5️⃣ spicy fixtures you must watch this weekend 🌶 | OneFootball

The weekend is here and it promises to be another exciting weekend of football, especially if you like it spicy.

Here’s what to look out for.

Athletic Club v Barcelona

A shock defeat for Barcelona at the hands of Almería a couple of weeks ago appeared to leave the door ajar for Real Madrid in the LaLiga title race.

But since then, Barça have won at the Bernabéu in the Copa del Rey and edged their eighth 1-0 LaLiga victory of the season against Valencia. That result combined with Madrid’s goalless draw with Real Betis leaves the Blaugrana with a healthy nine-point lead at the top of the table.

Xavi’s side will be hoping to hold their nerve again this weekend when they travel to face their old manager Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Club at San Mamés.

The Basque club are winless in their last four matches in all competitions and haven’t beaten Barça in LaLiga since August 2019. If the visitors can keep that record going on Sunday, it will deal another significant blow to Real Madrid’s title hopes as we enter the business end of the season.

Spice rating: Mild 🌶

Fulham v Arsenal

Reiss Nelson’s incredible last-gasp winner for Arsenal against Bournemouth last Saturday was the surest sign yet that the Premier League title is heading to the Emirates Stadium.

This Gunners side just don’t know when they’re beaten and you know things are going well when even fringe players are providing massive match-winning moments.

But there is no rest for the wicked and this weekend, Mikel Arteta’s men face another stern test in the form of a Fulham side who have a formidable home record this season.

The west Londoners have lost just three of their 13 Premier League fixtures at Craven Cottage since their promotion from the Championship and were narrowly beaten 2-1 when these two sides met at the Emirates back in August.

Marco Silva’s side are winless in their last nine Premier League meetings with Arsenal, however, and the Gunners have won all four of their away London derbies this season by an aggregate score of 8-0.

Fulham’s best hope might be that the visitors are still tired from Thursday’s trip to Lisbon by the time Sunday’s game rolls around.

Spice rating: Medium 🌶 🌶

Napoli v Atalanta

Napoli suffered a shock home defeat to Lazio last Friday but with Luciano Spalletti’s side still 15 points clear at the top of Serie A, there is surely no stopping their procession to the Scudetto.

They don’t have the easiest assignment coming their way this weekend, however.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta are always a hugely entertaining watch and they have found the net in each of their last nine league matches against Napoli. There is every chance they will extend that run this weekend.

But the league leaders will no doubt feel like they have a point to prove following last week’s slip-up and after failing to find the net against Lazio, Napoli’s star striker Victor Osimhen will be out to add to his impressive tally of 21 goals this season. The Nigerian hasn’t gone two Serie A matches without scoring since last September.

Osimhen has the best minutes-to-goals ratio in Serie A this season, averaging a goal every 93 minutes. Second on that list is Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, with a goal every 127 minutes.

Only one of the last 15 matches between these two sides have been drawn, and it will be one of the shocks of the season if we somehow get a 0-0 stalemate on Saturday.

Spice rating: Hot 🌶 🌶 🌶

Chelsea v Manchester United

Chelsea have been the most dominant club in English women’s football in recent years, winning the last three Women’s Super League titles along with a host of domestic cups.

But Emma Hayes’ side are currently engaged in a fierce battle to retain their supremacy and their biggest threat comes from a team with dreams of lifting their first WSL title.

Manchester United Women were only founded in 2018, but their rapid progression has been mightily impressive since gaining promotion to the WSL.

Marc Skinner’s team are currently top of the table having lost just one match and conceded just eight goals all season.

United are also the only side in the WSL unbeaten away from home this term, but that unblemished record will face a huge test when they travel to face the champions at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.

Chelsea were disappointing in their Continental Cup final defeat to Arsenal last weekend but Hayes made seven changes and got the desired response from her side as they beat Brighton 3-1 on Wednesday night. Having Melanie Leupolz available again after her return from maternity leave is also a huge boost for the Blues.

United hold a slender one point lead at the top of the table going into Sunday’s clash, but with Chelsea also having a game in hand, this could be a pivotal match in the title race.

Third-placed Manchester City and fourth-placed Arsenal will be watching on with interest too.

Spice rating: Fire 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

Schalke v Dortmund

The Revierderby between Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund is one of the fiercest rivalries in world football, and its absence left two gaping holes in the Bundesliga calendar when Schalke spent last season in Germany’s second division.

Thankfully for fans of this fixture, the Royal Blues returned to the top flight at the first time of asking, but the threat of another relegation looms large over Gelsenkirchen heading into Saturday’s match.

Things have been looking up for Thomas Reis’ side in recent weeks, however. Since a 6-1 trouncing at the hands of RB Leipzig on 24 January, Schalke have embarked on a six-match unbeaten run.

Bizarrely, the first four matches in that sequence each ended in 0-0 draws, a Bundesliga record for consecutive goalless matches, but victories over fellow strugglers Stuttgart and Bochum in their last two outings have fuelled hopes of survival.

Those hopes could be dashed this weekend by rivals Dortmund, who pulled off a 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig last Friday to keep the pressure on Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga.

BVB were disappointingly eliminated from the Champions League this week, but the silver lining is that Edin Terzić’s side can now focus all their energy on domestic matters, with a title tilt and a shot at the DFB Pokal both in their wheelhouse.

This will be the 160th competitive clash between these two great adversaries, with Dortmund winning the last four encounters by a combined 12-0 scoreline.

Schalke might just be due a result, then.

Spice rating: Insane 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