10-02-2018, Saturday
Premier League
3:30 Tottenham vs Arsenal
6:00 Stoke vs Brighton
6:00 Everton vs Crystal Palace
6:00 Swansea vs Burnley
6:00 West Ham vs Watford
8:30 Manchester City vs Leicester
SUNDAY
3:00 Huddersfield vs Bournemouth
5:15 Newcastle United vs Manchester United
7:30 Southampton vs Liverpool

Pep Guardiola stated pleasure at the display in last Saturday’s draw at Burnley yet a born-winner will want Manchester City to return to victorious ways especially as the Champions League resumes next week. How things have changed for Leicester City and Riyad Mahrez since the latter tore City apart in the same fixture two years ago during the Foxes’ title-winning season. The Algerian is available again but unlikely to start after only returning to training on Friday due to his disgruntlement over a failed move to the league leaders.

Venue Etihad Stadium

Last season Manchester City 2 Leicester 1

Referee Mike Jones

This season G10 Y33 R1 3.4 cards/game

MANCHESTER CITY
Subs from Bravo, Touré, Adarabioyo, Díaz, Otamendi, Stones, Foden, Zinchenko, D Silva

Doubtful D Silva (hip) Stones (knee)

Injured Jesus (knee, 24 Feb), Sané (ankle, 24 Mar), Mendy (knee, Apr),Delph (knee, unknown)

Suspended None

Discipline Y41 R2

Form DWLWWD

Leading scorer Agüero 17

LEICESTER
Subs from Hamer, Jakupovic, Gray, Silva, Iborra, Amartey, Huth, Mahrez, Chilwell, Benalouane, Choudhury

Doubtful Mahrez (fitness)

Injured Morgan (fitness, 17 Feb), Okazaki (knee, 24 Feb)

Suspended None

Discipline Y31 R3

Form LWDWLD

Leading scorer Vardy 12

 

Harry Kane vs Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is at the top of the bill but this is a fascinating clash on so many levels and it has the trappings of a six-pointer in terms of the race for a top-four finish. Tottenham have come to feel at home at Wembley but Arsenal have won on each of their previous nine visits to the national stadium. How Arsène Wenger’s side need to find some stability and personality away from home.

Venue Wembley Stadium

Last season Tottenham 2 Arsenal 0

Referee Anthony Taylor

This season G17 Y65 R0 3.82 cards/game

TOTTENHAM
Subs from Vorm, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Walker-Peters, Rose, Sánchez, Foyth, Wanyama, Winks, Oakley-Boothe, Sissoko, Lucas, Lamela, Llorente

Doubtful None

Injured None

Suspended None

Discipline Y33 R2

Form WDWDWD

Leading scorer Kane 22

ARSENAL
Subs from Cech, Macey, Iliev, Chambers, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Mavropanos, Mertesacker, Elneny, Iwobi, Nelson, Lacazette, Welbeck

Doubtful Cech (calf), Monreal (illness), Welbeck (groin)

Injured Cazorla (achilles, unknown)

Suspended None

Discipline Y39 R0

Form DDLWLW

Leading scorer Lacazette 9

Apologies are required all round from Everton as they attempt to put breathing space between themselves and Roy Hodgson’s injury-hit team. Sam Allardyce owes one to Hodgson having not contacted his England predecessor personally in the 17 months since being caught mocking his speech. Everton’s players also need to atone for their apology of a performance, and latest in a series of capitulations, at Arsenal last weekend. Palace are missing nine senior players through injury and Goodison Park will be short on forgiveness should Everton fail to capitalise on their good fortune.

Venue Goodison Park

Last season Everton 1 Crystal Palace 1

Referee Jonathan Moss

This season G19 Y73 R2 3.95 cards/game

EVERTON
Subs from Robles, Niasse, Tosun, Kenny, Williams, Martina, Holgate, Schneiderlin, Bolasie, Klaassen, Vlasic, Baningime, Funes Mori

Doubtful Funes Mori (knee)

Injured Baines (calf), Stekelenburg (groin, both unknown), McCarthy (broken leg, Sep)

Suspended None

Discipline Y41 R2

Form LLLDWL

Leading scorer Rooney 10

CRYSTAL PALACE
Subs from Henry, Souaré, Ward, Wan-Bisakka, Delaney, Jach, Rakip, Kirby, Lee, Sørloth

