⚽️THE SUPER SUNDAY
⚽️THE SUPER SUNDAY
Arsenal-Liverpool, Inter-Juve, Real Madrid-Atlético.
This is THE FOOTBALL WEEKEND, your Friday morning rundown of all the best matches across world football over the coming weekend in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and more. Join subscribers from 66 different countries:
It’s the true definition of a Super Sunday this week, with two cracking Premier League fixtures followed by a top-of-the-table clash in Serie A and the Madrid derby.
REAL MADRID vs ATLÉTICO MADRID
THE HEADLINES
➡️ The January transfer window slammed shut on Thursday with remarkably little activity across Europe, particularly in the Premier League. The most straightforward explanation is that clubs fear that the Profitability and Sustainability Rules have teeth after Everton and Nottingham Forest caught charges.
➡️ Speaking of which, Everton’s appeal of the 10-point deduction leveled against the club for financial violations was reportedly heard this week.
➡️ American attacker Gio Reyna is off to Nottingham Forest on loan. He signed a new deal with Borussia Dortmund before his departure, but it’s unclear whether his long-term future still lies with the German giants.
➡️ Forest also signed Sporting Lisbon striker Rodrigo Ribeiro on loan and goalkeeper Matz Sels from Strasbourg for around £5 million. Aren’t Forest already in hot water for their spending?
➡️ Botafogo signed winger Luiz Henrique for €20 million this week, the biggest fee in Brazilian football history.
➡️ Crystal Palace scooped up Adam Wharton from Blackburn for a fee rising to a cool £22 million.
➡️ Around 90 minutes after the deadline—thanks to an extension granted by the Premier League—Fulham took striker Armando Broja on loan from Chelsea.
➡️ Swedish wunderkind Lucas Bergvall reportedly chose to sign for Tottenham over Barcelona for a fee “approaching €10 million.”
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SATURDAY
EVERTON vs TOTTENHAM (7:30am ET, 12:30pm GMT)
The hosts are fresh off a strange 0-0 draw where both they and Fulham had upwards of 20 shots. Everton’s four on target possibly told more of the story, and so did their 30% possession. That was away from home, and they should have more of a foothold at Goodison Park, but their guests will come to dictate the flow of the game. Tottenham are a wild watch, scoring goals and leaking them, but above all Ange Postecoglu wants his team to draw the patterns of the match. Spurs made hard work of Brentford in midweek, but they did squeeze out the 3-2 victory. This one could be war: with the points deductions and their up-and-down form, the Toffees are in desperate need of points.
BRIGHTON vs CRYSTAL PALACE (10am ET, 3pm GMT)
I was lucky enough to catch this fixture at Selhurst Park, so while I can’t speak to the atmosphere in and around the Amex, Brighton’s home court, I can safely say this derby is for real. Mounted police everywhere, a massive crowd-control effort, and roaring choruses of banter between fans. We asked an older guy in a Palace scarf on the train down to Croydon what started all this, and he said, “It all kicked off in the ‘70s.” In the summer of 1976, former Tottenham teammates Terry Venables and Alan Mullery took charge of Palace and Brighton respectively, and the two had a complicated relationship from back in the Spurs days that helped fuel a managerial rivalry that spilled into club-on-club loathing.
SUNDAY
MAN UNITED vs WEST HAM (9am ET, 2pm GMT)
The first big fixture of Super Sunday sees the Red Devils host the Hammers. United had sunk down to 16th in the form table—taking five points with a -5 goal difference over their last six matches—before their dramatic stoppage-time victory over Wolves on Thursday. Only Burnley and Sheffield United had scored fewer goals this season before the Mancunians got four at Molineux, though Rasmus Højlund is showing signs of life and Marcus Rashford opened the scoring after his difficult week in the press. Even Antony got one in the FA Cup last weekend, albeit against League Two Newport County, an achievement he celebrated like it was the World Cup final.
West Ham are a different story. Jarrod Bowen was banging in the goals even before he moved up to a striking position at the top of the team, and I’m expecting Mohammed Kudus to come roaring back from AFCON. The home team are favorites with the oddsmakers, but the Hammers could easily take the points here.
ARSENAL vs LIVERPOOL (11:30am ET, 4:30pm GMT)
This is the first big test for Liverpool following Jürgen Klopp’s announcement that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season. Neither Norwich City nor Chelsea put up much resistance over the last week, but Mikel Arteta will hope his Arsenal side are back in some kind of form following a horror spell that stretched through the holidays and into early January. Wins over Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest do not a Premier League champion make, but they were desperately needed for the North London side at a time when last season’s title challenge was starting to look like a flash in the pan.
