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- Liverpool vs. Man United, Der Klassiker, a Swedish miracle, and more
Liverpool vs. Man United, Der Klassiker, a Swedish miracle, and more
Top flight club football returns with some heavyweight clashes and titles on the line.
Europe’s big five leagues are back with a vengeance, and in the Premier League and Bundesliga, we get perhaps the biggest games of them all, historically speaking. Elsewhere, we check in on MLS Decision Day and learn more about Swedish minnows Mjällby, who could be about to pull off a fairytale title win more fanciful than Leicester City’s.
Liverpool vs. Manchester United
One of the Premier League’s traditional classics takes place on Merseyside this weekend, as Ruben Amorim’s United travel to face a Liverpool team going through a tricky spell for the first time since Arne Slot took over as manager.
Indeed, some are calling this the most important game of the Dutch coach’s time at Anfield - okay, it was us, we were calling it that - here, in Sam McGuire’s long read lookahead to Sunday’s headliner. But the simple facts remain, Liverpool have lost their last three games, something they haven’t done since March 2023. And if they want to end that run, they’ll need to do it against one of their oldest and most hated rivals.
Last season’s corresponding fixture finished 2-2 and was rightly seen as a bit of a coup for Amorim. The fact that the draw was celebrated perhaps tells you something about United’s ongoing lean spell under the Portuguese manager.
Famously, United do lead the Premier League for xG this season, with a figure of 14.1 expected goals. But in actual goals, they’ve delivered just nine, and have shipped 11. Midtable form that has seen them win three, draw one, and lose three so far.
The Reds have only the seventh best xG (11.1) but they have overperformed on that, scoring 13 actual goals, a number only Arsenal and Manchester City can beat across the early stages of the 2025/26 campaign.
Fulham vs. Arsenal
Premier League leaders Arsenal, meanwhile, are set to enjoy a short trip across London to play Fulham on the banks of the Thames.
Marco Silva’s Cottagers have been one of the more inconsistent Premier League sides this season, and start the weekend in 14th having lost their last two games leading up to the international break by the same 3-1 scoreline (away to Aston Villa and Bournemouth). But they do remain unbeaten at home, and won the two league games prior to that (against Leeds and Brentford).
Uncharacteristically, Fulham currently lead the league in fouls per match (14) and are averaging the fourth highest amount of successful long balls per game (23.4). Which perhaps shows they’re willing to mix it up.
Arsenal have won six of their last seven in all competitions, drawing the odd game in that run (vs. Man City), and still boast the best defensive record in the Premier League having lost just once, at Anfield, back in August.
Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund
We’ve covered Bayern’s start to the season previously in the newsletter, with Vincent Kompany’s German champions beating all-comers thanks to a combination of a firing-on-all-cylinders Harry Kane (18 goals in 10 competitive club games), an in-form Michael Olise (nine goal contributions in 10 games), Luis Díaz hitting the ground running (five goals and six assists in six league games since joining) and a defence, led by the evergreen Manuel Neuer, that has conceded just three goals in the league so far.
Now, though, it’s the game most passionate German football observers have been waiting for - Der Klassiker - the round seven clash against rivals Borussia Dortmund. There’s a hope that Dortmund will provide a real test for Bayern (indeed, they are unbeaten in their last three meetings), but it’s also time to test a theory about Dortmund.
The Black and Yellows have been enjoying something of a resurgence under the continued steady hand of Niko Kovać this season. But are the early results a false-positive? Have Dortmund really improved that much? They go in to the weekend unbeaten in the league and Champions League, and sit second in the table.
Serhou Guirassy is in the goals (it’s four in five for him) and Nico Schlotterbeck is looking strong at the back. But have they got enough to sustain a challenge across the season? Sunday’s game should tell us more.
Made with the FotMob lineup builder - exclusive to FotMob.com - and based on average ratings in the Bundesliga this season
Serie A
The Italian top flight is looking particularly interesting this season, with a host of teams performing well, while other, more established sides, now look to be kicking in to gear after a difficult start.
Admittedly, we’re only six rounds in, but the table is jointly led by reigning champions Napoli and Roma, now under the management of Gian Piero Gasperini, the coach credited with establishing Atalanta as regular qualifiers for European competition. Both have won five and lost one of their games so far. Below them, Milan sit third having gone five games unbeaten under Maxi Allegri, Inter are one point further back, as are Juventus, who remain unbeaten but down in fifth.
This Saturday, both leaders are in action. Roma host Inter, in perhaps the biggest test of the Gasperini-era - bar last month’s Derby day win over Lazio. And Antonio Conte’s new-look champions face Torino in Turin.
