Trouble in Manchester, cup final in South America and Der Klassiker during week 13!
Week 13 Preview: More trouble in Manchester after London visit?
Our preview from some of the biggest domestic leagues across Europe returns. If you haven’t already found a few matches to watch this weekend, read on for info on some of this weekend’s biggest games!
Last weekend was another one that went the way of the big teams as most favourites won their matches and there were not many upsets to mention. One thing that has been noticeable of late is the amount of goals that are being scored overall, with many more high-scoring matches to keep us entertained last weekend. Surprise PL leaders Tottenham started us off with a win on Friday night and the PL action on Saturday included Arsenal’s 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United as well as another poor result for Chelsea, who lost 2-0 at home to Brentford. Elsewhere there were wins for Juventus and Galatasaray and Bayern Munich demolished Darmstadt 8-0 with all goals coming in the second half. The match of the weekend was ‘the ‘El Clasico’ in Spain which was won by Real Madrid courtesy of two goals from the man of the moment, Jude Bellingham. On Sunday there were wins for the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, PSG, Leverkusen and Inter as the majority of the big teams all picked up the points.
This upcoming weekend sees a number of big clashes again in the major leagues around Europe. For those interested in Football further afield, one match worth noting is the Copa Libertadores final between Boca Juniors and Fluminense which will be played on Saturday evening. This is the pinnacle of South American club Football and sees Brazilian team Fluminese go into the game as favourites against Argentinian giants Boca Juniors.
If we return our focus to Europe and start with the PL in England we will see that there is no Friday match this weekend but there are seven matches on Saturday starting off with Manchester United’s trip to Fulham. The Red Devils are in desperate need of three points and they have a very good record against the team from West London. Later in the day, Manchester City are home to struggling Bournemouth and Brighton are on the road at Everton in two of the five mid-afternoon matches. The final match of the day is Newcastle versus Arsenal, a match that should be highly entertaining. There are two Sunday matches with Aston Villa and Liverpool playing away at Nottingham and Luton respectively before we wrap up the weekend on Monday with leaders Tottenham against fellow Londoners Chelsea.
The highlight of the week from Germany is without a doubt Dortmund against Bayern. Last season it was Bayern that just managed to beat Dortmund to the title on the last day of the season and the Bavarian team have a 2-point lead over their opponents going into this match. Other highlights from the Bundesliga include Hoffenheim versus leaders Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt against Union Berlin.
Paris SG get the weekend started in Ligue 1 on Friday evening as they welcome Montpellier to the capital with the defending champions now picking up some form and only one point behind leaders Nice. The big game on Saturday is Marseille versus Lille whilst on Sunday there is a battle between two teams fighting it out for a European place as Monaco host Brest. The last match of the round is leaders Nice at home to Rennes.
Serie A action this weekend starts with Bologna versus Lazio on Friday evening, two teams separated by one point and find themselves just outside the European sports who are in good form of late. There are three matches scheduled for Saturday with last year’s winners Napoli travelling to bottom team Salernitana before Atalanta take on Inter and AC Milan host Udinese. On Sunday, AS Roma host Lecce and the final game of the four is Fiorentina versus Juventus.
La Liga kicks into action on Friday evening with Las Palmas versus Atletico Madrid, the latter being the most in-form team in the league and hoping to extend that run on this away trip. Of the four games to be played on Saturday, the final one is the best as it sees two of last season’s top four teams clash. Real Sociedad are having another good year, they are currently fifth in La Liga and they host Barcelona, who are currently fourth and five points ahead of them. Real Madrid will be hoping to back up their win over Barcelona last weekend with another three points, this time they are home to Rayo Vallecano in one of four matches to be played on Sunday.
Next week sees the return of the CL and EL with a number of big matches lined up. Dortmund host Newcastle and AC Milan are home to PSG in the most exciting group. The likes of Barcelona, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid are also in action on the Tuesday. On Wednesday, Arsenal are home to Sevilla, Bayern play Galatasaray and Manchester United travel to Denmark to take on FC Copenhagen.
Friday 03/11
Paris SG vs Montpellier
PSG needed an 89th minute winner last weekend to get the better of Brest but, in doing so, made it four wins in a row in all competitions and the win took them to within a point of leaders Nice. Goalscoring has certainly not been a problem of late, they have scored three in each of their previous four matches. That being said, they will not have been too happy with the overall performance last weekend and manager Luis Enrique will be urging his team to be more focused defensively this weekend. PSG have an excellent record against these opponents, winning the last nine meetings and the last seven matches at home against them. PSG have managed to keep a clean sheet in each of the last four home matches.
Last weekend Montpellier also managed to claim all three points as they got the better of Toulouse and they are looking for their first back to back wins in the last six months. This will be a tough ask for them though, given their poor record against the Parisians. Montpellier are currently 11th in the league so there is certainly room for improvement overall. Their recent away form has been decent as they have only lost two of the last seven on the road.
Montpellier have only managed one win out of the last ten meetings with the other nine matches all going the way of PSG, last season’s meeting ended in an aggregate score of 8-3.
Saturday 04/11
Fulham vs Manchester United
Fulham’s season so far could be described as solid but unremarkable as they are currently in 14th place with 3 wins from their ten matches. Last time out they managed a creditable away draw at Brighton and they will be hoping to build on that with another positive performance. Manager Marco Silva has been rewarded for their overall positive results since being promoted and has signed a new contract extension with the club from West London. Goalscoring remains their major issue and they have really struggled to find a replacement for Aleksandar Mitrovic. The fact they have only managed nine goals this year really emphasises where their struggles lie.
