News

This Weekend: Club football returns with the North London and Manchester Derbies

Share

The best action to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Premier League have gone big for the first weekend after the international break, giving us the North London Derby as a lunchtime kick-off, and following it up with another six games across the day. This NLD is particularly big with the two sides sitting first and third in the league – Arsenal one point better off but with Spurs still unbeaten.

Since FotMob records began with the birth of the app in 2010, the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur is remarkably even – 11 wins each and seven draws in 12 years. Over the last two seasons, the results have gone with the home team – Arsenal winning at the Emirates, Spurs winning at their place so if Antonio Conte wants to break that pattern, his side will have to win at their rivals for the first time since a League Cup quarter-final back in 2018.

Later in the day, eighth placed Liverpool face a tricky home fixture against fourth placed Brighton while former manager Graham Potter takes Chelsea to Crystal Palace. The pick of the remaining games is probably that taking place between Fulham – who are unbeaten at home, and Newcastle United – who’ve drawn five of their seven games so far.

🇮🇹 We’re seven rounds in to the Serie A season and Napoli and Atalanta are the surprise joint leaders with Udinese one point down in third while Lazio head a pack of the league’s biggest sides two points further back.

On Saturday, Napoli face Torino, a side they’ve not lost to in 14 attempts so they’ll be confident of extending their current unbeaten run which spans all the way back through pre-season and across all competitions.

Reigning champions Milan also play tomorrow as they visit Empoli. And there’s also the high-level match up between Inter (seventh) and Roma (sixth). José Mourinho lost all three of last season’s ties against the side he used to manage with such distinction – in fact, Inter’s recent hoodoo over the capital city club extends back as far as 2017.

🇪🇸 There are four games lined up in LaLiga with just two of the current top six involved as Villarreal go to struggling Cadíz and Barcelona visit the Balearic island of Mallorca. Barça start the weekend in second and boast both the league’s best scoring record and tightest defence having scored 18 and conceded just one goal so far. Xavi’s summer spending spree is bearing fruit.

The day’s biggest fixture pits Sevilla (15th) against Atlético Madrid (seventh). The home side have picked up just one win so far – but showed signs of improvement just before the international break, while Atlético suffered defeat to Derby rivals Madrid in their last game before the stoppage. Who’ll come back the freshest and ready to climb the table?

🇩🇪 Bundesliga fans will have been more eager than most for the return of league action having enjoyed perhaps the most intriguing start to a season for decades. Perennial winners Bayern München sit down in fifth going into Friday night’s game against Leverkusen while Union Berlin – playing in just their fourth top flight season – remain unbeaten and lead the way by two points.

In Saturday’s fixtures, Union visit Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt, the side with the best home record so far. Second placed Dortmund – perhaps still riding a pre-break high from their Derby win over Schalke face FC Köln and Freiburg, once again defying the odds to sit third, entertain Mainz, who start the day in eighth.

🏆 Outside of Europe, there’s major silverware on the line in South America with the final of the Copa Sudamericana between storied Brazilian side São Paulo and entertaining upstarts Independiente del Valle. The Ecuadorian club have set out a highly ambitious project in recent years, based on developing, and exporting the best young talent in the country. And it’s worked well for them – they reached the final of the more prestigious continental competition, the Copa Libertadores in 2016, and won this competition – roughly equivalent to the Europa League in 2019. Both before they’d even won a domestic title, something they finally achieved last year.

🇹🇷 In Turkiye, there’s a top of the table clash between Adana Demirspor and Galatasaray. The Istanbul giants have spent big – at least in terms of wages, to right the mistakes of last season when they finished a lowly 13th and to be fair, it has worked so far. They lie level on points with their weekend opponents who have scored a commendable 16 goals in their seven games despite losing the services of last season’s top scorer – Mario Balotelli.

🇦🇺 One other game to look out for on Saturday is the final of the Australia Cup. The competition has produced a series of #Cupsets so far and there might just be one more as second tier, semi-pro Sydney United 58 take on A-League side Macarthur FC, who are led by none other than Dwight Yorke.

Sunday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Not content with one massive Derby in the Premier League this weekend? Well, that’s good because there’s also the small matter of the Manchester Derby on Sunday afternoon.

