Barcelona play host to bottom club Almeria
Barcelona’s 2023 concludes on Wednesday evening as they play host to bottom-of-the-table Almeria in La Liga.
Xavi’s champions have endured a rocky end to the year and head into this one without a win in three gaes in all competitions. Following Saturday’s draw at Valencia, Barca are now six points adrift of league leaders – potentially for the time being – Real Madrid after they thrashed Villarreal 4-1 on Sunday.
With Xavi suffering his first difficult spell since Barca’s European exit in the spring, the former midfielder desperately needs to oversee a victory on Wednesday.
Almeria have notched just five points from 17 games this season and are without a win. Nothing less than a convincing win will do for the hosts.
Barca’s squad has thinned ahead of Christmas and Xavi is unlikely to welcome back any injured stars for this midweek clash.
Gavi, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Inigo Martinez are all long-term absentees, while Marcos Alonso should return in the new year.
Credit: 90min.com
Inaki brothers lead in-form Athletic Bilbao against Las Palmas
In-form Athletic Bilbao will look to extend their unbeaten run to 10 competitive matches when they play host to Las Palmas in La Liga on Wednesday.
The visitors have also proven to be a tough team to beat in recent weeks, having avoided defeat in each of their last four games across all competitions.
Athletic Bilbao carry significant momentum into their final game of 2023 after winning six and drawing three of their last nine matches across all competitions.
Los Leones claimed a statement 2-0 win in Saturday’s home fixture against Atletico Madrid. After claiming a third consecutive home victory, Athletic have now avoided defeat in each of their last eight league matches at San Mames since losing 2-0 to Real Madrid on the opening weekend of the 2023-24 campaign.
They will look to continue that impressive form when they face Las Palmas for the first time since playing out a goalless draw in February 2018. Although Las Palmas are currently enjoying a four-game unbeaten run, they will go up against an Athletic side that tends to perform well on home turf.
With that in mind, we think that Los Leones will make full use of home advantage to edge out Las Palmas and finish the calendar year with a victory.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
League leaders PSG welcome Metz
League leaders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will invite Metz to the Parc des Princes in their final Ligue 1 match of the year on Wednesday.
The hosts saw their eight-game winning run come to an end on Sunday, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Lille. Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot to give the hosts the lead in the 66th minute and Jonathan David scored a last-gasp equalizer for Lille in injury time.
Metz suffered their third league defeat on the spin on Sunday, suffering a 1-0 loss to Montpellier. Interestingly, they have failed to score in their last three games as well. Following that home defeat to Montpellier on Sunday, they have dropped to 16th place in the league standings.
Les Parisiens head into the match on an 11-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1. They have won their last five home games in a row in Ligue 1, scoring 17 times while conceding just thrice. They have suffered just four defeats against their eastern rivals in 41 home games and are strong favorites.
Les Grenats have seen a drop in form recently, losing three games in a row. They have failed to score in these losses as well and will look to return to goalscoring ways.
Credit: sportskeeda.com
Bayern Munich visit mid-table Wolfsburg
Completing their schedule for 2023, Bayern Munich visit mid-table Wolfsburg on Wednesday evening, just before the Bundesliga breaks for the festive period.
While the champions cannot catch leaders Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the standings, they will aim to sign off with a third win on the spin; meanwhile, their hosts have just ended a worrying run of defeats.
In their final home fixture of the calendar year, Bayern Munich bounced back from a humbling defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last time out in the league, comfortably beating a Stuttgart side that had been just one point behind them before kickoff.
Star striker Harry Kane took his tally to 20 goals this season as Bayern swept to victory on Sunday evening, securing second spot at the mid-season break by moving three points clear of RB Leipzig with a vastly superior goal difference.
Former Bayern boss Nico Kovac – who oversaw 65 matches at the Allianz Arena and won the league, DFB-Pokal and Supercup before being dismissed – therefore welcomes his old side to the Volkswagen Arena with history stacked against his current club.
With just two goals from four December fixtures so far – and a terrible record versus Bayern in the Bundesliga – Wolfsburg are set to end 2023 on a down note. The German champions may be short of their brilliant best right now, but they clearly possess sufficient firepower to take care of business at the Volkswagen Arena.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Fixtures
Spanish La Liga
Barcelona18:00Almería
Athletic Bilbao20:30Las Palmas
Villarreal20:30Celta Vigo
French Ligue 1
Brest20:00Lorient
Clermont20:00Rennes
Lyon20:00Nantes
Montpellier20:00Marseille
Nice20:00Lens
Paris Saint Germain20:00Metz
Reims20:00Le Havre
Strasbourg20:00Lille
Toulouse20:00Monaco
German Bundesliga
- FC Union Berlin17:301. FC Köln
- FC Heidenheim 184619:30SC Freiburg
Bayer 04 Leverkusen19:30VfL Bochum 1848
Eintracht Frankfurt19:30Borussia Mönchengladbach
VfB Stuttgart19:30FC Augsburg
VfL Wolfsburg19:30Bayern Munich
