The Champions League and Europa League were both back on […]
Week 19: Yet another eventful winter weekend
The Champions League and Europa League were both back on our screens in midweek, the last round of the group stages. These European competitions will return in February but there will be no place for the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle, Sevilla or Celtic as these were among the teams eliminated at the first hurdle.
Last weekend was another eventful one around Europe with a number of surprise results as Manchester United lost again, at home to Bournemouth, Arsenal were beaten by Aston Villa and both Bayern Munich and Dortmund were beaten in the Bundesliga. Other big teams who failed to win were Sevilla, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea and Barcelona.
This time around we start things off with a Premier League match on Friday evening as Nottingham Forest host Tottenham in the first fixture of the weekend from England’s top flight. Nottingham managed their first point after four consecutive defeats and Tottenham also got an important win on the board, getting the better of an injury ravaged Newcastle.
There is no early match on Saturday so we wait until mid afternoon for four matches. Bournemouth, buoyant after their win over Manchester United last week, host Luton and Chelsea take on another of the promoted teams, bottom side Sheffield United. Manchester City have only one win in their last five matches but they will go into their clash with Crystal Palace confident of picking up all three points. The last of the mid afternoon matches is Newcastle against Fulham, the visiting team having managed consecutive 5-0 wins over Nottingham and West Ham.
The late match is Burnley against Everton, the latter on a very good recent run which has lifted them out of the bottom three despite their 10 point deduction. There are four matches on Sunday with the highlight being the last match of the day, Liverpool against Manchester United.
Things don’t look good for the visitors going into this match as they have a terrible recent record at Anfield and are in poor form. They have also lost captain Bruno Fernandes to suspension and Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw both hobbled out of the midweek Champions League match. The other matches on Sunday are Arsenal against Brighton, Brentford hosting high flying Aston Villa and West Ham against Wolves.
Serie A bursts into life on Friday evening with second placed Juventus visiting a Genoa side that are struggling of late, with only one win in their last five matches. A win for Juventus will send them top, at least until Inter play their match later in the weekend.
Three matches are scheduled for Saturday afternoon with the highlight being Napoli against Cagliari, the defending champions in desperate need of a winning run of form in what is turning out to be a very inconsistent season. Sunday starts with third placed AC Milan against mid table Monza before the likes of Fiorentina, Udinese and AS Roma are all in action. The final match of the day is the most interesting as Lazio host leaders Inter. There is one match set to be played on Monday, Atalanta against bottom side Salernitana.
Lyon continue to struggle in Ligue 1 but they did manage to pick up a valuable three points last weekend. Despite that, they are still bottom of the table and this match on Friday evening away at Lyon will be another tough task for them.
Second placed Nice continue to hold their own in the top four and they play away from home at mid table Le Havre on Saturday before Lens take on Reims. The early match on Sunday is Nantes against Brest, the first of six matches from Ligue 1 on a busy day.
Marseille finally managed to get on a winning run and they are up to sixth in the table, they face lowly Clermont before the final match of the day between two top four teams, Lille versus leaders PSG.
Bundesliga results last weekend were somewhat surprising as RB Leipzig were the only side in the top five to manage to pick up a win. Leaders Bayer Leverkusen drew with Stuttgart and both Bayern Munich and Dortmund lost their matches.
This weekend starts off with a mid table clash on Friday between Gladbach and Werder Bremen on Friday evening. Union Berlin managed to haul themselves off the bottom of the table with a much needed win last time out and they face a side only three points ahead of them this weekend, Bochum.
Dortmund play at Augsburg on Saturday afternoon and the team currently in fourth place, RB Leipzig play in the late match against Hoffenheim. Leaders Bayer Leverkusen will hope to get back to winning ways after successive draws when they host Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday before the match of the weekend between second placed Bayern Munich and third placed Stuttgart.
Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano get us started this weekend with the first La Liga match on Friday evening, two mid table teams who are not in form as they don’t have a single win between them in their last five matches. On Saturday, third placed Atletico Madrid take on Athletic Bilbao and struggling Sevilla play against mid table Getafe.
The match of the day is the last one with Barcelona travelling to Valencia. The hosts are winless in their last four matches but Barcelona themselves lost their last match to leaders Girona. On Sunday, the likes of Real Sociedad and Betis start things off before Real Madrid take on Villareal knowing that a win will take them back to the top of the table until Girona play their match on Monday. The surprise leaders close off the round with a home tie against mid table Alaves on Monday evening as their impressive, yer surprising run continues.
Following the shocking incident last weekend there will be no action from Turkey this time round with all fixtures being postponed. Further afield, the early rounds of the World Club Cup start, a competition that has struggled to capture fans attention and will be drastically altered from next year. Celtic play Hearts and Rangers face Aberdeen in Scotland whereas the match of the round from Portugal is Sporting CP against FC Porto, which takes place on Monday evening.
Saturday 16/12
Newcastle vs Fulham
Newcastle’s never ending list of missing players is catching up with them, the fact they have had to play the same eleven week after week means they are running a bit low and that was evidenced by their three defeats in a row now.
