What a weekend of soccer we have ahead of us. There are a number of massive matches with title implications on the line in every single league in action this weekend. France's Ligue 1 is on break this weekend, but we still have a full slate in the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga.
Here is a snapshot of what we saw during mid-week action:
- Manchester City defeated Wolves 4-1 at home, extending their undefeated streak to 21 matches.
- Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, which extended Manchester City's lead atop the Premier League table to 14 points.
- AC Milan needed a 97th-minute penalty to draw with Udinese, which extended Inter's lead at the top of the table to six points.
- Juventus cruised past Spezia 3-0 and have moved into third place in the Serie A table.
- Lille scored two goals in stoppage time to beat Marseille 2-0 and hold onto their lead atop the Ligue 1 table.
With how busy the European soccer calendar is at the moment, managers might be rotating their squads to rest some players. Therefore, it might be a good idea to wait to place a wager until starting lineups come out prior to kickoff.
You can use these projections to identify early betting value on the opening lines, plus follow me in The Action Network App to see any bets I make throughout the week.
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Premier League
Premier League Notes
- Manchester City vs. Manchester United: The 185th addition of the Manchester Derby, and this one could effectively crown the Cityzens as champions of the Premier League. The Red Devils are trailing City by 14 points with only 11 matches left in the season, so if they lose, the title race is over. Manchester City is on a crazy 21-match win streak at the moment but have struggled the last few times they've faced Manchester United. They drew 0-0 with them earlier this season and lost twice to the Red Devils in the Premier League last season. This is the biggest rivalry in England and has produced some great moments over the years.
- Chelsea vs. Everton: Both teams picked up a crucial three points on Thursday in their fight to finish inside the top four. Chelsea is enjoying life under Thomas Tuchel as they're unbeaten in his first 10 matches in charge and have eight clean sheets. Everton is on a nice run themselves, winning three in a row. Everton secured a 1-0 win in the first meeting at Goodison Park, so Chelsea will be out for some revenge on Monday.
Premier League Injury News
- Arsenal: Emile Smith Rowe (CAM) is doubtful to face Burnley.
- Aston Villa: Matty Cash (RB) and Jack Grealish (LM) are out against Wolves.
- Brighton: Tariq Lamptey (RB), Solly March (LB) andAdam Webster (CB) are out against Leicester.
- Burnley: Robbie Brady (LM), Johann Gudmundsson (CM), and Jack Cork (CM) are questionable to play against Arsenal. Ashley Barnes (ST) is out.
- Chelsea: Thiago Silva (CB) and Tammy Abraham (ST) are out against Everton.
- Crystal Palace: Wilfried Zaha (ST), Nathaniel Clyne (RB), James McArthur (CM), Jeffrey Schlupp (LM) and Mamadou Sakho (CB) are out against Tottenham.
- Everton: Yerry Mina (CB) and Fabian Delph (LB) are out against Chelsea. Tom Davies (CM), James Rodriguez (CAM), and Seamus Coleman (RB) are questionable.
- Fulham: Tom Cairney (CAM) is out against Liverpool.
- Leeds: Kalvin Phillips (CDM) is questionable to play against West Ham.
- Leicester: Ayoze Perez (RM), James Justin (LB), Harvey Barnes (LM), James Maddison (CAM) and Johnny Evans (CB), Dennis Praet (CAM) are out against Brighton.
- Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk (CB), Jordan Henderson (CM), Joël Matip (CB) and Joe Gomez (CB) are out against Fulham. Diogo Jota (CF) is questionable.
- Manchester United: Paul Pogba (CM) and Danny van de Beek (CM) are out against Manchester City. Anthony Martial (ST) and David De Gea (GK) are questionable.
- Newcastle: Miguel Almiron (CAM), Allan Saint-Maximin (ST), Javier Manquillo (RB), Fabian Schär (CB) and Callum Wilson (ST) are out against West Brom.
- Sheffield United: Sander Berge (CM), Chris Basham (CB), Jayden Bogle (RB), Jack Robinson (CB), John Egan (CB) and Jack O'Connell (CB) are out against Southampton.
- Southampton: Theo Walcott (RM) and Oriol Romeu (CM) are out against Sheffield United.
- Tottenham: Giovani Lo Celso (CM) is out against Crystal Palace.
- West Ham: Arthur Masuaku (LB), Andriy Yarmolenko (RM) and Angelo Ogbonna (CB) are out against Leeds. Lukasz Fabianski (GK) is questionable.
- Wolves: Daniel Podence (ST) and Raúl Jiménez (ST) are out against Aston Villa.
Bundesliga
Bundesliga Notes
- Gladbach vs. Leverkusen: Both clubs are on the outside looking in at the top four and in desperate need of all three points. It's been a tough few months for both Gladbach and Leverkusen who only have one win each in their last six matches. Gladbach has lost back-to-back home matches against relegation sides Koln and Mainz, while Leverkusen is winless in their last four away matches in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen won a 4-3 thriller in the first meeting, so will we see fireworks like this the second time around?
- Bayern Munich vs. Dortmund: League leaders Bayern Munich will need to get by a resurgent Dortmund squad if they want to hold onto their top spot in the Bundesliga. The league leaders haven't been their usual selves in the Bundesliga, winning only one of their last three matches. Dortmund have seemed to turn their season after three straight wins in Germany and a road win against Sevilla in the Champions League. However, Bayern has dominated Der Klassiker recently beating Dortmund in seven of their last eight meetings.
Bundesliga Injury News
- Augsburg:Iago (LWB) is questionable to play against Hertha Berlin.
- Bayer Leverkusen: Sven Bender (CB), Lars Bender (CDM), Florian Wirtz (CM), Leon Bailey (RM), and Daley Sinkgraven (LB) are out against Gladbach. Moussa Diaby (LM) is out.
