Midweek Football Review

Carabao Cup continues!

Carabao Cup Round of 16

Newport County 1 (4) vs. (5) 1 Newcastle

Abrahams scored in the 5th minute to give Newport County the lead and almost held on to it but Shelvey scored in the in the 87th minute for Newcastle to take the game to penalties. Newcastle won the game 5-4 on penalties and reach the quarters of the Carabao Cup. 

Burnley 0 vs. 3 Man City

Sterling scored 2 and Ferran Torres got his first goal for Man City as Pep and co got a good win against Burnley to continue their journey to retain the Carabao Cup. 

Brighton 0 vs. 3 Man United

McTominay scored right before half time while Mata and Pogba added the other two goals as United progressed to the quarters of the Carabao Cup. 

Everton 4 vs. 1 West Ham

Everton and Calvert-Lewin continued their brilliant start to the season as the young English striker got another hattrick while Richarlison got the other goal. Snodgrass did get a goal for West Ham but it didn’t create any impact. 

Brentford 3 vs. 0 Fulham

Forss got one goal and Benrahma got 2 as Brentford beat Fulham and at some level got revenge for the Championship play off final. Fulham’s poor start to the season continues as they get dumped out of the Carabao Cup. 

Aston Villa 0 vs. 1 Stoke City

Vokes scored in the 26th minute as Stoke held on for a win. Villa lost their first game of the season albeit with a heavily rested squad. 

Liverpool 0 (4) vs. (5) 0 Arsenal

Leno and Arsenal defended their life out to beat Liverpool as they were able to hold on for 90 minutes and then beat Klopp and co in penalties. 

La Liga MW 4

Valencia beat Real Sociedad 0-1, Atletico drew with Huesca 0-0, Real Madrid beat Valladolid 1-0, Sevilla beat Levante 1-0, and Barcelona beat Celta Vigo 0-3. Several hard fought wins and one easy one as La Liga continued. Getafe, Valencia, Real Madrid, and Villarreal make up the top four with Barcelona 5th. Sevilla are 6th and Atletico are 12th. 

DFL Super-Cup 

Bayern Munich 3 vs. 2 Dortmund

Tolisso scored in the 18th minute and Muller scored in the 32nd minute to give Bayern the lead. Brandt got one back for Dortmund in the 39th minute and Haaland equalised for Dortmund in the 55th minute to set up a brilliant end to the game. Kimmich then scored the winner for Bayern in the 82nd minute as they got yet another trophy. 

Serie A MW 1 (Games in hand)

Inter Milan beat Benevento 2-5, while Atalanta beat Lazio 1-4 in two very comfortable wins for both sides. Napoli, Atalanta, Inter, and Verona make up the top four while Milan sit 5th and Juventus sit 6th. Lazio are 10th and Roma are 16th with the first 5 teams all level on 6 points. 

Advertisement

Midweek Football Preview

Round of 16 in the Carabao Cup!

Carabao Cup Round of 16

Newport County vs. Newcastle

Newport County sit 3rd in League Two as they take on Newcastle who sit 9th in the Premier League. Newport beat Cambridge 1-0 in the 2nd Round and Watford 3-1 in the 3rd Round, they also beat Bolton 2-0 during the weekend. Newcastle beat Blackburn 1-0 and Morecambe 0-7 and drew to Spurs 1-1 through some VAR assisted luck. Newcastle should win this game but Newport have played well and have nothing to lose going into this game. 

Burnley vs. Man City

Burnley beat Sheffield United on penalties in the 2nd Round and beat Millwall 0-2 in the 3rd Round. Burnley though have had a poor start to the Premier League season as they sit 18th and lost 2 in 2. Man City beat Bournemouth 2-1 in the 3rd Round but have had a mixed start to the season having won 1 and lost at the weekend to Leicester as Rodgers thrashed City 2-5. It’s going to be a tough game for both sides and with City having several players missing this could be a tough game for Pep and co.

