It’s the last weekend before taking another mid-season break for a series of international meets. Midweek we had a full run of European matches, but now our attention turns again to domestic football. The usual single matches of most major leagues will take place on Friday, with the PL being the exception before diving into two busy days on Saturday and Sunday. Let’s take a quick look at some of the best matches on offer this weekend!
Liverpool v Aston Villa – Saturday at 9:00 p.m.
Liverpool fans could hardly have hoped for a better start to life under new manager Arne Slot. Their good form continued as they won their matches before this match, beating Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen to extend their unbeaten run until September 14 when they lost at home to Nottingham Forest. This meeting between them and Aston Villa will be the 100th time the two sides have met at Anfield and a victory for the home side would mean Slot becomes only the fourth manager to win nine of their first eleven matches in charge. Aston Villa are a good opponent for Liverpool to face as they have scored more goals against them than any other PL opponent and have won five in the last six meetings between the two teams at Anfield. Luis Diaz is the leader in form, having scored a hat-trick in midweek. Alisson, Chiesa and Diogo Jota remain unavailable for the home team.
Aston Villa will look to bounce back from a poor midweek defeat in their 1-0 loss to Club Brugge. The defeat will come as something of a surprise after the very positive start the Midlands club have made so far in the CL. It was their third consecutive defeat in all competitions, meaning Villa are facing a tough time. This match will not give confidence to their fans and many fear a fourth defeat. Manager Unai Emery himself has a poor record against Liverpool, achieving just one win in eleven attempts with different clubs. Jhon Duran will be hoping to get the nod from the start as he continues to battle with Ollie Watkins for the number one striking role at the club. Ross Barkley and Matty Cash are both likely to be missed by the visitors as they look to arrest their alarming decline in form.
Villa’s last win against Liverpool came in October 2020, a 7-2 goal fest. However, this is the only time they have beaten these opponents in their last ten meetings.
Chelsea vs. Arsenal – Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
Chelsea fans will surely be more than happy with the start to the season they have enjoyed with the west London club in fourth place heading into this match and one place above Arsenal, many pundits’ favorites to win the title this season. Enzo Maresca himself has exceeded the expectations of many and Chelsea have only lost one of their last nine league matches before this match. Their 8-0 defeat to Noah in the ECL midweek certainly won’t have hurt their confidence either. They are averaging two goals per game in each of their last four home games and they certainly have plenty of attacking options. The key man, just like last season, is Cole Palmer and he is not sure he will be able to play this game after the knock he received late in the match against Manchester United last week. Moises Caicedo has certainly looked more like himself this season and put in a superb performance last week, he will look to dominate the midfield once again.
Arsenal tasted defeat on their midweek trip, losing 1-0 to Inter Milan, despite 20 goal attempts. The positive point of this match was the return of their captain, a player who they have certainly missed in recent weeks because he makes them vibrate. They will be looking to avoid a third defeat in a row here, as they also lost by the same narrow scoreline last weekend in kick-off against Newcastle. Arsenal’s recent poor run has them outside the top four heading into this game and they are winless in their last three league matches. Stamford Bridge is, however, a favorable venue for them as they are unbeaten in their last five visits to the Chelsea Stadium. A big worry for Arsenal is the likely absence of Declan Rice, his absence will certainly leave a void in their midfield.
The last time Chelsea beat Arsenal was in August 2021 and the Gunners have won seven in the last ten meetings while Chelsea have only two.
Inter vs Napoli – Sunday at 8:45 p.m.
A midweek win in the CL for Inter allowed them to extend their excellent run to eight wins in their last nine matches, so they will go into this match with full confidence. Inter are currently one point behind league leaders Napoli, so they will be incentivized to do well in this match. This top-of-the-table clash is therefore undoubtedly one of the matches to watch this weekend. Inter have a very good recent record against Napoli having won six of the last ten league meetings between the two. One negative that the home side must try to resolve is their somewhat disappointing home form which has only two wins in their last four matches played at the San Siro. However, scoring goals is not a problem as they have scored in their last 28 Serie A home matches, one of the best records in Europe.
Napoli will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing result last week when they were beaten by Atalanta, a 3-0 aggregate defeat which saw their lead at the top of the table reduced to just one point. It was only the second time coach Antonio Conte has lost a Serie A match by three goals and they will be hoping to avoid back-to-back league defeats, something they have not had to endure since December of the year last. Napoli will have to try to recover from their result last weekend, because previously they had achieved a series that allowed them to record six competitive victories. They can also consider the fact that they are unbeaten in their last four away matches and have kept clean sheets in all of those matches.
Inter have won six of the last ten meetings, with Napoli recording just one win in the same time frame and the last meeting was a 1-1 draw in March this year.
Benfica x Porto – Sunday at 9:45 p.m.
Sunday’s late match is a clash between two Portuguese giants as second-placed Porto travel to Benfica. These two rivals find themselves behind Sporting in the standings, although it remains to be seen how the championship leaders will handle the departure of their coach Ruben Amorim. These two teams will therefore look to take three points from this match to put pressure on the current leaders. Benfica are five points behind Porto and therefore eight points behind, so they really need three points here, so they will be encouraged by the fact that they have not dropped any points in the league since the draw against Moreirense late august. They fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek and last managed three points away against SC Farense.
Porto have a better record than Benfica so far this season with more goals scored and fewer conceded. They may be five points ahead of Benfica, but they have played a game more, so they will know that if they lose this game and Benfica win their game in hand, they will be overtaken by their rivals. Porto also suffered defeat in midweek in the CL when they lost to Lazio, also a narrow defeat. Before that, they had easily got the better of Estoril, securing a 4-0 victory last weekend.
The last meeting between these two resulted in an impressive 5-0 victory for FC Porto, so the home side will be looking to avenge that rather embarrassing result. FC Porto have won five of the last ten matches and Benfica have won three.
PS: The odds may have changed since this article was written and published.
Last update: 08.11.24
