Joshua Oha, Author at Matchplug Blog

Bayer Leverkusen vs Hertha Berlin: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Bayer Leverkusen will look to get back to winning ways in the Bundesliga when they face Hertha Berlin this Sunday.

The hosts have enjoyed impressive results in Europe this season, having booked their place in the next round of the Europa League last week. But they have struggled in the league in 2023, winning just one of their last five league games (D1, L3) and slipping down the table.

They currently sit in 11th position, with a ten-point gap to the top-six ahead of this round. So their chances of a top-six finish is hanging by a thread unless they can return to winning ways.

A return to BayArena is unlikely to be the catalyst for success either, as Leverkusen are on the verge of losing three straight home league games for the second time this season – that’s something they hadn’t done on even one occasion in any of the previous eight campaigns.

However, Hertha Berlin aren’t a team to be feared, especially away from home. The visitors come into this tie with a shocking away league form, having taken four points from home this season. They have lost their last six away games, and one more would make this their worst run since a nine-game streak in 2016/17.

Yet there is a glimmer of hope, though, as they’re unbeaten in six of their last seven league meetings with Leverkusen (W3, D3, L1).

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Arsenal and Chelsea are on high alert for ‘free agent’ Zaha

Wilfried Zaha is set to leave Crystal Palace when his contract expires at the end of the season.

According to talkSPORT, the Ivorian will not renew his contract in London and will be free to join a new club for free, having rejected multiple contract offers.

Despite struggling with injuries, the 30-year-old has scored six goals and provided three assists in 20 games this season. He will have no shortage of suitors if he decides on a new adventure, with Arsenal and Chelsea the top two suitors for his services. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia are also thought to be in the picture if he decides to go abroad.

According to talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook, the winger is admired by both Mikel Arteta and Chelsea.

Speaking on Drive, Crook said: “It seems that Wilf Zaha’s stellar career at Crystal Palace could be coming to an end.

“His contract is up at the end of the season – no imminent sign that he is willing to extend.

“And if he is to go and achieve his ambitions of playing for a top club, it’s now or never really isn’t it?

“When you look at his age, the fact that he’s available as a free agent, he either commits his future to Crystal Palace and then probably sees out his top-flight career there.

“Or he goes off and tests himself, I think there will be suitors, I know Mikel Arteta is a fan, I know that Chelsea have certainly taken a look at him in the past as well.

“And I think there are big clubs in Europe who would be interested in a player of Wilf Zaha’s quality.”

Atletico Madrid vs Sevilla: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Atletico Madrid will host Sevilla this Saturday in the 24th round of the 2022/23 La Liga season.

In recent seasons, this clash would have represented a top-four clash, but this time, Atletico Madrid are fighting for a place in the Champions League next season, while Sevilla are fighting for survival.

Thanks to a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid last time, Atletico come into this tie on a seven-game unbeaten league run (W4, D3). But a whopping 17-point gap to the summit means it’s now doubtful that the hosts can finish top of La Liga this season despite rumours that this will be the last season of veteran coach Diego Simeone.

But securing consecutive league home wins for the first time this season will at least see them strengthen their position within the top four.

Sevilla come into this fixture sitting just two points above the relegation zone after a 3-2 loss to Osasuna last time.

The Andalusian side have won two of the previous four meetings between both sides (D1, L1), but none came away from home, where Sevilla are winless in their last 13 attempts (D7, L6).

But with this trip immediately followed up by three La Liga contests against sides also in the relegation mire, Jorge Sampaoli will hope to see an inspirational performance in Madrid, where they’re winless (D3, L2) in their last five league visits since beating Getafe in 2021.

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Roberto Firmino to end eight-year stay at Liverpool this summer

Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino is reportedly set to leave Anfield as a free agent when his contract expires at the end of this season.