The visitors really do need a win here as their recent performances have been poor, despite picking up wins in the league and CL against unfancied opponents. Last weekend’s big test against Manchester City showed how far off the pace the Red Devils are this season and the club as a whole received much criticism this week. The fact they have lost eight of their first fifteen matches in all competitions (including the cup loss to Newcastle this week) is a shocking record, especially when one considers how much improved they were for most of last season. They will be optimistic about playing Fulham though, as they are a team that they have a very good record against.
Last season it was Manchester United that triumphed in both league matches as well as knocking Fulham out of the FA Cup. United have won eight of the last ten meetings with Fulham managing two draws. The last time Fulham beat United in any fixture was back in 2009.
Newcastle vs Arsenal
This is arguably the match of the weekend from the PL, as two teams that finished in last season’s top four clash at St James Park. Arsenal are second but Newcastle are in sixth spot after a poor first couple of weeks to the season. They have certainly picked up since then and are currently on an unbeaten six game run. They secured another positive result in midweek by comfortably beating Manchester United in the EFL Cup by a 3-0 scoreline, despite putting out a much changed team. Newcastle have also been very solid defensively, keeping four clean sheets in the last six matches. Their CL form has also been quite impressive, with a 4-1 win over PSG being the highlight so far. This will be a tricky match for them though as they have only beaten Arsenal four times in their last 45 matches.
Arsenal will be very disappointed by their midweek elimination from the EFL Cup following a 3-1 loss at West Ham but will hope they can get back on track with this visit up to St James Park. They are one of only two unbeaten sides in the league so far and have conceded only eight goals, a record that only Manchester City can better. Arsenal have scored in all but one of the last 17 away games but both their losses this season have come on the road. Arsenal are unbeaten in 40 matches where they have taken the lead.
Newcastle have only won one of the last ten meetings between these two teams with Arsenal being triumphant on seven occasions. Arsenal won at Newcastle last season by two goals to nil.
Dortmund vs Bayern Munich
The late afternoon Bundesliga match on Saturday will attract attention from around the world for the 134th Der Klassiker match between Dortmund and Bayern Munich. The fact that they only just missed out on the title on the last day of the season is something that is firmly on the minds of all associated with Dortmund, so they will go into this match wanting revenge and wanting to move above their opponents in the table. Last weekend was not ideal for Dortmund as they had a real battle on their hands to get a point out of their match against Eintracht Frankfurt but they can be pleased with their battling qualities. They are one of three sides in the league yet to lose a match and won’t be too disheartened should they go a goal down in this one.
Bayern are unbeaten in nine Bundesliga games so far this season and they will be well aware of the fact that they face a strong challenge from not only Dortmund but also from Bayer Leverkusen this time around. Last weekend was an extraordinary match as they demolished Darmstadt 8-0 with all goals coming in the second half. There was a big surprise in midweek though, as the Bavarian giants were dumped out of the German Cup by lower league Saarbrucken, a result which means that they have already missed out on two pieces of silverware at this early stage in the season. Bayern have scored 34 goals in nine Bundesliga matches so far, which is a record.
This is a fixture that firmly favours Bayern, they have won nine of the last ten meetings between the two with the draw last season being the only positive result for Dortmund.
Atalanta vs Inter
Both of these teams have had very good starts to the season and they both are currently in the top four. Atalanta are six points behind their opponents but they have both based their success so far this season on a solid defence. Both teams have accumulated seven clean sheets within the first ten rounds of fixtures with Atalanta conceding eight goals so far. Manager Gian Piero Gasperini will be facing off against his former employers and will be hoping to get the better of them to extend Atalanta’s excellent start to the season. A win here would be their third in a row and they also have the potential to aim for three clean sheets in a row. Atalanta have been formidable at home, winning five wins in their last six home matches.
Inter will know this is a tough challenge but they have won eight of their ten matches so far this season so they will go into this with confidence. History is also on their side as they are unbeaten in nine matches against Atalanta. Inter’s away form has been impressive so far, they have won four matches this season without conceding a goal. Their last away match was a comfortable 3-0 win at Torino and they have also beaten Salernitana, Empoli, and Cagliari.
Atalanta have won two of the last ten matches with Inter claiming three wins, so there have been a fair number of draws in recent years. Last season, Inter won this fixture 3-2.
Real Sociedad vs Barcelona
The late game on Saturday is a battle between two of La Liga’s top four teams from last season and one which saw away wins for both teams. Real Sociedad are having another solid season, they have four wins from the last five including a Copa del Rey triumph and an away win in the CL against Benfica. They are currently in fifth place in the league and five points behind their opponents this weekend. Goalscoring hasn’t been an issue this season, as they already have twenty goals, but defensively they have not been the best as only Rayo Vallecano and Betis have conceded more than they have out of the current top ten teams.
After eleven games Barcelona find themselves in fourth place and four points behind leaders Real Madrid, with last weekend’s last minute home defeat being a very disappointing result for them. That was only their first defeat in the league this season, but a home defeat against your most fierce opponents is always hard to take. They will be hoping to bounce back with three points here as they look to overhaul Atletico Madrid, Girona and Real Madrid above them. The odds favour Barcelona here and recent history has also been on their side.
Real Sociedad’s win at Barcelona in May was their only win out of the last ten matches. Barcelona have won seven of the last ten with the remaining two ending as draws. There have been some big wins for the visitors too, including a 6-1 win in March of 2021.
Enjoy!