In midweek they lost at home to Newcastle to end what looked like a promising Champions League campaign in last place in their group. This time around they face a Fulham side in form, having won their previous two matches by the same 5-0 scoreline. Newcastle’s home record might come to their rescue, they have won 81% of their Premier League points this season at St James Park and have six straight league wins in a row.
Fulham are a team in form having scored ten goals in their last two matches without conceding a single one. This trip up to Newcastle will not be an easy one, but given the circumstances of their opponents, there might be no better time to play the team from the northeast. Their away form has not been good this season though, they last won away from Craven Cottage in August so this might be a tough ask for them, especially with the home team desperate to be in the picture for a top four finish again this season.
Newcastle have won five of the last ten meetings, including the last three. Fulham have three wins from ten but the last of those wins was when both teams were playing in the Championship.
Valencia vs Barcelona
A tough match for Valencia given their recent form, their 1-0 defeat to Getafe last weekend made it three defeats in their last four league matches. That being said, they are in a much better place than last season and sit relatively comfortably in mid table. A loss here would be manager Ruben Baraja’s first time losing three in a row, so the motivation to perform better is there. There is better news when looking at their home form though, they won two and drew their last three matches and did not concede in any of those matches.
Barcelona go into this knowing they have a good record against Valencia, they have beaten them in their last five clashes. However, their form has not been good of late so they cannot take this match for granted. Their midweek defeat in the Champions League to Royal Antwerp was certainly not in the script and they have only won five of their last ten matches. The last league match was a poor home defeat against leaders Girona so they will certainly be hoping to up their game this weekend.
Barcelona have won six of the last ten and Valencia have two wins. Seven of the last ten have seen three or more goals scored so this is generally a high scoring match up.
Sunday 17/12
Arsenal vs Brighton
An important match for both teams as neither managed to register a win last weekend. Arsenal were beaten by the form team in the league, Aston Villa, a result which saw them slip down to second spot in the table. This will be no easy task for the team from North London but they will be aiming to get back to winning ways, especially as Brighton had to play in the Europa League on Thursday.
One statistic that stands out against Arsenal is the lack of an out and out goalscorer, as Bukayo Saka is currently their top scorer with five goals so far this season in the league. Nevertheless, they will go into this match as strong favourites but will need to be wary as Brighton won this fixture last season, a convincing 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.
Brighton are performing very well once again but their squad has been stretched by the non stop fixture list, something they are unfamiliar with. They go into this match on the back of a somewhat disappointing draw at home to Burnley last weekend and they also lost their previous away trip, to Chelsea.
Away from home Brighton are not the best, they are currently eleventh in the form table but overall, their record against Arsenal is quite a good one. Manager De Zerbi will be hoping the likes of Mitoma and Ferguson can start to show some of the form that was on display last season.
Arsenal have only won three of the last ten meetings between these two whereas Brighton have five wins, including three of the last four.
Liverpool vs Manchester United
Results went Liverpool’s way last weekend as they managed an unconvincing win against Crystal Palace which saw them leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the table. Therefore they go into this match against old rivals Manchester United in top spot and in far better form than their opponents.
Only Manchester City have scored more than Liverpool’s 36 league goals this season, with Mo Salah contributing eleven so far. Liverpool are top of the home form team with a maximum fifteen points from five games and fifteen goals scored at Anfield. They will be confident of another win against an out of sorts Manchester United, a result that will delight their fans, especially if it is anything like their 7-0 demolition job we witnessed last season.
Manchester United’s poor season continued as they went out of the Champions League with a whimper following a home defeat to Bayern Munich. To make matters worse they will be without Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw for this match, both players limping off the field in midweek. Their injury list is a serious worry for manager Erik Ten Hag and he is going to have to send out a team missing over ten first team players as well as captain Bruno Fernandes, who is suspended for this one.
Even the most optimistic of United supporters will struggle to find any positives heading into this match and it seems like it will be an exercise in damage limitation.
The visitors are ten points behind Liverpool and that gap is unlikely to get any smaller after this weekend, especially looking at Liverpool’s record at Anfield. The home side have won five of the last ten meetings overall, with Manchester United winning three.
Bayern Munich vs Stuttgart
The final game of the Bundesliga weekend should be an intense battle between second and third with only one point separating the two teams. Bayern Munich suffered a heavy defeat last weekend, losing 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt, so they will definitely want to get back to winning ways.
Midweek was better for them as they managed a comfortable 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Champions League but this match is likely to prove a tougher test. Harry Kane has not scored in their last three matches so he too will be eager to get back on the scoresheet.
Stuttgart are having an excellent season and are looking a decent bet to finish in a European spot. Ambitions are to finish top four though and to do that they will need to take points off those around them, something they managed last weekend with a 1-1 draw against leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Key to their success has been the form of striker Serhou Guirassy, who has scored 16 goals in the league already this year, only two behind Harry Kane. Their form going into this is good and with no European Football to distract them, they will be the fresher of the two teams.
Stuttgart have only beaten Bayern once in their last ten meetings whereas the home team have seven wins to their name. Goals are to be expected with nine of the last ten seeing three or more goals scored.
Enjoy!