- Bayern Munich: Benjamin Pavard (RB) is questionable to play against Dortmund. Douglas Costa (CAM) is out.
- Borussia Dortmund: Jadon Sancho (RM) and Axel Witsel (CM) are out against Bayern Munich. Manuel Akanji (CB) is questionable.
- Gladbach: Lars Stindl (CM) is out against Leverkusen.
- Hertha Berlin: Marvin Plattenhardt (LB) and Dedryck Boyata (CB) are questionable to play against Augsburg. Matheus Cunha (CAM) is out.
- Hoffenheim: Stefan Posch (CB) and Kevin Akpoguma (CB) are questionable to play against Wolfsburg.
- Koln: Sebastian Andersson (ST) is questionable to play against Werder Bremen. Florian Kainz (RM), Rafael Czichos (CB), and Sebastian Bornauw (CB) are out.
- RB Leipzig: Marcel Sabitzer (CM) and Marcel Halstenberg (CB) are out against Freiburg.
- Schalke: Matija Nastasic (CB) and Mark Uth (CAM) are out against Mainz.
- Union Berlin: Christopher Lenz (LB) and Taiwo Awoniyi (ST) are out against Arminia Bielefeld.
- Vfb Stuttgart: Nicolas Gonzalez (ST) is out against Frankfurt.
Serie A
Serie A Notes
- Juventus vs. Lazio: The nine-time defending champions of Italy have fallen ten points behind Inter in the title race. They are on a good run at home, winning six in a row and outscoring their opponents 17 to 2. Lazio has been on a good run themselves winning seven of their last nine Serie A matches. Juventus has dominated Lazio in Serie A over the past decade winning 16 of 21 matches since 2010.
- Inter vs. Atalanta: Inter is currently holding a six-point lead in Serie A and is on a great run, winning seven of their last eight matches. Atalanta has rebounded from a bad start to the season, as they have only one loss in their last 16 Serie A matches. Inter has only beaten Atalanta once in their last six meetings.
Serie A Injury News
- AC Milan: Mario Mandzukic (ST) is questionable to play against Verona. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (ST) and Hakan Calhanoglu (CAM) are out.
- Benevento: Gaetano Letizia (RB) is out against Spezia.
- Bologna: Aaron Hickey (LB), Jerdy Schouten (CM), and Takehiro Tomiyasu (CB) are out against Napoli.
- Cagliari: Giovanni Simeone (ST) is out against Sampdoria.
- Crotone: Milos Vulic (CM) is out against Torino.
- Fiorentina: Franck Ribery (LM) and Gaetano Castrovilli (CM) are out against Parma.
- Juventus: Matthijs de Ligt (CB), Juan Cuadrado (RB), Leonardo Bonucci (CB) and Arthur (CM) are questionable to face Lazio. Giorgio Chiellini (CB) and Paulo Dybala (CF) are out.
- Lazio: Manuel Lazzari (RM), Luiz Felipe (CB) and Stefan Daniel Radu (CB) are out against Juventus.
- Napoli: Hirving Lozano (RW) is questionable to play against Bologna.
- Parma: Andreas Cornelius (ST) and Gervinho (ST) are out against Fiorentina.
- Roma: Marash Kumbulla (CB) and Jordan Veretout (CM) are out against Genoa. Edin Dzeko (ST) is questionable.
- Sassuolo: Vlad Chiriches (CB) and Jeremie Boga (LM) are questionable to play against Udinese.
- Torino: Dealing with COVID-19 outbreak and eight players, including five starters, are questionable to play against Crotone.
- Udinese: Samir Santos (CB) and Gerard Deulofeu (ST)are out against Sassuolo. Ignacio Pussetto (ST) is questionable.
La Liga
La Liga Notes
- Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid: The Madrid Derby has a ton on the line in the second meeting, as Real Madrid can close the gap to two points in the title race. Atletico Madrid has been struggling a bit recently, with only two wins in their last five matches. Real Madrid is on a good run winning five of their last six in all competitions. Los Blancos also have a fantastic record against their inner city rivals, as 2016 was the last time Atletico secured a victory over Real.
La Liga Injury News
- Athletic Bilbao: Inigo Martinez (CB) is out against Granada.
- Atletico Madrid:Jose Gimenez (CB) is questionable to play against Real Madrid.
- Barcelona: Miralem Pjanic (CM), Gerard Pique (CB), Ansu Fati (LW), Philippe Coutinho (CAM) and Sergi Roberto (RB) are out against Osasuna.
- Cadiz: Fali (CM) and Carlos Akapo (RB) are out against Eibar.
- Celta Vigo: Renato Tapia (CM) and Nestor Araujo (CB) are out against Huesca.
- Eibar: Pedro Bigas (CM) is questionable to play against Cadiz.
- Elche: Emiliano Rigoni (LM) is out against Sevilla.
- Getafe: Marc Cucurella (LM) is out against Real Valladolid.
- Granada: Luis Milla (CAM), Luis Javier Suarez (ST), Yangel Herrera (RM), Darwin Machis (CM), Angel Montoro (CM), Jesus Vallejo (CB), and Maxime Gonalons (CM) are out against Athletic Bilbao.
- Huesca:Pedro Mosquera (CDM) is questionable to play against Celta Vigo.
- Levante: Sergio Postigo (CB) is out against Real Sociedad.
- Osasuna: Facundo Roncaglia (RB) is out against Alaves.
- Real Betis: Borja Iglesias (ST) is out against Alaves. Marc Bartra (CB) is questionable.
- Real Madrid: Daniel Carvajal (RB) is out against Atletico Madrid.
- Valencia: Mouctar Diakhaby (CB) is out against Villarreal.
- Villarreal:Vicente Iborra (CDM) is out against Valencia.
