While La Liga kicked off already, the Premier League, alongside the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1 will commence today with interesting matches.
It will be fresh meetings for clubs across Europe’s top leagues and, of course, all teams will be looking ready to stack points as soon as possible but a few fixtures seem to be meetings of two giants in their own rights.
Let’s take a look at five big matches to watch this weekend;
Manchester United vs Fulham – Friday, 16th August
Eric Ten Hag has said that his team is not ready for the Premier League as they prepare for the curtain-raiser later today when they host London side Fulham at the Old Trafford. The gaffer is particularly concerned with the situation at the heart of defence as Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, and new signing Lenny Yoro are all absent due to injuries. It remains to be seen if the former Ajax man will pair Harry Maguire and new-arrival Mathias De Ligt so Lisandro Martinez can play at left-back as he did against Manchester City last Saturday. Manchester United have never had it easy against Fulham and today’s meeting might not be an exception.
West Ham vs Aston Villa – Saturday, 17th August
West Ham and Aston Villa competed well last season and their efforts yielded positive results. While West Ham finished 9th – quite unfortunately – Aston Villa were 4th in the league football and will be playing in the Champions League this season. It takes a bit of resilience to break down the defence of West Ham when they play at home and it will be enthralling to see how Aston Villa fair with their flair, attacking football.
Barcelona would not have asked for Valencia for a season-opener. Season after season, the Blaugranes have struggled at the Mestella Stadium where they have only scored two goals in the last two visits. Valencia are looking to rejuvenate themselves after surviving the relegation zone last season when they finished 16th on the table. Barcelona do not totally look prepared given the problems surrounding registration of players and uncertainties hovering over some of the players’ futures
Chelsea vs Manchester City – Sunday, 18th August
This is a clash between two teams which are relatively far apart in terms of players, tactics, and formation. While Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca would have a selection headache to deal with, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side already knows what they stand for and how to achieve their goals on the pitch. Both clubs have recently met during the preseason with the reigning champions coming out victorious in that one – four goals to one. However, we might yet be treated to another tight encounter as last season when Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to beat the Blues both home and away.
Leichester City vs Tottenham – Monday, 18th August
After a year absence, Leichester City are finally back to the English top-flight league and they face a stiff welcome with a clash against Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur. They have all it takes to play in the top-flight again as they are no stranger to the level of intensity there. Tottenham Hostspur have a huge task at hand as their quest for supremacy continues yet again.