Preview

Nov

2025

Preview: Inter Miami vs. Nashville, the decider

Inter Miami continue their quest for the MLS Cup, but have been taken to a game-three decider by Nashville SC in the first round.

By James Nalton

Having suffered a shock exit at this stage of the playoffs last year, losing a game-three against Atlanta United, they would not have wanted to be in this situation once again in 2025.

After failing to win any of the other competitions they entered this season, everything is on the line for Javier Mascherano’s side as they return to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday night.

MLS 2025 Award winners

All of MLS’s individual award winners, bar the MVP, are now known.

Lionel Messi’s presence as the only Inter Miami player to feature anywhere in these shows how reliant they have been on the Argentine star in 2025.

MLS releases the voting results for the top three for each award, and there were no Inter Miami names among them, while Messi was their lone representative in the league’s best XI.

The full list of award winners so far is below:

Defender of the Year – Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Goalkeeper of the Year – Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United)

Coach of the Year – Bradley Carnell (Philadelphia Union)

Young Player of the Year – Alex Freeman (Orlando City)

Newcomer of the Year – Anders Dreyer (San Diego)

Comeback Player of the Year – Nick Hagglund (Cincinnati)

Messi has already claimed the Golden Boot award as the league’s top scorer with 29 goals, and should be a shoo-in for the MVP award, but these results show that Inter Miami’s continued participation in the playoffs will depend heavily on how well Messi performs.

Luis Suárez suspended

It might come as no surprise that Luis Suárez has once again found himself suspended for violent conduct.

On this occasion, he aimed a studs-up kick at Andy Nájar during the 2-1 defeat at Nashville’s Geodis Park last weekend, and didn’t miss.

The incident was not picked up on by the referee or the VAR at the time, but MLS has retrospectively fined Suárez and banned him for one game.

Inter Miami released a strongly worded statement, commenting that: “Inter Miami CF accepts and respects the decision made by the MLS Disciplinary Committee.

“At the same time, the club wishes to express its concern about the precedent set by re-refereeing a play that had already been judged by the match officials and VAR, and its confidence that the same standard will be applied in the future to all on-field situations, in any match and involving any team.”

Opposition watch: Nashville SC

This will be the final edition of Nashville SC watch in 2025, which has become a regular column in Inter Miami coverage thanks to the frequency with which the two teams have met.

It will be the 19th matchup between Nashville and Inter Miami, as the team from Tennessee join Atlanta United as the opponents to have faced Inter Miami the most since they arrived in MLS in 2020.

Nashville created several good chances in game two of this playoff series as they ran out 2-1 winners, only conceding when Lionel Messi scored in the 90th minute.

Striker Sam Surridge had every reason to expect inclusion in the 2025 MLS best XI, having scored 25 goals this season, but didn’t feature — something that may motivate him and his teammates to prove a point this weekend.

Prediction

Inter Miami should get the job done at home, but Nashville will be encouraged by the favourites’ shock defeat to Atlanta at this stage last season.

(Cover Image from IMAGO)

You can follow every MLS game live this season with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Nov

2025

Preview: Spurs looking to continue good run against Manchester United

It’s a repeat of the Europa League final at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday lunchtime as Spurs take on Manchester United, and hopefully it’ll be a better game than that was.

By Ian King

Neither Spurs nor Manchester United are the finished article yet

If there’s one thing that can be said for both Spurs and Manchester United ahead of this match, it’s that both teams are more serious than they were at the end of last season. Neither are the finished article yet. Spurs have done pretty well in terms of results, but have stood accused of flattering to deceive in terms of performances. Manchester United started as weakly as they ended last season but have improved in recent weeks, as though Ruben Amorim’s plan is starting to come together. But it remains the case that neither team are entirely predictable yet.

Spurs set a record against Manchester United in 2024-25

Spurs set an unwelcome record for Manchester United last season in becoming the first team ever to beat them four times in one season; both matches in the League, in the Carabao Cup and in the Europa League final. But their good record against United doesn’t end there. It’s been eight games since United last won this fixture, and that takes us back to October 2022.

