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This Weekend: Liverpool vs. Man United, Barça vs. Valencia, Derby du Nord and more

This Weekend: Liverpool vs. Man United, Barça vs. Valencia, Derby du Nord and more

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The best matches to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Friday

🇮🇹 There may be 20 points between first and fourth place in the current Serie A standings but we still think it’s a big move to put Napoli vs. Lazio as the league’s Friday night fixture. Beaten just once, 18 points ahead in the standings, and boasting a huge goal difference of +43, these are exciting times to be a Napoli fan – times the now Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri couldn’t quite give them when he was in charge of the club.

Since joining the Rome-based side, Sarri has failed to get one over his former club, losing all three of their meetings since the start of the 2021/22 season. And you won’t be surprised to discover that it was Napoli’s Georgian breakout star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who scored the winner in a 2-1 away win when the sides last faced each other last September.

🇩🇪 There’s also a top of the table clash in the Bundesliga as Borussia Dortmund (2nd) take on RB Leipzig (4th). This one is much tighter though with just four points separating them and Dortmund currently level on points with Bayern at the top of the table. A win then, will give Dortmund the advantage heading in to the weekend and continue their current run of nine straight wins – in all competitions – since the start of the year. And a lot of confidence heading in to Tuesday night’s second leg against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Leipzig though, will be banking on their recent history of success against the black and yellows (3 wins on the bounce) plus the inside knowledge, and presumably grudge, held by their head coach Marco Rose who was sacked by Dortmund in 2022 after less than a year in the job.

🇷🇸 Another game to watch out for on what could turn out to be a lively Friday night is Serbia’s Eternal Derby, the battle between Belgrade clubs Crvena Zvezda, or Red Star, versus Partizan. The former are currently 13 points ahead of their rivals as the two take up their customary positions at the top of the Superliga table and with Red Star unbeaten after 23 rounds it looks like they’ll be defending their title for a sixth season in a row. Surely that’s extra motivation for Partizan to pull off a surprise result?

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Premier League line-up has a lot going on – from state-backed superpowers meeting one another, to old school rivalries, and relegation six-pointers.

The lunchtime kick-off features second placed Manchester City and Newcastle United, the Emirati and Saudi backed – and therefore probably – two richest clubs in the league. Going in to the game, City are unbeaten in six and sit second, five points down on leaders Arsenal. They also have the upper hand in recent encounters between the two sides having won six and drawn two of the last eight meetings. The Magpies are without a win in four, if you include last weekend’s defeat in the Carabao Cup Final, and they have now slipped to fifth in the table – albeit they do have two games in hand on the teams around them.

Arsenal appear to be back in control of their destiny – chasing down a first Premier League title since 2004 – after an impressive 4-0 dismantling of Everton during the week. Gabriel Martinelli scored twice in that game, taking him into double figures for the league campaign and showing once again, just what a threat he can be. Tomorrow, the Gunners face relegation threatened Bournemouth, the side with the worst defensive record in the division.

Further down the table, fourth placed Spurs visit Wolves to begin a week that will also include the second leg of their Champions League tie with Milan. And 10th placed Chelsea – also involved in the Champions League this week – will be looking to get one over on old rivals Leeds – this isn’t a geological rivalry, more of a resentment that’s built between the clubs over decades of meetings up and down the divisions.

The day is rounded off by Leicester City’s trip to bottom side Southampton. The Foxes might sit up in 14th but that’s only three points above the relegation zone (and six points above the Saints) in a congested bottom half. Both clubs will also be looking to bounce back after humiliating midweek results in the FA Cup – Southampton losing at home to fourth tier Grimsby Town while Leicester were undone by Championship side Blackburn Rovers at the Kingpower.

🇩🇪 Following on from Dortmund vs. Leipzig on Friday night, the other sides vying for the title are involved in games being played tomorrow. Bayern face a trip to Stuttgart, who’ve won four of their last six home matches, in a game where Julien Nagelsmann has promised that his side won’t be taking likely ahead of Wednesday’s showdown with PSG. He has also let it be known that Sadio Mané will be involved as the Senegalese striker returns from injury.

Union Berlin, who sit three points down on the top two, have a home test against FC Köln. Last week was one of highs and lows for the title outsiders – having beaten European royalty Ajax to progress in the Europa League, they were then beaten just as convincingly by Bayern in the league. They might just be grateful to get back to a relatively run-of-the-mill league game especially with a Europa League quarter-final to follow on Thursday.

🇫🇷 Saturday should be an exciting day in Ligue 1 – Leaders PSG, their confidence restored following wins over Lille and Marseille, face Nantes.

Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi notched up whopping FotMob ratings of 9.4 and 9.3 in last week’s 3-0 victory in Le Classique and Christophe Galtier will be looking to them, as always, to lead from the front again. Nantes, meanwhile, continued their defence of the Coupe de France by defeating Lens in the quarter-finals during the week.

That wasn’t ideal for fourth placed Lens, who must now face their biggest game of the season, against Lille in the Derby du Nord. With Lille currently outside the European places in sixth, one of French football’s tastiest rivalries should be a little more feisty that usual.

A single Jonathan David penalty was all that separated the two sides when they last met in October.

🇮🇹 A resurgent Milan side feature in Serie A’s biggest game of the day. Stefano Pioli’s outgoing champions go to Fiorentina looking to extend their run of four wins and four clean sheets – a sequence that came after a horrible spell in which they lost five out of seven competitive fixtures at the start of the year.

🇺🇸 With El Tráfico postponed on the opening weekend in MLS last Saturday, we’ll be looking forward to seeing how both current MLS Cup holders LAFC, and LA Galaxy get on in their respective first games this weekend.

LAFC start, at home, against Portland Timbers who closed out the last round with a narrow 1-0 win over Sporting KC. The Galaxy are on their travels, visiting a FC Dallas side who went down by the same scoreline to Minnesota United in their first game.

Elsewhere, we’ll see if new expansion side St. Louis City can maintain their 100% start in their first ever home game, which comes against last season’s expansion side, Charlotte FC. And Atlanta United vs. Toronto could provide some drama – Thiago Almada scored twice in injury time to give Atlanta a win last weekend while Toronto conceded twice in injury time to lose at Wayne Rooney’s DC United.

Sunday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 There are two further games in this round of Premier League action being played on Sunday – one of which will be getting more attention than the other despite the relative importance of them both.

Nottingham Forest have built themselves a four point cushion on the relegation zone but their opponents Everton are the side who sit just below that dreaded line – therefore making this a definite six-pointer. That 4-0 humbling at Arsenal won’t determine Sean Dyche’s time as Everton boss but a result in a game like this could. It would also be the Toffees’ first away win since the start of October.

The day’s other game is arguably the biggest of the weekend – the battle between regional superpowers Liverpool and Manchester United. With the former hunting a top four finish and the latter not completely out of the title race, there’s plenty at stake.

Jürgen Klopp was quick to praise the goalscoring exploits of United’s in-form Marcus Rashford, in the build-up, but after keeping their fourth straight league clean sheet in the midweek win against Wolves, he might be quietly confident that his defence can keep him quiet.

Brazilian international Casemiro was introduced to the Old Trafford crowd as United’s new signing ahead of their earlier meeting this season – a game that Rashford scored in – and United won 2-1 back in August. And what a signing he’s proven to be with the Brazilian at the heart of everything Erik ten Hag has achieved with his new side this season – including the second half comeback that saw them beat West Ham in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

🇪🇸 Barcelona narrowly won a statistically intriguing but somewhat cagey Clásico against Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday night, a game that featured only two shots on target, both of which were missed by Barça and with the match settled by an OG.

Both will be hoping for an improvement as we get back to all things LaLiga on Sunday. Barça, with their seven point cushion in the standings, take on crisis club Valencia. Amidst protests around the ownership of the club, and the poor form that has seen one of Spain’s biggest teams slip in to the relegation zone, new manager Rubeń Baraja did actually stop the rot last weekend as his side ended a run of six defeats with victory over high-flying Real Sociedad.

Real Madrid will be hoping their famous frontline have found their shooting boots in time for the away trip to fifth placed Real Betis. Madrid haven’t lost this fixture in the last five meetings and Betis haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in their last five (despite winning three of those) so the omens are at least there for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

🇮🇹 In Serie A, two of this season’s main protagonists will both be in action. Second placed Inter need to shake off last weekend’s strange defeat at Bologna as they go up against a Lecce side who despite sitting down in 15th have tended to perform better against the big sides this season.

And Juventus, who would be second if it wasn’t for that pesky 15-point deduction, have the even trickier task of facing Roma in the capital. That prospect did however become a little easier following José Mourinho’s third red card of the season – in Roma’s shock defeat at Cremonese on Tuesday night – meaning the charismatic coach will not be on the sidelines on Sunday. At the same time, Juve were putting city rivals Torino to the sword in a entertaining Derby della Mole that finished 4-2.

🇦🇹 There are just three rounds to play before the league splits in the Austrian Bundesliga so this weekend’s clash between the country’s two biggest clubs – Rapid and RB Salzburg takes on a little more meaning than normal. Yes, obviously, Salzburg are running away at the top, as they have done for the past few seasons but Rapid could all but guarantee their position in the top half, or Championship Group, for the next stage of the season with a win.

That might be a tall order though with this being one of the most uneven national rivalries in European football – Salzburg have won 14 of the last 16 meetings with the other two being drawn.