The Brazil international, a legend at the Merseyside club, joined from Hoffenheim for £29 million ($35m) in the summer of 2015. Firmino has made 353 appearances for the Reds in eight successful seasons, scoring 107 goals and providing 78 assists. He is currently the top-scoring Brazilian in the Premier League with 78 goals.

The 31-year-old formed one of the most devastating attacking partnerships with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. Together, the trio led Liverpool for several seasons with seven trophies, including the Premier League and Champions League titles accumulated during his time with Liverpool.

Despite scoring nine goals for Liverpool this season, Bobby is no longer a guaranteed starter for Jurgen Klopp’s side. According to reports, the club wanted to keep him beyond this summer, but he has opted to move on and has informed the club of his decision.

Manchester City vs Newcastle United: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Manchester City will welcome top-four hopefuls Newcastle United to the Etihad this Saturday for another crucial game in the Premier League title race.

The Cityzens are looking to make it three wins on the bounce this time after recording a pair of 1-1 draws in the Premier League and Champions League two weeks ago.

They come into this tie on the back of two consecutive wins over Bournemouth (4-1) and Bristol City (3-0) in the FA Cup. With top-of-the-table Arsenal beating Everton in midweek, Pep Guardiola’s side come into this fixture sitting five points behind the Gunners. However, they remain in the title race and will feel confident about winning this game as they have won the last 13 PL home H2Hs.

Newcastle will be desperate to avoid defeat here, as another loss would set a joint record for the longest-losing away run against a single opponent in the competition.

The Magpies started the season well but have endured some poor results recently. However, they come into this game looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2-0 loss to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final.

However, they remain on course for a top-four finish as they currently sit in fifth position, having lost just two league games this season (W10, D11). They also come into this game with a decent away record, with their current eight away games unbeaten (W4, D4) their longest unbeaten run for an away team in the PL.

They also possess a rock-solid backline that has conceded the fewest goals in the league away from home (seven), so they will likely provide stern opposition here.

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Arsenal vs Bournemouth: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Bournemouth will look to do the impossible when they travel to London to face the in-form Premier League leaders Arsenal.

The Gunners are a team in good form, having dispatched three Premier League teams in a row. Their latest victim was Everton, who they defeated 4-0 in midweek.

That win over the Toffees marked the 12th time they’ve scored 4+ goals against Everton in the PL – a record for one side against another in the competition.

Mikel Arteta’s side will now look to record another big win over a struggling side this weekend when the host Bournemouth. They look primed to do that as they come into this tie on the back of eight consecutive PL victories over newly-promoted sides. And considering they’ve beaten Bournemouth in all five of their PL home H2Hs, by an aggregate score of 14-2, another over 2.5 goals performance here might not surprise.

Bournemouth will be desperate for another embarrassing outing, though, having fallen to a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City last weekend.

The Cherries have been picked apart by many of the top teams this season, and they have the worst defensive record in the league to show for that, having conceded 48 goals this season.

They are now in the thick of the relegation battle and will need to improve their league away returns if they want to survive this season (W2, D2, L8). Only bottom-placed Southampton, having lost more games on the road than Bournemouth, although they did end an eight-match winless PL away run (D2, L6) with a 1-0 victory over Wolves in their last away outing.

Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Bayern Munich will continue their quest to retain their Bundesliga title with a visit to Stuttgart this Saturday.

While the visitors are flying high at the top of the table, the hosts are struggling at the other end of the table. Although they come into this tie sitting outside the relegation zone, their 2-1 loss to the toothless bottom-of-the-table Schalke 04 proved that they are in serious trouble unless they can regain their form.

That loss to Schalke made it 21 consecutive away league games without a win. But at least they recorded a 3-0 win against Cologne in their last home game, so they’ll hope a return to the Mercedes-Benz Arena can ignite a change of fortunes.

The hosts also ended an unwanted all-time Bundesliga record of 31 straight home games without a clean sheet in that Cologne victory. However, they might struggle to build on that solid record against such strong opposition, especially as Bayern are the league’s top scorers with 64 goals this term.

