The Cherries have drawn each of their previous four Premier League matches, with the club currently occupying 10th place.
United, on the other hand, sit third and are well on course to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Draws have been Bournemouth’s downfall this season
Bournemouth have drawn nearly 50% of their Premier League matches this term (14/30), securing just nine wins in the process.
Indeed, only six clubs have registered fewer victories than the Cherries and they occupy 15th-20th in the standings.
Despite that, Andoni Iraola’s side remain only eight points adrift of Liverpool in eighth and a winning run could see them vault up the table.
Bournemouth are unbeaten in 10 league games but haven’t won a league game since February 10, drawing their four subsequent matches heading into this clash.
Having scored just twice during those games, Iraola will need his men to step up in order to break down a stubborn United side.
They did score four at Old Trafford in December, yet, only took a point from the game.
Michael Carrick has Manchester United dreaming of the promised land
Not even the most ardent United supporter would have believed a third place finish was possible a few months ago, but here we are.
Michael Carrick has done a wonderful job since arriving on an interim basis following the sacking of Ruben Amorim.
Seven wins from nine has the Red Devils dreaming of the Champions League. Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham have all been defeated during this wonderful run of form recently.
The loss to Newcastle has been the only blemish, but with just eight matches to go this season, a return to the promised land of Champions League football is looking increasingly likely.
If so, will Carrick be appointed as permanent manager? That remains to be seen.
Those are the only four injury issues, however, for the Cherries as they seek a first win since mid-February.
Carrick’s main injury absentees concern the defence. Lisandro Martínez remains out for the foreseeable future due to a calf issue.
Patrick Dorgu and Matthijs De Ligt won’t return until the middle of April due to hamstring and back injuries respectively.
Recent H2H results
Prediction
United have only won once at the Vitality since 2018, with that victory coming in May 2023.
Incidentally, that was the last time the Red Devils managed to get the better of Bournemouth and Carrick will be keen to end this three-year winless drought against the south coast side.
As such, expect the United boss to unleash a strong starting XI, especially as a win will put pressure on those around them in the table.
Bournemouth will provide a threat and wont want to end their ten-game unbeaten run. Expect the away side to emerge with all three points though.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Real Madrid had Vinícius Júnior to thank as they ended Manchester City’s Champions league ambitions on Tuesday evening, but the real damage was done last week.
The Brazilian opened the scoring with a penalty after Bernardo Silva was sent off for handball in the first-half.
With just minutes remaining, he then slotted home Madrid’s winner to seal a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Despite City’s dominance during the game, Madrid’s chances improved after Silva was sent off, but the damage had already been done in the first leg.
Indeed, the star of the show was Federico Valverde. The Uruguayan maestro delivered one of the finest modern day Champions League performances as he scored a stunning hat-trick at the Bernabeu in the 3-0 win.
Vinícius Júnior may have stolen the plaudits on Tuesday, but the foundations of success were laid by Valverde.
Federico Valverde was sensational against Manchester City
Prior to the first leg against City, Valverde had scored three Champions League goals across 75 matches in the competition for Madrid.
That all changed at the Bernabéu. Valverde opened the scoring after 20 minutes, perfectly controlling a pass from Thibaut Courtois before rounding Gianluigi Donnarumma and slotting the ball home from a tight angle.
Seven minutes later, the midfielder was at it again. He popped up with another fine finish, taking advantage of a sleepy City defence to make it 2-0.
Shot map for Valverde’s hat trick, with third goal highlighted
Valverde saved the best for last. Brahim Díaz chipped a pass into the box which the Uruguayan controlled perfectly by flicking it over the head of Marc Guéhi before firing a shot into the net to seal his first ever career hat-trick.
It was a first half of dreams, not only for Madrid, but for Valverde. FotMob awarded him a match rating of 9.7, while L’Equipe – famed for their distinction of rarely giving out perfect ratings – awarded Valverde a 10/10 for his display. As such, he became only the 20th player to receive the highest possible rating.
While he will be remembered for his goal scoring exploits in that first leg, the midfielder also made nine defensive contributions, the most throughout the game, along with winning 11 duels and playing four passes into the penalty area.
Former Arsenal and France icon Thierry Henry summed up his display perfectly, saying: “Fede Valverde was not only Bergkamp today.
“He was Thuram, Bergkamp, Makelele. He was everybody.”
Valverde’s heat map vs. Man City, first leg
High praise indeed and certainly well deserved given his efforts, both defensively and going forwards.
Valverde may not have scored during the second leg, yet he did end the game with a 92% pass success rate while registering seven defensive actions during the 2-1 victory.
