By Ian Laird
@UneducatedU on Twitter
This is a weekly look at the top soccer leagues in Europe where I select the ten games from the coming “weekend” (Friday through Monday) that I believe to be the most compelling and breakdown the game and the stories surrounding the players, coaches, and clubs that are involved. The emphasis will be on the top four leagues, EPL, La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga, but I will occasionally feature games in other leagues like Ligue 1 or the Dutch Eredivisie. These are only limited to domestic league games, not Champions League, Euro League, or domestic cups, and Chelwill be games that I believe to be interesting, not necessarily just the games with the best teams involved. With that being said lets get into it.
1. Huddersfield at Tottenham
Saturday, April 13th 7:20 am ET
It has been a forgettable month and a half since the end of February so far for Huddersfield who have gone without a win in their five Premier League games in March and the start of April. Following their 2-0 defeat away to Crystal Palace on March 30th Huddersfield clinched a spot in the bottom three and thus relegation to the Championship for next season. You’d think some of the longer tenured players at the club like Tom Smith, Philip Billing, and Jonathan Hogg along with Aaron Mooy and a few other top talents like Terence Kongolo, Alex Pritchard, and Christopher Schindler will remain with the club through this period of transition, but outside of that small core everyone else isn’t safe from being sold in the summer as Huddersfield will look at trimming their budget in preparation for the less profitable Championship. The soft fixture will serve as the perfect respite for Tottenham who are amid a tumultuous stretch in their season. After losing four of their previous five Premier League games they managed to pick up a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at home in their new stadium, and improved off of that result with a magnificent 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final matchup. Moussa Sissoko once again put in a sterling performance and along with Harry Winks dominated the midfield for most of the game, while the back line held steady against an admittedly muted City attack that lacked any bite for much of the game. In the attacking third for Tottenham things were somewhat anemic as well with Harry Kane playing ahead of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, and Heung-min Son, but after Kane was injured in what was a stupid and reckless challenge on Fabain Delph, Lucas Moura was brought on and life was injected into the team. Spurs were suddenly more dynamic and quick in the attack running at the City defenders and slipping in behind at times with their more mobile front line. Son ended up getting the goal for Spurs once again showing he is more than capable of playing as the lone striker which he may have to do as it is believed that Kane will miss the rest of the season. While that seems like a big blow for Spurs it is important to remember that they won their four Premier League games and one Champions League game during Kane’s previous injury spell and their quick hitting attack without him is very much just as big of a threat. The Champions League result is a definite plus for Spurs, but they will still be focused on the Premier League where they currently sit in fourth, two points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.
2-0 Tottenham wins
2. West Ham at Manchester United
Saturday, April 13th 12:30 pm ET
West Ham were somewhat expectedly beaten against Chelsea allowing Eden Hazard to score a brace with his first goal coming as he sliced apart their defense on a weaving run and then his second coming when he was left alone at the back post in the 90th minute. West Ham maintained their position in eleventh, but a top half finish grew slightly less likely as they now sit four points behind Watford with one more game played. With so many injuries and so much misfortune this has been a season to forget for West Ham and they will be hoping that next year with a healthy roster Manuel Pellegrini will be able to piece together a more successful season. Manchester United had the weekend off following their poor defeat against Wolverhampton midweek where they blew an early 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 and Ashley Young got sent off, but the extra time off didn’t help them in their preparations for the Champions League quarterfinals. Against Barcelona, Manchester United opted to play with a back three rather than the back four that they have typically used under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and they were punished for it. To accommodate the change in formation Luke Shaw had to play as the left center-back while Diogo Dalot played as a left wingback. Shaw was culpable for the lone goal that Barcelona scored first losing Lionel Messi on his run into the box, and then after Victor Lindelof covered for him he didn’t get tight enough to Luis Suarez allowing the Uruguayan to get a free header which deflected off of Shaw into the net. He also picked up a yellow card later which will leave him suspended for the second leg as he continued to struggle throughout the game to stay with Barcelona’s forwards. The defensive setup of Solskjaer was odd given the game was at home and you would’ve thought this would be the only chance Manchester United would have to pick up a win across the two legs, and now they are facing the daunting task of getting a win away to the Camp Nou. The loss to Wolves wasn’t quite a deathblow to United’s Champions League chances, but they find themselves three points off the pace of Spurs who are in fourth, and given how unlikely it is that they come from behind against Barcelona it seems likely that we will end up with a Champions League next year without the Red Devils.
