Titles, top four and relegation are all on the line this weekend across the continent of Europe. With only a few weeks left in the season, the pressure is starting to increase.
The Bundesliga is off this weekend, but we still have a full slate of action in the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1. Here is a little bit of what we saw over the past week across Europe:
- Chelsea defeated West Ham, 1-0, on the road, giving it a three-point lead for the final Champions League spot.
- Borussia Dortmund defeated Wolfsburg, 2-0, on the road, bringing it to within one point of the top four.
- Mainz upset Bayern Munich, 2-1, at home, meaning its 10th consecutive Bundesliga title will have to wait another week.
- Juventus was held to a 1-1 draw with Fiorentina, bringing it into a three-way tie with Napoli and AC Milan for the final Champions League spot.
- Lazio defeated AC Milan, 3-0, which dropped Milan all the way down to fifth place and out of a Champions League spot for the first time this season.
- Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid all dropped points to lesser opponents, keeping the La Liga title race wide open.
- Lille erased a 2-0 deficit at Lyon to win, 3-2, and keep a one-point lead atop the Ligue 1 table.
The European soccer calendar is so congested at the moment, with Champions League, Europa League and midweek domestic matches taking place during this past week, that managers might be rotating their squads to rest some players. It would probably be a good idea to wait until starting lineups come out an hour before kickoff before placing a wager.
You can use these projections to identify betting value on current lines, plus follow me in The Action Network App to see any bets I make throughout the week.
Premier League
Premier League Notes
- Manchester United vs. Liverpool: This is a huge match for Liverpool if it wants to get back into a Champions League spot. Manchester United has all but secured the second-place position in the table, so this match won't mean much to it. On the other hand, Liverpool needs to win this match, due to the fact the club is four points behind Chelsea and only two points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur for the final Europa League spot. Manchester United is unbeaten in its last 13 Premier League matches, so Liverpool is going to have its work cut out for it.
Premier League Injury News
- Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette (ST) and Kieran Tierney (RB) are questionable to play against Newcastle.
- Aston Villa: Jack Grealish (LM) is out against Everton.
- Brighton: Solomon March (LB) and Tariq Lamptey (RB) are out against Leeds. Adam Lallana (CAM) is questionable.
- Burnley: Robbie Brady (LM) is out against West Ham.
- Chelsea: Mateo Kovacic (CM) is questionable to play against Fulham.
- Crystal Palace: Mamadou Sahko (CB) is out against Manchester City. Gary Cahill (CB) is questionable.
- Everton: Michael Keane (CB) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (CM) are out against Aston Villa.
- Fulham: Kenny Tete (RB) is questionable to play against Chelsea.
- Leicester: Harvey Barnes (LM) and James Justin (LB) are out against Southampton.
- Liverpool: Jordan Henderson (CM), Joel Matip (CB), Joe Gomez (CB), Virgil van Djik (CB) are out against Manchester United.
- Manchester City: John Stones (CB) is out against Crystal Palace.
- Manchester United: Anthony Martial (ST) is out against Liverpool.
- Newcastle: Jamaal Lascelles (CB), Karl Darlow (GK), Joseph Willock (CAM), and Fabian Schär (CB) are out against Arsenal.
- Sheffield United: Sander Berge (CM), Oliver McBurnie (ST), Jack O'Connell (CB), and Chris Basham (CB) are out against Tottenham.
- Southampton: Ryan Bertrand (RB), Danny Ings (ST), and Oriol Romeu (CM) are out against Leicester.
- Tottenham: Matt Doherty (RB) and Ben Davies (LB) are out against Sheffield United.
- West Brom: Branislav Ivanovic (CB) is out against Wolves.
- West Ham: Arthur Masuaku (LB), Declan Rice (CM), and Michail Antonio (ST) are out against Chelsea. Aaron Cresswell (LB) is questionable.
- Wolves: Pedro Neto (LW) and Raul Jimenez (ST) are out against West Brom. Joao Moutinho (CM) is questionable.
Serie A
Serie A Injury News
- Benevento: Alessandro Tuia (CB) is out against AC Milan.
- Bologna: Nicola Sansone (CAM), Aaron Hickey (LB) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (CB) are questionable to play against Fiorentina. Jerdy Schouten (CM) is out.
- Cagliari: Răzvan Marin (CM) is out against Napoli.
