Yahoo Sports Fixture Forecast: Manchester United's away form to continue, Real Madrid to bounce back
Predicting the beautiful game can be a fool’s errand, but fortune favors the bold. Yahoo Soccer has run the stats and analyzed the form books for five of the biggest games this weekend...
Arsenal vs. Manchester United
One of the greatest rivalries in Premier League history has been between Arsenal and Manchester United — when Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira found themselves on the same field, things rarely stayed calm and civil. The circumstances of their latest meeting, however, are slightly different: There are no combative captains in sight, the managerial dynasties of Wenger and Ferguson are over and the prize at stake isn’t the Premier League title.
Instead, this is a battle for fourth place and the all-important Champions League berth. With a win on Sunday, the Gunners can leapfrog United into fourth, while chasing the tail of third-place Tottenham. And Unai Emery’s men are in an excellent position to prosper thanks to their home form — they have won their last eight in a row at the Emirates and can extend their home unbeaten run to 15 games this weekend.
But this will be no easy feat against United, who are floating on cloud nine after an unlikely midweek Champions League triumph against Paris Saint-Germain. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side has won all six of its away games and will pull off the club’s greatest streak of away league form since 1993 with another victory. If the Norwegian keeps going like this, they’ll have to rename Ole Trafford in his honor.
And Solskjaer is no stranger to leading his side to triumph at the Emirates, having done so by a 3-1 scoreline in the FA Cup in January. In that game, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial took advantage of the Gunners on the counter, an opportunity they may also exploit in the absence of Lucas Torreira, who is banned following his red card in last weekend’s North London Derby.
Arsenal is currently the favorite in this encounter — no doubt due to its home form— but the momentum is with the visitors, whom you can back at roughly 2/1 with SkyBet.
Prediction: Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals (4/6 with SkyBet). The last four encounters between these sides have featured more than two goals.
Real Valladolid vs. Real Madrid
Real Madrid and Real Valladolid have more in common than you may think. Aside from sharing the royal suffix, they both have history with Ronaldo — not the contemporary Portuguese megastar, but the legendary Brazilian striker, who was a Galactico with Los Blancos and is currently the majority shareholder at Valladolid. And both teams have lost their last three games, with both losing streaks including a humbling at the hands of Barcelona.
To say Real Madrid is in crisis is something of an understatement. The reigning Champions League winners have lost four of their past five games and have seen their league, cup and European hopes disappear quicker than Sergio Ramos after an intentional yellow card. “In a week we lost it all, we lost it all at home,” Dani Carvajal said, after the shocking European exit at the hands of a youthful Ajax side. “Is it the end of an era? I don’t see it like that but it is true the season is practically finished for us.”
In the final 12 games of the season, Santiago Solari’s only concern — if he is not imminently replaced by Jose Mourinho — is to keep his underachieving side within the Spanish Primera top four. The Madridistas currently have an eight-point cushion and it should be an easy task ... but they’re making nothing look easy right now. Considering the fact that they needed two goals in the last seven minutes to beat Valladolid at the Bernabeu earlier this season, this may not be a straightforward stroll in the park.
However, Real’s road to redemption may just begin at the Estadio José Zorrilla, where it has only lost once in five visits (a trip in November 2008 that helped push coach Bernd Schuster out of the door a few weeks later).
Valladolid, promoted back to the top flight in this campaign, has registered only one win in its last 13 outings and could end the weekend in the relegation zone if other results don’t go its way. Unsurprisingly, the visitors are the overwhelming favorites with the bookies.
The hosts have the worst attack in the league, having scored only 20 goals this season. So, a narrow Madrid win and a stay of execution for Solari might be the winning ticket.
