Top football matches to watch out for this weekend in Europe

Oladipupo Mojeed Sports 02/10/2021

The English Premier League returns with Matchday 7 action alongside other top games from other European Leagues. NRTC’s Oladipupo Mojeed highlights the match fixtures you won’t want to miss.

Manchester United vs Everton

Manchester United’s midweek performance was poor but they can thank David de Gea for keeping them in the game against Villarreal. And also Cristiano Ronaldo for his match-winning goal. The atmosphere at Old Trafford was electric and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side must build on that.

Cristiano Ronaldo secured maximum points for United against Villarreal (Image credit: United Media)

Everton ended a two-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over struggling Norwich last weekend. Rafa Benitez was able to welcome back some key defenders but remains without his first-choice strike partnership in Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

United haven’t lost at home to Everton since 2013. However, they cannot afford to drop points here if they want to keep the pace with their title rivals. Given Everton’s issues in attack, the Red Devils have enough to get over the line.

Prediction: 2-1

Brighton vs Arsenal

Brighton missed the chance to top the Premier League on Monday, only gaining a point away to Crystal Palace. They have won four of their first six Premier League matches.

Arsenal are moving in the right direction with three wins in a row in the Premier League. The Gunners look much improved now Mikel Arteta has his first-choice defence to call on.

This fixture is certainly a potential banana skin for Arsenal but they look much better placed compared to a few weeks ago. Both teams have scored in four of the last six meetings.

Prediction: 1-2

Chelsea vs Southampton

Chelsea have lost back-to-back matches, albeit against Manchester City and Juventus. But more concerning is that they have only managed one shot on target across the two fixtures.

After three straight draws, Southampton required penalties to beat Championship side Sheffield United in the League Cup and then lost 1-0 at home to Wolves last weekend.

Southampton have already held Manchester City and Manchester United to draws this season, so they must not be underestimated.

However, Chelsea haven’t lost three games in a row since October 2015 and are the favourite.

Prediction: 2-0

Crystal Palace vs Leicester City

Crystal Palace were unfortunate only to draw with Brighton on Monday, conceding right at the death. They have one win, three draws and two defeats from their first six league games.

Leicester’s sorry start to the season continued on Thursday with a 1-0 defeat away to Legia Warszawa. The Foxes’ only win across their last six was against Championship outfit Millwall.

Palace are actually unbeaten in four of their last five home games against Leicester and have a decent chance of extending that good run. Given the current woes of their opponents, this is very achievable.

Prediction: 1-1

Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa

Tottenham will hope to put a dire September behind them when they welcome Aston Villa to north London on Sunday. Spurs lost all three league matches last month, conceding three goals in each defeat.

This is a huge downturn in form after a superb start to the season, which saw them top the Premier League table at the end of August. Howver, a 5-1 win on Thursday night will have boosted morale.

After a run of one win in four to kick off the campaign, Aston Villa look to have turned the corner. With back-to-back wins over Everton and Manchester United, they come into Sunday’s game one point ahead of Spurs.

Villa won this game last season, and have secured all the spoils in two of their last four visits to Tottenham.

Spurs need to get their season back on track. But they could head into the international break on the back of a fourth successive defeat with Villa starting to hit their stride.

Prediction: 1-2

Liverpool vs Manchester City

Liverpool are unbeaten in all competitions this season but there have been signs of vulnerability at times. They conceded three times to Brentford last weekend, shipped a couple to AC Milan and couldn’t break down a Chelsea side with a man less for 45 minutes.

Manchester City missed chances against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek as they lost 2-0. Pep Guardiola’s side were superb in their victory over Chelsea last weekend but have failed to score in three of their first nine games this season.

Jurgen Klopp is the most successful manager against Pep Guardiola-managed sides, with nine victories from their 21 previous encounters. With a packed Anfield crowd behind Liverpool, he will aim to make that 10.

Prediction: 2-1

Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona

Atletico Madrid have been on a difficult run of late, but a comeback win over AC Milan in midweek could spark them to life. Prior to that, they had just one win in four. Former Barcelona forwards Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann will be keen to get one over on their old club.

