Weekend tips: North London derby, Inter cruising and Valencia shock? | OneFootball

Another week, another round of tantalising fixtures.

London Calling

It’s one of the most anticipated North London derbies of recent times as both Tottenham and Arsenal found an extra gear as 2021 drew to a close.

Under new boss Antonio Conte, Spurs have developed a winning habit again – with their style of play improving dramatically from that seen under Nuno Espírito Santo.

His final game in charge saw a 3-0 loss to Manchester United, since Conte took over Tottenham are unbeaten in the Premier League, with five wins and three draws from his opening eight games.

Spurs go into the weekend two points behind Arsenal, but crucially they have two games in hand over their nearest rivals in the fight for a top four slot.

Mikel Arteta will be looking for an immediate response to Arsenal’s shock exit from the FA Cup at the hand of Nottingham Forest last weekend.

The Gunners had looked strong for the last few weeks, but a narrow defeat to Manchester City was compounded by defeat in the Midlands.

There should be no need to panic for Monday’s fixture though, strong performances against Leeds and Norwich have shown Arsenal can score easily when in their stride.

Both teams to score and Tottenham to win sits at 4.75, flip that to an Arsenal victory and the odds move to 5.50.

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All to Play For

It’s back to league business for these two sides after their midweek cup exploits, and there is still plenty to play for in Serie A as January hots up.

Atalanta started the new year off in style thanks to a 6-2 win at Udinese on Matchday 21, it was the perfect antidote to December’s blues which saw La Dea’s 10 match unbeaten run come to an abrupt end against Roma.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s men are sitting in fourth place and have a three point cushion over Juventus in fifth, this fixture against the league leaders offers a chance to leapfrog Napoli into third should they be victorious.

Inter are cruising, with 15 wins and only one loss from their 20 Serie A games this season you’d expect them to have one hand on the title, but with neighbours AC Milan almost matching their form they can’t afford anything but perfection.

Under Simone Inzaghi, Inter have developed a more possession based high-line approach, taking the game to their opponents – resulting in a return of 51 goals while only conceding 16, a marked difference than that seen last season.

The way these two sides play, over 2.5 goals at 1.57 could be worth a look, as is the double chance of Atalanta or Inter Milan at 1.28.

Cup Fever

Atlético Baleares host Valencia on Sunday as the Copa Del Rey enters its Round of 16, and the home side shouldn’t be dismissed easily – having already knocked out two sides from the top division.

Residing in the new Primera División RFEF, the third tier of Spanish football, Atlético Baleares have exceeded themselves so far in the cup, dispatching Getafe 5-0 and then seeing off Celta Vigo 2-1 in a wonderful display of cup magic and passion.

Head coach Xavier Calm, once of Birmingham City, has only tasted defeat four times in his 27 matches as boss of the side from the Balearic Islands, and two of those came against the B teams of La Liga clubs.

Valencia come into this fixture off the back of two defeats, not the best preparation to face a side with a penchant for giant killing.

José Bordalás was not pleased with the way in which his side gifted Real Madrid two of their four goals last weekend and has demanded an instant response from his defence.

Atlético Baleares are 3.75 to qualify into the next round, with the game to be decided in extra time, for either side, sitting at 8.00