B/R Experts: Big-Game Predictions for February 4-5
League action takes centre stage across Europe this weekend.
Bleacher Report's Dean Jones has his finger on the pulse of English football and will give his verdict on the Premier League games, while Italian football guru Adam Digby is charged with the task of deciphering what's going on in Serie A.
Spanish football expert Karl Matchett will look after La Liga, and Lars Pollmann will select his winners in Germany.
Chelsea vs. Arsenal
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Chelsea hold a nine-point lead over Arsenal in the Premier League table and a victory on Saturday would leave the title trophy out of Arsene Wenger's reach for another season.
A 3-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium in September proved to be the kick up the backside Antonio Conte's men needed this season. Since that trouncing, they have lost just one league game.
Diego Costa and Alexis Sanchez both have 15 goals this season—and the Arsenal man has three more assists than the Chelsea forward.
Yet still, it is easier to imagine Costa making the difference in this fixture. He has scored from 23 per cent of his 65 shots on goal, per the Premier League—that's the best conversion rate of any of the division's top frontmen.
Prediction: 2-0
First Goalscorer: Diego Costa
Hull City vs. Liverpool
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Liverpool have not won an away league match since December 19, when they grabbed a last-minute goal at Everton.
It was Sadio Mane who secured the three points that evening, and this should be the game when he returns to Liverpool's starting lineup following his spell at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Mane—who came off the bench for 15 minutes against Chelsea in midweek—was a huge miss during January, as the Reds' title dream hit a brick wall.
His return would add much-needed cutting edge to the attack, and it could also see Adam Lallana return to form if he were to move back into the kind of role he was fulfilling before Mane was on international duty.
Hull City showed against Manchester United on Wednesday that they are not an easy team to beat. Marco Silva is defying the critics who suggested he should not get the manager's job, and he may fancy his chances of an upset.
Prediction: 1-1
First Goalscorer: Sadio Mane
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Middlesbrough
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A goalless draw at Sunderland was not the result Tottenham Hotspur expected on Tuesday, but they still dominated the fixture.
Spurs enjoyed 71.6 per cent of the possession, per WhoScored, but as Sunderland frustrated them, there was no Plan B to conjure a winner.
If you were to find one criticism of Mauricio Pochettino's squad, it could be that they do not have game-changers on the bench—only two goals have been scored by substitutes this season.
Spurs have kept 10 clean sheets this term now, though, and after drawing a blank at the Stadium of Light, the goals should start rolling in again for them here.
Harry Kane has averaged a goal every 118 minutes this season and has not scored in Spurs' last two matches. He will surely find the net on Saturday evening.
Prediction: 2-0
First Goalscorer: Harry Kane
Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao
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Barcelona never have an easy time against Athletic Bilbao, and that won't change on Saturday—chances at both ends, plenty of fouls and cause for the referee to be involved will be pretty much the standard.
But the Calatan side should still be looking to come out on top, especially after dropping points last week, and if the front three have to do it themselves, so be it.
They're more than capable, after all, and Athletic have struggled to score goals on the road this season.
Prediction: 3-1
First Goalscorer: Luis Suarez
Bayern Munich vs. Schalke 04
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Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich have won seven matches in a row across all competitions, but they have yet to find their form in 2017, eking out wins at SC Freiburg and Werder Bremen thanks to individual quality rather than convincing performances.
A return to the comfortable confines of the Allianz Arena on Saturday should help, as should the presumed restoration of Thiago Alcantara—arguably the Bundesliga's best player in the first half of the season—to the team.
Franck Ribery will miss the next few weeks with a muscle injury, but having proved to be more than a half-season wonder in his second campaign for the club, Douglas Costa is a solid alternative.
Schalke 04's season is all but over; the nine-point deficit behind the European spots seems too much to make up given the fact all but one of their six wins in the Bundesliga this season came in October and November.
Regularly on the receiving end of a proper spanking in Bavaria, Schalke's hopes for a surprise will be minimal.
Prediction: 3-0
First Goalscorer: Arjen Robben
Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig
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A late 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in their first-ever home match in the Bundesliga jumpstarted RB Leipzig's magnificent campaign in September, and the promoted side have hardly looked back since.
They just will not go away, still trailing Bayern by only three points after inflicting a first league defeat on TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on the previous matchday.
However, Leipzig have looked far more impressive at home than on the road, where they lost their last two matches to FC Ingolstadt and Bayern.
