March 11, 2023 - Matchplug Blog

Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Barcelona will travel to Estadio San Mamés this Sunday to face Athletic Bilbao in the 25th round of the 2022/23 La Liga season.

The hosts come into this tie in bad shape, looking to end a four-game winless run in all competitions. Their last outing resulted in a goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano. The result left them in ninth position, four points behind the top six.

They will be desperate for a win to stay in the top-six race. However, Athletic’s recent seven-game competitive home form (W4, D1, L2) suggests San Mamés is hardly a fortress, so it could be another poor afternoon for Ernesto Valverde’s side.

But the Basque side keeping their Catalan visitors at bay in three of their last four La Liga H2Hs here (W1, D2, L1), they may relish this challenge. After recording a 1-0 win over Valencia last weekend, Barca are nine points ahead of Real Madrid in the La Liga title race.

The win over Valencia last weekend took their clean sheet tally to 18 in La Liga, the most in this century by a single club in any top-five European league after 24 games. Not even the ‘Negreira corruption case’, threatening to derail the club, looks likely to stop their imminent title win unless they capitulate very severely between now and May.

Coach Xavi will be desperate to avoid that, especially as the El Clásico follows this trip. A defeat here could potentially see them start that game with just a six-point gap from Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Bilbao manager Valverde has lost his last eight La Liga matches against Barça, with his teams firing five consecutive scoring blanks, so another under 2.5 goals match could follow here.

Fulham vs Arsenal: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Arsenal will make a short trip across West London to Craven Cottage this Sunday, where they will face European hopefuls Fulham.

The hosts, alongside Brentford and Brighton, want to break the top-six monopoly this season. However, their chances of doing so was dealt a huge blow last weekend when they suffered a 3-2 loss to Thomas Frank’s Brentford side.

The result ended a run of seven games without defeat for Marco Silva’s side (W5, D2), who now enter this game sitting in seventh place, one point behind their top six rivals, having played two games more.

They will return home to Craven Cottage, looking to get back to winning ways and rekindle their quest for a first European appearance since 2011/12. Returning home could provide a much-needed boost for the Cottagers, who have lost just three of their 13 PL games here this term (W6, D4). That record could give Fulham false hope for this clash, though, as they’re winless at Craven Cottage against sides starting the round above them (D1, L3).

Arsenal will fancy their chances here, given they are unbeaten in their last nine head-to-head games at any venue against Fulham. The Gunners have seven wins in their last nine meetings with Fulham and won the reverse fixture 2-1.

They kept their hopes for their first title since 2003 with a miraculous comeback win over Bournemouth last time (3-2). They followed up that win with a 2-2 away draw with Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last Thursday, taking their unbeaten run in all competitions to five games.

Any fear of fatigue after this game should be quashed as they’ve amassed a six-game unbeaten PL run in games directly following each of their last six Europa League matches (W5, D1). It should be noted that two of those PL wins came in London derbies and without reply, a statistic which bodes well for Arsenal as they look to improve on their impressive 71% win-rate against Fulham in PL action (W22, D6, L3).Click here to get the correct score prediction for football games.

AS Roma vs Sassuolo: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

AS Roma will host Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico this Sunday for the 26th game of the 2022/23 Serie A season.

The hosts recorded their 14th win of the season last time with a narrow 1-0 victory over Juventus. The result boosted Roma’s chances of claiming a top-four spot in Serie A come the season’s end.

José Mourinho’s men backed up their weekend win with a 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League last 16 tie. Consecutive victories without conceding made the Portuguese strategist happy as he claimed’ he couldn’t ask for more’.

Read more: Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

They will be happy to return to the Stadio Olimpico, where Roma have won each of their last five Serie A home matches without conceding a goal. So the Giallorossi will believe they can go six in a row without conceding for the first time since 2014.

Sassuolo looks ready to bridge that Roma backline, though, given that they failed to score twice in their last ten outings. Nevertheless, they make the trip to the capital in good spirits, with four wins in their last six Serie A matches to move away from relegation danger and into mid-table (D1, L1).

Only Napoli have earned more points in the division in that period, and another win would match their three-match winning streak from March 2022 – their longest under current coach Alessio Dionisi. So they will fancy their chances of winning here and ending a five-game winless run against Roma (D4, L4).Meanwhile, Roma have won a joint-league-high nine matches by a single-goal margin this season. So this game will likely feature Under 1.5 goals scored.

Manchester United vs Southampton: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

After their incredible outing in the Europa League, Manchester United will return to Premier League action this Sunday when they welcome struggling Southampton to Old Trafford.