The Gunners need to score more goals, even after putting five past Palace, and #9 Gabriel Jesus illustrated the problem in a narrower bout with Forest by smashing a very presentable chance off the near post. He redeemed himself with a clever near-post nutmeg on former teammate Matt Turner, however, and Bukayo Saka got the second to remind the league he is one of its most dependable goal-and-assist men. The story up top is simple for the Londoners (they’ve got to be more ruthless), but the midfield prompts some interesting questions. Will Arteta go for a double pivot of Declan Rice and Jorginho, or the newly (allegedly) fit Thomas Partey? Will there be a place for Kai Havertz, purportedly a big-game player? Does Leandro Trossard get another start out wide left, or will Gabriel Martinelli reclaim his place after an uptick in form?
We know what it will look like at the back for Arsenal, at least in the center: Gabriel and William Saliba will be tasked with keeping Liverpool’s high-octane attack under some kind of wraps. Even without Mo Salah—injured at the Africa Cup of Nations this month—the Merseysiders are a whirring machine of front-foot combination play and dizzying movement. Darwin Núñez still cannot be fully depended upon to put his chances away, and Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo have not stepped into the kind of role that Sadio Mané once occupied for Liverpool. But Diogo Jota is still one of the best signings of the last half-decade across the Premier League, a ludicrously clever player with ghostly movement and deadly finishing. He is one of the form players in the division right now, the man who must be stopped as far as Arsenal are concerned.
In the end, this one could go some way towards banishing the Gunners’ title ambitions to the dustbin of history if they aren’t careful. They cannot allow Liverpool to go eight points clear of them, particularly with Man City just beginning to find their gear, and particularly with the best player in the league—Salah—unavailable to their enemies. If Arsenal can find a way to showcase their strength, however, they could be two points off the top of the league. This one should be fast, frantic, and fabulous.
INTER vs JUVENTUS (2:45pm ET, 7:45pm GMT)
These two are a class above at the top of Serie A, comfortably clear of AC Milan in third and duking it out for Scudetto glory. Inter have taken 26 points from the last 30 available in Serie A, undefeated since September 27. Juventus have taken 24 from the last 30 and haven’t lost in the league since September 23. (Funny enough, they both lost to Sassuolo.) Inter have combined a formidable defensive record—just 10 goals conceded in 21 games—with the free scoring of Lautaro Martinez and Co. Their 50 goals dwarf Juve’s 36 in the league, but the Bianconeri have a knack of winning games by one-goal margins. Maybe that’s less sustainable over the long term, but they’ve certainly sustained a challenge to imperious Inter. This one could be a bit of a chess match with just one or two goals in it, but it will be a fascinating watch.
REAL MADRID vs ATLÉTICO MADRID (3pm ET, 8pm GMT)
It’s dual screens to finish out the weekend, as El Derbi kicks off at the Santiago Bernabeu 15 minutes after the action at San Siro. That means no halftime break for you, as Real Madrid look to continue an incredible run in La Liga. They’ve won their last six and taken 28 points from the last 30, pulling two clear of cinderella Girona at the top. Atléti have not been a typical Diego Simeone side this season, playing some chaotic matches and racking up five league losses already, more than anybody else in the top seven.
This match is always a tale of vengeful spite, but Real will have a particular eye on avenging their loss in this derby a couple of weeks back when they went crashing out of the Copa del Rey. They’ll lean on Vinicius Jr., who’s picked up the baton from Jude Bellingham recently when it comes to goals and assists, but they’ll have to find a way to deal with Antoine Griezmann. The 32-year-old Frenchman is all-conquering at the moment.
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THE FPL STOCK MARKET
↗️ Kobbie Mainoo (£4.4m) is playing a bit further forward in Man United’s midfield and is producing on the stat sheet. Rasmus Hojlund (£6.8m) has also been a beneficiary of United’s newfound interest in scoring goals.
↗️ Unai Emery is also doing a fair amount of rotation in the attacking midfield positions, but Leon Bailey (£5.7m) completely changed the game when he came on against Newcastle in midweek. He was a live wire. Villa have a fairly favorable schedule, so he’s not the only midfielder you could have a look at in that squad.
↘️ Conor Bradley (£4.0m): A controversial one here considering his price and production over the last couple of weeks, but I just have some doubt around whether the young right back will get quality minutes week-in, week-out for Liverpool. The Reds have a deep enough squad that there’s always rotation risk, not unlike Pep Guardiola’s Man City. Then again, £4.0 is £4.0.
↗️ Eberechi Eze (£6.0m): While Michael Olise (£5.9m) has been a longtime recommendation around here, consider his Crystal Palace teammate as well. Both of them have slight injury concerns, but they both love to score.
↗️ Diogo Jota (£8.0): As an Arsenal fan, I can almost guarantee you he’ll score against us on Sunday.⚽︎