Ronald Koeman is on the brink as Barcelona head coach after their 3-0 defeat away to Benfica in the Champions League in midweek. They did at least win in the league last time out but morale at the club is low. It is difficult to see them producing a shock result here.

Prediction: 2-1

Espanyol vs Real Madrid

Espanyol’s less than impressive start to life back in La Liga continued last time out with another defeat. This time against Sevilla despite the Andalusians having a man sent off as early as the 65th minute.

Espanyol face another difficult outing as they welcome Real Madrid. Madrid will be desperate to bounce back quickly from their embarrassing midweek home defeat to Moldovan champions Sheriff in the Champions League.

Prediction: 0-2

Torino vs Juventus

Torino were held to a 1-1 draw on Monday as Koffi Djidji gifted another penalty to Venezia after his mistake against Lazio the previous week.

Juventus defeated Sampdoria 3-2 last time out in Serie A and then produced a great display to beat Chelsea 1-0 in midweek.

Again without their main forwards here, they will need an in-form Federico Chiesa to produce the good again.

Prediction: 1-2

Sassuolo vs Inter Milan

Sassuolo picked up their second win of the season after a pretty even game against Salernitana last Sunday.

Inter played their part in a thrilling 2-2 draw with Atalanta and need to bounce back from an underwhelming performance in Kiev earlier this week.

The Nerazzurri are favourites to win, although there are a lot of question marks concerning their captain Samir Handanovic in goal.

Prediction: 1-3

Fiorentina vs Napoli

Dusan Vlahovic’s third penalty of the season was enough for Fiorentina to get three points in Udine last weekend in their third successive away win.

Napoli comfortably defeated Cagliari last weekend thanks to goals from Victor Osimhen and Lorenzo Insigne before losing at home in the Europa League on Thursday.

Fiorentina have already shown that they can be a real threat for the bigger sides with their high pressing. Napoli will try to extend their winning streak in the league.

Prediction: 1-2

Atalanta vs AC Milan

Atalanta’s 2-2 draw with Inter is the most entertaining game of the season so far. The Bergamaschi kept their momentum going with a convincing win against Young Boys in midweek.

AC Milan defeated Spezia thanks to another late goal from Brahim Diaz and were harshly outdone by Atlético Madrid on Wednesday after playing 60 minutes in numerical inferiority.

Atalanta will want to avenge last season’s defeat in this fixture, which saw them slip into third place on the final matchday, while the Rossoneri will try to extend their unbeaten start in Serie A.

Prediction: 2-1

Frankfurt vs Bayern Munich

Both these sides played in Europe in midweek, but Bayern enjoy at least 24 hours more rest and recuperation than Frankfurt who travelled to Belgium.

Robert Lewandowski amazingly did not score for the first time in 20 games in all competitions against bottom side Fuerth, but bounced back with a brace in midweek.

Winless Frankfurt have drawn five in a row and are going for their fifth 1-1 in succession too in the Bundesliga. The visitors would kill for a share of the spoils here.

Record champions Bayern have scored in 53 consecutive Bundesliga games and anything other than a comfortable Bayern win would be a huge surprise.

Prediction: 3-1

Dortmund vs Augsburg

Hopes remain high that the Black and Yellows can mount a title challenge for the first time in 10 years but they are already four points behind Bayern.

Star man Erling Machine Haaland boasts 47 goals in 48 Bundesliga games, but was badly missed last weekend in the dire defeat at Gladbach.

Augsburg have managed two goals in six games, but have somehow picked up five points. They could be put to the sword against Dortmund, but to their credit they usually perform well here. Chances are that they will keep the game tight for long periods.

Prediction: 2-0

Rennes vs Paris Saint Germain

The combination of Rennes’ lack of depth, prioritizing the Europa Conference League and travelling in the week hardly line up as favourable circumstances for the hosts.

PSG celebrate goal gainst Manchester City (Image credit: PSG Media)

PSG may not be as bouyant as they were in the Champions League but should still have plenty about them to get three points from this encounter and maintain their perfect start.