And in Erik ten Hag, Pep Guardiola will be lining up against his fifth different Man United manager since joining City back in 2016. The defending champions may not currently top the table but with Erling Haaland on board they’ve been scoring at a rate of 3.3 goals per game and dominate most of the attacking metrics we have listed in the app.

United, though, are much improved after their headline-grabbing disastrous start and they head in to the Derby on the back of four league wins in a row – a run that includes victories over Liverpool and Arsenal. A third victory against one of the league’s big six can only enhance their chances of improving on last season’s sixth placed finish.

The day’s only other action from England’s top flight sees Leeds United test their seven-game unbeaten home run against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.

🇪🇸 In Spain, leaders Real Madrid can boast a perfect record of six wins from six so far this season and they will come up against one of LaLiga’s early season surprise packages when they face Osasuna on Sunday. The side from Pamplona have four wins to their name but did come unstuck against Getafe in their last game before the international break – and they’ve not beaten Madrid since 2011 so an upset is probably unlikely here.

Real Betis start the weekend in third place but may need a win – at Celta Vigo on Sunday – to end the weekend in the same position. But that’s only if Athletic Club beat Almería in the league’s Friday night offering.

🇮🇹 Back in Serie A, Atalanta will be playing catch-up as they look to match whatever result fellow league leaders Napoli can pull off on Saturday. They face Fiorentina, a side they were beaten by twice in the league last season and again in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Elsewhere, another club playing catch-up are Juventus. The league’s most successful team went in to the break on the back of a five-game winless streak that included Champions League defeats to PSG and Benfica, along with a far more embarrassing defeat, to Serie A newcomers Monza. The under pressure Massimiliano Allegri desperately needs a win from their game against Bologna.

🇧🇪 In truth, Sunday’s schedules do look a little sparse due to the upcoming Matchday 3 fixtures in the Champions League and other UEFA competitions. But there is something else you might want to keep an eye on – and that’s whether or not Royal Antwerp can keep up their perfect start to the season in Belgium. They’ll be looking for a tenth straight win, away at KV Kortrijk.

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: Club football returns with the North London and Manchester Derbies

The best action to follow this weekend

By Bill Biss

Saturday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Premier League have gone big for the first weekend after the international break, giving us the North London Derby as a lunchtime kick-off, and following it up with another six games across the day. This NLD is particularly big with the two sides sitting first and third in the league – Arsenal one point better off but with Spurs still unbeaten.

Since FotMob records began with the birth of the app in 2010, the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur is remarkably even – 11 wins each and seven draws in 12 years. Over the last two seasons, the results have gone with the home team – Arsenal winning at the Emirates, Spurs winning at their place so if Antonio Conte wants to break that pattern, his side will have to win at their rivals for the first time since a League Cup quarter-final back in 2018.

Later in the day, eighth placed Liverpool face a tricky home fixture against fourth placed Brighton while former manager Graham Potter takes Chelsea to Crystal Palace. The pick of the remaining games is probably that taking place between Fulham – who are unbeaten at home, and Newcastle United – who’ve drawn five of their seven games so far.

🇮🇹 We’re seven rounds in to the Serie A season and Napoli and Atalanta are the surprise joint leaders with Udinese one point down in third while Lazio head a pack of the league’s biggest sides two points further back.

On Saturday, Napoli face Torino, a side they’ve not lost to in 14 attempts so they’ll be confident of extending their current unbeaten run which spans all the way back through pre-season and across all competitions.

Reigning champions Milan also play tomorrow as they visit Empoli. And there’s also the high-level match up between Inter (seventh) and Roma (sixth). José Mourinho lost all three of last season’s ties against the side he used to manage with such distinction – in fact, Inter’s recent hoodoo over the capital city club extends back as far as 2017.

🇪🇸 There are four games lined up in LaLiga with just two of the current top six involved as Villarreal go to struggling Cadíz and Barcelona visit the Balearic island of Mallorca. Barça start the weekend in second and boast both the league’s best scoring record and tightest defence having scored 18 and conceded just one goal so far. Xavi’s summer spending spree is bearing fruit.

