The season has reached a point where every point is very important to every team regardless of whether you are chasing promotion or trying to avoid relegation. These two sides are chasing the three points at stake here for many different reasons. Port Vale are not in their best form at the moment if you judge them by their league standing and the fact that they have no wins from their last 12 games, however, their recent home form has been solid as they head  into this game having claimed a point in each of their last 5 home games. Their current struggle is mainly down to their inability to kill off their games as both teams have netted in 8 of their last 10 games. Exeter has also been playing with both teams to score outcomes as both teams have netted in 67% of their away games this season. This is the outstanding the have over their other promotion rivals and they would be looking to claim all the points here. They have a poor record against their host having 25 and won 16 of their previous meetings.

Villarreal have been one of the teams that does not like getting beat up Atletico over the past few seasons, but this season has seen a huge gap in terms of quality and Atleti could easily take all three points from this game. The Yellow Submarines are not on their best form at the moment as they have only 2 wins from their last 9 games in all competitions, however, their 2-0 win at Las Palmas last weekend would have boosted their morale ahead of this game. They would now hope to at least finish in a European place at the end of the season. They have not been so good defensively this season with only 3 clean sheets from their last 15 games. They are unbeaten in their last 5 games against Atleti. The visitors have to get a win here if they want to close the 8 points gap between them and Barcelona with 10 games left to play. They, however,  come into this on a good run of form. Their 5-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia in midweek means they have won 11 of their last 12 games, the only loss being to Barcelona. They responded well to that loss by winning their last three games on the spin, scoring at least three goals in those games. Both teams have netted in 4 of their last 6 games on the road.

Both Leipzig and Bayern Munich are on a good run of form at the moment although Bayern Munich have been on the longest good run of form. Leipzig secured passage into the quarterfinal of Europa  League football in the midweek win an aggregate win over Zenith Saint Petersburg to give themselves hope of winning a trophy this season. They are currently 6th on the Bundesliga table, but only four points separate them from the last Champions League spot. They have lost each of their last four matches against Bayern Munich, but they have been one of the Bavarians’ toughest opponents and they would look to get their first victory in this game. Bayern Munich are looking to wrap up the league title by Sunday if other results go their way. The Bavarians are currently 20 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and they could win the league here if other teams on their trail succumbed to unlikely losses. A win here would take them closer to winning the league and help them turn all their energy towards winning the Champions League. They have won 12 of their last 13 league games. They have scored 3 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 games and they face a Leipzig side that has kept just 1 clean sheet in their last 7 home games. They have scored Leipzig ten times in their last 3 Bundesliga meetings together, which the highest number of goals they have been scored.    

Liverpool saw their unbeaten run ended by Manchester United last week as they fail to break down the Red Devil’s defence and also failed to track Marcus Rashford who netted two times to stop Jurgen Klopp’s men from going 21 league games unbeaten. They were on a run of 5 wins and two draws from seven games before that 2-1 loss, they would now look to build another winning run as they look to end the season inside the top four. They are currently 4th on the league table, 4 points ahead of Chelsea who are fifth and 5 points behind Manchester United who are second. Watford faces Liverpool at a time when they are struggling in away games, losing their last game on the road 3-0 at Arsenal. They have 3 wins, 2 draws and four losses from their last 9 games. They have not won a competitive game away from home since November, their current standing on the league table (10th) is largely due to a fine start to the season they had under Marcos Silva. They have failed to score a single goal in their last 5 away games, and they have scored just 2 goals in their last 9 away games.

Salzburg were given no chance of survival let alone triumph when they visited Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of this game last week, but the Austrians defied the odds and raced to a 2-0 lead, before seeing that cut in half by a consolation strike from Andre Schurle, they would now be looking to complete the job at home. They followed that win with a 2-2 draw against Mattersburg on Sunday, it wasn’t the best result, but they are currently 8 points clear at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga and they can afford to drop some points. Salzburg are unbeaten in all competitive football since August, which is 32 games ago, they have recorded 21 wins and 11 draws from those matches. They have five wins from their last 6 European home games. Dortmund have had a poor season despite starting very well. They are now 21 points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, they left the Champions League in the group stages and they are also out of the DFB Pokal. The Europa League is their only chance to win a trophy this season. Last week’s meeting was the only meeting between these sides.