10 Players to Watch in World Football This Weekend of May 1-3
Another weekend of major action in the world of football is fast approaching, with some classic games to look forward to and telling fixtures at the top end of many major domestic leagues.
We have analysed all the biggest of the upcoming matches, picking out an individual from each who could have a telling impact on the outcome of the 90 minutes, judging by position or quality, opposition or need for his team.
Here are our 10 players to watch for the weekend.
Fernando Cavenaghi, River Plate
1 of 10
We'll start in South America and we have the Superclasico to look forward to: Boca Juniors vs. River Plate, the top two of the extended Argentine Primera and one of the most hotly contested rival clashes in world football.
Neither side have lost a game yet this season, Boca sitting top with the best defensive record—and River in second with the best attack.
Part of that attack is Fernando Cavenaghi, back "home" again and scoring goals, having netted six so far. A winner here practically guarantees hero status from the River fans.
Stefan Kiessling, Bayer Leverkusen
2 of 10
Over in the German Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen host Bayern Munich on Saturday evening knowing they need to try and continue to win to snatch the third and final automatic Champions League spot.
Bayern already have the league wrapped up of course and will potentially look to rest a few players ahead of a UEFA Champions League semi-final. Leverkusen will be looking to take advantage of any slackening of performance by the title-holders.
Stefan Kiessling has the physicality, the recent scoring prowess and the all-round talent to trouble the Bayern back line and he'll be hoping to add to his four goals in his last four league games.
Hugo Lloris, Tottenham
3 of 10
The Premier League in England sees a big match-up in the top six at the weekend, as Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City.
At this late stage of the season the top-four hopes of Spurs are almost certainly extinguished, but they still have places in the Europa League to fight for. Manager Mauricio Pochettino has to use these games as a sign to his key players that they should stay, rather than leave for Champions League clubs next year.
Manchester City will be all-out for the win to helps seal a top-three finish and Sergio Aguero is back in scoring form, so it's Hugo Lloris, the Spurs keeper, who we're looking at to produce a big performance and show that he is either ideally suited for a bigger club—if transfer rumours are to be believed he wants out, per the Independent—or fully committed to helping Spurs improve.
Gonzalo Higuain, Napoli
4 of 10
In Italy the big question mark at the top is over whether Napoli's recent good run of form is going to be enough to see them back into the top three and to win a Champions League spot for next season.
They are fourth at present but three wins in a row have closed the gap on third-placed Roma to two points and the Naples side should be confident of a big win over a less-than-impressive Milan side this weekend.
Striker Gonzalo Higuain has once more been the main man for his team this term, scoring 15 this season and two last time out as captain against Sampdoria. Roma don't face an easy test, at home to Genoa, so three points here for Napoli are crucial.
Luis Suarez, Barcelona
5 of 10
Over to Spain now and we're looking at one each from the top three clubs, starting with Barcelona. We never tend to pick Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi from the biggest two, for obvious reasons, but Luis Suarez is certainly one to watch right now.
The Uruguayan has been in irrepressible form of late, scoring five and assisting three in his last five appearances in all competitions. His work rate, skill on the ball and movement mean he leads the line in perfect fashion to link with Messi and Neymar either side of him.
This weekend it's top vs. bottom as Barcelona visit Cordoba and the feeling must be that MSN, and Suarez in particular, could run riot.
James Rodriguez, Real Madrid
6 of 10
Second in the Liga table is Real Madrid, who face Sevilla in a critical clash. Real want the title, while Sevilla are still hoping for a top-four finish.
The Andalucian side are unbeaten all year at home so Real Madrid will expect to find things difficult, meaning the skill, drive and final-third ability of James Rodriguez will once more be key.
Rodriguez showed his ability to change games and affect play in the final third with his super goal against Almeria on Wednesday and Real will need more of the same this weekend.
Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid
7 of 10
Third and finally for La Liga it's Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann, who has been in thoroughly ridiculous goalscoring form in 2015.
In La Liga he has 19 in his last 17 games and eight in his past five. He's a penalty-box master: Clinical, brave, sharp with his movement and able to escape marking. It's not exactly the type of player he was renowned as before this season, despite scoring plenty, but Diego Simeone has helped mould him into a tremendous all-round attacker.
Atleti face Athletic Bilbao this weekend and still need to keep picking up the wins to ensure a third-place finish. Athletic Bilbao, of course, is where it really began for Griezmann, as he hit a hat-trick at San Mames earlier this term.
Anthony Martial, Monaco
8 of 10
In Ligue 1 now and to Monaco, where their rise over the second half of the season has seen them storm into the Champions League places and a third-place fight.
They face Toulouse this coming weekend, a side resurgent in the past couple of weeks after taking seven points from nine to move two points clear of the relegation zone and up into 14th place in the table. Monaco can't afford any slips; even with Marseille plummeting down the league, Saint-Etienne remain just two points behind and ready to take advantage if Monaco flounder too.
Anthony Martial has had a tremendous season, netting eight from just 15 starts with the majority of his game time coming off the bench. Another impact here from the youngster takes Monaco to the verge of re-qualifying for the Champions League.
Rafael Sobis, Tigres UANL
9 of 10
We'll finish up back out of Europe, firstly heading to the Liga MX in Mexico.
Brazilian striker Rafael Sobis was once one of the hottest talents to take European scouts' attentions and earned a move to (at the time flourishing) Real Betis, but it never worked out. Nowadays he's at Tigres UANL, one of the top scorers in the league and helping his side toward top spot.
Tigres are third after back-to-back wins and face table-toppers Guadalajara at the weekend, knowing that a win could send them top. Keeping Sobis serviced with chances is key to that as the now-29-year-old shows all the instincts which once made him an heir apparent to the No. 9 shirt of his nation.
Kei Kamara, Colombus Crew
10 of 10
Finally, to MLS and a big game over the weekend as Columbus Crew travel to DC United.
The two Eastern Conference teams are in good form, with Crew drawing and winning two each of their last four to sit fourth in the early table. DC are two places and three points ahead though, so Crew will need to be at their best to pick up the points.
That means providing ammunition for powerful striker Kei Kamara, whose five goals make him MLS's joint top scorer for 2015. If he can fire at the RFK Stadium, then Crew can really begin to look forward to a promising campaign.