Those performances could go a long way to rejuvenating Madrid, especially with a LaLiga and Champions League double still very much within reach for Los Blancos.
Valverde is delivering when it really matters
His performance against Man City will be eulogised for years to come, yet Valverde has been producing for Madrid when it matters since the start of 2026.
He scored the opener against Atlético Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final, before providing the assist for Rodrygo to net the winner.
A month later, Valverde scored against Real Sociedad before registering two assists against Benfica in the Champions League.
Perhaps more importantly, the 27-year-old scored a vital late winner against Celta Vigo in LaLiga at the start of the month and this was the first of his five goals in the space of just eight days.
Valverde’s passing stats in LaLiga this season
Domestically, Valverde has been a key factor in Madrid’s title challenge. Not only does he rank in the top 1% compared to his peers for chances created (39) and shots on target (13), but the midfielder also ranks in the top 5% for touches (1891) and in the top 7% for recoveries (117), showcasing his class across a range of metrics.
It is in the Champions League, however, where Valverde has truly shone. The midfielder ranks seventh among all players in the competition for top speed (35.8 km/h) and sixth for assists (four) this season.
Valverde is very much at the peak of his powers right now and while Madrid’s season has endured its rocky moments, he appears to be the fulcrum in this star-studded side.
Valverde’s physical metrics in the Champions League this season
He offers the perfect balance between attack and defence, allowing others such as Vinícius and Kylian Mbappé to focus purely on the opposition goal.
This was something Luka Modrić excelled in and it is evident that Valverde is following in his footsteps this season.
His ever-increasing influence is becoming more apparent under the leadership of Álvaro Arbeloa, who is clearly bringing the best out of him.
“He’s such a talented guy that he could excel in any position,” Arbeloa said about Valverde.
“He’s a fantastic captain, as he’s shown in recent months. He offers us so much in a range of roles. Fede is Real Madrid through and through, and an outstanding ambassador for the club.”
Mbappé and Vinícius may be the jewels in Madrid’s crown, especially with their attacking output, but there is no doubt Valverde is the player that holds everything together.
The next few months might well turn out to be the most important of his career. First up, he will look to fire Madrid to LaLiga and Champions League titles, bolstering his medal collection in the process.
If that isn’t enough, Valverde will be looking to take Uruguay as far as possible in the 2026 World Cup this summer.
Perform like he has done over the next few months and might we be talking about Valverde being a contender for the Ballon d’Or?
Only time will tell.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Noahkai Banks has a big decision to make. Born in Hawaii to an American father and a Spanish-German mother, the 19-year-old is eligible for three different national teams, two of which are believed to be making a play for his services with the 2026 World Cup just around the corner.
While reports in Germany claim Banks hasn’t spoken to Julian Nagelsmann, the player himself has publicly revealed the German FA (DFB) are in contact. Earlier this month, Banks admitted to being “very torn” and has apparently rejected any call-up from the USA for the upcoming March friendlies to give himself more time to think.
Banks’ player traits comparison against other centrebacks in the top five leagues
That Banks, who has played for the USA at youth level, won’t be in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for the games against Belgium and Portugal is already a blow. In an ideal world, the young defender would have been given an opportunity to showcase his quality in an area of the pitch where the USA has a growing number of concerns.
Chris Richards is one centre back the US can count on this summer. The Crystal Palace defender is operating at a high level in the Premier League and has grown into a leadership role for his national team since the last World Cup. Pochettino has built around Richards in the backline.
Next to Richards, though, there is a big question mark. Tim Ream has performed the role more than any other player, but the 38-year-old is starting to look his age. Anyone who watched Ream get torn to shreds by the LA Galaxy in a recent match for Charlotte FC surely has concerns about how his World Cup might go.
Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, and Auston Trusty could all be in contention to start alongside Richards this summer, but Banks is operating at a higher level than all of them and certainly has a higher ceiling as a player. This is a player Pochettino said has the potential to become one of the best defenders in Europe.
It therefore makes sense that Germany are interested. Having failed to make it out of the group stage in the last two World Cups, there is pressure on Nagelsmann to plot a deeper run at this summer’s tournament even if Germany lack the top-end talent that made them champions in 2014.
In Nico Schlotterbeck and Jonathan Tah, Germany boast two elite level centre backs with the former on the radar of some of Europe’s biggest clubs and the latter on course for Bundesliga, and possibly Champions League, glory with Bayern Munich. Beyond those two, though, Nagelsmann is short of depth.
