5️⃣ spicy fixtures you must watch this weekend 🌶 | OneFootball

The European football calendar has got some spicy treats in store for us this weekend.

Here’s our guide to the spiciest.

The Bundesliga’s battle for Europe rages on

Spice rating: Mild 🌶

A 5-2 defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen effectively extinguished Borussia Dortmund’s faint title hopes last weekend, but they must dust themselves off and prepare for another big challenge this weekend.

It’s a trip to the capital for BVB, where they will take on a Union Berlin side who are flying high in fourth and have every reason to fantasise about playing Champions League football next season.

Urs Fischer’s side were also beaten last weekend, however, and their Champions League dream could quickly dissipate if they aren’t careful, with Freiburg, Köln, Leipzig, Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt all breathing down their necks.

Dortmund won’t have Erling Haaland back from injury this week, and they could easily get sucked into that gunfight for European football themselves if they aren’t careful.

📊 Fun fact: The previous five Bundesliga matches between these two sides have each ended in home wins.

Title tension in Italy

Spice rating: Medium 🌶🌶

Everything was going swimmingly for Inter at the top of the Serie A table until they were beaten by rivals AC Milan last weekend, and suddenly the Scudetto race looks like anybody’s business.

The Nerazzurri got a good win over Roma in the Coppa Italia in midweek but the big games are coming thick and fast, and on Saturday they travel to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to face Napoli.

Luciano Spalletti’s Partenopei have strung four successive wins together, keeping clean sheets in three of them and propelling themselves to second in the table, just a point behind Inter.

Napoli have the best defensive record in Serie A and will be boosted by the triumphant return of Kalidou Koulibaly from the Africa Cup of Nations.

But Inter average two goals per game this season and with Alexis Sánchez in red hot form, this promises to be a fascinating encounter.

📊 Fun fact: Napoli have only won one of their last nine Serie A meetings with Inter – a 4-1 victory in May 2019 under Carlo Ancelotti.

The fight for supremacy in Portugal

Spice rating: Hot 🌶🌶🌶

Portugal’s Big Three have assumed their usual positions at the top of the Primeira Liga table but in which order they will finish this season remains to be seen.

Friday night presents us with a massive game as current leaders Porto host reigning champions Sporting at the Estádio do Dragão.

Sérgio Conceição’s Porto are currently on an epic run of 11 consecutive victories and are the only side yet to lose a game in the Primeira Liga this season.

Sporting aren’t in bad form either, with four wins on the bounce heading into this game, but the pressure is on the defending champions as defeat here would see them slip nine points behind Porto in the race for the title.

📊 Fun fact: The most common result of matches between Porto and Sporting is 0-0.

Derbi barceloní

Spice rating: Fire 🌶🌶🌶🌶

Barcelona’s rivalry with Real Madrid dwarfs everything, of course, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t the potential for spice when they face Espanyol in their local derby this weekend.

The Blaugrana emerged victorious from an extraordinary game against Atlético Madrid last weekend and it looks like Xavi is really beginning to knock his team into shape.

They will be hoping to build on that result when they make the short trip to Cornellà-El Prat on Sunday night. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could make his full debut, Adama Traoré is likely to feature again, and contract rebel Ousmane Dembélé might even be involved.

Espanyol’s relegation means they haven’t hosted their city rivals at RCDE Stadium since a 2-2 draw in January 2020 and the last time these side met, Barça managed to eke out a 1-0 win at Camp Nou in Xavi’s first match in charge.

Speaking earlier this week, Espanyol striker Raúl de Tomás said the Derbi barceloní “motivates you like no other fixture” and Barcelona’s lesser known club will be out for revenge here.

📊 Fun fact: Barcelona have now gone 23 games unbeaten in a row against Espanyol in LaLiga and could record the best unbeaten run by any team in any type of derby in the competition’s history.

Titanic clashes in the WSL

Spice rating: Insane 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

Fans of the FA Women’s Super League are getting two huge fixtures for the price of one this weekend.

First up, it’s a massive game at the top of the table as Chelsea host Arsenal at Kingsmeadow on Friday evening.

The Gunners are currently still two points ahead at the top of the table, but Chelsea’s game in hand means a win for Emma Hayes’s side could put them in a commanding position to retain their title.

And if that weren’t mouth-watering enough, we’ve then got a Manchester derby when City host United on Saturday lunchtime.

Marc Skinner’s United could still have a say in the title race themselves, while City have recovered well from a poor start and are still hoping to finish in the Champions League spots come the end of the season.

WSL weekends don’t get much better than this one.

📊 Fun fact: Both of these games are sold out, with City expecting their highest ever attendance at the Academy Stadium for a women’s game.