Preview of games across top European League

A few days after some teams secured their passage into the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, domestic actions resume in their respective leagues.

As football lovers settle back to domestic actions in various European leagues, NTRC takes you through some top games you need to look forward to this weekend.

English Premier League

Manchester City vs Wolves

Last time out, Manchester City beat Watford for the fifth time in a row to overtake Chelsea into top spot in the EPL league table.

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However, the top three teams are separated by only two points and City will be eager to maintain their lead at Wolves’ expense.

Wolves have only won one of their last five league games after a 1-0 loss to Liverpool. They haven’t won in three road games, but they have the fifth-best away record in the division. So, they aren’t to be overlooked despite their dismal form.

Pep Guardiola will seek a swift response from his players in Saturday’s lunchtime clash after a 2-1 setback to RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

Arsenal vs Southampton

Arsenal lost 2-1 against Everton late on Monday night, making it three losses in a row for the Gunners.

Those three defeats, though, occurred on the road. However, the Gunners have been outstanding at the Emirates this season, going undefeated in six league games, winning five of them.

Last Saturday, the Saints were forced to share the spoils with Brighton. This extended their winless run to four games, as Neal Maupay’s injury-time equalise saw the Seagulls salvage a point from the jaws of defeat.

The south coast club has lost six of their seven away games this season and has one of the poorest away records in the league.

Arsenal have lost both of their home league encounters with Saints in recent seasons but given their home form and the visitors’ away record this season, as well as their absentee concerns, the Gunners should prevail.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa

Following their 2-1 win against AC Milan on Tuesday, Liverpool enters Saturday’s match against Aston Villa on a six-game winning streak. The Reds are unbeaten in all competitions at Anfield this season, winning all but three of their 10 games.

Since Steven Gerrard took charge at Villa Park, Aston Villa have been a force to be reckoned with. After the former Liverpool captain succeeded Dean Smith, only Liverpool and Manchester City (both 12) have amassed more points than the Villans (9) have.

Gerrard will definitely be greeted warmly at Anfield, but he may depart Merseyside disappointed if Liverpool continue their current form.

Chelsea vs Leeds United

Chelsea’s injuries are starting to pile up, particularly in midfield. But Marcelo Bielsa hasn’t had the luxury of having a fully fit team to pick from all season, so this looks dicey, at least on paper.

Thomas Tuchel will concentrate on getting his defence ready against a fierce Leeds press after the Blues have conceded six goals in two games without the usual protection.

Despite a bad week for Chelsea, the visitors’ defensive woes could prove crucial in any chances of an upset, and with Lukaku back fit and firing, it will be difficult to call anything other than a home win.

Spanish La Liga

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid are in fine form, sitting atop La Liga with an eight-point advantage and having clinched top spot in their Champions League group with a 2-0 home win over Inter during the week.

Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio each scored one magnificent goal to secure the victory, which came after a comfortable 2-0 win over Real Sociedad last time out in La Liga.

Real Madrid has won nine games in a row in all competitions, and a win today would put them 13 points ahead of Atletico Madrid, despite the fact that Los Rojiblancos have a game in hand.

During the week, Atleti also had a significant victory. To advance in the Champions League, they needed to overcome Porto away from home, which they achieved due to goals from Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa, and Rodrigo Palacio.

Diego Simeone’s side showed up away from home, even if Jan Oblak had to make some excellent stops, and it was a crucial performance after last weekend’s stunning 2-1 setback to Mallorca despite taking the lead.

Atleti has only won one of their past seven La Liga games, which is not good enough for a title contender. Simeone’s team’s title defence is slipping away from them, and if they lose this game, it may already be over.

Osasuna vs Barcelona

Osasuna picked up their second successive draw last time out, though they will have been disappointed to only get a point against winless Levante, even if it was away from home.

That followed a 1-1 draw with Elche and a win over San Agustin in the Copa del Rey. Prior to that, Osasuna had lost three games on the bounce, so they will be pleased to have stopped their mini slide. They are now 10th in the table with a respectable 21 points from their first 11 games.

Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage for the first time in 21 years during the week, losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich for the second time this season.

It was another sub-par display from a Barca side that continues to disappoint, and now drop into the Europa League, the only competition the club has never won.

Before the defeat in Bavaria, Barca lost to Real Betis in La Liga to fall four points off the top six, albeit with a game in-hand.

Barca had won their two league games before that, against Espanyol and Villarreal, but many of the issues we saw under Ronald Koeman are starting to surface under Xavi Hernandez, who has been reminded of the scale of the task at hand.

This could be another tricky challenge for Barca, against an Osasuna side who are relatively solid at the back, but they should edge it as they look to recover from the disappointment of midweek.

German Bundesliga

Mainz vs Bayern Munich

This season, Mainz have only conceded 14 goals, one fewer than Bayern.

Bayern Munich has scored in 61 consecutive league games and has a league-high 105 goals in 2021.

Mainz will make this a much tougher tie than Barcelona did in midweek, and with no supporters in the Allianz Arena, Bayern should win by a slim margin.

Bochum vs Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund will be looking to avenge their Klassiker loss to Ruhr Derby minnows Bochum. Bochum, the Bundesliga 2 champions last season, will not be taken lightly, having won five of their past seven games to surge to the top of the table. Only Bayern Munich has amassed more points than Bochum during this period.

Dortmund may be a little irritated after penalty rulings went against them last weekend, but with an eventual goal or two from Erling “Machine” Haaland, they can seal the points against their local rivals.

Italian Serie A

Juventus vs Venezia

After leading 3-0 at home last Sunday, Venezia lost an amazing match to Verona while Juventus were inefficient in front of goal, but they did score a goal and Genoa finally lost the three points.

The visitors face a difficult task, since they have won their last three games without conceding a goal, but have not looked their best up front.

Inter Milan vs Calgliari

Last weekend, Inter sailed past Roma and into second place, leapfrogging Napoli. Cagliari drew a draw with Torino due to Joo Pedro.

The Nerazzurri are in excellent form and will look to keep their fourth consecutive clean sheet against a squad that has drawn its last four games.

French Ligue 1

PSG vs Monaco

PSG cruised in the Champions League in the week, and that fine result, along with a longer period of rest, should do well for the leaders.

That said, Monaco have had the capital side’s number of late, drawing and winning in the league last season before losing a scrappy encounter in the Coupe de France, and could make things more than a little uncomfortable for PSG with their array of stars to contend with.