Four major leagues across Europe have fixtures that could wow any football supporter. On Sunday, Barcelona host Real Madrid in the El clasico game. And for the first time in almost a decade it wouldn’t be featuring two icons (Lionel Messi and Ronaldo). The former is injured while the latter has moved to the Serie side Juventus. Next up would be the game in Serie A where Napoli play host to Roma. While in France Olympique Marsielle look to slow down PSG’s point accumulation at the top of the summit. On Monday night football we see struggling Tottenham host Manchester city at Wembley as City look to continue their streak.Read on for more on these match previews.
Spain – La liga
Barcelona – Real Madrid
This game would look set to be a real cracker. Real Madrid is in a very uncomfortable position and Lopetegui seems to be on the very edge of a sack. He would be looking for a lifeline while Barcelona might take this as an advantage to further extend the points.
Barcelona would very much be the favorites in this game despite their star man being out with an injury. With this being the case the game looks very open as both sides look to fight it out. In mid week Barcelona put in one of their best performances of the season as they saw off inter 2 nil.
Los Blancos also won in mid week though the score line wasn’t all convincing. They defeated Viktoria Plzen 2goals to 1 but this hasn’t relieved Lopetegui in anyway. On a lighter note, it did bring to an end a 4 match winless run . The performance in that game however wasn’t better than any so far this season. At the camp nou, the visitors have a pretty decent record but based on current firm we just can’t back them in this encounter.
Generally the whole team has been poor with errors in almost every department. Lucas Vasquez was indeed very poor in their last game, while Isco is yet to hit form with Modric still below his average performance.
Barcelona is unbeaten in 41 home matches in the league and has scored in each of their last 21 games against Madrid. This sequence looks likely to continue in this game.
PICK
Home win or draw over 1.5 goals
Italy – Serie A
Napoli- Roma
Roma come into this game on the back of a win p81 in the European big stage. Nevertheless, their league run hasn’t been so impressive. They sit in 7th position and are 7 points adrift of Napoli and 11 from Juventus. Roma do have an impressive record against Napoli and could be looking to get their league campaign back on track. Napoli drew 2 all against PSG in a thrilling encounter but fatigue could be a factor coming into this game. Half of the defeats to Napoli at home have come from Roma since 2015 August. Their last two games ending in both teams scoring and Roma winning.
The host have scored at least twice in their last three matches and have also scored 9 in their last 6 matches at home in this fixture. Roma make the trip on the back of 17 goals in their last 6 matches and their high scoring record at the San Paolo cant be ignored. This game is shaping up to be another high scoring affair.
It is also worthy of mention that the host conceded 2 at home to Ac milan and 3 when they played Juventus. Their last defeat at home in the league came in this fixture, while they have also found the net in their last 4 matches against Roma. They do look like a threatening side upfront but their defence need improvement as was clearly shown in their mid week game.
PICK
Both teams to score
France – Ligue 1
Olympique Marsielle – Paris Saint Germain
League leaders face a real test here as they are yet to drop a point in 10 matches so far. Thomas Tuchels side have been very comfortable in the domestic setup so far and his attack has been lit. They have scored at least 3 goals in each of their leagues matches this season. Both Neymar and Mbappe are almost on double figures as they look to become the team with the most goals in Europe this season.
On the continental scene however they have struggled a bit, with a loss to Liverpool and a recent draw to Napoli. Those games were a real break from the norm as they weren’t allowed to ditacte the pace of the game. They were able to do the above in wins against Amiens, Lyon and st. Etienne with those games ending (5-0, 5-0 and 4-0) consecutively. Against Lyon the game was supposed to be tough but they easily put their opponents to bed with 5 goals.
Marsielle have had their share of difficult fixtures as they defeated Nice and Caen earning six points in the process. After their loss to lazio in the Europa league they would be looking to come into this game with all they got. They have a great home record so far with just one loss in 21 matches.
English Premier league
Tottenham – Manchester City
In the past week Tottenham champions league campaign was dealt another blow as the final result was a draw. With just 1 point from a possible 9, their chances of qualifying look really slim. Here, they return to the domestic setting as they look to keep city quiet on Monday night. They are just 2points away from the Citizens but haven’t been impressive lately. Their ride has been pretty bumpy and unpredictable as they lost 2-1 to Liverpool only to beat Manchester United later on.
City aren’t the same team that won the EPL last season in terms of their dominance but will still be considered as favorites. With January fast approaching, the visitors seem to been way better that they were at the start of the season. Last week saw them whitewash Burnley by 5 goals to nil which kept their 9 game unbeaten run going.
Scoring 26 goals in this campaign so far, dropping points only to Liverpool and Wolves we think they have enough fire power to win this game.
The host have lost 10 of their last 15 meetings with the Citizens.
PICK
Away win or draw under 3.5 goals
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