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El Clásico, Arsenal vs. Palace, Napoli vs. Inter, and more
Keep track of the weekend's key matches with The Assist.
One of club football’s biggest games may dominate proceedings over the next couple of days, but there’s plenty more to be watching out for beyond El Clásico — with a full Premier League programme, plus top of the table action in Italy, Scotland, and France.
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona
No season in Spanish football is really set until the final whistle of the first meeting between it’s two biggest sides. Then, more often than not, we know the front runners in LaLiga, and who is chasing: Real Madrid or Barcelona, Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Last season, Barcelona beat Madrid to the title by four points, and won El Clásico both home and away. Currently, it’s Madrid who lead the way, sat two points clear of their great Catalan rivals heading in to their biggest home game of the campaign at the Bernabéu.
Should Xabi Alonso’s side win, that five point advantage will dictate the rest of the season, with Madrid constantly looking over their shoulder, and Barca waiting for any slip-ups, weekend after weekend, round after round.
The two sides have scored 44 goals between them so far, so it’s safe to assume there will be goals whatever the eventual outcome on Sunday. Barca, as they always do under Hansi Flick, will play with their usual high line, and Alonso will look to exploit that with an in-form forward set-up that includes Kylian Mbappé, who has scored in each of his last 11 appearances for club and country.
Hansi Flick has won all four Clásicos played since taking the Barca job (4-0, 5-2, 3-2, 4-3!), but his charges will have to do it without him this weekend, with the German coach suspended following his red card received in the game against Girona.
To change the current course of the campaign, Barcelona need a result.
Made with the FotMob lineup builder - exclusive to FotMob.com - and based on average ratings in LaLiga this season
Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace
In the Premier League, league leaders Arsenal must wait until Sunday to take on Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace due to both sides having had European commitments during the week.
The Gunners have the best defence both at home and in Europe this season, having conceded just three times in 11 competitive games. After Palace lost their club-record 19-game unbeaten run at Everton earlier in the month, they needed a Jean-Philippe Mateta hat-trick to rescue a point against Bournemouth and then suffered a surprise defeat to AEK Larnaca in what was their first ever home tie in continental competition on Thursday night.
A trip to the Emirates, where they’ve not won since 2019, and the possibility of facing former star player Eberechi Eze, might not be top of the wishlist for the Eagles, but they have come through worse spells than this under their much-fancied Austrian coach.
They’ll do well to break the resolve of Mikel Arteta’s masterful defence, though, with Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya having already kept eight clean sheets this season, and at 83.3%, boasting the highest save percentage in the Premier League.
Napoli vs. Inter
The primetime Saturday evening kickoff in Serie A was supposed to be a chance for defending champions Napoli to take charge of the title race against one of their major rivals. And that could still be the case, but their result last week saw Napoli slip to third, behind AC Milan and this weekend’s opponents, Inter. In turn, the latter’s victory over Roma in the last round means that just a single point separates a congested top four.
It’s early days, but with Milan playing on Friday night, the gap to the leaders may be up to four points by the time this one gets underway at the Maradona.
The defending champions were humbled at Torino last Saturday (1-0), and then dismantled at PSV during the week (6-2), so this game against his former club comes in a difficult moment for coach Antonio Conte. Inter have won their last seven, in all competitions, conceding two goals in the process, and look to have found their rhythm after a slow start and a disappointing exit from the Club World Cup under Cristian Chivu. They also appear to have unlocked a talent in new signing Ange-Yoan Bonny, who has three goals and four assists in his first 10 games for the club.
The last three meetings between these two, including both games last season, have ended in 1-1 draws.
Lens vs. Marseille
With PSG dropping points in their last two games in Ligue 1, Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille have been able to take advantage, winning their last five to climb above their archrivals, and sit top of the tree in France.
That run includes L’OM defeating PSG 1-0 at the Stade Vélodrome back in September, and a smash and grab comeback at third placed Strasbourg. De Zerbi’s side have scored nine in the two domestic fixtures played since then and at 2.6 goals per game, they’ve outgunned everyone so far.
This weekend, the leaders must pick themselves up after midweek Champions League disappointment at Sporting, as they go to fourth-placed Lens. The northern club are riding a high of their own having started their own four match unbeaten run with a Derby Day victory over Lille.
On the announcement of his investment in SPFL side Hearts, Tony Bloom promised that the Jam Tarts would be in a position to challenge the Celtic and Rangers hegemony in Scottish football. But no one expected that challenge to come so soon.
Aberdeen were the last club outside the Old Firm to win the league but that was in 1985. Hearts haven’t claimed Scotland’s top prize since 1960, and the last time they tasted silverware of any kind was a Cup triumph in 2012.
Around this time in 2005 they were close. Seven games in to the season, they spent a single September day eight points clear of Celtic, but would eventually end the season finishing second. A win on Sunday would see them recreate that stat nine games in to the current campaign, maintaining their unbeaten start in the process.
A lot has been written about the crisis currently unfolding at both Glasgow clubs, with Celtic fans protesting against the board, and Rangers attempting to recover from the disastrous appointment of Russell Martin. But perhaps we should be focusing on the job done by Hearts boss Derek McInnes and a side that are averaging 2.4 goals per game and have won seven of their eight matches.
Vincent Kompany has untapped the England captain’s creative tendencies at Bayern Munich this season. Either playing up top on his own, or in behind Nicolas Jackson as a No. 10, Kane’s numbers are stronger than ever.
Top of the average FotMob match ratings for Serie A, second in the scoring charts, top for assists and chances created. It’s fair to say that Como’s Argentine attacking mid has enjoyed a strong start to the campaign. Writer Zach Lowy has been tracking his career to date.
With four goals in his first five Premier League games, plus another in the Champions League, Nick Woltemade has hit the ground running in English football. The 6’6” German might not have been their first choice signing but he’s proving a clever buy.
Want to know the winger in LaLiga with the most goals and assists this season? Need to compare players who play a specific role in your favourite league?
If you head to the profile for any competition in the app, then to the Player Stats tab, you can now tap on any stat and filter them by position.
Pro Tip: Click on any of the matches below, then tap the star in the right hand side of the match page. This will automatically bring them to the top of your main feed in the app.
Friday: Serie A league leaders AC Milan host Pisa, playing at this level for the first time in a generation. Leeds and West Ham kick off the Premier League weekend, sleeping giants Schalke look to go top of the 2.Bundesliga, and Inter Miami, with the newly re-signed Lionel Messi, start a best of three series against Nashville in the MLS playoffs.
Saturday: After breaking their run of defeats in Europe, Liverpool look to get back to winning ways at Brentford in the Premier League. Elsewhere, Chelsea take on high-flying Sunderland and Manchester United play Brighton. German leaders Bayern Munich go to former bogey side Borussia Mönchengladbach, and European Champions PSG travel to Brest.
Sunday: Don’t forget the clocks go back in Europe, and make sure you’ve clicked follow on the big games in your match feed! The top two clash in the Netherlands as Feyenoord host PSV, while in the Premier League, Sean Dyche takes charge of his first league game with Forest, who play at Bournemouth, and Aston Villa take on Manchester City. In Serie A’s late evening kickoff, Lazio play Juventus.