HIGHLIGHTED MID-WEEK BANGERS –
‘DOMESTIC LEAGUE’ AND ‘DOMESTIC CUP’ FOOTBALL AS WE PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.
Domestic Cup Football
Portuguese Super Cup
Will Benfica defend the title?
Porto vs Benfica
The two most successful teams in the cup’s history meet to challenge for the 2020 Portuguese Super Cup.
Benfica have won 3 of the last 4 titles, while Porto has won 1.
But Porto are aiming for their 21st title while Benfica aims for their 9th.
English League Cup (EFL CUP)
Quarter Finals
Brentford and Stoke are the non-Premier League teams in the final 8.
The Manchester teams need wins on the road to extend their cup run.
Will Manchester City get around Arsenal to defend the title again? (they’ve won 4 of the last 5)
Manchester City are looking to make it a 4 straight year of keeping the EFL Cup title.
Manchester United are the only other team left to have won the competition in the last 5 editions.
They will need to win at Everton to continue.
The biggest upset will be Stoke winning at home against Tottenham.
December 22, 2020
Brentford vs Newcastle
Arsenal vs Manchester City
December 23, 2020
Stoke vs Tottenham
Everton vs Manchester United
German Cup DFB-POKAL
Second Round
Augsburg vs RB Leipzig’ and ‘Stuttgart vs Freiburg’ will be the fixtures involving only teams in the top flight of German football league system.
With that being the exception, the top flight teams are expected to achieve the results that will advance them in the competition.
FC Koln
Hoffenheim
Schalke
Dortmund
Monchengladbach
Union Berlin
Wolfsburg
Werder Bremen
Freiburg
Mainz
December 22, 2020
FC Koln vs Osnabruck
Augsburg vs RB Leipzig
Hoffenheim vs Greuther Furth
Ulm vs Schalke
Eintracht Braunschweig vs Dortmund
Dynamo Dresden vs Darmstadt
Elversberg vs Monchengladbach
Union Berlin vs Paderborn
December 23, 2020
RW Essen vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Wolfsburg vs Sandhausen
Hannover vs Werder Bremen
Mainz vs Bochum
Stuttgart vs Freiburg
Wehen Wiesbaden vs Jahn Regensburg
Domestic League Football
French Ligue 1 – Round 17
With the exception of Lyon moving up to 2nd place; pushing Paris St. Germain down a spot, the top three in the league title race remained the same at the end of the last round.
To keep top spot in Ligue 1, Lille will need to match the results that Lyon and Paris St.Germain get over this round.
Lille goes away against Montpellier side that could get into 4th position with a win if other results go in their favor.
Lyon and Paris St. Germain will be playing host to teams that are hovering the bottom end of the league standings. Lyon will host Nantes, Paris St. Germain will host Strasbourg.
League Standings
Lille (16 games) – 33 points
Lyon (16 games) – 33 points
Paris Saint-Germain (16 games) – 32 points
Marseille (14 games) – 28 points
Rennes (16 games) – 28 points
Montpellier (16 games) – 27 points
Monaco (16 games) – 26 points
Lens (15 games) – 24 points
Angers (16 games) – 24 points
Metz (16 games) – 23 points
Brest (16 games) – 23 points
Bordeaux (16 games) – 22 points
Nice (15 games) – 21 points
Saint-Étienne (16 games) – 17 points
Nantes (16 games) – 15 points
Strasbourg (16 games) – 14 points
Reims (16 games) – 14 points
Nîmes (16 games) – 12 points
Lorient (16 games) – 11 points
Dijon (16 games) – 9 points
December 23, 2020
Bordeaux vs Reims
Lens vs Brest
Nice vs Lorient
Nimes vs Dijon
Rennes vs Metz
Angers vs Marseille
Lyon vs Nantes
Monaco vs Saint-Etienne
Montpellier vs Lille
Paris St. Germain vs Strasbourg
Spanish La Liga – Round 15
The Madrid teams are leading the title race tied in points.
Atletico Madrid remained with games in hand to stretch their lead even further.
Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid
It wasn’t that long ago that Real Sociedad were top of the La Liga standings.
They are now at risk of a third straight league defeat when they face Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad haven’t had a win in their last 8 competitive matches. A back to back defeat in the season could be stretched to three when they come against the league leaders.
Atletico Madrid has three games in hand on Real Sociedad
A win for Real Madrid against Granada will allow Madrid to take advantage of the results from this fixture.
League Standings
Atletico Madrid (12 games) – 29 points
Real Madrid (14 games) – 29 points
Real Sociedad (15 games) – 26 points
Villarreal (14 games) – 25 points
Barcelona (13 games) – 21 points
Granada (13 games) – 21 points
Sevilla (12 games) – 20 points
Celta Vigo (14 games) – 19 points
Cádiz (14 games) – 18 points
Athletic Club (14 games) – 17 points
Getafe (13 games) – 16 points
Real Betis (14 games) – 16 points
Valencia (14 games) – 15 points
Eibar (14 games) – 15 points
Levante (13 games) – 14 points
Elche (12 games) – 14 points
Alavés (14 games) – 14 points
Valladolid (14 games) – 14 points
Huesca (14 games) – 11 points
Osasuna (13 games) – 11 points
December 22, 2020
Elche vs Osasuna (Spanish La Liga)
Valencia vs Sevilla (Spanish La Liga)
Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid (Spanish La Liga)
Huesca vs Levante (Spanish La Liga)
Valladolid vs Barcelona (Spanish La Liga)
Villarreal vs Athletic Club (Spanish La Liga)
December 23, 2020
Getafe vs Celta Vigo (Spanish La Liga)
Real Madrid vs Granada (Spanish La Liga)
Alaves vs Eibar (Spanish La Liga)
Real Betis vs Cadiz (Spanish La Liga)
Italian Serie A – Round 14
The Milan clubs continue to lead the way with a point separating Inter Milan from the top of the league. AC Milan are top of the table on 31 points.
Juventus remain 4 points from the top. Juventus and AC Milan are the only sides to remain unbeaten in the opening 13 matches of the 2020/21 season.
Results from the last round of games saw Roma fall further away from the other three in the ‘top four’ after a thrashing by Atalanta.
Napoli suffering defeat in Rome against Lazio was the reason Roma kept their place in the ‘top four’ at the end of the last round.
League Standings
AC Milan (13 games) – 31 points
Inter Milan (13 games) – 30 points
Juventus (13 games) – 27 points
Roma (13 games) – 24 points
Napoli (13 games) – 23 points
Sassuolo (13 games) – 23 points
Atalanta (12 games) – 21 points
Lazio (13 games) – 21 points
Hellas Verona (13 games) – 20 points
Sampdoria (13 games) – 17 points
Udinese (12 games) – 15 points
Benevento (13 games) – 15 points
Cagliari (13 games) – 14 points
Bologna (13 games) – 14 points
Parma (13 games) – 12 points
Fiorentina (13 games) – 11 points
Spezia (13 games) – 11 points
Torino (13 games) – 7 points
Genoa (13 games) – 7 points
Crotone (13 games) – 6 points
December 22, 2020
Crotone vs Parma (Italian Serie A)
Juventus vs Fiorentina (Italian Serie A)
December 23, 2020
Hellas Verona vs Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)
Bologna vs Atalanta (Italian Serie A)
AC Milan vs Lazio (Italian Serie A)
Napoli vs Torino (Italian Serie A)
Roma vs Cagliari (Italian Serie A)
Sampdoria vs Sassuolo (Italian Serie A)
Spezia vs Genoa (Italian Serie A)
Udinese vs Benevento (Italian Serie A)