Manchester United’s route to success in this game will start with stopping Spurs’ pace

The talk of The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this week has, of course, been Micky van de Ven, whose “Run, Forrest, run!” goal against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League was reminiscent of Son Heung-min’s Puskas Award-winning goal against Burnley in December 2019. Van de Ven is an unusual player, injury-prone yet capable of being a cheat code three or four times a season, and he can hurt Manchester United both defensively and when he turns up in attacking positions.

As a Thomas Frank team, Spurs break quickly, so Manchester United’s central defence will need to be on top of their game. As such, United could need to be on their toes and that should mean a busy Saturday lunchtime for Matthijs de Ligt, who’s been accused of being “too slow” in the past but can put in a decent sprint when the mood takes him.

Will this match be time for the grand return of Lisandro Martínez?

Spurs still have an injury list the length of a chimpanzee’s arm, featuring James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Kota Takai and Lucas Bergvall, who will all be absent. There’s better news on the Mohammed Kudus front, though. He missed the Copenhagen match after picking up a knock, but should return for this one.

Manchester United’s attention with regard to injury and suspension is focused entirely on one player. Lisandro Martínez hasn’t kicked a ball in anger for them since February, but is due to return imminently, though whether Ruben Amorim decides to give him an extra couple of weeks for fine-tuning over the forthcoming international break remains open to question.

Spurs & Manchester United are improved upon last season, but both remain mildly unpredictable

If the 2025 Europa League final was a demonstration of where these two teams were at that moment in time, so will this match be a test of the progress that both have made since then. Spurs were dismal against Chelsea last weekend, as evinced by the enthusiastic booing they received at the final whistle.

But while FC Copenhagen were hardly the most testing of opponents during the week, a 4-0 home win in the Champions League has quelled much of the steam that was starting to emerge from the ears of Spurs fans following last weekend’s debacle against Chelsea.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are much improved in attacking positions this season. But, as may have been guessed from them spending a ton of money on attacking options during the summer while completely ignoring their defence, they still have a soft underbelly that can be attacked, as Nottingham Forest demonstrated with their two goals in five minutes last weekend.

Spurs and Manchester United have both made progress since the end of last season. They’ve both moved from “predictably bad” to “decent yet slightly unpredictable”, and going into this match in 6th and 8th places in the Premier League respectively is more like where both may realistically expect to end this season.

But on this occasion, the pace that Spurs have in attacking positions is a clear threat to the Manchester United central defence, and that may prove to be the tipping point between the two on this occasion. I’ll go for Spurs to win 2-1, but as remains the case with these two teams, it could really go either way.

(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.

Nov

2025

Preview: Haaland’s former club Dortmund visit Manchester City

It’s second in the Premier League against third in the Bundesliga, as Manchester City welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad in the Champions League on Wednesday.

By Ian King

Manchester City have found their gear-shift, but how one-dimensional is it?

A win against Bournemouth on Saturday put Manchester City second in the Premier League, albeit six points behind Arsenal. They’ve won four of their last five in the England’s top flight, but that nagging question remains; are they over-reliant on Erling Haaland’s goals now, and what happens to their form, should anything happen to him?

Borussia Dortmund have only been beaten once in their nine Bundesliga matches so far, but still sit third, behind Bayern Munich – who were, of course, the only team to beat them so far – and second-placed RB Leipzig.

Both teams have taken seven points from their first three matches of the Megagroup league phase, with Dortmund having scored four goals in each of their first three games and Manchester City having scored two in each of theirs.

City have only lost one in six against Dortmund

There have been six previous meetings between these two sides, all in the Champions League, with three wins for Manchester City, two draws, and just the one win for Dortmund. Neither side has beaten the other by more than a single goal, and all three of City’s wins were by a 2-1 scoreline. The last time they met came in December 2022, when they played out a goalless draw at Signal Iduna Park.

Dortmund’s goal frenzy in the Champions League is in sharp contrast to their Bundesliga record

The last time that Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund in October 2022, City won 2-1 and Erling Haaland, who’d made his move to Manchester the previous summer, scored a goal against his former team which was later voted UEFA’s Goal of the Tournament. But in the return match, Haaland was subbed out at half-time and the match ended in a goalless draw. He’s scored 13 of their 20 league goals so far this season, and their second-highest goalscorer is Own Goals, on two.

