Sports

Weekend European Leagues Fixtures & Previews

November 29, 2024

Brighton and Southampton clash at the Amex Stadium today

Brighton & Hove Albion will climb to second in the Premier League table if they claim maximum points in Friday night’s clash with basement club Southampton at the Amex Stadium.

While the Seagulls are looking to win their third successive match, the Saints are seeking to avoid losing three league games in a row.

A fortnight after capitalising on Manchester City’s recently-exposed flaws to secure a 2-1 comeback victory at the Amex, Brighton won by the same scoreline away against Bournemouth last weekend.

While head coach Fabian Hurzeler is pleased to hear the Brighton supporters continue to sing about qualifying for Europe having climbed to fifth in the Premier League table, the German has stressed that it is “important” for his team to “stay humble and stay grounded” at this stage of the campaign.

Brighton will welcome a return to the Amex where they have accumulated 12 points across a six-game unbeaten run.

After securing promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 2017, Brighton failed to win any of their first seven meetings with Southampton, but they have since come out on top in three of their last five and have drawn the other two, most recently winning 3-1 at the Amex in May 2023.

Keeping the ball out at the other end has been a real issue for a mistake-prone Saints side, though, and it is difficult to back against a high-flying Seagulls outfit outscoring their opponents en route to securing all three points on home soil.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

Arsenal take on local rivals West Ham United

Hoping for a repeat of their last trip to the London Stadium, Arsenal head across the capital to take on local rivals West Ham United in Saturday.

Mikel Arteta‘s men subjected Sporting Lisbon to a 5-1 mauling in the Champions League on Tuesday night, one day after the Irons unexpectedly triumphed 2-0 at Newcastle United.

The demolition of Sporting – which has lifted Arsenal into the coveted top eight spots in the Champions League table – came in the aftermath of an equally convincing 3-0 Premier League success over Nottingham Forest, one that ended a four-game winless streak in the division and kept Arteta’s crop just inside the top four of the standings.

The visitors’ affinity for capital clashes is also well-documented, as they have only suffered defeat in two of their 26 Premier League London derbies since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, and they have found the back of the net in 25 of those showdowns.

However, the one game in that sequence that Arsenal failed to score in came against none other than upcoming hosts West Ham.

Rebuilding the walls of the London Stadium fortress, West Ham have taken seven points from their last nine on offer in Premier League home games.

Gooners will fondly remember the early period of 2024, where Arteta’s men were ripping defences open for fun, and Arsenal appear to have rediscovered that attacking mojo if their last two displays are anything to go by.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

Barcelona aim to return to winning ways against Las Palmas

Barcelona will be aiming to return to winning ways in Spain’s top flight when they continue their domestic campaign with a home fixture against Las Palmas on Saturday afternoon.

Hansi Flick‘s side have only picked up one point from their last two league matches, but they sit top of the La Liga table, four points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, while Las Palmas are 17th, two points outside of the relegation zone.

Barcelona have just had a slight wobble in La Liga of late, losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad on November 10, before incredibly dropping two points in the latter stages of their contest with Celta Vigo last weekend.

Barcelona will enter this match off the back of a positive result, beating Brest 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

It is difficult to ignore Las Palmas’ recent record against Barcelona when picking a result here, and we are struggling to see anything other than a routine success for Flick’s side, especially considering their recent blip in Spain’s top flight.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

AC Milan welcome mid-table Empoli

Beset by chronic inconsistency, AC Milan will aim to stay on the coat-tails of Serie A’s top six as they host mid-table Empoli on Saturday.

Milan’s grim goalless draw with Juventus left them seventh in the standings, before victory in Bratislava boosted their Champions League campaign – and their visitors could pull level on points with a win at San Siro.

Posting their third straight Champions League success, Milan edged past Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday evening, with goals from Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Rafael Leao ultimately securing an unconvincing 3-2 victory.

Having previously recovered from a slow start by beating Club Brugge and reigning champions Real Madrid, the Rossoneri therefore moved five points clear of the elimination zone and are occupying a playoff place with three league-phase games to go.

Just before the international break, they led twice in Cagliari but had to settle for one point from a six-goal thriller, and that is part of a wider picture of instability: Milan have alternated between conceding at least one goal and then keeping a clean sheet throughout their last 10 league matches.

Already, any hopes of silverware may be restricted to knockout competitions this season, as they must make up a 10-point deficit to first-placed Napoli, with five other contenders stacked up between.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

Premier League

Friday

Brighton & Hove Albion 20:00 Southampton

Saturday

Brentford 15:00 Leicester City

Crystal Palace 15:00 Newcastle United

Nottingham Forest 15:00 Ipswich Town

Wolverhampton Wanderers 15:00 AFC Bournemouth

West Ham United 17:30 Arsenal

Sunday

Chelsea 13:30 Aston Villa