The Bavarians have scored 2+ goals in each of their last four league games and will fancy their chances of getting a few goals here too. After losing ground recently in the title race when they were beaten 3-2 by Borussia Mönchengladbach, the visitors reclaimed top spot with a 3-0 win over Union Berlin last time.

But with Borussia Dortmund playing on Friday, they could have been knocked off the top spot come kick-off, so they’ll be keen to take advantage of a weakened Stuttgart and, in turn, extend their run of unbeaten Bundesliga games on Saturday’s primetime TV spot to 25 games (W19, D5).Meanwhile, given that Stuttgart have conceded a league-high ten goals in the opening 15 minutes this season whilst Bayern have scored a Bundesliga-high eleven goals in the same period, we can score early goals. So the best prediction for this game is goal first half.

Barcelona cannot sign new players in the summer

La Liga giants Barcelona have been banned by La Liga from signing players in the summer unless they can raise the capital required to do so.

According to La Liga chief Javier Tebas, the Catalan side have been informed that they must raise £178 million from selling current players if they want to enter the transfer market this summer.

Despite cutting their wage bill this season and sending many players on loan, Barcelona aren’t financially equipped to register new players.

“As of today, Barcelona doesn’t have any room in its budget to spend in the upcoming transfer window,” Javier Tebas said on Thursday in London, at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit.

“Barcelona has been involved in questionable behaviour which has had an impact on LaLiga and we are acting accordingly. We have ruled that they can no longer sign more players.

“They sold off £620m (€700m) in TV rights and tried to find different ways to solve the situation, but they won’t be able to do that next season. We have strict economic controls. At the end of each window, we tell all the clubs in La Liga what they can spend.

“In the case of Barcelona, they have to drop from spending on wages and transfers from £532m to £399m (€650m to €450m), so it’s a budget of minus £177m (€200m).

“They have to reduce their investment in players and we have encouraged them to sell players because, for every amount they raise in sales, they can spend 40 per cent of that.”

Napoli vs Lazio: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Napoli will look to continue their inevitable march towards their first league title since 1990 when they welcome Lazio to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this Friday.

The hosts kept their quest for the league title alive with a 2-0 win at Empoli on Saturday. The win extended their lead at the top of the table to 18 points and also made it seven straight wins in all competitions.

As such prediction analysts, Opta now given them a 99.9% chance of winning the title. They are without a league loss in 14 matches at home (W12, D2), and that percentage is unlikely to drop any time soon as they’ve won each of the last six H2Hs against Lazio here.

They have averaged four goals per game across the last three of those meetings, so we can expect another high-scoring affair here. Lazio aren’t pushovers, though, as they are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions (W3, D1) while keeping four clean sheets.

They’re hitting form at the right time as they chase European qualification (W3, D2, L1). Currently sitting in the top five, Lazio will travel to Naples looking to inflict their first defeat on Napoli since 2020.

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Manchester United back for Frenkie de Jong

Manchester United have reportedly rekindled their interest in Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

According to reports by Sportsmail, the Old Trafford club will be back for the Dutch international this summer after missing out on his signature last summer.

But things could be different this summer as De Jong is now interested in playing at Old Trafford, where he will line up alongside midfield maestro Casemiro.

According to TalkSport, the idea of playing alongside the Brazilian is exciting for De Jong. At the same time, the fact United are in contention for securing a place in the Champions League also excites him.

Joshua Oha

Bayer Leverkusen vs Hertha Berlin: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Arsenal and Chelsea are on high alert for ‘free agent’ Zaha

Atletico Madrid vs Sevilla: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Roberto Firmino to end eight-year stay at Liverpool this summer

Manchester City vs Newcastle United: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Arsenal vs Bournemouth: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Barcelona cannot sign new players in the summer

Napoli vs Lazio: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Manchester United back for Frenkie de Jong

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