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The FA Cup Fourth Round, Derby d'Italia, Defence Force FC, and more
All the top weekend matches coming your way get the FotMob preview treatment
Friday is here again and we’re back with all the usual information to help you ease in to another weekend full of noteworthy games. The world’s oldest Cup competition dominates proceedings in England, while the title race continues unabated elsewhere in Europe. We’ve got news, too, of a Concacaf oddity, and a Must Reads section that errr…must be read.
Arsenal vs. Wigan Athletic
The FA Cup Fourth round gets underway this evening and for those Premier League giants still in the competition, it’s a chance for a bit of breathing space away from the relentless pressure of the league campaign.
Mikel Arteta may feel his Arsenal side need it more than most, especially after Thursday’s frustrating draw away at Brentford saw them miss out on the opportunity of going six points clear of chasers Manchester City.
The Gunners welcome League One strugglers Wigan Athletic to the Emirates on Sunday. Some 13 years after their finest hour, when Wigan upset City to lift the 2012/13 FA Cup, they find themselves embroiled in a relegation scrap, and managerless having sacked Ryan Lowe last week.
Wigan have yo-yo’ed between England’s second and third tier since their glory days but are now at serious risk of dropping to the bottom division of the EFL in a season where they’ve picked up just seven league wins. They did, however, beat local rivals Preston North End to reach this stage.
Wigan and Arsenal haven’t met since the 2014 semifinals, the year after the Latics’ fairytale trophy win and the season when despite being in the second division, the Lancashire side were also enjoying their only ever foray into European competition, competing in the Europa League.
Arsenal won a nervy contest on penalties, a game Arteta played in, before then going on to win the final that year. Arteta will be hoping for a more relaxing affair, and a chance to rotate his team, this time around.
Man City vs. Salford City
Elsewhere in the FA Cup, there’s a repeat of a local derby that was played for the first time in the competition just over a year ago.
The Class of 92-funded Salford City made the five mile trip to Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium for a third round clash that resulted in their worst ever competitive defeat, a 8-nil thrashing that featured goals from Jérémy Doku, a masterclass from Jack Grealish, and a hattrick from James McAtee, who now finds himself largely sitting on the bench at Nottingham Forest.
12 months on, Salford are once again going well in the cup - this will be the first time they’ve ever played in the fourth round - and looking to secure a place in the League Two playoffs. Having missed out by a point at the end of last season, manager Karl Robinson will be determined to get that right come May.
For now, he returns to the Etihad with a side that has won five of their last seven, and with the backing of an away end that will likely outnumber their usual average home crowd.
For City, having put ten past third tier Exeter in the last round, it’s another chance to flex their muscles, give fringe players some game time, and get their forwards in the goals. If there is to be some of that old FA Cup magic this weekend, it’s unlikely that an upset will come here.
Inter boss Cristian Chivu comes in to Sunday’s Derby d’Italia with a point to prove. He may have lead Inter back to the top of the table, where the Milan side currently boast an eight point lead over city rivals AC, who sit second, but his side are getting a reputation for not turning up for the big games.
Inter have failed to beat defending champions Napoli home and away, they lost to Milan, and they lost the earlier meeting between these two in Turin, with Juventus coming from behind to edge a seven-goal thriller back in September.
That game was Derby Day football played at it’s chaotic best and it was won by a 30-yard, stoppage time piledriver, from Juve’s Vasilije Adžić.
The corresponding fixture last season also produced a 4-4 draw. The Derby d’Italia is developing a reputation for entertainment that Italian football has not always had! But Chivu will want to change the narrative in terms of recent results.
This game will also feature two of the most unlikely form players in the league, at least in terms of goal contributions. Inter wingback Federico Dimarco has won our player of the match award in each of his last four games, having scored twice and assisted a further six goals.
For Juve, the ever-versatile, Weston McKennie has scored seven times since the appointment of current coach Luciano Spalletti in October, making him the highest scoring midfielder in the country during this time.
Girona vs. Barcelona
After Barcelona’s surprise first half capitulation at Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey semifinal on Thursday, Hansi Flick has until Monday to shake his team out of their stupor.
The current leaders of LaLiga play last in what is the 24th round of the season, with there being every chance that they’ll need a result to go back to the top of the table. That’s if Real Madrid can leapfrog them by ending Pellegrino Matarazzo’s unbeaten start to life as coach of Real Sociedad when they meet on Saturday night.
Barca travel to fellow Catalans Girona, where longterm goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen was sent out on loan last month. Ter Stegen won’t feature here - he’s ineligible, but also injured once again.
