What Hopes For Man City?
By Tanko Bauka
As Manchester City are yet to come to terms with what hit them, they have another monster in the form of Liverpool FC to contain this weekend in the English Barclays Premier League at Anfield stadium in Liverpool.
Manchester City are currently experiencing the worst start in the club’s history, with their coach, Pep Guardiola losing five straight matches for the first time in his coaching career.
As if that was not enough, the Etihad landlord threw away a goals lead against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League as the visitors held them to a 3 all draw and were booed by the Etihad faithful.
Looking at the pedigree of Liverpool especially their current form under Arne Slot, Manchester City would need to be at their best to be able to compete with the attacking prowess of the likes of Mohammed Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Gody Gakpo and the well marshall defence line anchored by Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Roberson, Arnold Alexander and Ibrahima Konate with Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravanberch and Dominik Szoboszlai taking charge of the midfield as well as the thunderous Liverpool fans.
On the other hand too, Liverpool need not take things for granted because Manchester City are coming into this encounter as a wounded lion, knowing fully the wide gap. If they lose the match, they will prove a hard nut for the Anfield boys to crack and on their good day, they can punish any team.
Chelsea will also have Aston Villa to contain as they are experiencing a new phase of life under Enzo Marasca, sitting currently in the third position with 22 points and are playing very well while Aston Villa’s momentum seem to have dropped but this weekend’s trip to Stanford bridge stadium in London to face Chelsea offers them the ample opportunity to relaunch themselves back to contention for the English Barclays Premier League title.
Arsenal FC would undertake a short tricky trip to take on West Ham who are still savouring their 2-0 win against Newcastle, but Arsenal are coming into the match Fresh from their 5-1 demolition of Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League and would want to continue to put pressure on Liverpool FC who top the league table.
Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United welcome Everton to Old Trafford while resurgent Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur will all be at home to welcome AFC Bournemouth and Fulham, respectively.
In the Spanish LA Liga, FC Barcelona will seek to put behind them the 2 all draw against Celta Vigo as they entertain Las Palmas with the defending Champion, Real Madrid taking on Getafe to continue to challenge FC Barcelona which has a 4 points lead on top of the LA Liga league table with Real Madrid having an outstanding match against Valencia.
Real Valladolid take on Atletico Madrid; Rayo Vallacano welcome Athletic Bilbao while Real Sociedad and Real Betis square it up for the three points at stake.
In Italy AC Milan play Empoli, Torino entertain the league leader, Napoli while Juventus visit Lacce as Fiorentina host Inter Milan.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich will have their hands full as they travel to take on Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin will ambush Bayer Leverkusen while RB Leipzig host Wolfsburg.
This weekend Fixtures across Europe
English Barclays Premier League
Friday
Brighton vs Southampton
Saturday
Brentford vs Leicester
Crystal Palace vs Newcastle
Nottingham vs Ipswich Town
Wolves vs AFC Bournemouth
West Ham vs Arsenal
Sunday
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Manchester United vs Everton
Tottenham vs Fulham
Liverpool vs Manchester City
Spanish LA Liga
Friday
Mallorca vs Valencia
Saturday
FC Barcelona vs Las Palmas
Deportivo Alaves vs Laganes
Espanyol vs Celta Vigo
Real Valladolid vs Atletico Madrid
Sunday
Villarreal vs Girona
Real Madrid vs Getafe
Rayo Vallacano vs athletic Bilbao
Real Sociedad vs Real Betis
Monday
Sevilla vs Osasuna
Italian Serie A
Friday
Cagliari vs Hellas Verona
Saturday
Como vs AC Monza
AC Milan vs Empoli
Bologna vs Venezia
Sunday
Udinese vs Genoa
Parma vs Lazio
Torino vs Napoli
Fiorentina vs Inter Milan
Lacce vs Juventus
Monday
Roma vs Atalanta
German Bundesliga
Friday
FC St Pauli vs Holstein Kiel
Saturday
RB Leipzig vs Wolfsburg
Werder Bremen vs Stuttgart
SC Freiburg vs Monchengladbach
FC Augsburg vs VFL Bochum
Union Berlin vs Leverkusen
Dortmund vs Bayern Munich
Sunday
Mainz 05 vs Hoffenheim
Heidenheim vs Eintrach Frankfurt