Brighton vs. Man United

Brighton beat Portsmouth 4-0 in the 2nd Round and then beat Preston 0-2 in the 3rd Round while also doing well in the league as they sit 12th having lost 2 and won 1. United beat Luton 0-3 in the last round and then through some miracle they beat Brighton in the Premier League at the weekend. If the weekend is anything to go by then Brighton will dominate United but Ole should have learned from the game on Saturday. It’s an interesting game as Brighton will want revenge on United for the result.

Everton vs. West Ham

Everton beat Salford 3-0 in the 2nd Round and then beat Fleetwood 2-5 in the 3rd Round. Ancelotti’s team have been the in form one as they have won 3 in 3 scoring for fun and sitting 2nd in the league on goal difference. West Ham beat Charlton 3-0 in the 2nd Round and followed that up by beating Hull 5-1 in the 3rd Round. West Ham also bounced back from 2 losses in the league to get their first win of the season by beating Wolves 4-0 at the weekend. West Ham have looked good over the last 4 games but Everton are in good form and so this should be an interesting game. 

Brentford vs. Fulham

Brentford sit 10th in the Championship and beat Southampton in the 2nd round and West Brom in the 3rd Round on penalties to face Fulham. Fulham beat Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday in the last 2 rounds and will play Villa in the league before playing this game. This was the play off final that saw Fulham reach the Premier League and Brentford will want to exact some revenge on Fulham. It also happens to be a London derby. 

Aston Villa vs. Stoke City

Villa beat Burton and Bristol in the last two rounds while Stoke beat Wolves and Gillingham. Villa sit 11th in the league and are yet to play on Monday before facing Stoke while Stoke sit 15th in the Championship. Villa should win this game.

Liverpool vs. Arsenal

Liverpool thrashed Lincoln in the last round while Arsenal beat Leicester in the last round. Liverpool have started the season well winning 2 out of 2 while Arsenal have done the same as well. The two teams play each other on Monday night in the league and will face each other again in this round. Should be very interesting as it will be an attacking side in Liverpool against a defensive Arsenal. 

La Liga MW 4

Valencia travel to Real Sociedad, Atletico travel to Huesca, Real Madrid entertain Valladolid, Sevilla entertain Levante, and Barcelona travel to Celta Vigo. Betis, Granada, Sociedad, and Celta Vigo make up the top four at the moment. Valencia sit 5th, Real Madrid sit 6th, and Atletico sit 9th while Barcelona are 10th followed by Sevilla in 11th. The bigger teams are playing catchup and have 1 or 2 games in hand but these are some tricky fixtures during the week. 

DFL Super-Cup

Bayern Munich vs. Dortmund

Bayern beat Schalke 8-0 to start their Bundesliga season and then followed that up by beating Sevilla in the Super Cup. Bayern then followed that up by losing to Hoffenheim 4-1 in the league. Dortmund beat Monchengladbach and then lost to Augsburg during the weekend. The two teams have had good starts but suffered wake up calls during the weekend and so this should be an entertaining and interesting game. 

Serie A MW 1 (Games in hand)

Inter travel to Benevento as they play their game in hand while Atalanta play Lazio in their game in hand. All four teams won their games during the weekend and so it should be a few entertaining games. 

Weekend Football Review

A good return of football!

Community Shield 

Liverpool 1 (4) vs. (5) 1 Man City

The Community Shield was supposed to be a glorified friendlies while Pep and Klopp were supposed to field weakened teams but that was not the case. The managers fielded their strongest lineups with the likes of Salah, Firmino, De Bruyne, Silva, Sane all starting. It took Sterling 12 minutes to give City the lead as the ball was fumbled into the net. Liverpool were extremely poor at the back during the second half as the full backs were getting caught out while Van Dijk and Gomez lacked communication. Liverpool though held on and came out a different side for the second half. Liverpool dominated the second half and their equaliser came in the 77th minute after Matip headed the ball in. Liverpool could easily have won the game in the 2nd half but poor finishing, some brilliant saves by Bravo, balls not crossing the line and hitting the post, and a brilliant goal line clearance form Walker in extra time meant that the game went to penalties. Each team took 5 penalties but Wijnaldum missed his and so City won. It’s clear that we were looking at the teams that would finish 1st or 2nd in either order but City retain their first trophy of the season while Liverpool can take encouragement after a poor pre-season.