Banks would fit in well. The 19-year-old is comfortable on the ball, as his assist for Augsburg in a recent match against Köln proved. Afforded some space on the edge of the box, Banks surged to the byline and squared a pass into the area for Rodrigo Ribeiro to finish from close range. It was a moment that showcased his athleticism and talent in possession.
Banks’ passing numbers in the Bundesliga this season
For Augsburg, Banks has most commonly played on the right side of a back three. Pochettino has used a back three on occasion as USMNT head coach and Banks could allow him to push Richards into a more central role as the dominant defensive presence in the national team backline.
There are flaws to Banks’ game. He has made mistakes this season, but that’s to be expected of a young player. He has played over 1,600 minutes in the Bundesliga this season and is established as a first team figure in a Big Five league as a teenager. That exposure is helping Banks improve.
Banks’s defensive numbers in the Bundesliga this season
Banks has vowed not to make a decision on his long-term international future on the basis of the 2026 World Cup. “I hopefully have a long career ahead of me, so I want to think carefully and speak with my family,” said the teenager. “I don’t want to make it dependent on a World Cup. I’m just happy to be in this position and to be able to make this decision. We’ll see what happens.”
The more Banks impresses in the Bundesliga, though, the more the clamour for the teenager to play at this summer’s World Cup will increase, particularly from the USA side. Pochettino would surely like to be able to call up the young defender for the tournament on home soil. Banks could feasibly be a first team figure.
Whatever decision Banks ultimately makes, he has a bright future for club and country ahead of him. Pochettino has good reason to be bullish on the 19-year-old’s potential even if the USA ends up losing out to Germany in the race for his international allegiance. An American wonderkid could be a German star.
(Images from IMAGO)
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John F. Kennedy was in the White House; Elvis Presley topped the UK Singles Chart; and construction of the Berlin Wall was still three months off beginning: a window into how the world looked the last time Lincoln City occupied the heights they’re poised to hit this spring.
By Tom Hancock
It was April 1961 and Lincoln had just finished bottom of the old Second Division – a division they shared with Bill Shankly’s Liverpool – bringing to an end a near decade-long stint at the level, having been promoted as Third Division North champions for the third time in 1952.
Sixty-five years on, for JFK, see Trump; for Elvis, see Harry Styles; for the yet-to-be-built Berlin Wall, see the scattered remnants. And for Second Division Lincoln City, see Championship Lincoln City (prospectively).
The Imps are on the up, needing no more than 10 points from their remaining eight League One games to clinch promotion. And any neutral would back them to do it: Michael Skubala’s table-toppers have won eight of their last 10 games and are unbeaten since late November – a 21-match streak which has seen them take 53 points from a possible 63.
It’s just a decade since Lincoln finished in the bottom half of the National League for the fifth straight season, below the likes of Eastleigh, Gateshead and Woking; in a matter of months, they could feasibly be welcoming Tottenham Hotspur to Sincil Bank – their unassuming but vanishingly penetrable home where they’ve lost just two league games in 12 months – as equals.
“I call it the end game,” says Gary Hutchinson, editor of long-running independent Lincoln site The Stacey West, of the Imps’ dizzying current position. “And with football, there’s never an end game, is there? Because there’s always next season. But it does feel like the original Skubala blueprint.”
Skubala succeeded Mark Kennedy as head coach in November 2023, having previously led Leeds United’s U21s and taken caretaker charge of their first team in the Premier League. And the 43-year-old’s trajectory to frontline management is emblematic of the changing face of the English dugout.
Screenshot
Having never played professionally, Skubala worked as a PE teacher in his native Leicestershire then became director of football at Loughborough University, an institution steeped in sporting excellence, before being headhunted by the FA and spending three years as head coach of the England futsal team.
“I think that’s the new way with football,” Hutchinson continues, who notes how different Skubala is in character to Danny Cowley, another former PE teacher, who guided Lincoln from the fifth tier to the third as champions of the National League and League Two.
Incidentally, since the highest level of non-League went national in 1979, no club has ever won fifth, fourth and third-tier titles – a piece of history for Lincoln (who were also 1987/88 Conference champions) to target, there.
Lincoln’s rise under Cowley
“You walked into a room and you knew Danny Cowley was the manager of the football club,” Hutchinson explains, “because he owned it and he was brilliant at it…Walk into a room of 20 blokes not knowing who Michael Skubala was and you’d be through 10 of them before you said, ‘Well, maybe he’s the football manager’.
