Despite ending their season with a comfortable 4-1 over already relegated FC Cologne, Wolfsburg still ended their season in 16th position and they are now expected to confirm their top-flight status via the relegation playoffs for the second year running. Bruno Labbadia who has guided the team to just two wins, three draws and six losses is expected to stick with the same line up that demolished Cologne on that final day of the season. Liverpool loanee, Divock Origi would be expected to lead the line here again, while John Brooks would be helping their defence deal with Marvin Ducksch who ended the season as Bundesliga 2 top scorer with 18 goals. Kiel would be looking to finish an amazing 2017/2018 season in style by sealing their second consecutive promotion this time, to the Bundesliga. They surprised everyone this season as they were just promoted to the German second tier last season, and their manager who takes over at FC Cologne after this game would be looking to round off in style by taking them to the top flight. They rested most of their stars in their game against Eintracht Braunschweig and still ended up winners by a 6-2 margin, that score would give them some hope that they can do the unthinkable here yet again. Wolfsburg’s 9-1 win over Holstein Kiel in 1986 is the joint-biggest in their history.

This game’s first leg ended in an unlikely away win for the host, so it is advantage Villa ahead of this return leg. Mile Jedinak’s header sealed a crucial 1-0 victory for the Birmingham club in the 1st Leg at the Riverside. Boro had spells of pressure but couldn’t break down a very disciplined Villa side that thwarted the threat of old boy Adama Traore. Villa only need to avoid losing for them to go through to the final in Wembley, but that would be a terrible way of thinking for Steve Bruce’s men who seem to have a more creative team with Jack Grealish pulling the strings from midfield, and he did that excellently in the first leg. Boro struggled to create clear-cut chances in the first leg and that was largely down to Villa making Adama Traore ineffective. The Teessiders would have to come up with another game plan in this second leg if they want to stand any chance of beating Villa at home. Boro have won just two of their last 9 away games and that doesn’t send any fear to the camp of Aston Villa ahead of this match. However, Villa haven’t beaten Middlesbrough in any of the last five times they have hosted them, losing two and drawing three.

In-form River Plate hosts their city rivals San Lorenzo in this match that is expected to set the city on fire. The home side would feel they need the points more than their visitors and should pick all of them up here. River are looking to qualify for next season’s Copa Sudamericana, however, they also have the chance to qualify for the  Libertadores by the end of the season if they can finish 6th and one of the teams win the continental competition they are competing in this year. Victory at all cost is what River Plate would be gunning for in this game and their fans would be very positive that they can get it after seeing their team rise from the 21st position on the league table to where they are now. San Lorenzo are not playing their best football at the moment and they would be coming into this game with some tired legs after they managed to hang on against Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro to progress in the Copa Sudamericana in midweek. Coming into this clash, the side have won just 2 of their 8 away games across all competitions this year, also failing to score in the last two, and that has their prospects looking bleak, particularly taking into account the changes set to be made.

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