Doubtful None

Injured Kelly (hamstring, 26 Feb), Zaha (knee, 31 Mar), Loftus-Cheek (ankle, Apr), Speroni (knee, May), Puncheon, Wickham, (both knee, Aug), Dann (knee), Sako (ankle, both Sep)

Suspended None

Discipline Y49 R0

Form DWWLDD

Leading scorer Milivojevic 6

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Bundesliga

5:30 Hoffenheim vs Mainz 05
5:30 Bayer Leverkusen vs Hertha Berlin
5:30 Borussia Dortmund vs Hamburger SV
5:30 Eintracht Frankfurt vs FC Cologne
5:30 Hannover 96 vs Freiburg
8:30 Bayern Munich vs Schalke 04
SUNDAY
5:30 VfB Stuttgart vs Borussia M.Gladbach
8:00 Werder Bremen vs Wolfsburg

Bayern Munich host Schalke as Bavarians eye fastest ever title

A 6-0 drubbing of third-tier Paderborn is not exactly a litmus test of form, but Bayern Munich are looking close to their irrepressible best again.

Since losing 2-1 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in late November, Bayern have reeled off 13 consecutive victories in all competitions. They are 18 points clear at the top of the table and pending other results, could be crowned champions as soon as March 4, which would be a new Bundesliga record.

Arjen Robben scored two late goals in Paderborn and could be in line to return to the team on Saturday, but Thomas Müller is a doubt having come off injured after only 32 minutes. Javi Martinez and Jerome Boateng are back in contention and Thiago Alcantara is approaching a return having returned to full training — and coach Jupp Heynckes is clearly itching to have him back. “Thiago has been impressive in training, but won’t be available on Saturday,” Heynckes said. “But we’re very happy to have such a class player back.”

Schalke searching for form

Schalke have been impressive under coach Dominic Tedesco this season, but have hit some rockier form of late, winning only one of their last four Bundesliga games and losing to Werder Bremen and RB Leipzig since the turn of the year — a combination of results that has seen them slip to fifth, albeit just a point behind second-placed Leverkusen.

Their narrow 1-0 win over Wolfsburg in the German Cup in midweek wasn’t pretty, but it offers some indication that Schalke are returning to winning ways. Guido Burgstaller scored the winning goal to send Schalke into the last four, but the striker is without a goal in five Bundesliga games and Schalke need him to be on song to have a chance of downing Bayern. Leon Goretzka has been Schalke’s leading man this season but is short of top form after injury. Some Schalke fans have not accepted his decision to join Bayern, but the coaches of his current and next club both say he has the character to handle the occasion.

“Of course, Leon Goretzka is looking forward to the game,” Tedesco said on Friday. “It’s always tough to face Bayern and the challenge will motivate him.” Heynckes added his support, saying: “I think that the young man is very calm and copes well with the fans’ criticism.”

Elsewhere on Matchday 21

Hamburg vs Dortmund: A big game on Saturday afternoon in Hamburg as Borussia Dortmund come to town. Hamburg are desperate for a win as they find themselves four points from safety and Cologne now only four points behind. Peter Stöger’s Dortmund also need the points to keep pace in the race for Champions League football, having been held to draws in three of their last four games. But a fine debut by Michy Batshuayi has given Dortmund hope that they can reassert themselves at the front of the chasing pack.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Hertha Berlin: Leverkusen face a big test in the shape of Hertha Berlin as they look to remain in the driving seat in the chasing pack behind Bayern Munich. Since losing to Bayern in the first game after the winter break, Heiko Herrlich’s side beat Hoffenheim and Mainz back-to-back, but were held by Freiburg last weekend. Hertha meanwhile are still seeking a first win in 2018, having drawn their last three.

Werder Bremen vs Wolfsburg: A game between two sides whose runs in the German Cup came to an end this week, and turn their attentions to staying in the Bundesliga. Werder’s position in the table is the most precarious, sitting level on points with Mainz and just three points clear of Hamburg in 17th. Wolfsburg will also want to ease their fears of getting sucked into the danger zone.

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La Liga
3:00 Villarreal vs Alaves
6:15 Malaga vs Atletico Madrid
8:30 Leganes vs Eibar
10:45 Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad
SUNDAY
2:00 Sevilla vs Girona
6:15 Barcelona vs Getafe
8:30 Celta Vigo vs Espanyol
10:45 Valencia vs Levante

Home banker as Barca tighten La Liga grip

If ever there was a game where three points were virtually guaranteed for one side or the other, this is it. Although Getafe have been tough to beat at home, as Barcelona found out earlier in the season, they’ve only beaten Leganes away, back in early September.