Prediction: Real Valladolid 0-1 Real Madrid
Best bet: Real Madrid to win to nil (21/10 with SkyBet)
Bayern Munich vs. VFL Wolfsburg
England and Germany are the only two major European leagues giving us some semblance of a title race this season, and it couldn’t be any closer in the Bundesliga. Thanks to a tremendous uptick in form since the start of December (with only a loss at Bayer Leverkusen blotting the copybook), Bayern Munich has closed the gap on Borussia Dortmund, with only goal difference keeping Lucien Favre’s side at the summit.
BVB has won just one of its last eight games in all competitions, but has a good chance to maintain the lead with the visit of relegation-threatened Stuttgart to the Westfalenstadion.
Bayern’s task is a little tricker, as it hosts a Wolfsburg side who is undefeated in its last five Bundesliga outings, and who is knocking on the door of the European qualification spots.
However, Die Wölfe have lost seven of their last eight meetings with Bayern, suffering a frightful 29-6 aggregate scoreline in those games. The Bavarians are undefeated in their last 24 home games against Wolfsburg and enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 victory in their last meeting at the Volkswagen Arena in October.
The man to watch in this one is Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 18 times and registered 7 assists in just 16 league matches against Wolfsburg. The Polish striker enjoyed one of his finest ever performances in 2015 when he smashed five past them in nine brutal minutes.
When all is said and done, it should remain honors even at the top of the Bundesliga this weekend.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 3-0 Wolfsburg
Best Bet: Robert Lewandowski first goalscorer (2/1 with SkyBet)
Chievo vs. AC Milan
Not so long ago, Milan was a regular staple in the knockout stages of the Champions League, but the club’s elite status has slipped in recent seasons. Milan hasn’t finished higher than sixth in Serie A since 2013, back when Kaka, Robinho and Nigel de Jong were on the books.
In this campaign, however, the Italian side is currently a point above fellow San Siro tenants Internazionale in third. Inter has a relatively simple match-up with SPAL this weekend, so the Rossoneri will likely need to get a result at Chievo to stay ahead.
Fortunately, the signs are good for the visitors. They have beaten Chievo in 21 of their last 24 meetings, and have won their last five encounters, scoring three or more goals in each. Chievo, meanwhile, has failed to score in the last four league matches.
Although some Milan stars may be rested after the grueling midweek cup match against Lazio — and with one eye on the critical Derby della Madonnina in two weeks’ time — Gennaro Gattuso’s men shouldn’t have any issues overcoming a Chievo side that is rock-bottom of the table and winless in seven.
Prediction: Chievo 0-3 Milan
Best Bet: Milan to win by three goals (13/2 with bet365)
Atlanta United vs. FC Cincinnati
A little over three months after Atlanta United’s championship victory, MLS is returning to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Sunday night’s match with league newbies FC Cincinnati.
However, the mood in ATL isn’t quite as buoyant in 2019. A defeat to D.C. United in the opening week was compounded by CONCACAF Champions League midweek misery at the hands of Monterrey. In Guadalupe, Frank de Boer’s side had few ideas going forward, while many called into question his implementation of a 3-4-3 formation. In fact, it has been enough to launch a very tongue-in-cheek social media campaign calling for de Boer’s head, citing the “lowest win percentage in MLS history.”
While de Boer’s tactics are undoubtedly a work in progress — and he will hopefully get a better shot of implementing his philosophy than he did at Crystal Palace or Internazionale — the reigning champions have a good opportunity to get points on the board in front of their tremendous partisan crowd. And, naturally, they are heavy favorites with the bookmakers.
Cincinnati’s baptism of fire in the league continues this week, with another road game against a heavyweight opponent. The Orange and Blue opened their MLS scoring account with a wonderful effort, but last weekend’s rout in Seattle shows there’s plenty of work to be done in the defensive department.
Atlanta has thus far shown a lack of ideas in the final third — perhaps due to Miguel Almiron’s departure — but has an excellent chance to get back to winning ways here.
Prediction: Atlanta 3-1 Cincinnati
Best Bet: Atlanta to win by two goals (10/3 with bet365)
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