Club soccer enters the busiest schedule of the season, as there will be 147 matches over a 10-day period over Europe's major five leagues. Here's what we saw the last time the domestic leagues were in action:
- Tottenham defeated Arsenal 2-0 at home to maintain the top spot in the Premier League table.
- Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig' six goal thriller in the Bundesliga ended in a 3-3 draw.
- Real Madrid got their season back on tracked, beating Sevilla 1-0 on the road.
- Barcelona lost 2-1 at newly promoted side Cadiz, dropping them to ninth place in the La Liga table.
- PSG beat title challenger Montpellier 3-1 on the road to maintain the top spot in Ligue 1.
This weekend's slate has a ton of huge matches across every league. Many teams who are participating in Champions League and Europa League are playing their fourth match in a two-week period and have another domestic fixture in the middle of next week. Therefore, it may be a good idea to wait until starting lineups come out before heading to the window.
You can use these projections to identify early betting value on the opening lines, and follow me in The Action Network App to see any bets I make throughout the week.
Premier League
Premier League Notes:
- Manchester United vs. Manchester City: The tides of the Manchester Derby are starting to turn. For years the Citzyens have dominated their inner city rivals, but the Red Devils swept the series last year. Both squads are desperate for a win, as they are both currently outside of the top four.
- Everton vs. Chelsea: The Blues look to extend their unbeaten streak to 18 when they take on Everton on Saturday. Chelsea is two points behind Tottenham and Liverpool for the top spot in the table, so a win could potentially vault them to the top of the league. Everton has fallen on hard times, with only one win in their last six matches. The Blues are winless in their last three trips to Goodison Park.
Premier League Injury News:
- Arsenal: Nicholas Pepe (RW) and Thomas Partey (CM) are out against Burnley.
- Aston Villa: Ross Barkley (CAM) is questionable to face Wolves.
- Burnley: Jack Cork (CM) is out against Arsenal and Johann Gudmundsson (CM) is questionable.
- Chelsea: Hakim Ziyech (RW) is out against Everton.
- Crystal Palace: Wilfred Zaha (LW) is questionable to play against West Brom.
- Everton: Seamus Coleman (RB) and Lucas Digne (LB) are out against Chelsea.
- Leicester: Caglar Soyuncu (CB) and Daniel Armartey (CM) are both out against Brighton, and Timothy Castagne (RB) is questionable.
- Liverpool: Alisson (GK), Virgil Van Dijk (CB), Joe Gomez (CB), and Thiago (CM) are out against Fulham.
- Manchester United: Edinson Cavani (ST) and Anthony Martial (ST) are out against Manchester City.
- Newcastle: Jamaal Lascellas (CB) and Allen Saint-Maximum (ST) are questionable to face West Brom.
- Sheffield United:Lys Mousset (ST) is questionable against Southampton, and Jack O'Connell (CB) is out.
- Wolves: Raul Jimenez (ST) is out against Aston Villa.
Bundesliga
Bundesliga Notes:
- Union Berlin vs. Bayern Munich: Union Berlin is the surprise team so far this Bundesliga season, sitting in sixth place after finishing 11th last year. How have they done it? By putting together an eight match unbeaten streak before losing to Hertha Berlin last weekend. Bayern Munich is in need of a blowout win after drawing at home with RB Leipzig last Saturday. The defending champions now only have a one point lead over Leverkusen for the top spot, so they need a win in German capital on Saturday.
Bundesliga Injury News:
- Bayern Munich: Joshua Kimmich (CM) and Jerome Boateng (CB) are out against Union Berlin.
- Bayer Leverkusen: Charles Aranguiz (CM) and Lucas Alario (ST) are out and Karim Bellarbi (RM) is questionable against Hoffenheim.
- Borussia Dortmund: Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji (CB) are out against Vfb Stuttgart.
- Borussia Monchengladbach: Jonas Hoffman (RM) is questionable to playagainst Hertha Berlin.
- Frankfurt: Andre Silva (ST) is questionable to face Wolfsburg.
- Freiburg: Janik Haberer (CM) is questionable to playagainst Gladbach.
- Koln: Jonas Hector (CM) and Florian Kainz (RM) are questionable against Mainz.
- Mainz: Danny Latza is out against Arminia Bielefeld.
- Schalke 04: Salif Sane (CB) and Ozan Kabak (CB) are out against Leverkusen.