Dortmund’s main goal threat comes from Serhou Guirassy, who scored the winning goals in their last two Bundesliga triumphs, against Augsburg and 1.FC Köln. Curiously, Dortmund’s goal frenzy in the Champions League has been in contrast to their start to their domestic season. They scored three in each of their first two league matches, but have failed to do so since. They’ve only scored three more goals in their nine league matches than they have in their three Champions League matches so far.

Rumours of Mateo Kovačić’s return from injury turned out to have been greatly exaggerated

It’s all clear on the injuries front for Manchester City, with one significant exception. Mateo Kovačić has only played 45 minutes for City so far this season following an achilles tendon injury during the summer. He was subbed on for the closing minutes of their recent win against Everton, following that up with 33 minutes against Villarreal in this competition. But Pep Guardiola has now confirmed that his injury has flared up again and he’ll be out until the latter stages of the season.

Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle should both return for Dortmund after missing their 1-0 win at Augsburg on Friday night. Schlotterbeck had a cold, while Süle had an issue with one of his toes, but head coach Niko Kovač should be able to welcome him back for this match.

Dortmund know what threat awaits them, but whether they can do anything about it is another question

There seems to be a viewpoint that Arsenal have already won the Premier League, but whether that turns out to be true or not, Manchester City have a potential issue in chasing them. With 17 goals in 13 games in all competitions, Erling Haaland has become their most important player this season by such a distance that it’s reasonable to ask what might happen should they lose him.

Against his former club, the expectation that he’ll turn up will be greater than ever. Good job he never seems that bothered by nerves or self-doubt, then. But City’s recent 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa demonstrated that he can be kept at bay, and if Dortmund can find a way of keeping him quiet, they have a chance.

But the harsh reality of Dortmund’s position going into this match is that precious few other teams have found a way of keeping him quiet, so the home win feels more likely on this occasion. I’ll go for the teams to reverse their goalscoring tallies in this tournament so far, City to win 4-2, and yet more superlatives to be thrown in the direction of Norway’s favourite son.

(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.

Nov

2025

Preview: Barcelona go to Club Brugge in the Champions League

One of the competition favourites should take another step towards the last 16 this week with Barcelona aiming to make it three wins from four when they head to Belgian side Club Brugge on Wednesday.

By Karl Matchett

Cruising mode

One of the big talking points around this still-new Champions League format last term was that it allowed some of the bigger teams to essentially get the job done in half the matches: if they weren’t too fussed about final position and only top eight mattered to avoid the playoffs, then five wins was always expected to be about enough. Barcelona managed six and finished second, scoring 28 times along the way – more than anyone else in the league phase. While they’ve not been quite so free-scoring yet, they look well on track for at least that five-win initial benchmark and, with Slavia Prague and FC København still to come, if they win this one they are already all-but-there – despite that defeat to PSG.

Hansi Flick and his squad might want to win the competition, but you don’t do that in the first half of the season. As PSG showed last year, all you need to do at this stage is make sure you remain in the competition. As such, the manager might be tempted to tweak a little, but a strong lineup here goes a long way to ensuring you can rotate more frequently later on – as well as skip those two extra encounters.

Playing for the playoffs

Club Brugge might have looked a little stronger in previous seasons, but they can’t be discounted entirely at home. After all, they thumped Monaco 4-1 and that was after humiliating Rangers in the qualifiers 9-1 on aggregate. But even so, years of selling their stars might be taking a toll. Last season they finished 24th, nicking the final playoff spot with 11 points but a better goal difference than Dinamo Zagreb. It looks a stretch to achieve that again this term – unless they pull off a massive shock in a game like this.

Form

Brugge have won their last five domestically, but chopping up that streak are two defeats in Europe following their opening round win over Monaco. Three wins and three defeats in the last six for the visitors, but they won their only Champions League away game so far at Newcastle.

Team news

The hosts will be without a host of players to make things worse. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is out, while so too are left-back Bjorn Meijer, holding midfielder Raphael Onyedika and the versatile Ludovit Reis.

Hans Vanaken has to pull the strings for counter-attacks, with Christos Tzolis Brugges’ best outlet to trouble the visitors.

Barcelona are missing even more players, particularly in attack with Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo all out. Joan García is missing in goal, with both Pedri and Gavi missing from midfield.