Further, they’ve not won at the Camp Nou this century. Barca will be without Samuel Umtiti who is serving a one-game ban, and Ousmane Dembele won’t be rushed back either. However, with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi in such devastating form and likely to play because of a free midweek, any goals will come from the Blaugrana.

Jose Bordalas is likely to bring his team to frustrate Barcelona, but they have no punch up front so a counter-attacking philosophy is moribund.
Rotation for Real with PSG in mind

Though Zinedine Zidane risks upsetting the Madridistas even further, a rotation policy (that he had no problem with last season) for this game is sensible. Real Sociedad have been poor over the last few weeks and are perilously close to the relegation places. They’ll come to fight at the Santiago Bernabeu because coach, Eusebio Sacristan, wouldn’t have it any other way, but 40 goals conceded already (4th worst in La Liga), tells its own story.

Paris Saint-Germain have dominated Madrid’s thinking ever since the Champions League draw was made, and with Dani Carvajal suspended for that one, Zidane can’t risk losing any more of his ‘A-team’ in a fixture that’s largely irrelevant to Los Blancos.

Like it or not, they’re out of the title race, so the game against Sociedad is the perfect opportunity to blood those that haven’t had much game time this season. The hosts would like nothing more than a huge boost before playing the French side, but they’ll need to keep Willian Jose and Mikel Oyarzabal quiet in particular if they want to emerged unscathed.
Malaga in danger of being cut adrift by Atleti

Atletico Madrid have the luxury of knowing that they can lose this one and still be at least six points ahead of Valencia in third. That won’t affect Diego Simeone’s mindset, however, and he’ll go for the jugular from the off against a team who are devoid of confidence at the present time.

Malaga are already seven points adrift of safety, which could be as many as 10 if the Rojiblancos come away with a victory. La Rosaleda is a bit of a bogey ground from Atleti, having drawn and lost as many as they’ve won (4) there over the last 15 years.

The league remains the club’s priority now, and Simeone still believes that Barcelona can be caught. Of the last seven games, Malaga have lost five and drawn the other two. It’s hard to see where a win comes from for them, because even with Diego Godin out for a few weeks, Atleti have more than enough in defence to cope with Brown Ideye and Adrian Gonzalez. Antoine Griezmann will be given freedom to roam, and against a static back four, will have easy pickings along with Diego Costa.
Cup hangover for Sevilla

The joy of reaching another cup final – Sevilla’s 17th in 12 years – will be tempered by a fixture against surprise package Girona so soon afterwards. Vincenzo Montella has been hit and miss at the Andalusians so far, whereas his opposite number, Pablo Machin, has surpassed all expectations in his debut season as coach of Girona.

Minnows they may be, but plenty of Goliath’s have been slain already by this David. Just ask Real and Atletico Madrid, neither of whom have beaten the Catalans this season. Without a punishing cup semi-final to concern themselves with, the visitors will arrive at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan fresher than their hosts. Hosts who only managed to beat them 1-0 in the reverse fixture.

Expect both teams to set up as they did in that game, Girona’s 3-4-2-1 countering Sevilla’s 4-3-3. Cristhian Stuani will enjoy getting at Clement Lenglet, and the key player in this game is Steven N’Zonzi. He has to sit in front of his central defensive pairing and close the gaps at the earliest opportunity. It probably won’t be enough.
Eibar to continue European push at Leganes

Eibar… In Europe… not as fanciful as it first appears. The smallest team ever to play in La Liga are finally enjoying another great campaign after a poor start. A win here, and a Sevilla loss, would take Los Armeros above the Andalusians, and depending how Villarreal have fared against Alaves, to potentially within two points of fifth spot.

Leganes are a tough nut to crack at home, but will have expended a huge amount of energy trying to get to their first-ever Copa del Rey final in midweek. That extra game in the legs can’t be downplayed, and Asier Garitano’s side looked dead on their feet at times towards the end of their semi-final.

Eibar have lost just one of the last nine against Atletico Madrid, but have hammered Sevilla (5-0), Girona (4-1) and also beaten Valencia 2-1 in that run.  Fabian Orellana is an obvious danger man for the visitors, so Leganes’ Omar Ramos has to get back and help his full-back, Raul Garcia, in order to stop the main supply line to Charles and Kike.