After a very slow start to the campaign, where Girona won just one of their opening 10 games, things have picked up, and the City-group owned club now start the weekend sat 12th, albeit still only four points clear of the drop zone.
The congested nature of LaLiga, both in the middle of the pack, and for those in the title race, means that every point will be keenly fought over. Flick can’t afford another misstep here.
The Concacaf Champions Cup, the North and Central American equivalent of the Champions League, always throws up an intriguing story or two. For every Mexican grandee, like Club América or Tigres, or MLS mega-franchise, like Inter Miami or LAFC, there’s a lesser known team competing from elsewhere in the federation.
Last season, our favourite was Robin Hood, from Suriname, and this year, it’s Defence Force FC, Trinidad’s most successful football club. The side, historically made up of players from Trinidad and Tobago’s army and coast guard, enter the tournament after finishing third in the Caribbean Cup qualifying tournament.
They face MLS Supporters’ Shield holders Philadelphia Union in the first round of the Champions Cup but they boast an impressive history in the competition. Defence Force have actually won it twice since their inception in 1974, lifting the trophy in 1978 and again in 1985, making them the last Caribbean side to do so.
French side Olympique Lyonnais looked like they were in a mess at the start of the season but having avoided an administrative relegation to Ligue 2 due their financial mismanagement, Lyon are now riding high and remain in contention on three fronts - the league, the Coupe de France, and the Europa League.
Amazingly, Lyon have won all seven games they’ve played in 2026, and their winning run stretches back to 12 games across all competitions.
Last weekend’s 1-0 victory at Nantes cemented their third place position in the table, and was achieved despite the sending off of Real Madrid loanee Endrick. The Brazilian has epitomised Lyon’s current resilience (until that red card!), scoring five times and assisting twice in the six games he’s played since joining the club.
Paulo Fonseca’s side may be nine points off top spot but he’s built a strong squad mentality that could see them go all the way in one of the cups. Lyon even finished top of the league phase table in the Europa League having won seven out of their eight matches.
Coming up, there’s a clash against an out of sorts Nice side to negotiate this weekend, before tricky league ties against Marseille and Strasbourg, two of the sides around them in the table, and then a Coupe de France quarterfinal against Lens, PSG’s main rivals for the title this season.
The Spurs centre-back has been tearing it up on loan at Hamburg in what is his first season playing in one of Europe’s big five leagues. He’s already scored four goals, won more headers than anyone else in the division, and cleared the ball a staggering 151 times in 18 games.
Colombian World Cup legend James Rodríguez hasn’t played a lot of club football in recent seasons but his decision to join unfancied MLS franchise Minnesota United and spend World Cup year preparing in the same country as the tournament is being held makes a lot of sense.
At ‘just’ £29m, Manchester City got themselves one of the best shotstoppers in the business and the kind of goalkeeper who guarantees you points. Italy’s No. 1 has already shown his class in the Premier League.
Here’s a reminder of the new and improved match insights that you can find in the pre-match details for any upcoming game.
Full of useful statistics and interesting nuggets of information that should give you an idea of what you’re side are up against. For instance, recent form suggests that things do not look good for Werder Bremen tomorrow, especially if Harry Kane and Micheal Olise feature for opponents Bayern Munich.
Pro Tip: Click on any of the matches below, then tap the star in the right hand side of the match page to add them to your Following section.
Friday: The FA Cup fourth round kicks off with some intriguing ties - Wrexham take on Ipswich, with both teams currently involved in the promotion race in the EFL Championship, and Chelsea visit Hull City, another second tier side performing well this season. PSG travel to Rennes looking to extend their lead in Ligue 1, while Dortmund and Milan, the sides sat second in the Bundesliga and Serie A respectively, both play their games tonight.
Saturday: Aston Villa vs. Newcastle United and Liverpool vs. Brighton gives us two all-Premier League ties in the FA Cup, while in LaLiga, Real Madrid can go top of the table with victory over Real Sociedad. In France, Marseille vs. Strasbourg should be interesting following the departure of Roberto De Zerbi this week, and in Germany, there’s that foregone conclusion we mentioned between Werder Bremen and leaders Bayern.
Sunday: If we are to see a non-Old Firm title winner in Scotland for the first time since the 1980s, then Hearts will need to avoid defeat in games like the one they have coming up against Rangers. Napoli play Roma in Serie A, and there’s the always atmospheric derby between Austria and Rapid Vienna. We’ll also be looking out to see if Raheem Sterling features following his surprise move to Feyenoord, as they take on Go Ahead Eagles.