2-1 Manchester United wins
3. Chelsea at Liverpool
Sunday, April 14th 11:30 am ET
After a dreadful run through January and February, Chelsea finally seem to have cleaned things up to the point where they are back among the leaders in the race for a top four spot in the Premier League. Following resounding shutout losses to Arsenal, Bournemouth, and Manchester City through January and part of February Chelsea have gotten sixteen points from their last seven games with their one draw coming against Wolves and their loss coming against Everton in back to back games in mid March. They have also been successful in the knockout rounds of the Europa League advancing past Malmo in the round of 32, Dynamo Kiev in the round of 16, and they currently lead Sparta Prague in the quarterfinals after beating them 1-0 in the first leg away from home. In recent weeks Maurizio Sarri has been a bit more flexible with his lineup choices after being very rigid with his squad selection earlier in the season. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has moved from a bench role to a starter as has Callum Hudson-Odoi while Emerson has also begun to replace Marcos Alonso at left-back with four starts in the last six Premier League games. The new starters not only bring in fresh legs, but with the exception of Emerson they arguably have higher ceilings than the guys they replaced, and even Emerson is a more well rounded player than Alonso offering more defensively at times than Alonso did. Even with the recent success Chelsea have had with these altered lineups Sarri still has to be willing to turn to his veterans when he needs a result as they are more reliable and at the moment less mercurial talents. Liverpool meanwhile have also seemed to have rebounded from a poor start to 2019 winning their fourth Premier League game in a row in what could’ve been a trap game against Southampton, scoring three unanswered goals after allowing a ninth minute goal to Shane Long. Then midweek they comfortable took care of business against Porto at Anfield in the Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-0 win. Naby Keita scored first in the fifth minute firing home a deflected shot after James Milner sprayed a long ball to Sadio Mane on the left wing who played a cross in to Roberto Firmino who turned and pivoted laying the ball of to Keita. Then 21 minutes later Liverpool doubled their lead when Trent Alexander-Arnold slipped in behind the Porto back line and then squared the ball for an easy tap in for Firmino. After receiving a favorable draw in the quarterfinals Liverpool are among the clear favorites to advance in the Champions League, thought they will face a stiff test in the winner of Manchester United and Barcelona if they are able to take care of business in the second league. Domestically they are still locked in a fierce battle with Manchester City for the title with a one more game played and a two point advantage with only five games remaining, so anything but wins from here on out would be devastating. In the reverse fixture of this game these two teams drew 1-1 so a win could be hard to come by, but Liverpool’s talent ceiling is higher and they are more desperate for a win since their last English title was the 1989-90 title when the league was known as the First Division rather than the Premier League.
3-2 Liverpool wins
4. Barcelona at Huesca
Saturday, April 13th 10:15 am ET
Barcelona all but clinched the La Liga title last weekend with their win over Atletico Madrid as they now move eleven points clear at the top of the table and they own the tiebreaker meaning Atletico will have to pick up twelve more points than Barcelona in the remaining seven games. A 28th minute red card for Diego Costa torpedoed any chance Atletico had in the game as the ten man Atletico were left without any real chance of scoring in the game. Defensively they managed to keep the floodgates closed for nearly an hour after the red card, but then Barcelona broke through with goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi in the 85th and 86th minutes. In the Champions League it was a similar story with Barcelona pinning Manchester United back, and while they only picked up the one goal in the game they were clearly the superior side and will be heavy favorites heading into the second leg. With the final of the Copa Del Rey also in play Barcelona still have a shot at the treble, and in a season where they seemed to have somewhat of a down year Messi has been excellent, Suarez has begun to heat up after a slow start, and Arthur, Jordi Alba, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen have all had arguably their best seasons of their careers. Barcelona truly have been the best team in Europe and while there will be some worry about some of their veteran players falling off as they reach their mid thirties the talent pool to replenish and replace them is full of bright stars as well in Ousmane Dembele, Carles Alena, Clement Lenglet, Frenkie de Jong, and Jean-Clair Todibo. More importantly perhaps Barcelona seem to have found a coach who they are confident in and Ernest Valverde has returned the favor bringing a sense of calm and winning pedigree to the club so far. While Huesca will be happy to have picked up two points in their last two games amid a desperate relegation battle they have to be frustrated with the manner in which they got the points. Against Celta Vigo, a side that was in eighteenth place at the time of the game they rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to lead 3-2 late in the second half, but an 81st minute goal from Ryad Boudebouz who was left wide open in the box leveled the game at three three preventing Huesca from getting just their sixth win of the season. Then against Levante last week they twice let a one goal lead slip through poor defensive mistakes while also struggling to finish chances offensively hitting the woodwork once and failing to convert into an open net. They are currently seven points away from safety and with four of their seven remaining games coming against bottom half teams including fellow relegation embattled sides Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano a magical escape isn’t out of the question though they will need to pick up a point or two against better sides like Valencia, Eibar, and Real Betis.
