Chelsea begin post-Tuchel era with West London derby
The post-Thomas Tuchel era at Chelsea begins with a challenging Premier League West London derby on Saturday, as Fulham welcome their capital counterparts to Craven Cottage.
The Blues enter the contest on the back of a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. The last shades of Roman Abramovich’s era was removed when Todd Boehly gave the green light to the German’s departure on Wednesday morning
While Chelsea followed a pattern of losing one and then winning one in Tuchel’s final days, the defeat to Dinamo Zagreb marked a third straight away loss for the West London club in all tournaments, and their exhaustive defensive spending has only led to a five-game run without a Premier League clean sheet.
Graham Potter’s arrival is expected to kick-off yet another new era with an eighth-straight win against Fulham..
The Blues’ recent record in this fixture does make for positive reading, but we are struggling to pick a clear winner, and a misfiring Chelsea attack will aim to take advantage of Fulham’s own defensive lapses to take a point back to base.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
In-form Man City lock horns with Tottenham at Etihad Stadium
Erling Braut Haaland, Manchester City
Two in-form teams seeking to build on their strong starts to the new season will lock horns at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening, as reigning Premier League champions Manchester City play host to Tottenham Hotspur.
Both sides have claimed 14 points from their opening six matches in the top flight, and victory for either team this weekend would see them momentarily move ahead of Arsenal at the summit.
Erling Braut Haaland continued his fine start to life at Man City with another two strikes in their comfortable 4-0 Champions League victory against Sevilla on Tuesday.
Since arriving from Borussia Dortmund over the summer, Haaland has now netted 12 times in just eight games across all competitions.
Confidence is high among Guardiola’s camp and they head into Saturday’s contest having won each of their last seven Premier League home matches, scoring 30 goals and netting at least three times on each occasion.
Tottenham have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League season after six games since the 2016-17 campaign.
Conte’s men will be up against a formidable opponent on Saturday, but his Spurs side have frustrated the champions before and will be confident of upsetting the apple cart once again at the Etihad.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Inter Milan and Torino go head-to-head at the San Siro
Edin Dzeko, Inter Milan
Inter Milan and Torino go head-to-head at the San Siro Stadium in round six of the Italian Serie A on Sunday.
The Nerazzurri head into the weekend unbeaten in six consecutive games against the visitors and will look to continue in the same vein.
Inter Milan were denied a dream start to their Champions League Group C campaign as they fell to a 2-0 loss against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
They have now returned to Serie A action, where they are on a run of six consecutive home victories, stretching back to last season.
With nine points from their first five games, Inter Milan are currently eighth in the Serie A table, one point and two places off Torino.
Inter Milan have run out of steam in recent weeks and head into Saturday on a run of three defeats from their last four games.
However, they will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways as they face a Torino side who have failed to win any of their last six encounters since January 2019.
Credit: sportskeeda.com
Barcelona are favourites against Cádiz
Robert Lewandowski , Barcelona
Barca are huge favourites to continue their strong start at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla against the only team yet to score or win La Liga
Last weekend’s match between Sevilla and Barcelona went just as expected with a 3-0 win for the Catalan visitors.
The Blaugranes remain undefeated in La Liga play this year but sit two points behind Real Madrid in the league table.
It has been a disappointing start to the season for Cádiz, losing all four of their games this year. They have also failed to score a goal this season as well and have a -10 goal differential.
This is going to be a one-sided affair with Barcelona controlling the possession and limiting the goal scoring opportunities of Cádiz.
It will be interesting to see how Xavi will rotate the lineup as they will be coming off a midweek Champions League fixture against Plzen.
Robert Lewandowski is tied for the La Liga lead in scoring with five goals alongside Iago Aspas.
He should have no problem picking apart the home side’s backline this Saturday and continue his goal-scoring form. Barcelona are overwhelming favorites as look to extend their unbeaten streak in league play this season.
Credit: goal.com
Real Valladolid aim at back-to-back victories away to Girona today
Saidy Janko, Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid will be bidding to make it back-to-back La Liga victories when they continue their 2022-23 campaign away to Girona on Friday night.
Pacheta‘s side, who are 16th in the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 win over Almeria, while 12th-placed Girona played out a 1-1 draw with Mallorca in their last match.
Girona are operating in Spain’s top flight for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign, spending three seasons in the Segunda Division before managing to return to this level.
Real Valladolid, who finished second in the 2021-22 Segunda Division top secure a return to the top level, will enter this contest off the back of a 1-0 win over Almeria on Monday night.
Real Valladolid, who finished second in the 2021-22 Segunda Division top secure a return to the top level, will enter this contest off the back of a 1-0 win over Almeria on Monday night.
Girona’s injury list is fairly lengthy at the moment, but Real Valladolid could have a full squad for this match, and we just have a feeling that the visitors could shade this contest.
It would certainly not be a surprise to see a home win or a draw, but we are backing Real Valladolid to triumph.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
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