Key player

It’s a toss up between Fermín López and Marcus Rashford but we’ll opt for the latter – he has four assists and two goals from 2.3 xG in LaLiga, but also four goals and one assist in three matches in Europe. If he can keep producing those numbers the Catalan side will take the points.

Prediction

It might not be such a steamrollering, but if Bayern can beat Brugge by four then it’s likely Barcelona can get the job done too: Club Brugge 1-3 Barcelona.

(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.

Nov

2025

Preview: Chelsea rack up the air miles with long trip to Qarabag

Chelsea will make the 2979-mile journey from London to Azerbaijani capital Baku to face Qarabağ in the Champions League on Wednesday, hoping to win their third consecutive game in Europe’s elite club competition.

By Alex Roberts

A 5-1 win over a truly awful Ajax side in their previous fixture saw Chelsea become the first side in the competition’s history to have three teenagers score in the same game, morale is high among Enzo Maresca’s kids.

Qarabağ aren’t far off them in the league phase, sitting three places off them in 13^th with two wins, coming against Benfica and FC København, a 3-1 defeat to Athletic Club last time out will leave a nasty taste in their mouths.

Qarabağ’s biggest threat

Qurban Qurbanov’s side aren’t the Champions League whipping boys many had expected them to be, they have some genuinely talented players that can do serious damage to Europe’s biggest teams, most notably Leandro Andrade.

Playing as a number ten or a right winger, the Cape Verdean in their best performer in the competition so far, scoring two goals in his three games, overperforming his xG by an impressive 1.42.

Andrade was the one good thing that came out of the 3-1 defeat to Athletic Club in the previous round of fixtures, giving his side the lead in the opening minute. Unfortunately for him, his teammates couldn’t match his level of performance.

Tyrique George’s redemption arc

The 19-year-old looked like he was on the way out in the summer when Fulham sent in a £22 million offer as he searched for more consistent first-team football, but it didn’t happen, and George has gotten back to work at Chelsea.

Enzo Maresca has used him to fill in the gap left by an injured Liam Delap at times, but George’s best position remains out on the left. He came off the bench to score Chelsea’s fifth and final goal in the win over Ajax.

*Tyrique George’s season summary to date*

George popped up with a goal in Chelsea’s ridiculous 4-3 League Cup win over Wolves too. Maresca will likely rest several of his side’s big names for this one, especially with a Premier League clash with Wolves (again) on Saturday, so this is the perfect opportunity for young George to impress yet again.

Team news

Levi Colwill has been ruled out for the remainder of the season and will play no part for Chelsea on Wednesday barring a genuine miracle. Fellow defender Benoît Badiashile also remains sidelined with a muscle injury.

Talismanic playmaker Cole Palmer has not featured since September 20 as he continues his recovery from a groin issue, with the England international expected to remain out for a few more weeks. Dário Essugo is also still out.

As for Qarabağ, Jonathan Montiel, who missed the recent defeat to Bilbao, made his return over the weekend, though he is unlikely to be named in the starting lineup for this match.

Prediction

The travel will certainly take a lot out of Chelsea, so we’re not expecting many goals. 2-0 to the Premier League side, but it won’t be pretty.

(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.

Nov

2025

Preview: Spurs looking for home comforts against Danish champions

Tottenham host FC København at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening as Thomas Frank’s side look to continue their unbeaten start in the Champions League.

By Matt Smith

København are winless in the competition so far, and this is the first time these two sides have met before, with Frank facing a side from his home country.

The last time Frank faced a Danish opponent was back in March 2016, 3-1 defeat while in charge of København’s city rivals Brøndby.

Team news

Frank has confirmed that Lucas Bergvall will be unavailable for this one after getting a concussion against Chelsea last time out. Djed Spence and Mohammed Kudus have picked up knocks, but they should be available for this one. Other than that, there should be no fresh injury concerns for the home side.

København have a host of injury problems heading into this game. Thomas Delaney, Oliver Højer, Magnus Mattsson, Rodrigo Huescas and Birger Meling are all on the treatment table for the Danish side. Marcos López was substituted last time out due to injury, so there’s a chance he’s unavailable for this one too.

Is the table telling a lie on Tottenham?