4-0 Barcelona wins
5. Celta Vigo at Atletico Madrid
Saturday, April 13th 12:30 pm ET
After a hot start to the season helped keep Celta Vigo around mid table for much of the first half of the season they went through a stretch from December 22nd to March 16th with only one win and one draw through twelve games to slip into the heated relegation battle. In the last three weeks though they have picked up big results to create some separation from the bottom three. Against Villarreal they fell behind 2-0 in the first fifteen minutes, but then rallied behind Iago Aspas, who has been a member of the club’s youth system since 2004, to come back for the 3-2 victory with Aspas scoring his second and Celta’s third in the 86th minute on a spot kick. Then just a few days later they managed to get another come from behind result, this time against last place Huesca. After squandering a 2-0 lead they got an equalizer from Ryad Boudebouz in the 81st minute to pick up a point. Then after falling behind Real Sociedad last week in the first half they got a second half equalizer once again form Aspas, and then when Willian Jose picked up a red card Celta Vigo took the lead with another Aspas goal and then Maximiliano Gomez got a third to seal away the result. With the seven points from their last three games Celta are now two points out of the relegation zone, but they have a slightly more difficult run to end the season than most teams near the bottom of the table as they will face Atletico, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao over their last seven games. Atletico meanwhile have little to play for at this point in the season following their disappointing defeat to Barcelona last week. They have been eliminated from the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League and are effectively out of the title race in La Liga after dropping eleven points behind Barcelona. One of the key turning points of course in that game against Barcelona was Diego Costa’s red card for statements he made to the referee about his mother. It has been announced that those comments have earned him an eight game ban retroactively, and Atletico have a chance to appeal within ten days, but I don’t think they should and wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up not appealing it. With only seven games remaining in this season Atletico could have him sit the remainder of this season and then miss the opening game of next season. If they appeal the ban though it likely won’t take effect until the appeal is over and it likely won’t get reduced either meaning Costa could end up missing two games next season instead of just one all so he can play this weekend in a meaningless game. Given those two options it seems like Atletico will be handing Costa an early summer vacation.
1-1 draw
6. Wolfsburg at RB Leipzig
Saturday, April 13th 9:30 am ET
Wolfsburg somewhat survived a rough stretch over the past month picking up seventeen points from a nine game run where they had to face Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund who were all in the top three at the time of those games. They maintained their position in sixth over that stretch to stay in a Europa League spot, and while a Champions League spot seems unattainable at six points to Eintracht Frankfurt, they could move up to fifth place as Monchengladbach are only three points ahead. Behind them Bayer Leverkusen, Werder Bremen, and Hoffenheim are all in hot pursuit within three points of Wolfsburg. Fortunately for Wolfsburg they are firmly in control of their own destiny heading into the final stages of the season as they will face Leipzig, Eintracht, and Hoffenheim in three massive six pointers that will likely determine whether they will play in European football. Leipzig will be the hotter team entering the weekend though as they haven’t lost since the first game of 2019 which was against Borussia Dortmund. They faced a soft schedule for most of that stretch with only three games coming against teams that were in the top half of the table at the time that Leipzig played them. They are dealing with some injury issues though heading into the game as Dayot Upamecano, Tyler Adams, and Yussuf Poulsen are all injured robbing Leipzig of three of their preferred starters and their top goal scorer in Poulsen. Timo Werner is more than capable of stepping up in Poulsen’s absence though having scored thirteen goals in the Bundesliga this season. Leipzig will also be eager to avenge their loss in the reverse fixture of this matchup as they fell 1-0 away from home to Wolfsburg back in November in a game in which they dominated possession and had the better of the chances but were unable to find a goal. Their hold on a Champions League spot seems fairly secure at this point with a seven point difference to fifth place Monchengladbach, and they likely won’t be moving up either as Dortmund are a comfortable eight points ahead in second, so at this point they are likely more focused on picking up a trophy in the DFB Pokal where they will face Hamburger SV in the semifinals later this month.