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Serie A

5:00 SPAL 2013 vs AC Milan
8:00 Crotone vs Atalanta
10:45 Napoli vs Lazio
SUNDAY
2:30 Sassuolo vs Cagliari
5:00 Torino vs Udinese
5:00 Inter vs Bologna
5:00 Chievo vs Genoa
5:00 Sampdoria vs Verona
10:45 Roma vs Benevento

Napoli’s Serie A Lead in Jeopardy Entering Crunch Clash vs. Lazio

This weekend pits Serie A’s league leaders against Lazio – a side currently looking very capable of Champions League qualification next season. While many of Napoli’s opponents this term have been swept aside with ease, Lazio pose an unusually difficult threat, and will enter the match having lost only one of their last seven league games. That one defeat came on Monday night against Genoa, and the players will be determined to fix things with a massive three points on their travels this weekend.

Napoli, on the other hand, come into the match having won their last seven Serie A games – though only remain one point clear of Juventus at the top of the table. Maurizio Sarri’s men will be hoping to continue their trend of recent wins on Saturday, using the home advantage to keep away from the closely chasing Old Lady.

Napoli: WLWWWW
The hosts come into the game with their only loss of their last six matches coming against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia. However, their last league loss came on December 1st, and an unbeaten two months leaves the squad oozing with confidence in their hunt for the Serie A title.

Lazio: WWWLDL
Despite having scored 16 goals in their last six matches, Lazio haven’t won a match since overcoming Udinese on January 24. A Coppa exit to AC Milan followed by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Genoa will have left the squad eager to get back to winning ways – and who better to do it against than the league leaders?
SPAL vs Milan Preview

In form AC Milan travel to relegation threatened SPAL on Saturday, with Genaro Gattuso’s side looking to close the gap to the European places. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Serie A clash this weekend.

Milan come into this game off the back of a five game unbeaten run in the league, their best in Serie A this season, a run that has seen them move to within three points of Sampdoria in the final Europa League place in Italy.
Samp however have a ten goal advantage over the Rossoneri in the goal difference panel, so despite playing before their rivals this weekend, Milan will be unlikely to reach move into a European place this weekend. SPAL on the other hand are winless in six Serie A games, and have picked up maximum points on just three occasions this season, leaving the club three points adrift of safety in their debut season in the league in their current incarnation. They will however take confidence from their recent 1-1 draw at home to Milan’s local rivals Inter.

Fiorentina vs Juventus
Fresh off the Derby dell’Appennino, Fiorentina get to host rivals in Juventus. With an unquiet fan base facing its most-hated opponent, we could see some spectacular crowd action here; whether it’s banners and singing or another exit en masse during the match will depend on how the Gigliati perform against their guests.

These two have played 156 times, with the Gigliati managing a rather unimpressive W33 D50 L73. Over the past 10 meetings in Serie A, the Viola are W2 D1 L7 (scoring 11 and conceding 17) against the evil empire, including a 0-1 loss earlier this year and a 2-1 win last year in Florence.

The referee for this one will be Marco Guida. In 11 Serie A matches this season, he’s handed out 41 yellow cards, 5 red cards, and 2 penalties; clearly we can expect him to intervene frequently in the play. In the 13 Fiorentina matches he’s handled, the Viola are W5 D5 L3, while Juve are W8 D4 L1 under his watch.

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Ligue 1

7:00 Toulouse vs Paris Saint Germain
10:00 Dijon vs Nice
10:00 Metz vs Montpellier
10:00 Bordeaux vs Amiens
10:00 Guingamp vs Caen
10:00 Angers vs Monaco
SUNDAY
5:00 Strasbourg vs Troyes
7:00 Nantes vs Lille
11:00 Lyon vs Rennes

Bordeaux v Amiens (8th v 17th)
Gustavo Poyet has made a tremendous start as Bordeaux manager and the hosts are a good bet to collect three points this weekend.
Poyet took over last month and Bordeaux have won two out of two games on his watch: they beat highly-fancied Lyon in their first home outing under the new manager and followed up with an impressively professional 2-0 triumph at Strasbourg last weekend.
The Uruguayan has lifted the players’ morale and there’ll be no easing off this weekend as Bordeaux want to climb the table and eventually challenge for a European place.
Amiens are in terrible form. They’ve lost seven of their last nine Ligue 1 fixtures and are now just above the relegation positions.
Gael Kakuta was excellent in the autumn but has lost his way in recent weeks, and the other attackers aren’t pulling their weight. Amiens have failed to score in six of their last nine outings.

