Six-pointer in Italy and English Cup Action
Another important week across Europe’s biggest leagues with some important league and cup matches taking place. Most of the domestic cups played a round of fixtures in midweek and return to league action at the weekend, but in England they have gone down the opposite route, playing a round of league fixtures in midweek and following that up with a round of FA Cup matches over the weekend.
The first cup match is this evening as Aston Villa take on Cardiff in what the home team will hope is a return to winning ways. There are four cup matches on Saturday with the likes of Manchester City and Crystal Palace taking on teams from the Championship. The all-PL clashes are saved for Sunday as Newcastle host Brighton followed by Manchester United’s match against Fulham. The final match of the round takes place on Monday and is another meeting of two teams from the top division, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich.
Elsewhere, Bayern kick off the Bundesliga action on Friday when they travel to Stuttgart and the likes of Monaco, Fiorentina and Valladolid also play. On Saturday top of the table PSG host fourth placed Lille in an interesting match up from Ligue 1, one of three matches. There are six matches to be played in the Bundesliga, with the pick of the bunch being the late match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. The clash of the weekend from the Serie A sees first take on second as Inter make the journey south to play Napoli and both Madrid teams also play on Saturday with Atlético at home to Bilbao and Real away to Betis.
There are five Ligue 1 matches scheduled for Sunday with Lyon and Marseille among the teams in action. Only two Bundesliga matches including fourth played Freiburg’s trip to Augsburg. The highlight of the day in Italy is the late match between AC Milan and Lazio, two teams battling it out for a European spot for next season. La Liga leaders Barcelona face a tricky opponent in Real Sociedad on Sunday afternoon in one of four La Liga encounters.
As is usually the case, many of the top leagues save a match for Monday with Juventus, Sporting and Villarreal among the teams in action as well as the aforementioned solitary FA Cup tie.
Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich
MHP Arena, Friday @ 20:30
Stuttgart have struggled for form of late with just one win from their last five matches, a run of results that has put a dent in their hopes of returning to CL action next season. They are now three points behind the top four and face a daunting match on Friday evening against Champions-elect Bayern. Stuttgart do not have a good record against their illustrious opponents, only winning one of the last eleven matches between these two, although that was last year on their way to finishing above Bayern in the final table. Two successive home defeats has put them in a tricky situation though heading into this game.
The last meeting between these two, earlier in the season was a 5-0 thrashing for Bayern. Last weekend they beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 and now have an eight point lead over second placed Leverkusen with only eleven matches to go as they look to win their 34th Bundesliga title. History is firmly on their side as they have 70 wins over Stuttgart and they have scored 69 goals already in the Bundesliga this season. The fact that they have kept 12 clean sheets to add to the mix makes them an ominous prospect for any opponent and few will back against another win on Friday evening.
Seven wins from the last ten for Bayern with only one for Stuttgart emphasise how one sided this has been historically.
Napoli vs Inter
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Saturday @ 18:00
This really is a Serie A ‘six pointer’ as the top two in the league clash on Saturday in what is surely to be a pivotal tie when it comes to the title race. Napoli’s build up to this match has been far from ideal as they have not won in their last four league matches, a very poor run of form. When you add on the fact that they have a very poor record in general against Inter, with only one win in the last eleven matches against the team from Milan. A positive they can look towards is the fact that manager Antonio Conte has personally a good record against Inter, with four wins and three draws so they will be hoping he can muster up some magic to help them return to the top of the table.
A win for Inter would see them move four points clear of their opponents with eleven matches to play. Inter’s form hasn’t been the best either with just two wins out of their last five league games but they did at least win their Coppa Italia tie in midweek, getting the better of Lazio with a 2-0 win to set up a semi final tie with rivals AC Milan in April. Inter’s main struggles of late have been away from home, so this trip to the south might concern them. They have not managed a win in their last three away from the San Siro and their next away match is another difficult one, against Atalanta.
The last two meetings both ended as 1-1 draws and Napoli only have one win in the last ten meetings. Inter have five wins in that same timeframe.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bayer Leverkusen
Deutsche Bank Park, Saturday @ 18:30
Eintracht Frankfurt were on a decent run right up until they came up against leaders Bayern last weekend, when they lost 4-0 to the Bavarian giants. That result brought an end to their seven game unbeaten run and showed that they are perhaps not quite ready to challenge at the top of the table. This weekend is another tricky one as they host second placed Leverkusen who are eight points ahead of them in the race for second spot. The home side need to look over their shoulder as there are a number of teams chasing them for a guaranteed top four spot. Eintracht Frankfurt are on a good run at home, unbeaten in four matches including wins over Freiburg and Dortmund.
The visitors managed their third consecutive clean sheet in the match against Holstein Kiel last weekend, keeping them within eight points of leaders Bayern. They know that they cannot afford to drop any points if they want to be ready to take advantage of any potential, and unlikely, slip ups by the leaders. Leverkusen’s away record has been impressive, they are unbeaten in 28 consecutive matches on the road and that is a Bundesliga record. They won this fixture 5-1 last season and we should expect goals in another exciting encounter.
Bayer Leverkusen have won seven of the last ten meetings between these two, including the last four meetings. Frankfurt have won the remaining three, which means there have been no draws in the last ten clashes.
Manchester United vs Fulham
Old Trafford, Sunday @ 17:30
The Red Devils will be looking forward to a welcome distraction from their miserable league campaign as they return to the FA Cup on Sunday with this tie against Fulham. They managed to grind out a win against Ipswich in midweek despite having new signing Patrick Dorgu sent off in the first half. The fighting qualities shown will have pleased their manager but they are still a long way off looking like a top side. A decent cup run will help to appease their disappointed fans but they are up against a tricky opponent in Fulham, a team who have won four of their last five matches.
The visitors notched up an away win against Wolves in midweek, their fourth away win in a row. They will be looking for revenge for the 1-0 loss suffered at home against United back at the end of January and will be confident of managing that, given their opponents struggles. Emile Smith Rowe continues to be their main absentee but overall they have plenty of options, including the recently returned Willian.
Manchester United have by far the better record in this head to head, winning eight of the last ten with Fulham only having one win to show for their efforts.
AC Milan vs Lazio
San Siro, Sunday @ 20:45
The final game on Sunday from Serie A is a battle between these two teams that are involved in a battle for European football. Both have had somewhat inconsistent seasons with AC Milan struggling down in seventh place, a 2-1 loss at the hands of Torino didn’t help matters in the last round. They now have only eleven wins from their twenty five matches played and are six points behind their opponents this weekend. Goalscoring has been their biggest issue, with only Udinese scoring less than them in the top ten of the league table and they have had to rely on Reijnders and Pulisic for most of their goals.
Lazio head into this on the back of two draws in the league, against Venezia and Napoli, which has seen them overtaken by Juventus and drop down into fifth place. They will be well aware that an away win in this match will give them a nine point buffer and certainly help with their aspirations to finish in one of the European spots. By contrast with Milan, Lazio’s issue has been defensively, where they have struggled to keep clean sheets and have conceded 34 goals so far this season, with only Udinese conceding more out of all the teams in the top ten.
The last time these two met it ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw and AC Milan certainly have the better record over recent years, winning seven of the last ten whereas Lazio only have two wins to their name.
Last Updated: 28.02.2025
