind Arsenal’s drop in form. Their right side has been particularly affected of late as Bukayo Saka and Ben White have remained unavailable while Ethan Nwaneri missed a few matches, Gabriel Jesus suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the FA Cup and William Saliba picked up a slight hamstring issue in training ahead of their last league game.

While Riccardo Calafiori’s return should make up for Myles Lewis-Skelly’s potential absence at left back, Wolves will surely look to target the right side of Arsenal’s defence where Thomas Partey may have to start at right back as Jurriën Timber moves to centre-back. Star attacker Matheus Cunha – the subject of a lot of interest in the transfer window – will be looking forward to adding to his tally of 14 league goal involvements.

*Wolves goals + assists, Premier League 2024/25*

Prediction

Despite their injury issues, Arsenal should have enough to see out an eighth-straight head-to-head victory over Wolves.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Jan

2025

Preview: Real Madrid go to Valladolid as top meets bottom

Real Madrid have bounced back from their Spanish Supercopa humbling against Barcelona to score 14 goals in their last three outings.

By Graham Ruthven

Liga leaders hitting their stride

It was only two weeks ago that Real Madrid suffered that humiliation against Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa. Since then, though, Carlo Ancelotti’s team have responded by stringing together three consecutive wins.

Barca’s draw away to Getafe last weekend allowed Real Madrid to stretch their advantage at the top of LaLiga over their fiercest rivals to seven points with Atlético Madrid two points behind.

Most ominous is Real Madrid’s attacking form. Indeed, los Blancos have scored 14 goals in their last three games in all competitions including five goals against Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League during the week.

After a slow start to the season, Kylian Mbappé has hit top form in recent weeks, finding the back of the net five times in the last four games. The Frenchman’s speed and willingness to get in behind will give Real Valladolid problems.

While Madrid are looking to boost their title chances, Valladolid need points to move off the bottom of LaLiga. The White and Violets have just 15 points from 20 games and are fighting for their top flight lives.

Valladolid have actually won their last two league matches at home (against Valencia and Real Betis), but a victory over Real Madrid would be their biggest result of the season so far.

Key players

Kike Pérez scored the only goal of the game as Real Valladolid beat Real Betis two weeks ago and could offer the hosts a source of creativity from midfield on Saturday.

Defensively, Valladolid will have to be solid to stand any chance of earning a result against the league leaders, putting pressure on goalkeeper Karl Hein to perform. He will surely have a busy afternoon.

Mbappé’s recent scoring record speaks for itself, but the incredible form of Rodrygo has flown under the radar somewhat. The Brazilian scored twice against Salzburg on Wednesday and has seven goals in his last eight games.

With Vinîcius Júnior still suspended in the league, Rodrygo will start in his favoured position on the left wing. On the right side, Brahim Díaz could offer cohesion with his movement inside, creating space for Lucas Vázquez on the overlap.

Dani Ceballos and Fede Valverde have recently forged a strong partnership in central midfield while Jude Bellingham will continue in a more advanced role where he has freedom to roam.

Team news

Juma Bah will be left out of the Real Valladolid lineup as punishment for attempting to force a transfer to Manchester City. The young centre back failed to turn up for training this week and won’t be included in this weekend’s matchday squad.

Moro suffered a broken collarbone in Valladolid’s last game against Espanyol and is now set for a period on the sidelines. Stanko Jurić will be another absentee due to the midfielder’s suspension.

Vinícius will miss out for Real Madrid through suspension while Eduardo Camavinga, Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal are currently sidelined through injury.

Real Madrid’s injury troubles have eased recently with David Alaba back in action following a 13-month spell out. The Austrian could start against Valladolid, but is more likely to make another appearance off the bench.

Prediction

Valladolid’s two game winning run at home will surely come to an end with the rampant league leaders in town: Real Valladolid 0-3 Real Madrid.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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