- Genoa: Goran Pandev (ST) is out against Lazio.
- Inter: Arturo Vidal (CM) is questionable to play against Crotone.
- Juventus: Federico Chiesa (LM) is out against Udinese.
- Lazio: Francesco Acerbi (CB) is out against Genoa.
- Napoli: David Ospina (GK) is out against Cagliari.
- Parma: Simone Iacoponi (CB) is questionable to play against Juventus. Dennis Man (RW) is out.
- Roma: Pedro (CAM) is questionable to play against Sampdoria.
- Sampdoria: Gaston Ramirez (CAM) and Fabio Quagliarella (ST) are out against Roma.
- Sassuolo: Francesco Caputo (ST) is questionable to play against Atalanta.
- Torino: Rolando Mandragora (CM) is out against Parma.
- Udinese: Gerard Deulofeu (ST) is out against Juventus. Ignacio Pussetto (ST) is questionable.
- Verona: Federico Ceccherini (CB) is out against Spezia.
La Liga
La Liga Injury News
- Athletic Bilbao: Ander Capa (RB) and Iker Muniain (LW) are out against Sevilla. Yuri Berchiche (LB) is questionable.
- Barcelona: Philippe Coutinho (CAM) and Ansu Fati (LW) are questionable to play against Valencia
- Cadiz: Alfonso Espino (LB) and Alex Fernández (LM) is out against Granada.
- Celta Vigo: Ruben Blanco (GK) is questionable to play against Levante. Hugo Mallo (RB) is questionable.
- Elche: Johan Mojica (LB) is questionable to play against Atletico Madrid.
- Getafe: Erick Cabaco (CB) is out against Villarreal.
- Granada: Domingos Duarte (CB) is out against Cadiz. Luis Milla (CAM) and Kenedy (LM) are questionable.
- Levante: Nikola Vukcevic (CM) is questionable to play against Celta Vigo. Mickael Malsa (CM) is out.
- Osasuna: Juan Cruz (LB) is questionable to play against Celta Vigo.
- Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos (CB) is questionable to play against Osasuna. Daniel Carvajal (RB), Federico Valverde (CM),Ferland Mendy (LB) andLucas Vazquez (RW) are out.
- Real Sociedad: David Silva (CAM) is questionable to play against Huesca.
- Villarreal: Manu Trigueros (CM) and Etienne Capoue (CM) are out against Getafe.
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 Notes
- Monaco vs. Lyon: This is a huge match to decide who will stay in the Ligue 1 title race, as Monaco is ahead of Lyon by four points for the third and final Champions League spot. The club is only two points off Lille for the top spot. Monaco is perhaps the hottest team in the world right now, winning five matches in a row by a combined score of 15-0. On the other hand, Lyon is struggling with only three wins in its last eight matches. Lyon drilled Monaco, 4-1, earlier this season, so this one will be interesting.
Ligue 1 Injury News
- Angers: Angelo Fulgini (CM), Souleyman Doumbia (LB), Rachid Alioui (CM) and Sofiane Boufal (LM) are out against Lorient.
- Bordeaux: Otávio (CDM) are questionable to play against Rennes. Laurent Koscielny (CB) and Jean Michael Seri (CM) are out.
- Brest: Christophe Herelle (CB) is questionable to play against Nantes.
- Dijon: Sacha Boey (RB) and Didier Ndong (CM) are questionable to play against Metz.
- Lens: Loïc Badé (CB), Issiaga Sylla (LB), are out against PSG. Gael Kakuta (CAM) is questionable.
- Lille: Timothy Weah (ST) is questionable to play against Nice.
- Metz: Opa Nguette (LW) is questionable to play against Dijon. Boubakar Kouyate (CB) is out.
- Monaco: Aleksandr Golovin (RM), Steven Jovetic (ST), and Gelson Martins (LM) are questionable. Sofiane Diop (CAM) is out.
- Montpellier: Teji Savanier (CM), Hilton (CB), and, Jordan Ferri (CM) are out against Saint-Etienne.
- Nice: Amine Gouiri (LW) is questionable to play against Montpellier.
- Nimes: Andres Cubas (CM) and Anthony Briancon (CB) are questionable to play against Reims.
- Reims: Valon Berisha (CM) Wout Faes (CB) are out against Nimes.
- Strasbourg: Adrien Thomasson (CAM) is out against Marseille.