The day’s biggest fixture pits Sevilla (15th) against Atlético Madrid (seventh). The home side have picked up just one win so far – but showed signs of improvement just before the international break, while Atlético suffered defeat to Derby rivals Madrid in their last game before the stoppage. Who’ll come back the freshest and ready to climb the table?

🇩🇪 Bundesliga fans will have been more eager than most for the return of league action having enjoyed perhaps the most intriguing start to a season for decades. Perennial winners Bayern München sit down in fifth going into Friday night’s game against Leverkusen while Union Berlin – playing in just their fourth top flight season – remain unbeaten and lead the way by two points.

In Saturday’s fixtures, Union visit Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt, the side with the best home record so far. Second placed Dortmund – perhaps still riding a pre-break high from their Derby win over Schalke face FC Köln and Freiburg, once again defying the odds to sit third, entertain Mainz, who start the day in eighth.

🏆 Outside of Europe, there’s major silverware on the line in South America with the final of the Copa Sudamericana between storied Brazilian side São Paulo and entertaining upstarts Independiente del Valle. The Ecuadorian club have set out a highly ambitious project in recent years, based on developing, and exporting the best young talent in the country. And it’s worked well for them – they reached the final of the more prestigious continental competition, the Copa Libertadores in 2016, and won this competition – roughly equivalent to the Europa League in 2019. Both before they’d even won a domestic title, something they finally achieved last year.

🇹🇷 In Turkiye, there’s a top of the table clash between Adana Demirspor and Galatasaray. The Istanbul giants have spent big – at least in terms of wages, to right the mistakes of last season when they finished a lowly 13th and to be fair, it has worked so far. They lie level on points with their weekend opponents who have scored a commendable 16 goals in their seven games despite losing the services of last season’s top scorer – Mario Balotelli.

🇦🇺 One other game to look out for on Saturday is the final of the Australia Cup. The competition has produced a series of #Cupsets so far and there might just be one more as second tier, semi-pro Sydney United 58 take on A-League side Macarthur FC, who are led by none other than Dwight Yorke.

Sunday

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Not content with one massive Derby in the Premier League this weekend? Well, that’s good because there’s also the small matter of the Manchester Derby on Sunday afternoon.

And in Erik ten Hag, Pep Guardiola will be lining up against his fifth different Man United manager since joining City back in 2016. The defending champions may not currently top the table but with Erling Haaland on board they’ve been scoring at a rate of 3.3 goals per game and dominate most of the attacking metrics we have listed in the app.

United, though, are much improved after their headline-grabbing disastrous start and they head in to the Derby on the back of four league wins in a row – a run that includes victories over Liverpool and Arsenal. A third victory against one of the league’s big six can only enhance their chances of improving on last season’s sixth placed finish.

The day’s only other action from England’s top flight sees Leeds United test their seven-game unbeaten home run against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.

🇪🇸 In Spain, leaders Real Madrid can boast a perfect record of six wins from six so far this season and they will come up against one of LaLiga’s early season surprise packages when they face Osasuna on Sunday. The side from Pamplona have four wins to their name but did come unstuck against Getafe in their last game before the international break – and they’ve not beaten Madrid since 2011 so an upset is probably unlikely here.

Real Betis start the weekend in third place but may need a win – at Celta Vigo on Sunday – to end the weekend in the same position. But that’s only if Athletic Club beat Almería in the league’s Friday night offering.

🇮🇹 Back in Serie A, Atalanta will be playing catch-up as they look to match whatever result fellow league leaders Napoli can pull off on Saturday. They face Fiorentina, a side they were beaten by twice in the league last season and again in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Elsewhere, another club playing catch-up are Juventus. The league’s most successful team went in to the break on the back of a five-game winless streak that included Champions League defeats to PSG and Benfica, along with a far more embarrassing defeat, to Serie A newcomers Monza. The under pressure Massimiliano Allegri desperately needs a win from their game against Bologna.

🇧🇪 In truth, Sunday’s schedules do look a little sparse due to the upcoming Matchday 3 fixtures in the Champions League and other UEFA competitions. But there is something else you might want to keep an eye on – and that’s whether or not Royal Antwerp can keep up their perfect start to the season in Belgium. They’ll be looking for a tenth straight win, away at KV Kortrijk.

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