The Red Devils’ put one leg in the next Round of the Europa League thanks to a 4-1 win over Real Betis on Thursday. The win and performance contrasted their 7-0 loss to Liverpool in the Premier League last weekend.

The Old Trafford side were embarrassed by Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield on Sunday, with that loss ending a run of eleven consecutive games without defeat. They now sit 14 points behind league leaders Arsenal, so their chances of winning the title look very slim now.

Yet, having scored four times in midweek, the mood at Old Trafford will be good, especially as they are unbeaten in 20 consecutive matches at Old Trafford (W18, D2). But if a team can be hopeful of getting a result at Old Trafford, it has to be Southampton, who have recorded just four defeats from their last nine visits to Old Trafford (W2, D3).

The Saints kept their survival hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Leicester City last time. The win took them off the foot of the PL table, even though they remain level on points with bottom-placed Bournemouth.

With 12 of their 21 points this season coming on the road, the visitors will sense a chance to add another point to the board at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, given that Man Utd have netted at least twice in 15 successive home matches, while Southampton have kept just two clean sheets in their last eleven games, we can expect another high-scoring affair at Old Trafford on Sunday. So an over 2.5 goals game is the best prediction for this game.

Roberto Firmimo offered to Barcelona

Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino is set to leave the club this summer after eight years of dedicated service and winning every available trophy.

The Brazilian international is genuinely one of the best players the features under Jurgen Klopp, and they formed a lethal partnership with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah that excited club fans for years.

However, after eight years at the club, his stay will end when his contract expires this summer. He has informed Liverpool of his intention to seek a new challenge, although the club had offered to extend his contract. So he will be available for free this summer.

According to reports by Sport, his agent has offered him to Barcelona this summer. The Blaugrana are looking for a cheap backup striker to fill in the absence of main striker Robert Lewandowski. After selling Memphis Depay and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Catalan team struggled to score goals when the Polish star was suspended or injured. Firmino could provide that necessary depth next season.

His signing will also make financial sense, especially as Barca is in a dire financial situation. The Camp Nou side must reportedly sell an attacking player this summer to fund any player additions. So they will have to go the free transfer route to be able to sign players.

Manchester United in pole position to sign Gonçalo Ramos

Manchester United are reportedly leading the race to sign Benfica forward Gonçalo Ramos.

The Red Devils are in the market for a striker and are said to be in “advanced talks” with Benfica for their star forward. According to a report from Football Transfer Tavern, the Old Trafford side has held talks with the Portugal international’s representative Jorge Mendes, with Benfica willing to sell in a deal worth €100m (£88.6m).

Ramos caught the attention of many clubs at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he scored a hat-trick against Switzerland. The 21-year-old continued his scintillating form for Benfica, contributing 32 goals in 34 games in all competitions for the Portuguese club.

Bournemouth vs Liverpool: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Bournemouth and Liverpool will meet at Vitality Stadium this Saturday for the 27th Round of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

Both sides are fighting at the other end of the spectrum, with the hosts sitting rock bottom of the Premier League after a narrow 3-2 loss to Arsenal last weekend.

Despite leading the Premier League leaders 2-0 up till the 60th minute, Gary O’Neil’s succumbed to late pressure from Mikel Arteta’s men, with that the third time this season they’ve taken such a lead only to suffer defeat.

The hosts have been conceding late goals recently, with the Cherries of the PL’s worst defence conceding a league-high eight goals after the 80th minute. However, the Vitality Stadium faithful will feel they can play a part in ensuring that tally isn’t added to against a rampant Liverpool side, which they have lost to in the last seven games.

The Reds are still on cloud nine after a 7-0 win over their fierce rivals Manchester United last time. The win made it five games without defeat for Jurgen Klopp’s men in the league. It was also their fifth clean sheet in a row, and it took them to fifth position on the table, three points behind Tottenham, who have played a game more.

Liverpool beat Bournemouth 9-0 at Anfield in the reverse fixture, their seventh successive victory over their hosts, scoring a mammoth 28 goals and conceding only once in that time. Such a dominant record should make the Reds confident of winning this game and (at least momentarily) leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into fourth place.

That said, we can expect over 2.5 goals scored in this game.

Day: March 11, 2023

Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Fulham vs Arsenal: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

AS Roma vs Sassuolo: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Manchester United vs Southampton: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Roberto Firmimo offered to Barcelona

Manchester United in pole position to sign Gonçalo Ramos

Bournemouth vs Liverpool: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

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