Thomas Müller has made just seven appearances for MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps since joining the club in August, but the Bayern Munich legend has already made a lasting impression - scoring seven goals and assisting another four so far!
Never the most successful franchise in the league, Müller’s arrival coincides with a season where the Canadian club are riding a wave of success under the management of Danish manager Jesper Sørensen.
Having lost out in the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup (their Champions League equivalent) and pipped to the Supporter’s Shield by Philadelphia Union, a side they beat 7-0 last month(!), the Whitecaps are now looking to end the season on a high.
This Saturday night is MLS Decision Day, where the final round of regular season fixtures all get played at the same time in each conference.
Vancouver Whitecaps can win the Western Conference with a victory over Dallas, a result that will also help their seeding in the post-season playoffs, and could see them move level with the Union at the top of the Supporters Shield standings. Despite having a better goal difference, the Whitecaps can’t actually steal that title due to the first tiebreaker used in the league being the total number of games won across the season.
Confusing? Probably. But that is just one quirk that perhaps the most quirky German international of his generation will have to get used to as he hopes to propel Vancouver through the playoffs and on to their first ever MLS Cup triumph.
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Image via Football Is Everywhere
Based in a tiny fishing village in the very south of Sweden, Mjällby AIF were in the second tier as recently as 2019. Now, they are already preparing to make their European debut next season and are just one win away from lifting an unforgettable Allsvenskan title (which could come at IFK Göteborg on Monday).
They only made their top-flight debut in the 1980s and never managed to stay up for successive seasons until after the turn of the century. But in recent years, something special has been brewing in Blekinge County.
Soon after their first multi-year Allsvenskan stint came to an end in 2014, Mjällby appointed a new chairman in Magnus Emeus. Sweden’s 51% rule is similar to the German 50+1 rule, in principle, making all of their clubs effectively fan-owned and controlled. So, the locally born businessman did not change the club’s fortunes overnight with a big cash injection, but he did start laying the groundwork for achievements that might then have seemed unthinkable.
Hit the link below for more on how this fascinating side have reached the brink of a league title despite their low budget, a leading goalscorer with just seven goals, and a goalkeeper who wears a Petr Čech-style helment.
During the international break we investigated the boom in young footballers with famous ball-playing fathers currently breaking through in the Netherlands. From academy prospects to first team stars, we found six of the Dutch XI who reached the 2014 World Cup final now have at least one son playing professionally.
The lynchpin of Enzo Maresca’s midfield, Caicedo provides the rhythm in this Chelsea team, and Graham Ruthven argues that the Ecuadorian is more than living up to his price tag. Staggeringly, we’ve given him the same 8.1 match rating in four of his seven league appearances this season!
With two league goals, and two more in the Champions League, the Man United loanee has found his form for Antonio Conte’s Napoli as they attempt to defend the Scudetto in Serie A. We took a look at how Conte’s tactical shift has seen it all come together for the Danish striker.
Have you ever clicked on a manager’s profile in your FotMob app? If not, you might be missing out.
From a summary of their wins, draws, and losses in their current role, to their win percentage at previous clubs, there’s a host of at-a-glance info that could prove really useful. Particularly if you want to evidence that one-man argument you’ve been raging in the group chat.
You can either use Search to locate a manager, or tap in to a line up during a match, and scroll down to see the two coaches, then click through for their profile and career history.
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: It’s top vs. third in Ligue 1 as Liam Rosenior’s high-flying Strasbourg visit champions PSG. Middlesbrough could go top of the EFL Championship if they beat Ipswich, and in the League of Ireland, Shamrock Rovers should pick up the result they need to claim a fifth title in six seasons. And as one league is decided, we welcome back another, as the A-League season gets underway in Australia.
Saturday: Forest vs. Chelsea and Man City vs. a Grealish-less Everton are the big Premier League games not already mentioned. Barcelona host Girona as they look to leapfrog Madrid at the top of LaLiga, Scottish leaders Hearts head to Kilmarnock, and we’ll have coverage from the CAF Super Cup in Africa.
Sunday: Flamengo and Palmerias meet for a crucial top of the table clash in Brazil, just days before both also feature in the Copa Libertadores semifinals. Real Madrid make the short trip to Getafe in LaLiga, while in Serie A there are more interesting fixtures, with Como taking on Juventus, and Milan playing Fiorentina. We’ll also be following Morocco vs. Argentina in the final of the U20 World Cup.