“He’s unassuming; he’s laid back’ he’s quiet; he’s meticulous – but that does come from an educational background, doesn’t it? Education is stripping everything back to the core basics and then teaching it from the ground up and adding bits on. And I think that’s where our overall kind of playing structures come from.”
Lincoln are thriving under Skubala’s academically-influenced tactical approach, perhaps the most unique in League One. The Imps average the lowest possession in the league (42.1%), but their football is far from turgid route-one fare.
Key to Skubala’s detail-oriented philosophy are positional flexibility, considered pressing and rapid transitions – as Lincoln showed to devastating effect in their recent 2-0 win away to title rivals Cardiff City, a statement victory in their seemingly unstoppable charge towards the Championship.
The Imps are often at their most devastating on the break, scoring the joint most goals from counter-attacks in League One this term (nine) And they’re one of the most clinical teams in the division outright, ranking second for goals scored relative to expected goals (xG), outperforming their xG by 14.8.
Screenshot
They share the goals around, too. Having lost veteran striker James Collins to a serious knee injury in December, Lincoln have 12 players who’ve found the net three or more times, including eight-goal joint top scorers Jack Moylan, Reeco Hackett and Rob Street – only the latter of whom is an out-and-out number nine, and even he began the campaign as third choice in that department.
Set-pieces are arguably an even more important part of the Imps’ attacking arsenal: they’ve chalked up 23 goals from dead-ball situations – the second-most in League One – accounting for almost a third of their overall tally of 71, also the second-highest in the league. On top of that, they have at their disposal one of the most fearsome long-throw proponents in England: Tom Hamer, whose projectile hurls have more than a touch of Rory Delap about them.
Twenty-six-year-old centre-back Hamer is the youngest member of a veteran back four that’s helped Lincoln harvest the best defensive record in League One (34 goals conceded in 38 games). Joining him are Tendayi Darikwa, Sonny Bradley (both aged 34) and Adam Reach (33) – all of whom boast ample Championship experience.
Screenshot
“It sounds like Dad’s Army,” Hutchinson jests, “but it’s actually a really meticulous recruitment process…’We’ve got a person in this position – how can we make them better? … Who will they learn best from?’”
Part of that process is the club’s more left-field recruitment, best exemplified by young Ukrainian defensive midfielder Ivan Varfolomeev – signed from Czech side Slovan Liberec last summer in what Hutchinson calls a “mad, crazy spot” on the recruitment team’s part.
Mad, crazy: two apt words for Lincoln’s season – one which could yet see them hit the 100-point mark, something which has only ever been done seven times in the third tier during the era of three points for a win.
“Most fans would have said, ‘Oh, I’ll take play-offs’ [at the start of the season],” notes Hutchinson. “If there’s a Lincoln fan that tells you that they thought we’d be in the top two this season, they’re a liar.”
But, in mid-March, the top of the League One table doesn’t lie: Lincoln are deservedly bossing a division – and they’re doing it while staying to true to themselves.
“Some football clubs treat people like customers,” remarks Hutchinson, “and Lincoln City have always treated them like people. And I’d like to think that karma is now dealing us a bit of a return on the field.”
(Images from IMAGO)
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We aren’t in the realms of Liverpool needing another famous European night at Anfield to make it into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but the Reds do need a win against Galatasaray on Wednesday night.
Assessing the seasons of both teams feels a little redundant right now. This is, for all intents and purposes, a one-off match. What has come before this is, to be blunt, irrelevant.
Liverpool know a win on the night is required if they’re to progress. If they want to progress inside of 90 minutes, their victory needs to be by two clear goals following the 1-0 loss in Istanbul.
The same applies in extra time. To avoid a penalty shootout, the Reds know they need a minimum of two goals. This is easier said than done with Arne Slot‘s side scoring two or more in just four of their last 10 outings across all competitions. And two of those times arrived in FA Cup ties.
For Galatasaray, it is a lot more straightforward. Avoid defeat and they add Liverpool to their list of upsets this season after they knocked Juventus out in the playoff round last time out.
The Turkish giants head into this game in good form too having won five on the bounce, keeping clean sheets in their last three. A clean sheet at Anfield sees them into the next round. It’s as simple as that.
You wouldn’t say Galatasaray have Liverpool’s number, despite winning both matches against the Reds this term, as both the game in the league phase and the first leg have been fairly even. They have, however, managed to keep clean sheets in both outings against the Premier League champions. Perhaps there’s a mental edge there that cannot be quantified.
