Atlanta United are finally at the top of the MLS Eastern conference league table after their 2-1 win over Chicago Fire in Illinois. They had been threatening the dominance of NYCFC over the past couple of weeks, and after NYCFC’s loss to New York Red Bulls the last time out, they are now two points ahead with a game in hand on City. Atlanta are now unbeaten in 8 games heading into this encounter. Ezequiel Barco and Jozef Martinez were the scorers in their game against Chicago Fire, and although the Fires did try to get back into the game late on, Atlanta were able to hold on and claim the three points. Sporting have lost just once in their last nine and just two in ten overall, amassing twenty-one points compared to Atlanta’s twenty-three.  The visitors have a four points lead at the top of the Western Conference ahead of new boys LAFC. Sporting’s games have been action packed and a thrill a minute too – their matches have averaged 3.3 goals per ninety minutes this season. In total, there were thirty-three goals scored across their ten matches, which is exactly the same total that has been scored in Atlanta’s fixtures so far. Atlanta United and Sporting KC have played each other just once before. In August of last year, Atlanta left Kansas with a point after a 1-1 draw with Sporting.

West Ham’s 2-0 win over Leicester City in their last league game has strengthened their bid to escape the drop this season. That win has helped them to build a five points cushion on the drop zone with two games left to play, so they can start planning for next season. The Hammers were on a run of four games without a win before that win over the Foxes, and two of those games ended in 4-1 losses, their fans wouldn’t be overly confident ahead of this game. Stoke City are the only team to have conceded as many as 67 goals that David Moyes’ side has conceded this season, and 14 of those goals have been netted against them at home by the top seven, Manchester United would be delighted to hear that. Manchester United should secure second place by the end of this game as they are currently five points ahead of Liverpool and have a game in hand on the Reds. Tottenham are the only team that could stop them from finishing 2nd, but that would require them to lose their next two games. Their loss to Brighton last weekend highlighted just why Jose Mourinho keeps playing Romelu Lukaku, and with the Belgian still injured, the Red Devils’ fans

This is one of the rare occasions that these two teams would square up against each other and the La Liga title is not on the line, but that still doesn’t make this game insignificant. The Catalans have just completed a domestic treble, but they are still unbeaten this season and this game remains their only major threat to going the whole season unbeaten. They would hope to at least a point here and achieve that remarkable feat. Real Madrid may have their eyes on winning their third straight Champions League crown, but they would still love to be the team that ends Barcelona’s unbeaten run and they would be looking to ride their luck like they did against Bayern Munich on Tuesday in this game. Madrid are one team that knows how to get the results through whatever means possible, however, if they give the ball away to Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez like they did against Bayern Munich in midweek, they would pay for it. Lionel Messi has been the driving force behind this Barcelona team and he netted a hattrick again last weekend to take his goal tally to 32 in La Liga and 43 in all competition this season. Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last three visits to Camp Nou, however, Barcelona have won 6 of their last 9 La Liga meetings with Real Madrid.

Chelsea were crowned Premier League Champions at this stage last season, this season they have surrendered their league crown to the dominant Manchester City and are even at risk of missing out on the top four entirely. They come into their final three games of the season 5th on the league table with a five-point deficit on Tottenham who are 4th. While they chase a Champions League spot, they also have an FA Cup final date with Manchester United and Antonio Conte would be looking to keep their confidence high. The Blues have hit top form in this run-in, they beat Swansea 1-0 in their last league game to make it 4 wins on the spin, they had previously lost five in eight prior to that run. They, however, lost to Spurs at home a couple of weeks and they have five losses from their last eleven league games. Liverpool are coming into this game fresh from securing a place in this season’s Champions League final following a 7-6 aggregate win over AS Roma. Their season’s success has been built around their indispensable front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. The trio have netted 56 times in the league this season, with Salah scoring 31 of those goals to lead the scoring chart. Chelsea have conceded 8 goals in their last 5 league games, and that would be sweet music to the ears of Liverpool attackers as they would look to undo the Blues defensive plan here again. Liverpool have three wins and three draws from their last six encounters with the Blues.

This season’s Europa League offers Arsene Wenger his last chance to win a European trophy as an Arsenal manager and also the last chance to win a trophy for the Gunners as he steps down from his role at the end of the season, yet the Gunners made the job of getting to the final more difficult for themselves last  Thursday. Atletico Madrid had been reduced to ten men in the first half and Alexandre Lacazette gave the Gunners the lead on the 61st minute, yet some shambolic defending meant the Gunners conceded an equalizer with just 8 minutes remaining. They would now need to win or at least get a high scoring draw in Madrid to progress, something their away form does not show could happen. Atletico defeated Alaves 1-0 after the draw at the Emirates to make it two wins, three draws and two losses from their last seven competitive games. They have also made their home a fortress as they have not tasted defeat at the Wanda Metropolitana since their loss to Sevilla in January. They also impressively come into this match having not conceded a goal at home in 11 games, it is almost impossible to see the Gunners breaking that record. Arsenal have six losses from their last nine away games, and they have not won any league game away from home this year, their fans won’t be overly optimistic, but they have a good away record in Europe this season.

Since they confirmed their safety, Doncaster have hit poor form, perhaps the fact that they have nothing to play for has made them complacent as they look forward to the new season. Wimbledon on the other hand still have a battle on their hands. They are close to securing safety, so they need at least a draw from this game so they can relax their nerves ahead of next weekend. They drew 1-1 against the division’s likely champions the last time out and that should give them confidence ahead of this game. This game does not have the making of a goal fest if for anything it is set to go down as a low scoring affair as both sides do not play the most attacking football. The hosts are struggling for goals at the moment, while the visitors have built their season around a defensive tactic and they need just a single point to confirm their safety. Wimbledon’s draw against Wigan in their last match day means a draw would keep them in the division and they should get that here as they have mastered the art of defending well against the big teams. The last game which Wimbledon won by 2-0 was the first time these teams have met before.