Beating Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park would be the kind of statement win that would announce their intentions to give the league leaders a run for the title.
The hosts, meanwhile, are unbeaten since the end of November but have drawn four of their last five in the Bundesliga, keeping them in a group of clubs vying for the Champions League spots.
Thomas Tuchel has never lost a home match in the league since taking over from Jurgen Klopp in 2015, a record that will face no harder test the rest of the season than the one Leipzig present—even without formidable attackers Timo Werner (flu) and Emil Forsberg (suspension).
Prediction: 1-1
First Goalscorer: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Manchester City vs. Swansea City
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Pep Guardiola's men found their groove again in a 4-0 trouncing of West Ham on Wednesday. Gabriel Jesus has breathed new life into their attack, and other players have been lifted by his presence.
City have been so inconsistent that it is difficult to judge what kind of performance we will see on Sunday. In theory, they should tear Swansea City apart, but past performances have shown they could just as easily drop points.
On the back of the last win, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt and expect a victory.
Swansea have had a great week with back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Southampton, but they used the same XI in both games so could feel the effects against a City team that love keeping possession.
Prediction: 3-1
First Goalscorer: Kevin De Bruyne
Leicester City vs. Manchester United
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The Premier League champions host last season's FA Cup winners, and Sunday's clash is crucial to both sides for different reasons.
Leicester have struggled to live up to last season's miracle, having picked up 21 points from 23 games. They are now in a relegation battle, and it is not unreasonable to predict they will go down.
The Foxes have not scored for four consecutive league games, and to get to 40 points is going to prove a major challenge.
United produced a pretty dull display against Hull City, but they would have won had it not been for heroic goalkeeping from Eldin Jakupovic.
Jose Mourinho's side are unbeaten in the league in 14 games and need a win to keep focus on a place in the top four.
Prediction: 1-2
First Goalscorer: Jamie Vardy
Atletico Madrid vs. Leganes
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Back-to-back draws in La Liga and a defeat in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg have left Atletico Madrid's season on the verge of unravelling entirely; in terms of the league, all they can go for now is a top-four finish.
Even that's not a certainty if they don't find some consistency quickly, but they should have enough in the tank to beat Leganes.
It's not likely to be a free-flowing game on Saturday, but Atleti have to offer more on the ball and in the final third than they have recently.
Prediction: 1-0
First Goalscorer: Antoine Griezmann
Celta Vigo vs. Real Madrid
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Real Madrid will be delighted to have a four-point buffer at the top of the table heading into this weekend, with the trials and failures of their Copa del Rey exit against Celta Vigo still fresh in the mind.
Celta, for their part, will be full of confidence and expectation of causing another upset, and they've got enough players who can do damage to Los Blancos again on Sunday.
Zinedine Zidane's team aren't top without reason, though, and they'll need to get something out of the game—even if it's just a point—to keep a reasonable lead at the top of La Liga.
Prediction: 2-2
First Goalscorer: Iago Aspas
AC Milan vs. Sampdoria
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Vincenzo Montella welcomes his former club to the San Siro this weekend, with the AC Milan coach hoping the familiar faces at Sampdoria will help the Rossoneri rediscover their winning ways.
It has been a tough month for the former striker, after his team were beaten by Napoli, Juventus and Udinese in recent weeks.
Indeed, their last win was against Torino in the Coppa Italia on January 12, while Sampdoria ended their own run of poor results with a wonderful 3-2 victory over AS Roma last time out.
To make matters even more difficult for Montella, Milan also have a number of injury concerns with key man Giacomo Bonaventura ruled out for the rest of the season, per Sky Sports.
Prediction: 1-1
First Goalscorer: Luis Muriel
Juventus vs. Inter Milan
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Sunday evening sees perhaps Serie A's two most in-form sides go head-to-head in Turin, with Inter Milan making the short journey along the A4 to Juventus Stadium.
The home side have been excellent in recent weeks, coach Max Allegri's switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation (discussed in this previous post) pushing them to wins over Lazio, AC Milan and Sassuolo.
Meanwhile, Inter will look to put their midweek Coppa Italia defeat behind them and continue their impressive league form, with new boss Stefano Pioli overseeing a run of seven consecutive victories.
However, Juve set a new Serie A record last month, winning their 27th straight home game, and they will likely extend that here.
Prediction: 2-1
First Goalscorer: Juan Cuadrado