2-2 draw
7. Mainz at Borussia Dortmund
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Saturday, April 13th 12:30 pm ET
Despite losing seven of their last nine games Mainz have managed to stay right around tenth place in the standings. Their goal scoring ran dry for much of that stretch with only three goals in their seven losses, though their two wins were by margins of 3-0 and 5-0. Unlike many mid table sides there is hope for the future as well for Mainz as they have talents like Aaron Martin and Moussa Niakhate along the back line who have been valuable contributors this season, while midfielders Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Pierre Kunde Malong will have bright futures as long as Mainz can keep them at the club. Their top goalscorer Jean-Philippe Mateta is also only 21 years old giving Mainz a nice central core front to back that they can build upon. Their young talent though is no match for the potential Borussia Dortmund has shown all season with their stellar group of players in their low twenties and teens. Unfortunately for Dortmund though those youngsters fizzled out towards the end of this season after a hot start and following their embarrassing 5-0 defeat against Bayern Munich which might’ve ceded the lead in the Bundesliga for good. Dortmund simply didn’t look prepared for the offensive onslaught that Bayern unleashed, and individual errors from many of their star players killed any chance they had of getting back in the game. They fell behind 2-0 early and then allowed two more goals just before halftime to effectively seal away the game. In the second half Bayern were expectedly much more passive, but they still managed to score a fifth goal in the 89th minute as a last minute reminder of just how superior they were on the day. With only a one point difference between the two sides the title race is far from over as any slip up by Bayern would see Dortmund take the lead, but you would think the big win will galvanize Bayern and seem them through to yet another title as they head into what could likely be a lengthy summer.
3-1 Borussia Dortmund wins
8. Bayern Munich at Fortuna Dusseldorf
Sunday, April 14th 9:30 am ET
Heading into last weeks Der Klassiker things did not look great for Bayern Munich after they had been eliminated from the Champions League, drawn with Freiburg, and barely scraped by lower league side Heidenheim in the DFB Pokal quarterfinals. In the game though they got a resounding statement win showing that even during a period of change they are still the best team in Germany. Along the back line things were much more solid than they have been much of the season with Mats Hummels putting in possibly his best performance in what has been an abysmal season for him. In the midfield Thiago and Javi Martinez who have been inconsistent at best for much of the season dominated Dortmund’s trio of Axel Witsel, Thomas Delaney, and Mahmoud Dahoud, shutting them down defensively and then pulling the strings offensively. In the attacking third Thomas Muller looked much more comfortable in the number ten role rather than as a winger and he formed a lethal partnership with Robert Lewandowski who has at times been criticized for not showing up in big games, but he notched a brace and terrorized Dan-Axel Zagadou and Manuel Akanji. The wingers also showed plenty of ambition in the game with Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman pressing Dortmund’s back line and then offering plenty of width when Bayern were in possession of the ball. Bayern now lead the Bundesliga with the win, but they will be wary of getting too comfortable as the gap is only one point and they could easily slip up on a potential banana peel against Dusseldorf this week who they could only manage a draw against the first time they played, and they still have games against top four sides Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt to close out the season. Bayern also won’t be disillusioned with this one result either as even with this win there are clear issues with this squad that will need to be addressed in the summer. After spending October and November in the cellar of the Bundesliga Dusseldorf rattled off four straight wins to move into fourteenth, and have picked up sixteen points in the last ten games to move into tenth place. They have been forced to deal with injuries all season long, but they seem to have overcome those issues over the past few months to establish a rhythm and find their footing in the league. They still lack the top tier talent that they will likely need to maintain a position in the Bundesliga for years to come, but this year and this most recent stretch should provide a solid foundation for them to build off of and take some positives away from.