Key Players
It’s kind of ironic that Liverpool’s most dangerous player right now probably won’t set foot on the pitch on Wednesday. Rio Ngumoha has been a revelation for the Reds over recent weeks but his minutes need to be managed and after playing 65 minutes against Spurs on Sunday, a cameo here feels unlikely.
For the away side, the main man is Victor Osimhen. He scored the winner against the Reds in the first clash and assisted the winner last time out. He’s a constant threat no matter the opposition. Expect another big showing here.
Team News
There are no fresh injury concerns for Slot. He’s without Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni but everyone else is available to him. He rested players on Sunday so it’ll be interesting to see what he does with his lineup on Wednesday.
The away side have no injury issues at all and it means they have quite the depth heading to Anfield. Options off of the bench could be key.
Prediction
We’re thinking Liverpool win on the night but progression may only be secured via penalties.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Can a reenergised Newcastle finally beat Barça this season?
Barcelona continued their LaLiga title defence with an emphatic win against Sevilla at Camp Nou over the weekend and Hansi Flick‘s squad is now unbeaten in their last six matches across all competitions (W5, D1). With 17 goals (2.8 per 90) scored and three clean sheets during the confidence-inspiring run, Barça could not have asked for more, amid Joan Laporta’s re-election as president, and ahead of the Champions League Round of 16 return leg against Newcastle.
It took a penalty from the cool-headed Lamine Yamal to snatch a last-gasp draw at St. James’ Park in the first leg, but back on their own turf, Barça will be confident of seeing out the aggregate win. They’ve won all 12 games played at home since returning to the refurbished Camp Nou and their last and still the only home defeat this season dates back to October.
The Magpies are faring quite well in the midst of an incredibly difficult run of fixtures and despite the FA Cup exit to Manchester City, Eddie Howe‘s team have impressed against Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea of late.
Anthony Gordon‘s winner at Stamford Bridge last weekend lifted the Tyneside club to ninth in the Premier League table, and now, Newcastle will travel to Catalonia in a much better place than a few weeks ago. Newcastle have never tasted victory at Camp Nou, leaving disappointed on their previous two visits (1997 and 2002).
Key players
Lewis Hall kept Lamine Yamal at bay in the first leg and earned the ‘anti-Lamine’ nickname from the Spanish media while taking FotMob’s Player of the Match award with a rating of 7.9. The English left-back followed it up with an impressive performance (7.1) against Chelsea’s Alejandro Garnacho , and the 21-year-old is Newcastle’s third-highest-rated player in the Premier League this season. Furthermore, no player in the squad has made more tackles (2.5 per 90) and successful dribbles (1.8 per 90), which makes him a strong contender for the role of England’s starting left back at this summer’s World Cup.
Since the first leg, Raphinha has delivered a true captain’s performance by scoring a hat trick in the win against Sevilla. And despite his injury troubles this season, the electric Brazilian continues to produce impressive numbers (22 G/A). In the league, Raphinha is only behind Lamine Yamal (23) in both goals + assists (14) despite playing considerably less minutes.
For Newcastle, Fabian Schär is out and so is captain, Bruno Guimarães, who will be sorely missed in the middle of the park. However, Newcastle’s injury list is finally improving.
Prediction
Barça enjoy a stellar record at Camp Nou this season, but with the tie still in the balance and Newcastle’s reputation for always turning up in the big games, Hansi Flick’s side will have to be at its best to progress. But if you look at the facts and the individual qualities of the players likely to start the game, it will require a shock upset for the reigning LaLiga champions to miss out on a place in the quarter-finals, and I expect them to run out as winners.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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A calamitous opening 15 minutes cost Spurs dear in Madrid, but pulling a couple of goals back allowed them some hope from their Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Atleti.
Spurs drama contrasts heavily with a quiet week at the office for Atlético Madrid
A chaotic opening 15 minutes in the first leg of this tie overshadowed anything that could have happened afterwards. The astonishing decision to drop Gugliemo Vicario and replace him with Antonín Kinsky, who’d never played in the Champions League before and hasn’t made a Premier League appearance for Spurs all season, resulted in the goalkeeper being yanked off after 17 minutes with his team already three goals down.
The final score was 5-2, and it was strongly suggested that the Spurs head coach Igor Tudor might be in charge for Sunday’s trip to Anfield and then replaced. And then, lo and behold, by stripping their formation to a basic 4-4-2 and hitting the channels, Spurs managed a reasonable 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Sunday, so Tudor remains in his position and probably will do until the end of the season, now.
There was no such drama for Atlético Madrid, who followed up this win by beating Getafe 1-0 at the weekend to further shore up their place in the Champions League for next season. They’re now 13 points ahead of fifth-placed Real Betis in LaLiga.