Spurs currently sit in fifth position in the Premier League table, but their performances have been far from convincing so far this season. Frank’s side have created just 10.1 xG in the Premier League this term, ranking them 15th in the table, while they’ve also conceded 14.6 xG, the fifth highest.

Despite conceding that, they’ve actually conceded just eight goals, while they’ve found the back of the net on 17 occasions, despite their 10.1 xG. That suggests Spurs are perhaps getting a little lucky and falling on the right side of variance in games, with the data hinting that they’ve not been as good as their results look on paper.

København need to show more

It’s been a fairly disappointing campaign by København’s standards. They won the league’s Championship playoffs last season, but they currently find themselves sitting in fourth position in the Superliga.

They’ve looked strong going forward, enjoying the most possession in the league while scoring 29 goals, but they’ve looked leaky at the back. Brøndby, FC Midtjylland, and AGF, are in a three-way race for the title as it stands, with the distraction of the Champions League clearly not helping København.

Moukoko finally finding form

Youssoufa Moukoko was widely regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in world football when he broke through at Borussia Dortmund, but it’s not quite worked out for him so far. He made the move to København earlier this year, and after a slow start, he might be finally starting to build some confidence.

Moukoko has struck four times in his last four games, and he could be one to watch in this game, as he’s expected to play from the start.

Prediction

We’re not expecting a thriller in terms of goals, but Tottenham should have a little too much quality for København. We’re going for a 2-0 home win.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Nov

2025

Preview: Xabi Alonso’s Los Blancos on revenge mission to Anfield

Liverpool host Real Madrid in a high-octane Champions League clash on Tuesday night.

By Filip Mishov

The Reds ease their crisis with the in-form Spaniards coming next

Liverpool’s win against Aston Villa relieved some pressure on Arne Slot, as the reigning champions ended their four-match losing run in the Premier League ahead of an important week with a couple of blockbuster matches before November’s international break. Even though the Reds did not really shine at Anfield, with the Villans enjoying a lot of possession (47%) or the most by any opponent over their past five matches, it was still an encouraging performance and much-needed confidence booster in the build-up to Real Madrid’s visit.

The leaders of LaLiga travel to Merseyside full of confidence after Xabi Alonso‘s in-form squad saw off Valencia at the Bernabéu over the weekend and in the aftermath of that Clásico win over Barcelona. Also, the 15-time European champions are one of only five clubs with a flawless record in the Champions League so far and have lost only once this season across all competitions, recording 13 wins in the process.

However, the Spanish coach did not enjoy his Anfield homecoming last season, as the popular Xabi was on the losing side with Bayer Leverkusen, and additionally, Real Madrid were also defeated without scoring in last year’s league phase, which speaks volumes about Anfield evolving into a different beast on big European nights.

Key players

Ryan Gravenberch started and starred in the victory against Villa after the tenacious midfielder recovered from injury. The Dutch international was instrumental in the middle of the pitch, both in protecting the defence and in the build-up play, with the 23-year-old capping off his Player of the Match performance with a goal, earning him a FotMob rating of 8.5. Also, it is not a coincidence that the Reds’ three clean sheets this season have all come with Gravenberch in their starting XI.

Another unsung hero is shining brightly in Madrid, as Alvaro Carreras scored his debut goal over the weekend with a scorcher from the edge of the box, and the Spaniard’s stock is rising with each passing week. The tireless full-back has played more minutes than any other outfield player for Madrid during this campaign, starting all but one match and quickly establishing himself as one of the first names on the team sheet. With the former Manchester United left-back being in impressive form and averaging a FotMob rating of 7.52 in LaLiga, a debut call-up to the national team is a matter of when and not if, but first, the 22-year-old awaits his most difficult test to date: Man marking Mohamed Salah.

Team news

Arne Slot welcomed Curtis Jones back to first-team training, but Alexander Isak missed out and the most expensive signing in Liverpool’s history remains on the sidelines, with Alisson Becker and Jeremie Frimpong also out.

Arda Güler came off at half-time against Valencia as a precaution, but made the trip to England, unlike Franco Mastantuono who is not part of the travelling squad. The captain, Daniel Carvajal is set to be out for a number of weeks, which opens the door for Trent Alexander-Arnold to get some minutes on his Anfield homecoming, while Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba are on the sidelines.