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO

This Weekend: Liverpool vs. Man United, Barça vs. Valencia, Derby du Nord and more

The best matches to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Friday

🇮🇹 There may be 20 points between first and fourth place in the current Serie A standings but we still think it’s a big move to put Napoli vs. Lazio as the league’s Friday night fixture. Beaten just once, 18 points ahead in the standings, and boasting a huge goal difference of +43, these are exciting times to be a Napoli fan – times the now Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri couldn’t quite give them when he was in charge of the club.

Since joining the Rome-based side, Sarri has failed to get one over his former club, losing all three of their meetings since the start of the 2021/22 season. And you won’t be surprised to discover that it was Napoli’s Georgian breakout star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who scored the winner in a 2-1 away win when the sides last faced each other last September.

🇩🇪 There’s also a top of the table clash in the Bundesliga as Borussia Dortmund (2nd) take on RB Leipzig (4th). This one is much tighter though with just four points separating them and Dortmund currently level on points with Bayern at the top of the table. A win then, will give Dortmund the advantage heading in to the weekend and continue their current run of nine straight wins – in all competitions – since the start of the year. And a lot of confidence heading in to Tuesday night’s second leg against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Leipzig though, will be banking on their recent history of success against the black and yellows (3 wins on the bounce) plus the inside knowledge, and presumably grudge, held by their head coach Marco Rose who was sacked by Dortmund in 2022 after less than a year in the job.

🇷🇸 Another game to watch out for on what could turn out to be a lively Friday night is Serbia’s Eternal Derby, the battle between Belgrade clubs Crvena Zvezda, or Red Star, versus Partizan. The former are currently 13 points ahead of their rivals as the two take up their customary positions at the top of the Superliga table and with Red Star unbeaten after 23 rounds it looks like they’ll be defending their title for a sixth season in a row. Surely that’s extra motivation for Partizan to pull off a surprise result?

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Premier League line-up has a lot going on – from state-backed superpowers meeting one another, to old school rivalries, and relegation six-pointers.

The lunchtime kick-off features second placed Manchester City and Newcastle United, the Emirati and Saudi backed – and therefore probably – two richest clubs in the league. Going in to the game, City are unbeaten in six and sit second, five points down on leaders Arsenal. They also have the upper hand in recent encounters between the two sides having won six and drawn two of the last eight meetings. The Magpies are without a win in four, if you include last weekend’s defeat in the Carabao Cup Final, and they have now slipped to fifth in the table – albeit they do have two games in hand on the teams around them.

Arsenal appear to be back in control of their destiny – chasing down a first Premier League title since 2004 – after an impressive 4-0 dismantling of Everton during the week. Gabriel Martinelli scored twice in that game, taking him into double figures for the league campaign and showing once again, just what a threat he can be. Tomorrow, the Gunners face relegation threatened Bournemouth, the side with the worst defensive record in the division.

Further down the table, fourth placed Spurs visit Wolves to begin a week that will also include the second leg of their Champions League tie with Milan. And 10th placed Chelsea – also involved in the Champions League this week – will be looking to get one over on old rivals Leeds – this isn’t a geological rivalry, more of a resentment that’s built between the clubs over decades of meetings up and down the divisions.

The day is rounded off by Leicester City’s trip to bottom side Southampton. The Foxes might sit up in 14th but that’s only three points above the relegation zone (and six points above the Saints) in a congested bottom half. Both clubs will also be looking to bounce back after humiliating midweek results in the FA Cup – Southampton losing at home to fourth tier Grimsby Town while Leicester were undone by Championship side Blackburn Rovers at the Kingpower.

🇩🇪 Following on from Dortmund vs. Leipzig on Friday night, the other sides vying for the title are involved in games being played tomorrow. Bayern face a trip to Stuttgart, who’ve won four of their last six home matches, in a game where Julien Nagelsmann has promised that his side won’t be taking likely ahead of Wednesday’s showdown with PSG. He has also let it be known that Sadio Mané will be involved as the Senegalese striker returns from injury.

Union Berlin, who sit three points down on the top two, have a home test against FC Köln. Last week was one of highs and lows for the title outsiders – having beaten European royalty Ajax to progress in the Europa League, they were then beaten just as convincingly by Bayern in the league. They might just be grateful to get back to a relatively run-of-the-mill league game especially with a Europa League quarter-final to follow on Thursday.

🇫🇷 Saturday should be an exciting day in Ligue 1 – Leaders PSG, their confidence restored following wins over Lille and Marseille, face Nantes.

Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi notched up whopping FotMob ratings of 9.4 and 9.3 in last week’s 3-0 victory in Le Classique and Christophe Galtier will be looking to them, as always, to lead from the front again. Nantes, meanwhile, continued their defence of the Coupe de France by defeating Lens in the quarter-finals during the week.