A 5-2 reversal in the first leg was enough for a sliver of Spurs hope
The first leg of this tie was only the second time that these clubs have met competitively, with the previous occasion having been the 1963 European Cup Winners Cup final in Rotterdam, which Spurs won 5-3. But after the dust had settled on that disastrous opening quarter in Madrid last week – which wasn’t helped when Spurs went 4-0 down, five minutes after Vicario came on – the visitors didn’t play that badly.
The final score of 5-2 has left them with a sliver of hope that it could be overturned in the second leg, and their half-decent performance at Anfield on Sunday means that the atmosphere at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the return match might not be quite as toxic as might have been feared, although this could change very quickly again, should they start the way they did last Tuesday.
Antoine Griezmann has got the chops to put this tie beyond Spurs
He may be turning 35 at the weekend, but Antoine Griezmann demonstrated in the first leg that age hasn’t yet diminished his talents. He scored one and added an assist as well, and his form has picked up over the last few weeks following a patchy January. Spurs cannot afford to concede, if they’re to have any realistic chance of overcoming their three-goal deficit from the first leg, and Griezmann has it in the tank to be able to either score or create a killer blow in this match.
Griezmann’s heat map from the first leg
Xavi Simons was clearly signed by Spurs with one eye on this competition, but in recent weeks he’s been largely limited to the bench. Simons has the sort of creative spark which could unlock the Atleti defence, and if he can find a way through, they could have a chance of getting back into the tie.
Atleti will be missing their highly experienced goalkeeper for this second leg
Micky Van de Ven returns from suspension, but both Cristian Romero and João Palhinha face late tests before a decision can be made over whether they return following the clash of heads in Madrid which left Spurs with nine players on the pitch by the end of the match. Richarlison is suspended, which is a big loss for them. On top of that, Conor Gallagher and Yves Bissouma (illness and injury respectively) both missed Sunday’s trip to Anfield and also need late tests.
The big change for Atlético Madrid comes in goal, where Jann Oblak is injured, and will be replaced by Juan Musso, who’s only made two appearances in LaLiga for them this season, though he did keep a clean sheet in each of them. Pablo Barrios returned as a substitute in the first leg, but was missing from their team at Getafe at the weekend. He needs to be assessed ahead of kick-off. Rodrigo Mendoza is their only other absentee.
Prediction
With rumours still circulating that Harry Redknapp could yet return to try and steer Spurs to Premier League safety this season, it remains the case that The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium isn’t a very happy place at the moment.
BUT.
The performance for much of the first leg wasn’t completely atrocious, while their performance at Anfield yielded a much-needed point – in a strange twist of fate, all of the Premier League’s seven bottom clubs drew at the weekend – and a reason to put the fatalism to one side for a moment. And for all their woes in the Premier League, January yielded two decent wins against Bundesliga opposition – Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt – in this competition.
Spurs will have to put in a season-best performance to have any realistic chance of overturning this three-goal deficit, and Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez proved in the first leg that they can punish any further lapses in concentration from a defence which has had many such lapses, this season. And there are many around Spurs who will consider their weekend relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest to be of far greater importance than this match.
Just because it can be done doesn’t necessarily mean that it will. The size of the deficit feels too great to overcome, especially with Spurs’ propensity to just give free goals to opponents. The last game and a half have demonstrated that the current Spurs team do still retain some degree of professional pride about themselves, and that should be enough to ensure that they pick up a result. I’ll say 2-1 to Spurs and a 6-4 aggregate defeat, but for the longer-term importance of this game being the small matter of whether they can gather a little more momentum ahead of that all-important Forest match.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Last week’s encounter between Real Madrid and Manchester City will forever be remembered as ‘The Fede Valverde Game.’ Indeed, the Uruguayan took over, scoring an incredible hat trick to put Los Blancos on the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals. And yet the performance of an 18-year-old midfielder warranted discussion too.
In arguably Real Madrid’s biggest game of the season so far, Thiago Pitarch was assured in the centre of the pitch. With the exception of one shaky moment when he gave up the ball inside his own box, forcing Thibaut Courtois into a reflex save, the teenager gave his team something they had been lacking.
Real Madrid’s midfield has been a conundrum this season. Not just this season, but ever since Toni Kroos retired. The German was Real Madrid’s metronome. He dictated the tempo and direction of their play from a deep position in the centre of midfield. The Spanish giants have desperately missed him these last two seasons.
