A weekend of big football derbies

The festive period is now over and done with and we are set to return to a more normal run of fixtures in the coming weeks. Certain leagues will still be on their winter breaks but slowly we will get back to the full complement of top flight European football.

It was an exciting festive season in England with the big winners being Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, who managed to put together great runs to propel themselves up the table. Liverpool continued on their strong run and Arsenal also maintained their pace. Chelsea stuttered, with two losses and a draw in their last three matches and as for Manchester United, the gloom continues as they are down in fourteenth place in the league with four defeats and one win in their last five. This weekend the Red Devils face a daunting trip to rivals and league leaders Liverpool, so the chance of that poor run coming to an end is somewhat remote. The early kick off on Saturday should be an interesting clash between Tottenham and Newcastle and Arsenal face a tricky trip to the south coast to take on Brighton in the evening.  

The French top division makes a welcome return after a couple of weeks off over the holidays and Serie A action continues throughout the month too. One of the top matches of the weekend is Friday evening’s clash between Juventus and AC Milan in the Super Cup and there is also a Rome derby on Sunday evening to look forward to. Napoli will hope to leapfrog Atalanta when they play Fiorentina with the current leaders not in action this weekend. Football in Spain this weekend comes from the Copa del Rey and there are fixtures from the top divisions in Portugal, Scotland and Türkiye to keep us entertained too. 

Juventus vs AC Milan

Kingdom Arena (Riyadh) Friday 03/01 @20:00

This season’s Super Cup will be contested between two teams who will be hoping for a better result than the last time they played in this fixture, with both being beaten. Juventus are the most successful Supercoppa side with nine wins under their belts and they will be favourites to add another title to their list as they are unbeaten so far this season. Too many draws have seen them end the 2024 calendar year down in sixth place but they are unbeaten in fourteen matches. The last time they came up against AC Milan in the Supercoppa they won the match 1-0, in January 2019. Francisco Conceicao will face the unusual task of trying to spoil his fathers first match in the dugout for opponents AC Milan. 

Sergio Conceciao was drafted in to replace Paulo Fonseca in the AC Milan hotseat following their 1-1 draw with Roma on Sunday evening. They only have one defeat in their last twelve matches but there wasn’t deemed to be enough progress to keep Fonseca onboard. A win for AC Milan will draw them level with city rivals Inter with eight trophy wins. They have found goals somewhat hard to come by, only managing two or more goals once in their last five matches. 

Five of the last ten meetings ended in a draw so that is definitely a possibility here, although someone will have to go on and actually win the match. Juventus have two wins in that same timeframe with AC Milan managing three.

Tottenham vs Newcastle

Tottenham Stadium Saturday 04/01 @13:30

The first match of the PL weekend takes place in North London and it certainly should be an entertaining one, as very few matches involving these teams can ever be considered boring. The visitors will come into this match as favourites due to the serious injury list that Tottenham are having to contend with of late. They conceded late on again against Wolves in their last match and find themselves in the bottom half of the table with manager Ange Postecoglou stating that the situation really is desperate and he is asking players to play far beyond their physical capabilities. They only have one win at home in the last seven matches and fans will be concerned that this will be another tough match for them. 

Newcastle, by contrast, are flying of late and are on an excellent run. Their form has seen them slowly rise up the table and they are looking like contenders to once again get into the CL places. The win over Manchester United was impressive in the way that it seemed so easy and straightforward and Eddie Howe continues to do an excellent job up in the northeast. They have three clean sheets in a row overall and four in a row in the league, for the first time since 2012. Newcastle have done well against Tottenham in recent years, winning four of the last five meetings. In Alexander Isak they have one of the best forwards in England and he has now managed 50 league goal involvements in his last 69 games.

Form and history indicate that Newcastle are justifiably favourites here with six wins in the last ten meetings versus three for Tottenham.

AS Roma vs Lazio

Stadio Olimpico Sunday 05/01 @20:45

What a way to start the calendar year for these two teams. A Rome derby is always an eagerly anticipated event and there is a lot at stake for both these teams, in particular for AS Roma who are 15 points behind their city rivals. AS Roma will be hoping to take all three points for the third time in a row at the Olimpico and Claudio Ranieri certainly has a good record against Lazio throughout his career. Artem Dovbyk is a man in form for the home side, having five goal contributions in his last three games.

Lazio managed a draw with Atalanta in the last game of the season, a result which continues to keep them in the hunt for the league title themselves. They are only six points off top spot and their fans are dreaming that things might go their way and they could win their first title since the 1999/2000 season. Lazio have a good away record, winning six of their last seven away and this match isn’t really an ‘away’ fixture either.

There is very little to choose between these two sides in the betting markets. AS Roma have three wins from the last ten meetings whereas Lazio have five. Only three of the last ten meetings have seen more than two goals scored. 

Liverpool vs Manchester United

Anfield Sunday 05/01 @17:30

Anfield is always a tough place to go but there is surely no worse fixture for Manchester United right now than this. Liverpool are the form team in the league and are justifiably top of the table, defying the predictions of many that they might suffer once Jurgen Klopp departed. They ended the 2024 calendar year with 92 league goals to their name, the second highest total in their history and they will feel that they can start off 2025 with a big win in this match. The first meeting this season was a routine 3-0 win for Liverpool at Old Trafford but since then United have crumbled and look to be there for the taking, a fact that will see Liverpool supporters around the world rubbing their hands with anticipation.

Manchester United have no wins in their last nine visits to Anfield and have only managed a solitary goal. They have lost their last three league games without scoring a single goal and look devoid of confidence and ideas. They go into this match in fourteenth place and will know that more negative records might be broken this weekend. A fourth consecutive loss for the Red Devils would be only the first time that has happened since 1979. They conceded a whopping 18 goals in all competitions in December and the fact they seem unable to defend and score means that something is seriously wrong. The only silver lining this season has been the emergence of youngster Amad Diallo, the player who scored the winner in their FA Cup clash last season. 

It is less than two years ago that Manchester United were beaten 7-0 by Liverpool and many expect a similar sort of result this time. Liverpool have five wins in the last ten meetings with United managing three. 

PS: Odds might have changed since the writing and publication of this article.

Last updated: 03.01.2025