There’s a blockbuster in Italy this weekend and a global final between Chelsea and Palmeiras in Abu Dhabi along with some key match-ups around Europe.
Saturday 4:15pm European time - Spanish La Liga
Leaders Real Madrid make the trip to sixth-placed Villarreal with some inconsistent form dogging Los Blancos, who have missed top scorers Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior lately. Real have collected seven points from their past four league games and only hold a three-point lead at the top, with Sevilla closing the gap by beating Elche 2-0 on Friday night. Vinicius Junior returns from suspension for Carlo Ancelotti’s side who will still be without Benzema due to a hamstring issue.
Saturday 6pm European time - Italian Serie A
There’s a top-of-the-table blockbuster in Italy with second-placed Napoli hosting leaders Inter Milan, who went down to rivals AC Milan last weekend. Subsequently Napoli were able to cut Inter’s lead to one point, meaning the race for the Scudetto is back on after the Nerazzurri had stormed into the lead in the latter part of the first half of the season. Napoli have won four league games in a row to restore belief while Inter have only collected four points from their past three games.
Saturday 5:30pm European time - Club World Cup final
European champions Chelsea face South American champions Palmeiras, as expected, in Saturday’s Club World Cup decider in Abu Dhabi. Romelu Lukaku netted the winner as the Blues got past Al Hilal 1-0 in their semi-final, while Palmeiras beat Egyptian outfit Al Ahly 2-0. Chelsea have now won their past three games in all competitions but had actually been wavering in the Premier League, going four games without a win, so success here will be a big boost.
Sunday 3pm European time - English Premier League
Antonio Conte’s Spurs revolution hasn’t really born fruit yet, with the side coming off back-to-back league defeats and sitting down in seventh. Tottenham are two points ahead of Sunday’s opponents Wolves, who sit eighth having won three of their past four games. Both sides are contenders for the European spots and Spurs, usually with loftier ambitions, need to get cracking with a view to Harry Kane finding some form.
Sunday 9pm European time - Spanish La Liga
Xavi’s revamped Barcelona knocked off Atletico Madrid last weekend to move into the top four in La Liga but that will be tested when they meet their Catalan rivals in Sunday’s derby. Espanyol are hardly setting the world on fire, winless in their past four league games and sitting down in 13th but derbies are always different. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang debuted off the bench against Atleti but could be in line to start.