They’ve missed Luka Modrić too. The Croatian left at the end of last season to join AC Milan and is now shining for his new team in Serie A. Modrić might have faded physically towards the end of his time at Real Madrid, but his guile and control in possession still made him an important figure. One that wasn’t replaced.
This context explains why Álvaro Arbeloa looked to Real Madrid’s youth system for a solution. Pitarch is someone he knows well having coached him as Real Madrid Castilla boss and so when Real Madrid’s injury list grew longer at the start of March, Arbeloa was quick to give the youngster an opportunity.
“He’s very important to me,” said Pitarch on his relationship with Arbeloa. “He’s always given me his full confidence, from the very first minute. I always try to repay him because I have no choice but to do so. From the very beginning, he’s talked to me. He tells me to have personality, to be myself, and not to be afraid to show who I am. That’s what I try to do to repay all the confidence he gives me.”
Pitarch has started Real Madrid’s last four matches in all competitions, including last week’s Champions League dismantling of Manchester City. This has coincided with one of Real Madrid’s best runs of the season with the 18-year-old drawing praise for the way he has given Arbeloa’s team security on the ball.
While Pitarch likes to take up a deep starting position, his game is geared towards moving the ball forward whenever possible. Sometimes he will do that with a line-breaking pass. Other times he will carry the ball with his feet, like Modrić used to. There are elements of the Croatian’s game to Pitarch’s play. He’s more of a Modrić than a Kroos.
Pitarch’s recent run in the side
Arbeloa has set up his team in recent matches to do a better job of progressing possession up the field. Ahead of Pitarch, Brahim Díaz and Arda Güler have been deployed as natural creators who want lots of touches of the ball. Against City, Real Madrid’s possession sequences were sharper than they ever were under Xabi Alonso. They created a lot (2.63 Expected Goals, to be precise).
As Real Madrid manager, Alonso was never able to forge a coherent structure as long as he had to accommodate Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior. Arbeloa, however, is only having to accommodate Vinícius at this moment in time with Bellingham and Mbappé both sidelined through injury.
While Bellingham and Mbappé are two of the best players in the world, their presence hasn’t always been conducive to Real Madrid’s capacity in and out of possession. Neither are especially willing to press from the front while a forward line of Mbappé and Vinícius with Bellingham as a supporting figure often leaves the midfield undermanned.
Pitarch is a symbol of what Real Madrid could be if they decide to continue with Arbeloa as manager. The former defender clearly wants to establish a pathway between Los Blancos’ academy and the first team with Pitarch already demonstrating how much talent there is within the club’s own ranks.
Real Madrid still have a second leg against Manchester City to navigate before they can look forward to a Champions League quarter-final. Pep Guardiola’s team shouldn’t be written off before they have had an opportunity to play in front of their own supporters. The home crowd will believe a comeback is possible if City get an early goal on Tuesday.
In Pitarch, though, Arbeloa has someone he can count on to rise to the occasion, just as he did in the first leg. The teenager will help his team see out the tie with composure beyond his fledgling years. Pitarch might not be at the level of Kroos or Modrić just yet, but his stock continues to rise with every match he plays for Real Madrid.
(Images from IMAGO)
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Matchday 4 in MLS saw the debut of an iconic Colombia international, a rare example of a striker who has been worth the record fee paid for him, and two teams maintaining a perfect start after four games.
In some ways, Minnesota United’s signing of the 34-year-old Colombian feels like an old-school MLS signing: a languid South American playmaker in the twilight of his career with varied club experience but renowned at international level. Not good enough to still be playing for top clubs, but potentially able to perform some magic in MLS if the other players do his running.
Whether any of that magic arrives remains to be seen, and MLS has seen a considerable rise in quality since the old days, but with a World Cup on the horizon, James will be looking to impress.
He finally made his debut for Minnesota on Sunday, but not in the best of circumstances. By the time he entered the pitch, his team were already 5-0 down to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who ended up winning the game 6-0.
There was some encouragement from James, though, especially in the way he was able to get involved, with 41 touches after coming on in the 64th minute.
There was not much he could do about the one-sided scoreline once entering the field late in the game, but there will now be anticipation that he will soon make his first start.
Given how much he was able to get on the ball in a short space of time on Sunday, Minnesota hope that if their play ends up going mostly through him and he can create for those around him, things might start looking up.
Two perfect records remain
Vancouver’s emphatic win took them to the top of the Western Conference, making it four wins from four to maintain their perfect record to start the season.
They’ve only conceded once in this run, and the six goals against Minnesota made them the league’s top scorers with 14.