Serie A
Serie A Notes:
- Genoa vs. Juventus: The defending champions of Italy have been nothing short of a disappointment to start the season. They are currently in fourth place and have only one win on the road. In fact, they already have five draws on the season, which matches their total from 2019-20 campaign. Genoa barely escaped relegation on the final day last season and is in the relegation zone again to start the 2020-21 campaign, as they only have one win in 10 matches.
Serie A Injury News
- AC Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (ST) is questionable to play against Parma.
- Atalanta: Robin Gosens (LWB) is questionable to face Fiorentina.
- Bologna: Riccardo Orsolini (RM) is out against Roma.
- Cagliari: Diego Godin (CB) and Giovanni Simeone (ST) are questionable to face Inter.
- Genoa:Mattia Perin (GK), Domenico Criscito (LB) and Cristian Zapata (CB) are questionable to face Juventus.
- Inter: Arturo Vidal (CM) is questionable to face Cagliari.
- Juventus:Giorgio Chiellini (CB) is questionable to face Genoa. Alvaro Morata (ST) is out.
- Napoli: Victor Osimhen (ST) is questionable to face Sampdoria.
- Sampdoria: Keita Balde (RW) is questionable to face Napoli.
- Torino: Simone Verdi is questionable to play against Udinese.
- Verona: Nikola Kalinic (ST) and Koray Gunter (CB) are questionable to face Lazio.
La Liga
La Liga Notes:
- Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid: It's early in the season, but Atletico could deliver an absolute haymaker if they beat their inner city rivals on Saturday. Atletico is atop the La Liga standings and has a six point lead over Real Madrid, with a game in hand. They are also unbeaten in their last 26 La Liga matches and have won their last seven, including a home win over Barcelona. However, 2015 was last time Real Madrid lost to Atletico, so something has got to give on Saturday.
La Liga Injuries:
- Atletico Madrid: Diego Costa (ST) and Jose Gimenez (CB) are questionable to face Real Madrid.
- Barcelona: Gerard Pique (CB) is questionable and Sergi Roberto (RB), Ansu Fati (LW), and Ousmane Dembele (LW) are out against Levante.
- Cadiz: Jose Mari (CM) is questionable to face Celta Vigo.
- Celta Vigo: Jeison Murillo (CB) is out against Cadiz.
- Getafe: Jaime Mata (ST) is out against Sevilla.
- Granada: German Sanchez (CB) is out against Elche.
- Levante: Enis Bardhi (LM) is questionable to face Barcelona.
- Real Betis: Claudio Bravo (GK) and Sergio Canales (CM) are questionable to face Villarreal.
- Real Madrid: Eden Hazard (LW) is questionable to face Atletico Madrid.
- Sevilla: Marcos Acuna (LB) and Jesus Navas (RB) are questionable to face Getafe.
- Valencia: Jose Gaya (LB) and Jasper Cillessen (GK) are both questionable to face Athletic Bilbao.
- Villarreal:Paco Alcacer (ST) is out against Real Betis.
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 Notes:
- Marseille vs. Monaco: Both clubs are on the outside looking in at the top three spots in the table. Marseille has ripped off five straight wins in Ligue 1 play and can move into the top three with a win. Monaco has struggled on the road so far this season, losing four of their last five matches away from home.
- PSG vs. Lyon: The two biggest clubs in France battle it out with first place in the league on the line. PSG got things back on track on Saturday beating Montpellier on the road. Lyon is on fire in Ligue 1 play, winning six of their last seven matches. PSG is 9-1-0 against Lyon at home in Ligue 1 play since 2010.
Ligue 1 Injuries:
- Bordeaux: Laurent Koscielny (CB) is questionable to face Lille.
- Brest: Romain Philippoteaux (LM) is questionable to face Reims.
- Lille: Renato Sanches (CM) and Zeki Celik (RB) are questionable to face Bordeaux.
- Nice: Youcef Atal (RB) and Kasper Dolbert (ST) are questionable against Rennes.
- PSG: Mauro Icardi (ST) and Julian Draxler (CAM) are questionable to play against Lyon.
- Reims: Xavier Chavalerin (CM) is questionable to face Brest.
- Rennes: Alfred Gomis (GK), Martin Terrier (LW) and Daniele Rugani (CB) are questionable to face Nice.
- Saint Etienne: Panagiotis Retsos (CB) is questionable to face Angers.
