Matches

Weekend Bangers – The final laps of the season in Europe’s t-5 leagues.

 

 

WEEKEND BANGERS

 

Atletico Madrid are fighting to save the spot at the top of the Spanish La Liga standings.
Bayern Munich are looking to keep or widen their lead in the Bundesliga after the advantage they gained in the last round after beating RB Leipzig.
Manchester City will try and get a win from Leeds to increase the comfortable lead they are enjoying in the Premier League.
Lille are trying to snap Paris St. Germain’s success in Ligue 1.
Inter Milan are looking to snap Juventus’s success in Serie A.
… and then there is the El Clasico : Real Madrid vs Barcelona.

Only thing left to complete the weekend is you watching these games.

 

 

IN THE FRENCH LIGUE 1

METZ VS LILLE
Can Lille win the title after 10 years?
What should be following up a wing against Paris St. Germain is another against Metz.
Lille will need a win to ensure their 3-point lead in the Ligue 1 title race holds for another round.
They will face a Metz side that is coming from Monaco with a 4-0 defeat.
It’s 7 more rounds to go and Lille will need to finish strong to take the league title away from Paris St. Germain.

 

STRASBOURG VS PARIS ST. GERMAIN
While the other clubs can call it a successful domestic campaign by securing a place in a continental competition, finishing first in Ligue 1 is the only way Paris St. Germain can call their season a successful one. Bouncing back from defeat to Lille will be important for Paris St. Germain when they go against a Strasbourg side that will come to this game to find a result that will add to the three points they picked up at Bordeaux.

 

MONTPELLIER VS MARSEILLE
A win in this fixture will get Montpellier even on points accumulated.
Montpellier dropped points against Angers in the last round to allow Marseille to use a win against bottom table Dijon to open a 3 point gap between the two teams.
Marseille are further from the ‘top 4’ than they would’ve liked to be, but a strong finish to the season should give them a ‘respectable’ position in the final league standings.

 

MONACO VS DIJON
Monaco will host bottom table Dijon.
Coming to this game on the back of consecutive 4-0 wins, the expectation is that Monaco will pick up another win (maybe by the same score) against bottom table Dijon.
It will be another three points picked up to help Monaco contest for direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League ( and maybe the league title).

Dijon is relegation bound. 13 points from the team directly above them in the relegation zone. 15 points from 31 matches.

 

LYON VS ANGERS
Angers could use the points.
They both enter this fixture after partaking in a 1-1 draw in the last round.
Lyon are in the mix of league title contention so a win will be vital to keep their interest in the race.

 

 

 

IN THE ITALIAN SERIE A

 

PARMA VS AC MILAN
Granted that preseason expectations were not as high as their start to the season, AC Milan might look back on this season as a missed opportunity.
Parma will be looking for the points to help them escape the drop, while AC Milan will be searching for the points to help the recovery process from recent disappointments.

 

INTER MILAN VS CAGLIARI
It looks like Inter Milan might finally get the Scudetto back since 2010.
They are sitting 11 points clear at the top of the league with 9 more rounds of the season left to be played.
Inter Milan will aim to chase their midweek win against Sassuolo with a weekend win against Cagliari.
Cagliari needs the points to help their escape from relegation.

 

HELLAS VERONA VS LAZIO
Lazio are with a game in hand and 11 points ahead of Hellas Verona.
The objective for Lazio at the moment is to stay in the mix of the teams that are hunting for a place in continental competitions for the coming season.

 

SAMPDORIA VS NAPOLI
They are 20 points ahead of Sampdoria in the league as things stand. A win in Genova for Napoli will increase their luck of getting back in a Champions League football qualification.
Napoli appealed to play their fixture with Juventus; to end up with the same outcome.
A 2-1 midweek defeat in Turin kept Napoli out of the ‘top 4’.

 

JUVENTUS VS GENOA
Juventus ended successive games without a win when they beat Napoli 2-1 on Wednesday.
They will host Genoa with the intention of kicking off a winnings streak in the league.
The reverse fixture was a 3-1 win for Juventus, but the last meeting between the two was in the Coppa Italia (Round of 16); and it took extra time for Juventus to get the win in Turin.
As things stand in the league, Genoa’s ambition is to finish high in the mid table.

 

FIORENTINA VS ATALANTA
Champions League qualification is the objective for Atalanta at the moment.
Atalanta will look to make it 4 league wins in a row when they go up against Fiorentina.

 

ROMA VS BOLOGNA
Sitting below Lazio is never a good feeling for AS Roma.
With no win in their last three league games, Roma are hoping Bologna’s visit to the Stadio Olimpico will come with the three points they need.
Bologna might have suffered defeat in their last game but it was against the league leaders; and a ‘1-0’ defeat. Roma will need to bring their best.