Prediction

Undoubtedly, the momentum is on Real Madrid’s side and with Xabi Alonso being a quick learner who boasts the free-firing Kylian Mbappé in the squad, I expect the visitors to come out victorious on Merseyside.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Nov

2025

Preview: Arsenal take their defensive record to Prague

Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders are in Czechia to face Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Tuesday.

By Graham Ruthven

Mismatch

You have to scroll through a lot of the current Champions League standings to get to Slavia Prague from Arsenal. Indeed, 24 places separate the two sides ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.

Arsenal’s perfect start to the continental campaign has marked them out as one of Europe’s strongest teams right now while Slavia have just two points from their opening three fixtures.

The omens are good for the Gunners ahead of Tuesday’s match. Arsenal have won each of their last seven League Phase matches and have never lost to Czech opposition in a UEFA competition.

These two teams are fighting for different things this season. While Arsenal want to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, Slavia Prague are merely targeting a place in the knockout rounds.

A Slavia win would be among the biggest shocks produced in this season’s Champions League. Mikel Arteta’s team are firm favourites.

Key players

Arteta could rotate his lineup ahead of a potentially tricky trip to Sunderland in the Premier League this weekend, making it challenging to predict how Arsenal will shape up in Prague on Tuesday.

Bukayo Saka is expected to start on the right wing. The English winger remains the Gunners’ most reliable creative presence, averaging 0.9 shots on target per 90 minutes this season.

Christian Nørgaard could be in line to start in the Champions League for the first time with the Danish midfielder a potential replacement for Martin Zubimendi who suffered an injury against Burnley.

At the back, Piero Hincapié might be given the nod to start in central defence after overcoming an injury which impacted his first two months as an Arsenal player after joining from Bayer Leverkusen.

Slavia Prague have kept five clean sheets in their last five games in all competitions and so Arsenal could find the Czech opponents difficult to break down.

A back three of Jan Bořil, Tomáš Vlček and David Zima will aim to limit Arsenal’s scoring opportunities with goalkeeper Jakub Markovič the last line of defence. Slavia must be sharp.

Youssoupha Mbodji bagged a brace against Bodø/Glimt earlier in the competition and could be a threat down the left side for Slavia on Tuesday night.

Team news

Saturday’s comfortable 2-0 win over Burnley came at a cost as Viktor Gyökeres and Zubimendi both sustained injuries, although the extent of their knocks are not fully known yet.

Gabriel Martinelli is also expected to sit out the trip to Czechia with Martin Ødegaard, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all currently sidelined for the North London club.

Slavia Prague will be without a number of players for the visit of the Premier League leaders, limiting Jindřich Trpišovský’s options.

Ivan Schranz, Filip Horsky, Petr Ševčík, Dominik Javorček, Tomáš Holeš, Igoh Ogbu and Jan Bořil (unspecified) are all sidelined and will be unavailable to face Arsenal.

Prediction

The Gunners don’t often come up against a side with a defensive record similar to theirs, but as their results have shown in the Champions League, perhaps the gulf between the Czech 1. Liga leaders and the Premier League leaders will be evident: Slavia Prague 0-2 Arsenal.

(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.

Nov

2025

Preview: Barcelona look to get back on track vs. Elche

Barcelona will be hoping to turn their form back around after a rocky spell over the last few weeks as they host Elche at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

By Matt Smith

Hansi Flick’s side enjoyed a strong start to the season, but two defeats in their previous three games have seen them fall slightly behind in the title race. Elche will be looking to rock the boat even further, as they face the defending champions for the first time in over two years. The two sides last met during the 2022/2023 season, where Barcelona did the double over Elche.

Team news

Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo could both return to the squad this weekend after their recent injury troubles. Barcelona will, however, be without Gavi, Marc-André ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha and Pedri for this one.

Elche could have a fully fit squad for this one, which is a huge boost considering the task at hand, facing the champions away from home.

Barcelona looking shaky at the back

Barcelona are certainly having no issues going forward, especially after their 6-1 victory against Olympiacos in the Champions League last week, but Flick’s side are starting to leak goals at the other end. They’re averaging 1.2 goals conceded per game so far this season in LaLiga.