DFL Supercup

Borussia Dortmund 2 vs. 0 Bayern Munich

Bayern dominated the game over both halves but lacked the finishing while Dortmund took their chances as Alcacer scored in the 48th minute, and Sancho scored in the 69th minute. Dortmund get their first trophy of the season and seem to be prepared to finish off what they almost accomplished last season. Bayern did really well but face another beast this season in a rejuvenated Dortmund. 

Trophee Des Champions

Paris Saint Germain 2 vs. 1 Rennes

Rennes gave PSG a wake up call as Hunou scored in the 13th minute to give them the lead. Rennes stayed strong for the half as they kept PSG at bay for the rest of the half. PSG then stepped it up in the 2nd half as Mbappe scored in the 57th minute and Di Maria scored a brilliant free kick in the 73rd minute to seal the win and the trophy. PSG are looking good without Neymar and while their Ligue 1 title is always almost certain the real aim for the french team is the Champions League. Neymar is still there and whether he leaves will dominate the next month or so of the European transfer window. 

Weekend Football Preview

The curtain raiser for the season is upon us!

Community Shield 

Liverpool vs. Man City

Last seasons runner up and Champions League winners Liverpool go head to head against Man City Premier League Champions, FA Cup Champions, League Cup Champions, and Community Shield holders on Sunday. Usually the Community Shield is played between the League winners and the FA Cup winners but considering that City won them both last season Liverpool who finished 2nd in the league get the nod. Liverpool have had a shaky pre-season having played 7 friendlies winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 3. Klopp was without his forward line for much of pre-season with Mane and Salah having participated in the Africa Cup of Nations while Firmino took part in the Copa America. City played 4 friendlies in pre-season winning 3 and losing one on penalties to Wolves. Liverpool played against the likes of Napoli, Sevilla, Dortmund in preparation for the season while City’s most notable opponent were Wolves. Liverpool have had a quite summer with Sepp Van De Berg and Harvey Elliot being their only two signings both of whom are youth products. City have also bought two players a right back in Angelino from PSV, and Rodri from Atletico who is a midfielder. This is for all intents and purposes a glorified friendly and the teams should reflect that with several starters on the bench or not playing. Either way it is a good opportunity for the teams to get one over the other at this early stage of the season.

DFL Supercup

Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich

Dortmund and Munich go head to head in the curtain raiser for the Bundesliga on Saturday. Dortmund have played four friendlies winning all four of them while Bayern have played 5 winning 3 and losing 2. The teams have made several improvements to their squads over the summer. Dortmund have bought Hummels back from Bayern, Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brandt, and Nico Schulz. Bayern have bought Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard, Jann-Fiete Arp, and Marco Friedl. The likes of Ribery and Robben left the club in June. Dortmund were rampant until December last season but suffered a burnout in the new year and Bayern who were resurgent edged Dortmund to the title. Dortmund have since added several quality players while Bayern are far more youthful as well. This should be a feisty encounter. 

Trophee Des Champions

Paris Saint Germain vs. Rennes

The ever dominant PSG take on Rennes in the prelude to the Ligue 1 season on Saturday. They Neymar saga and whether he leaves for Barca has dominated PSG’s transfer stories but there have been arrivals. Idrissa Gueye, Abdou Diallo, Pablo Sarabia, and Ander Herrera have all been notable players to arrive over the last few months. Rennes most notable arrival has been M’baye Niang. PSG have played 4 friendlies winning 2 drawing 1 and losing 1. Rennes have played 3 friendlies losing 2 and drawing 1. PSG are the dominant force in french football but Rennes did beat them in the Coupe De France final and so it is all to play for.