The top of the Western Conference
Just behind them in the West, only on goal difference, is the other team with a perfect start to 2026, Los Angeles FC.
LAFC are yet to concede a goal, and continued their run of solid results with a 2-0 win against St Louis City.
But it’s Vancouver who look the most impressive overall, and the underlying numbers back that up as they lead the way for xG and the lowest xG conceded.
xG leaders across both Conferences
Player of the week
At a time when clubs around the world are gambling plenty of money on strikers, FC Dallas have found a very handy one.
Petar Musa could end up playing a part for Croatia at the upcoming World Cup, but for now, the 6-foot-3 striker is making an impact for the Texas team, which he joined in 2024 for the decent-sized sum, especially by MLS standards, of $13 million.
The club-record signing averages more than a goal every other game in MLS, and managed to score three against one of the best sides in the league early in 2026, San Diego FC.
With a bit of help from the direct play of winger Bernard Kamungo, Musa helped himself to a hat-trick in a 3-3 thriller. It was the first dropped points for San Diego this year, and the first goals they have conceded.
Musa’s performance ranked him as the highest-rated player in Matchday 4 per the FotMob ratings.
NYC’s striker experiment bears fruit
Nicolás Fernández Mercau has played a number of positions down the flank and in attacking midfield throughout his early career with San Lorenzo, Elche, and now New York City FC, but until recently, striker was not really one of them.
With Costa Rican goal-getter Alonso Martínez out injured, NYCFC’s depth in the centre-forward position suddenly looked worryingly thin, but as they did at the very end of last season, they’ve turned to the 26-year-old Argentine to try to solve the problem.
Not only has he been able to do a job in the role, but he has emerged as one of the best in the position in MLS in the early stages of the 2026 season.
He has four goals and an assist in four games, and scored two of those in another impressive performance from the Pigeons against Colorado Rapids at home on Saturday night, resulting in a 3-1 win.
He’s a different proposition for defenders than the more traditional centre-forward like Musa at Dallas, or the impressive Englishman Sam Surridge at Nashville, but his busy attacking play and quickness to close down in defence suits the style of Pascal Jansen’s side.
With Talles Magno coming off the bench to play alongside Fernández Mercau and grabbing a goal of his own, NYCFC have gone from looking short of depth in attack to having some very useful options.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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Arsenal face part two of what might be a majestic week for them, hoping to knock out Bayer Leverkusen from the Champions League – after opening a nine-point gap at the top of the Premier League – and before heading to Wembley in the Carabao Cup final.
Trophies from all angles remain on the agenda for the Gunners, while their German opponents are still facing a real fight just to make it back into this competition next time around.
On the right side of fine margins
If a team is repeatedly fortunate, is it actually by design? Arsenal have faced the “lucky” tags at times this season – not least of all when it comes to the luck of the draw in all three cup competitions – but in results terms they keep coming down on the right side of the smallest margins. In the six games since conceding a stoppage-time equaliser to Wolves, Arsenal have hammered Tottenham and then scraped by five times: by a goal versus ten-man Chelsea, by a goal at Brighton, by a goal in the FA Cup against League One Mansfield, with a very late penalty in the first leg against Leverkusen and with two very late goals last time out at home to Everton. Mikel Arteta might keep searching for improvements but his side certainly still keep finding a way, somehow, to be celebrating at full time.
Same again here and it’s (almost certainly) just Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt standing between them and a second successive Champions League semi-final.
Spanish duo the danger
If Arteta has any part of the B04 team in his sights to worry about, it might be his two compatriots: wing-back Alejandro Grimaldo and, just inside his space, central midfielder Aleix García. Both are the German side’s top assisters in the Bundesliga, Grimaldo is second-top scorer in the league and he has both most goals and assists in Europe. It’s not a simple case of stop them, stop Leverkusen – but they are undoubtedly a cohesive part of the side with creativity and great movement between them.
Recent form
It’s 13 unbeaten for Arsenal but just one win in eight for Leverkusen heading into this clash, after turning into draw specialists recently. They’d take another and play for penalties if offered it.
Eberechi Eze has shown of late that he deserves to be a starter in a top team – but in the Champions League he has just the one assist this term from six starts. He creates two chances a game on a per 90 basis but has only managed one shot on target in his 503 European minutes. Needs to do a bit more while Ødegaard is missing if he wants to be in the side come the title-defining matches.
Prediction
Arsenal to get the job done; whether it’s set pieces or late goals they need, they’ll get over the line: Arsenal 2-1 Leverkusen (agg 3-2).
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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