Barcelona have also conceded a whopping 14.6 xG, with only eight sides conceding more in the league this term. The Catalan giants are heavily relying on outscoring the opposition, and Flick needs to find a way to tighten them up at the back.

Elche’s low block causing problems

Averaging just 2.9 possessions won in the final third per game this season, Elche have been sitting back and trying to hit teams on the counter-attack, and it’s worked well for them so far. They’ve conceded just one goal per game this season, with only Deportivo Alavés, Villarreal, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid managing fewer.

Elche were promoted from LaLiga 2 last season, and it’s been an impressive start to life back in the top tier. They currently sit in eighth position in LaLiga, and they’ve only lost twice, with their defensive style making them difficult to beat this term.

Lamine Yamal flourishing despite injury

Lamine Yamal is currently carrying an injury, but he’s playing through the pain and remains one of Barcelona’s key players. The Spanish youngster has provided eight goals and assists combined in as many games, and boasts the highest average FotMob rating in the Barca squad. He’ll be the player Elche will be worrying about ahead of this one.

For an 18-year-old player to be such an important cog in a side is almost unheard of, but it’s testament to his development that he’s become one of the best players in the world. Flick will be desperately hoping his injury doesn’t cause him a long-term issue, and he’s expected to be involved this weekend.

Prediction

Despite Barcelona having a small blip in recent weeks, many will still be expecting them to secure three points against Elche. We’re going for a 3-1 win for Flick’s side.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Nov

2025

Preview: High-flying Cherries head to Man City

Pep Guardiola’s inconsistent, eighth placed Man City host Andoni Iraola’s high-flying, second placed Bournemouth at the Etihad on Saturday. That Premier League, eh?

By Alex Roberts

City found out what happens when Erling Haaland doesn’t turn up in their 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the previous round of fixtures. Without the big Norwegian scoring, they truly looked impotent.

As for Bournemouth, everything they touch is turning to gold, even Marcus Tavernier is scoring directly from corners, and Eli Junior Kroupi looks like a Kylian Mbappé regen, bagging three goals in two league games.

No Haaland, big problem?

It’s starting to feel like ‘get the ball to Haaland’ is Guardiola’s only plan at the moment, though in his defence, it’s not necessarily a bad one. Remarkably, no other Man City player has scored more than a single Premier League goal so far this season.

Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres had Haaland’s number at Villa Park, with the striker having 17 touches, the fewest of any outfield player. He did have a 100% pass success rate, however, but there were only seven of them.

Thankfully for Guardiola and City, Haaland is arguably the best at putting the ball in the back of the net in the world, you could probably count on one hand how many times he’s gone without a goal across two games. It’s not sustainable though, and if they want to be winning the big trophies again, they’ll need other players to start chipping in.

He was rested for the League Cup win over Swansea over in midweek after appearing to be in some discomfort due to a nasty collision with the post at Villa Park, but he will doubtless be doing everything he can to be back for this one.

Milos Kerkez has been long forgotten

Bournemouth’s defensive rebuild needs to go down in the history books. After losing Dean Huijsen, Ilya Zabarnyi, and Kerkez, many had written them off, but if anything, they’re better than they were last season.

Perhaps the best of the replacement signings has been Adrien Truffert. The French wing-back has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, already creating six chances, having nine successful dribbles, and ten successful crosses.

If Kerkez is worth the £40 million Liverpool spent on him, Truffet may be worth double that. He never stops, not only is he an attacking threat, but his defensive numbers also illustrate just how good his is all over the left flank. Truffet has made 44 recoveries, eight interceptions, and won 45 duels.

We look forward to seeing who Bournemouth replace him with next summer…

Team news

The only player that Guardiola will DEFINETLY be without is Rodri. The Ballon d’Or winner is out with a muscle injury, although he is back in training. Mateo Kovačić and his fantastic new hair could come in and take his place, although Nico González has done a fine job.

As we mentioned, Haaland is hit or miss, but if he is available, he’ll start and probably score.

Iraola has an almost clean bill of health, with Enes Ünal still recovering from his ACL injury and Evanilson doubtful due to a calf issue.

Prediction

We predict another frustrating outing for Guardiola’s lads here; 2-1 to Bournemouth.

(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.