 

 

 

 

IN THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

 

MANCHESTER CITY VS LEEDS UNITED
Leeds are coming into this fixture with wins from their last two league games. (Granted it was against relegation threatened opposition)

There are 7 matches left for Manchester City to play . They are 14 points clear in the lead and are not giving out any signs of letting much slip in the final laps of the Premier League title race.
The reverse fixture ended a 1-1 draw, but things have changed in form for both clubs since.

 

LIVERPOOL VS ASTON VILLA

Liverpool were 3-0 winners against Arsenal in the last round but were on the wrong side of a 3-1 score in their midweek Champions League fixture.
As bad as the season has been, Liverpool are a win away from a Champions League qualifying spot. And the first leg results in the quarter final Champions League match has increased the importance of qualifying for the competition through the league.

After consecutive wins on the road, Liverpool are back to their home grounds (Anfield); where they’ve not won a game in their last 8 league games there. Their most recent 6 home games have ended in defeat.
And despite Aston Villa’s struggle to find a string of good results in recent weeks, they were the side to hand Liverpool a defeat this season; and it was not by a small margin.
Aston Villa are 7-2 winners in the reverse fixture. Ollie Watkins scored a hatrick. They will mathematically be in position to overtake Liverpool in the standings if they are to beat them (again).
Aston Villa are coming into this match after a win against relegation-zoned Fulham.

 

CRYSTAL PALACE VS CHELSEA
Chelsea were unbeaten under Thomas Tuchel’s management till their game against West Brom, so a losing streak can’t follow an unbeaten one.
It was a 4-0 win for Chelsea earlier this season.
After the 5-2 defeat against West Brom in the last round, Chlesea will look for a repeat of the reverse fixture when they visit Crystal Palace.

 

 

 

WEST HAM VS LEICESTER
West Ham sit at the brink of qualification for Champions League football.
A win against Leicester is the only way West Ham can guarantee they remain in the ‘top 4’ at the end of the round. Their city rivals (Chelsea and Tottenham) are lurking.
Leicester City were pinned back in the last round by Manchester City, so a victory to bounce back into contention will be their objective for this fixture.

 

TOTTENHAM VS MANCHESTER UNITED
Only Manchester City are in a better position in the league than Manchester United.
While Tottenham failed to hold on to a lead and dropped points in their last game, Manchester United came from a goal down to win the match.
However, it was a 6-1 win for Tottenham at Old Trafford when the two teams met in the reverse leg.
Can we expect a response from a ‘stronger’ Manchester United?

 

 

 

IN THE SPANISH LA LIGA

 

 

 

REAL MADRID VS BARCELONA
Real Madrid and Barcelona are both coming into this El Clasico in good form. They’ve both done enough in recent weeks to take advantage of Atletico Madrid’s dropped points and made the league title intense.
Real Madrid have been the winners in the last two editions of the El Clasico. Another win will get Real Madrid above Barcelona in the league standings by a point.
For Barcelona, this is an opportunity here to open a 5-point lead on Real Madrid and possibly end the round at leaders in the title race.

 

REAL BETIS VS ATLETICO MADRID
Atletico Madrid goes back to Seville after suffering a defeat there in the last round.
Real Betis will be the opponent this time around.

 

 

 

 

IN THE GERMAN BUNDESLIGA

 

BAYERN MUNICH VS UNION BERLIN
After picking up a massive win at Leipzig, Bayern Munich will go back home to host Union Berlin with the plan to defend their 7-point lead in the title race.
It ended as a ‘1-1’ draw in the earlier meeting of the two, so Bayern Munich will have to make up for those two points dropped to keep or extend their lead in the Bundesliga title race.
For Union Berlin, playing their cards right could see them get a place in the Europa League for the coming season.

 

 

FRANKFURT VS WOLFSBURG
Wolfsburg are a win from being second, while Frankfurt will be a point away from Wolfsburg with a win.
Wolfsburg are looking for their 4th win in a row.
Frankfurt are looking for their 3rd win in a row.
The good news for both clubs is that there is enough distance between them and the chasing pack to cushion them in the ‘top 4’ even if there is an unfavorable outcome from this fixture.

 

WERDER BREMEN VS RB LEIPZIG
Werder Bremen will be staring at a 4th straight league defeat when they host a RB Leipzig team that will be in search of a result to respond to their defeat against Bayern Munich in the last round.
And with both Wolfsburg and Frankfurt picking up steaming up from behind, RB Leipzig can’t allow for the dropping of points.

 

STUTTGART VS DORTMUND
Defeat to Frankfurt in the last round has pushed Dortmund to 7 points away from Champions League qualifying spot in the league.
And after losing their first-leg quarter final match in the Champions League in the middle of the week, the need to secure qualification through the Bundesliga is only growing.
This won’t be an easy task for Dortmund as Stuttgart’s only defeat in their last 7 games have come against Bayern Munich.

 

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