Manchester United welcome Fulham in EPL opening game
Manchester United and Fulham get the 2024-2025 English Premier League campaign under way this weekend. The match will be played at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United.
United, having lost the Community Shield to rivals Manchester City last week is looking forward to opening their campaign with a win.
Fulham approach this game as the underdogs but they should not be underestimated. The Red Devils have lost three of their last five EPL opening matches and are willing to make it right this time. Upon finishing 8th in the just end season, much is expected of Erik Ten Hag and his boys this time around.
The likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui joining the team have strengthened their defence which was the key reason for their poor performance last season.
Fulhum finishing 13th in the just ended season and much is needed and expected from them this time. Though they did managed to beat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford, they need to
work harder than before to win this match.
Chelsea, Manchester City begin season with a heavyweight clash
Chelsea and Manchester City begin the new Premier League season with a heavyweight clash on Sunday.
These two sides have already met once this summer on their respective pre-season tours of the USA, with Erling Haaland’s hat-trick helping the reigning champions to a commanding 4-2 victory in Columbus, Ohio earlier this month.
It’s quite the baptism of fire for Enzo Maresca in his first competitive match in charge of Chelsea since being hired from Leicester to replace the one-and-done Mauricio Pochettino in June, with pre-season having been a struggle.
The Blues won just one of their six total friendlies, suffering heavy losses to both City and Celtic as well as being beaten by Real Madrid and failing to defeat third-tier Wrexham as well as Inter Milan.
City also lost to both Celtic and AC Milan and drew with Barcelona to go along with that thumping win over Chelsea, though will be high on confidence after edging out Manchester United on penalties to lift the Community Shield at Wembley last weekend.
Once again Pep Guardiola’s side go into a new campaign as strong title favourites and very much still the team to beat.
Valencia host Barcelona in new La Liga season
Arguably the pick of the matches in the opening game week of the 2024-25 La Liga campaign will take place at Mestalla on Saturday night, with Valencia welcoming Barcelona.
Valencia will be bidding to push for a possible European finish in Spain’s top flight this season, while Barcelona have the incredibly difficult task of challenging reigning champions Real Madrid for the title in the new campaign.
Valencia have made three signings this summer, with Dani Gomez and Rafa Mir arriving on loan from Levante and Sevilla respectively, while Stole Dimitrievski has joined the club on a free transfer from Rayo Vallecano.
Valencia have managed to keep hold of their key players from last season, though, including Spanish midfielder Javi Guerra, who saw a proposed move to Atletico Madrid break down at the final moment earlier this month.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have only made two new signings this summer, with Pau Victor arriving on a permanent basis from Girona, before the Catalan outfit confirmed a deal for Dani Olmo, with the Spain star returning to Camp Nou from RB Leipzig.
Barcelona have won six of their last seven league games against Valencia, and we are expecting another narrow success for the Catalan outfit this weekend.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Inter Milan get Serie A campaign underway against Genoa
Serie A champions Inter Milan will get the 2024-25 campaign underway in Italy against Genoa as they look to go back-to-back in the top flight.
The Nerazzurri stormed to the title last term, beating rivals AC Milan to the honour and looking unbeatable at times.
Genoa finished a respectable 11th, missing out on Europe by 12 points.
That will be the aim for them this season but they must get past the league’s hardest opponent if they want to get off to a winning start.
With few changes to last season’s dominant squad, head coach Simone Inzaghi oversaw a busy summer itinerary, with Inter drawing their final friendly 1-1 against Chelsea on Sunday.
Inter’s main summer signing Mehdi Taremi – who scored five goals in three pre-season friendlies before suffering a thigh injury – should be available after returning to training, but the champions will be without several other players on Saturday evening.
Inter have won each of their last five Serie A openers, and having opted for continuity this summer, they should make it six against a Genoa side lacking last season’s main men up front.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
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FIXTURES
Premier League
Friday 16th August
Manchester United 20:00 Fulham
Saturday 17th August
Arsenal 15:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Newcastle United 15:00 Southampton
Nottingham Forest 15:00 AFC Bournemouth
West Ham United 17:30 Aston Villa
Sunday 18th August
Brentford 14:00 Crystal Palace
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Spanish La Liga
Friday 16th August
Celta de Vigo 18:00 Deportivo Alavés
Saturday 17th August
Sunday 18th August
Real Sociedad 18:00 Rayo Vallecano
Italian Serie A
Saturday 17th August
Sunday 18th August
By Jesse Otoo
