5️⃣ spicy fixtures you must watch this weekend 🌶 | OneFootball

It’s the last round of club fixtures before domestic football takes a break for the World Cup, and we have some crackers in store for you.

Here are five non-Premier League matches to look forward to this weekend …

PSV v AZ Alkmaar

The Eredivisie title race is bubbling up just as the league shuts down for the year with just four points separating the top five.

Two of that top five meet each other this weekend with top-of-the-league PSV hosting AZ (5th) with the former buoyant after the stunning win away at the champions Ajax last weekend.

Another three points going into the break would place Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team firmly in the driving seat but the visitors aren’t that high up in the table by chance, and they won on their last trip to the Philips Stadium in February.

This is one not to be missed.

Spice rating: Mild 🌶

Juventus v Lazio

Return of the man.

Maurizio Sarri returns to the Allianz Arena over two years after he was sacked by Juventus following a one-year stint in charge which brought with it the last Scudetto the Old Lady won.

The 63-year-old has a score to settle and what better way to do that then to end Juve’s mini-resurgence of late.

Lazio head into the game as Napoli’s closest challengers at the top, although the gap stands at eight points heading into this round of fixtures.

They have lost just once in the last ten games and putting the final nail in the coffin of Juventus’ title chase would taste very sweet for Sarri.

Spice rating: Medium 🌶 🌶

Freiburg v Union Berlin

Title challengers or plucky pretenders?

We might find out which one, if either, of Union Berlin or Freiburg have the minerals to front it up with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga.

Defying all expectations, this fixture is a meeting between third and second in the league with the two modest clubs displaying sensational form during the first half of the campaign.

Freiburg have only been beaten once at home so far this season but Union haven’t picked up points at the likes of Köln and Stuttgart. This one is hard to call but should make for a captivating watch.

Spice rating: Hot 🌶 🌶 🌶

Atalanta v Inter

Inter’s hopes of regaining the Serie A title have faded fast with the 2-0 defeat to Juventus last weekend seeing them slide out of the top four and leaving them 11 points adrift of Napoli.

Any more potential slip-ups will be deadly, but Simone Inzaghi’s side have been all or nothing in the league, winning nine games but also experiencing defeat on five occasions.

Four of those defeats have come to teams in and around them (Milan, Lazio, Roma and Udinese) which suggests the Nerazzurri have a problem with sides containing that extra bit of quality.

What won’t make for pleasant reading is their next game is against the team directly below them in the table.

Can Inter overcome a pulsating Atalanta side and head into the break with the bit between their teeth?

Spice rating: Fire 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

Burnley v Blackburn

For the first time since 2016, one of English football’s most-heated derbies returns to the calendar.

Burnley’s return to the Championship mean the revival of their ill-tempered clashes with Blackburn, a fixture made famous in 2013 where during the game at Ewood Park a chicken was let loose on to the pitch in protest of the Rovers’ owners – the poultry group Venkys.

What adds that extra bit of spice to this fixture is the two clubs find themselves in the top two places in the league, with Burnley leading their visitors by two points.

There’s more than just pride and bragging rights at stake on Sunday afternoon, a win for either side could make the Premier League dream come closer to becoming a reality.

Spice rating: Insane 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