- The Assist
- Posts
- The Assist: FA Cup Final weekend and title races across Europe
The Assist: FA Cup Final weekend and title races across Europe
Every match you need to follow this weekend.
This weekend promises much in terms of drama, with a number of leagues set for a fateful final day, and a pair of FA Cup Finals taking place in England. That’s not forgetting the penultimate round of games in the Premier League and Serie A, the latter being the only top five European league still to be decided.
FA Cup Finals
The world’s oldest club competition, the FA Cup, celebrates a 144th final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City feature for a third consecutive season, but they come up against a Crystal Palace side who have the opportunity to write history by winning the club’s first major trophy.
They’ve been here before, with Palace the losing finalists in 2016 and 1990, with Manchester United the beneficiaries on both occasions.
Seven-time winners City could do with a trophy to salvage something from their season. As usual, they are finishing the campaign in good form, unbeaten in ten.
That run includes last month’s 5-2 thrashing of Palace. But since then, Palace have recovered somewhat, with the City-linked Eberechi Eze scoring five goals in his last four games, including one in the Wembley semi-final win over Aston Villa.
There’s a quick turnaround at Wembley, with the final of the Women’s FA Cup to follow on Sunday. Here, in a repeat of the 2023 final, Manchester United face Chelsea, who were crowned WSL champions after completing an unbeaten league season just last weekend.
Chelsea are on for a domestic treble, having also lifted the Subway League Cup back in March, but United are defending the Cup they lifted for the first time when they smashed Spurs 4-0 last year.
Both meetings between these two sides this season ended in 1-0 wins for Chelsea, but neither featured United’s Elisabeth Terland from the start, who led the WSL with 15 goal involvements this season. She could be the difference-maker on Sunday.
Arsenal vs. Newcastle
Back in the Premier League, we’ve reached round 37 of 38 and all that’s left to be decided is the order in which the multitude of European places are handed out.
Besides Friday night’s games involving Aston Villa and Chelsea, who face Europa League finalists Man United and Spurs respectively, perhaps the biggest remaining fixture pits second against third.
Newcastle United trail Arsenal by two points heading in to the weekend and the Carabao Cup winners could add insult to injury by going above Mikel Arteta’s side by beating them at the Emirates.
The Penultimate Round in Serie A
With LaLiga now sewn up, Serie A is the last of Europe’s big five leagues left to be decided. This weekend, we reach the penultimate round with just a point separating chasers Inter from current leaders Napoli.
Napoli’s draw last week, combined with Inter’s win over Torino, shortened the gap and gave fresh hope to Simone Inzaghi’s Champions League finalists.
Now, Inter must get a result against fifth placed Lazio to take the title race to the final round. Lazio are level on points with Juventus, who sit above them in the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot, so the Biancocelesti will not lie down easily.
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte will be demanding nothing but a win from his side as Napoli travel to relegation threatened Parma on Sunday night.
This one could go down to the wire.
Decision Day in Portugal
We teed it up nicely in last week’s guest pick, but the derby between the Liga Portugal’s joint leaders, Benfica and Sporting, failed to produce a winner. And thus, the title race goes down to Saturday’s final round of games.
The situation remains the same. Sporting and Benfica are level on points but Sporting lead by virtue of a superior head to head record, having beaten their Lisbon rivals earlier in the season.
That means Sporting just need to match Benfica’s result. The leaders have home advantage but they play fifth placed Vitória, who still need something to secure their place in next season’s Conference League. Benfica, meanwhile, travel to Braga who sit fourth, but are unlikely to better their Europa League place so may just be playing for pride.
Ajax have let a nine point lead over PSV disappear in a matter of weeks, after two draws and two defeats in their last four games. At Groningen, on Wednesday, Ajax conceded a 99th minute equaliser which caused utter chaos in Groningen, Eindhoven and Rotterdam. While Ajax striker Wout Weghorst sprinted towards the dressing room, full of anger and disbelief, the party started in other parts of The Netherlands where Ajax are not loved, to put it mildly.