Metz v Montpellier (20th v 6th)
Metz have had a tough week but look underrated at home to Montpellier this weekend.
Frederic Hantz’s side lost 6-3 at Marseille last weekend and went out of the French Cup to Caen on penalties on Wednesday night (2-2 draw after extra-time).
Their form generally over the past two months has been excellent, though – Metz are W4-D2-L2 since early December and an even better W4-D2-L0 if you exclude their fixtures against top-four sides such as Marseille.
Metz are also unbeaten in their last five home games in all competitions and have everything to play for as they’re looking to climb out of the relegation zone.
Montpellier are 14 places and 16 points above Metz in the table but Metz’s dramatic improvement over the past two months makes the gap less relevant.
Montpellier have also reserved their best performances this season for clashes against Ligue 1’s top sides. Their W3-D5-L3 overall away record shows that, statistically speaking, their chances of winning this weekend are slim.

Lyon v Rennes (4th v 10th)
Lyon have everything to play for and plenty to prove this weekend and should be too strong for the faltering visitors.
The hosts will still be kicking themselves after letting a 2-0 lead slip at Monaco last weekend. Even though they played against ten men for the entire second-half they somehow ended up losing 3-2 against their direct rivals for a top-three place.
Lyon rarely play poorly two weeks in a row, however, so there’s a good chance they’ll bounce back this weekend. They were better at Montpellier (2-1) in the French Cup on Wednesday night and will be confident of collecting all three points, especially as they have excellent team news.
Rennes have some good players but cannot put together a run of results. Their 1-0 home defeat to Guingamp last weekend was their fifth loss in their last seven Ligue 1 matches.
It’s worth noting that Rennes have struggled every time they’ve recently faced a top-four side such as Lyon: they lost 3-2 and 6-1 to PSG in two separate cup competitions in January, 4-1 at home to PSG in the league in December and 3-0 at home to Marseille last month.

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Championship
3:15 Barnsley vs Sheffield Wednesday
3:30 Sheffield United vs Leeds
6:00 Bolton vs Fulham
6:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Queens Park Rangers
6:00 Ipswich vs Burton
6:00 Nottingham Forest vs Hull
6:00 Bristol City vs Sunderland
6:00 Brentford vs Preston
6:00 Derby vs Norwich
6:00 Middlesbrough vs Reading
SUNDAY
3:00 Aston Villa vs Birmingham

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Eredivisie
8:30 Heracles vs Willem II
8:30 FC Utrecht vs PEC Zwolle
9:45 Sparta Rotterdam vs PSV Eindhoven
10:45 SC Heerenveen vs Roda
10:45 AZ Alkmaar vs VVV-Venlo
SUNDAY
2:30 Ajax vs Twente
4:30 Vitesse vs Feyenoord
4:30 Excelsior vs NAC Breda
6:45 FC Groningen vs ADO Den Haag

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Super Lig
1:30 Goztepe vs Osmanlispor FK
4:00 Genclerbirligi vs Trabzonspor
7:00 Besiktas vs Karabukspor
SUNDAY
1:30 Kayserispor vs Sivasspor
1:30 Akhisar Belediyespor vs Bursaspor
4:00 Alanyaspor vs Konyaspor
7:00 Istanbul Basaksehir vs Fenerbahce

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Jupiler League
8:00 Oostende vs Anderlecht
10:00 Kortrijk vs Royal Antwerp
10:00 KV Mechelen vs Eupen
10:30 Gent vs St.Truiden
SUNDAY
4:30 Waasland-Beveren vs Club Bruges
8:00 Standard Liege vs Royal Excel Mouscron
10:00 Sporting Charleroi vs Lokeren

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Liga NOS
7:00 Rio Ave vs Maritimo
9:15 Braga vs Vitoria de Setubal
11:30 Portimonense vs Benfica
SUNDAY
7:00 Chaves vs FC Porto
7:00 Belenenses vs Aves
9:00 Sporting CP vs Feirense
11:15 Boavista vs Vitoria de Guimaraes