3-0 Bayern Munich wins
9. Lazio at AC Milan
Saturday, April 13th 2:30 pm ET
Lazio were positioned well to get a Champions League spot after Inter Milan, Roma, and AC Milan all started to struggle for consistency over the past month, but Lazio were also unable to take advantage of their slip ups dropping points to Fiorentina, SPAL, and Sassuolo, teams that are all well out of the running for a Champions League spot or Europa League spot. Ever since their losses to Juventus and Napoli in back to back games to start the 2019 year Lazio haven’t been able to recover. At the time of those games they were in the fourth and final Champions League spots, but since then they have won only five of their last nine games and have struggled to stay in even a Europa League spot. They currently sit in seventh, out of a European competition spot though they are only three points behind fourth place Milan. They also still have a game against Atalanta, the only team in the top four race who has shown any sort of consistency over the past month or two and if Lazio can manage wins in those two games and take care of business against lower tier clubs like Cagliari, Chievo, and Bologna they should be well positioned to possibly finish top four. Injuries to Stefan Radu and Adam Marusic could prove critical though as Lazio already aren’t that deep and they already have other players who have been dealing with long term injury and fitness issues in their 27 man squad. For Milan they have now gone without a win in four straight games having lost to Inter Milan, Sampdoria, and Juventus with a draw against Udinese sandwiched in there. The obvious things to blame during this poor stretch of form is the tiring legs of Lucas Paqueta and the subsequent ankle injury along with the absence of Franck Kessie in the Sampdoria and Udinese games, but Milan’s over reliance on those two players is perhaps even more telling. Without Paqueta they lack the creativity offensively to unlock opposing defenses, and they simply don’t have anyone with the same defense steel and intensity as Kessie though Tiemoue Bakayoko at times can provide some of that. Luckily for Milan Krzysztof Piatek hasn’t cooled off scoring ten goals in his twelve starts since joining Milan including goals against Juventus and Udinese, so if they can sort out their issues in midfield where they aren’t particularly deep they should be among the favorites to finish in the top four.
2-1 AC Milan wins
10. PSG at LOSC Lille
Sunday, April 14th 3:00 pm ET
PSG were ninety minutes away from clinching the Ligue 1 trophy once again last weekend against Strasbourg as a win would’ve given them the title. Instead they could only manage a draw against Strasbourg with Eric Maxim Choupo-Mouting scoring a late equalizer after a horrendous miss earlier in the game where he stopped the ball on the line as it was heading into the goal. Those talking points aside the bigger point of discussion for PSG is the fact that they only brought sixteen players to the match. Part of that has to do with injuries to a whole host of players including Thomas Meunier, Neymar, Angel Di Maria, and Edinson Cavani, the reality is PSG simply don’t have enough players to name a full eighteen man squad every week if they aren’t fully healthy. Especially when they have someone like Adrien Rabiot sitting in exile after his contract dispute has dragged on for the better part of four months now. Their continued failures in the Champions League have shown that this squad might not have the top tier talent that they need to succeed, but equally damning is the fact that they can’t even muster a full squad on gamedays. There are plenty of issues that PSG will have to fix, but depth has to be at the top of that list considering they only have three midfielders rostered and at many positions have only one reserve player. As for the present moment, a tie this week against second place Lille will be enough to guarantee a Ligue 1 title, but at this point that simply isn’t enough to satisfy ownership and patience must be running thin with this lengthy failed experiment. For their opponents, LOSC Lille this season has been a sterling success, as following a successful run to start the 2000’s the club sunk to new lows over the past few seasons. Just last year they narrowly escaped relegation finishing in seventeenth place, but now this season they have comfortably been the second best team domestically currently sitting five points ahead of third place Lyon with a game in hand and only seven more games to play. Nearly all of the moves they made in the summer have paid off with Jonathan Ikone becoming a key figure in the center of the park, Jonathan Bamba and Rafael Leao combining for eighteen goals in 33 starts in Ligue 1, and defensively Jose Fonte and Zeki Celik have each started at least 28 games in Ligue 1. Last summer they sold several key players so there is some slight belief that they could end up selling some of their players this offseason, but if they manage to hang on to everyone going into this offseason they could reestablish themselves in the second tier of French clubs under PSG along with Marseille, Lyon, and St-Etienne.
2-1 LOSC Lille wins
Further Reading
Contact me at uneducatedandunqualified@gmail.com if you have any questions.
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