Ajax fans are used to winning, used to being the best team in the country. But the past few years have been tough on them, even when they were at their peak in 2019 (don't say “Spurs” or “Lucas Moura” outloud in Amsterdam, it still could bring back trauma). A team that attracted new Ajax fans all over the world has gone through a decline that has left them unrecognisable. Last season was their worst in history. 18th in the league in November, a cup loss at fourth tier Hercules and a historic 6-0 loss at Feyenoord. It was all a bit too much, even their biggest enemies started to feel a bit sorry for the capital powerhouse.
This season it looked like everything had come good for Ajax, under their pragmatic Italian manager Francesco Farioli. The style of play isn't that important anymore at Ajax, it's all about results now. With that new mentality, Ajax took a nine point lead over PSV when they beat them at the end of March. After that match, everyone in Eindhoven thought their season was over. They themselves had a nine point lead back in December that swung the other way, and Ajax were nine clear just three months later.
But after six wins in a row (goal difference 22-6), PSV are now back on top again, one point above Ajax. The always attack-minded Peter Bosz and his squad can finish the job on Sunday, at Het Kasteel (The Castle) where they play Sparta Rotterdam.
Meanwhile, Ajax play FC Twente at home, an opponent they have fond memories of. In 2011 they won their first league title in seven years against Twente. But even if they find a way to win again, Ajax is still dependent on the PSV result in Rotterdam.
But the funny thing is, Ajax really need a favour from Sparta manager Maurice Steijn, the man who Ajax sacked after just one win in seven league games last season. It all sounds too unlikely and ridiculous to happen, but after the last few months in the Eredivisie nobody rules out another insane scenario.
Royal Union Saint-Gilliose, or Union for short, won 11 Belgium league titles in the years up to 1935. Then, in the decades that followed, they won nothing.
One of Brussels’ biggest clubs - Belgium’s most successful pre-WWII side - bounced as far down as the country’s fourth tier and would see little success until Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s takeover in 2018 (Bloom has since sold his majority share). A first promotion back to the top division - after an absence of 48 years - was sealed in 2021, and their long wait for major silverware finally ended in the 2023/24 season when Union lifted the Belgian Cup.
In the league, though, recent seasons have promised plenty but ultimately ended in disappointment.
They finished top of the regular season table in 2021/22, joint top in 2022/23, and top again last year. But that has counted for nothing when the league splits and the points are halved ahead of the Championship Playoff group stage. In each of the last three post-season competitions, Union have fallen off the pace and been beaten to the title by Club Brugge (twice) and Royal Antwerp.
Now, though, it’s Union who came into the Championship Group as part of the chasing pack, and it’s Union who have instead come from behind to seize control of the title race. They go into this weekend’s penultimate round, and a game against Antwerp, with a one point lead over Club Brugge.
As the European season nears completion, you might be scrolling a little further in your match feed for your football fix over the coming weeks. And with that in mind, we thought we’d highlight a special week in MLS.
Matchday 14 is Rivalry Week, when the top derbies - be they old or new - get played in North America.
Current Supporters’ Shield leaders FC Cincinnati visit fellow Ohioans Columbus Crew in a match dubbed the ‘Hell is Real’ rivalry. And while that is unverified, we can confirm that this game pits first versus third in the Eastern Conference and should be a good test for both.
Elsewhere, Inter Miami face Orlando City in the Florida Derby, with the two separated by just a point in the standings. Miami have slipped up of late, winning just one of their last five games, but Lionel Messi is fit and contributing a full 90 minutes at the moment.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting will lead the line for New York Red Bulls as they take on New York City while on the West Coast, MLS Cup holders LA Galaxy host LAFC in El Tráfico.
The champions have been one of the stories of the season so far - but not for good reasons. Galaxy remain winless having played 13 games, recording the worst start of a defending champion in the league’s 30 year history.
With the Ligue 1 title secured and the finals of the Coupe de France, and most importantly, the Champions League to come, Luis Enrique is soft launching the next generation of home grown Parisian talent in their remaining league games. This is your introduction to the stars of the future.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has been tearing it up for Leverkusen over the past few seasons but with the Alonso era coming to an end, it looks like Wirtz will leave the club this summer. He could have his pick of Europe’s elite but the most likely bet might be staying in the Bundesliga with champions Bayern Munich.
With two key Premier League games coming up on Friday night we thought it might be prudent to remind you that we have a weekly tips article from 2023/24 FPL Champion