That wasn’t ideal for fourth placed Lens, who must now face their biggest game of the season, against Lille in the Derby du Nord. With Lille currently outside the European places in sixth, one of French football’s tastiest rivalries should be a little more feisty that usual.

A single Jonathan David penalty was all that separated the two sides when they last met in October.

🇮🇹 A resurgent Milan side feature in Serie A’s biggest game of the day. Stefano Pioli’s outgoing champions go to Fiorentina looking to extend their run of four wins and four clean sheets – a sequence that came after a horrible spell in which they lost five out of seven competitive fixtures at the start of the year.

🇺🇸 With El Tráfico postponed on the opening weekend in MLS last Saturday, we’ll be looking forward to seeing how both current MLS Cup holders LAFC, and LA Galaxy get on in their respective first games this weekend.

LAFC start, at home, against Portland Timbers who closed out the last round with a narrow 1-0 win over Sporting KC. The Galaxy are on their travels, visiting a FC Dallas side who went down by the same scoreline to Minnesota United in their first game.

Elsewhere, we’ll see if new expansion side St. Louis City can maintain their 100% start in their first ever home game, which comes against last season’s expansion side, Charlotte FC. And Atlanta United vs. Toronto could provide some drama – Thiago Almada scored twice in injury time to give Atlanta a win last weekend while Toronto conceded twice in injury time to lose at Wayne Rooney’s DC United.

Sunday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 There are two further games in this round of Premier League action being played on Sunday – one of which will be getting more attention than the other despite the relative importance of them both.

Nottingham Forest have built themselves a four point cushion on the relegation zone but their opponents Everton are the side who sit just below that dreaded line – therefore making this a definite six-pointer. That 4-0 humbling at Arsenal won’t determine Sean Dyche’s time as Everton boss but a result in a game like this could. It would also be the Toffees’ first away win since the start of October.

The day’s other game is arguably the biggest of the weekend – the battle between regional superpowers Liverpool and Manchester United. With the former hunting a top four finish and the latter not completely out of the title race, there’s plenty at stake.

Jürgen Klopp was quick to praise the goalscoring exploits of United’s in-form Marcus Rashford, in the build-up, but after keeping their fourth straight league clean sheet in the midweek win against Wolves, he might be quietly confident that his defence can keep him quiet.

Brazilian international Casemiro was introduced to the Old Trafford crowd as United’s new signing ahead of their earlier meeting this season – a game that Rashford scored in – and United won 2-1 back in August. And what a signing he’s proven to be with the Brazilian at the heart of everything Erik ten Hag has achieved with his new side this season – including the second half comeback that saw them beat West Ham in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

🇪🇸 Barcelona narrowly won a statistically intriguing but somewhat cagey Clásico against Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey on Thursday night, a game that featured only two shots on target, both of which were missed by Barça and with the match settled by an OG.

Both will be hoping for an improvement as we get back to all things LaLiga on Sunday. Barça, with their seven point cushion in the standings, take on crisis club Valencia. Amidst protests around the ownership of the club, and the poor form that has seen one of Spain’s biggest teams slip in to the relegation zone, new manager Rubeń Baraja did actually stop the rot last weekend as his side ended a run of six defeats with victory over high-flying Real Sociedad.

Real Madrid will be hoping their famous frontline have found their shooting boots in time for the away trip to fifth placed Real Betis. Madrid haven’t lost this fixture in the last five meetings and Betis haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in their last five (despite winning three of those) so the omens are at least there for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

🇮🇹 In Serie A, two of this season’s main protagonists will both be in action. Second placed Inter need to shake off last weekend’s strange defeat at Bologna as they go up against a Lecce side who despite sitting down in 15th have tended to perform better against the big sides this season.

And Juventus, who would be second if it wasn’t for that pesky 15-point deduction, have the even trickier task of facing Roma in the capital. That prospect did however become a little easier following José Mourinho’s third red card of the season – in Roma’s shock defeat at Cremonese on Tuesday night – meaning the charismatic coach will not be on the sidelines on Sunday. At the same time, Juve were putting city rivals Torino to the sword in a entertaining Derby della Mole that finished 4-2.

🇦🇹 There are just three rounds to play before the league splits in the Austrian Bundesliga so this weekend’s clash between the country’s two biggest clubs – Rapid and RB Salzburg takes on a little more meaning than normal. Yes, obviously, Salzburg are running away at the top, as they have done for the past few seasons but Rapid could all but guarantee their position in the top half, or Championship Group, for the next stage of the season with a win.

That might be a tall order though with this being one of the most uneven national rivalries in European football – Salzburg have won 14 of the last 16 meetings with the other two being drawn.

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO