Leganés aim to stretch their unbeaten run against Rayo Vallecano today
Leganes will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to six matches when they continue their La Liga campaign with a contest against Rayo Vallecano today.
The hosts, who are 16th in the La Liga table, drew 0-0 with Athletic Bilbao last time out, while seventh-placed Rayo will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 home success over Girona.
Leganes have had a very successful start to 2025, winning three and drawing two of their five matches in all competitions, with two victories in the Copa del Rey seeing them advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Borja Jimenez‘s side have also drawn with Espanyol and Athletic in the league this year, while they recorded a famous 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on January 18, which ended the capital outfit’s longest winning run in their entire history.
Despite their recent upturn, Leganes remain in trouble towards the bottom of the division, sitting in 16th spot, boasting a record of five wins, eight draws and eight defeats from 21 matches to collect 23 points, just three points clear of the relegation zone.
Both Leganés and Rayo Vallecano are in good form, and it is shaping up to be a fascinating match on Friday night; these are the type of games that Rayo must win in order to be viewed as European contenders, but we are expecting Leganes to be good enough to avoid a defeat.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Serie A strugglers Parma and Lecce faceoff today
Both beaten by a Milan giant last week, Serie A strugglers Parma and Lecce will meet for a Friday night survival scrap at Stadio Tardini.
While the hosts let victory slip at San Siro, leaving them level on points with their visitors, Lecce shipped four goals for the second straight week and plunged into the drop zone.
As a result of their latest painful failure to retain an advantage, Fabio Pecchia‘s men have won only one of their last eight league matches, conceding 17 times in the process.
In fact, over the past eight matchdays, only Serie A’s rock-bottom club Monza have accrued fewer points than Parma, while only Friday’s opponents have leaked more goals.
Despite such a streak, Parma are still hovering just above the relegation places on goal difference, amid a tightly-packed bottom half of the table.
Two clashes with direct rivals – first Lecce, then Cagliari – could now prove crucial in their quest for survival and Parma come into this week’s contest with history firmly on their side.
After an eventful 2-2 draw in this season’s reverse fixture, Lecce have won just one of their last 23 top-flight matches against Parma – a 1-0 victory at the Tardini, way back in February 2011.
Only one team has a worse away record than Lecce, and they are still struggling to score goals, so even a brittle Parma side should secure three points on Friday evening.
Without doubt, Parma have a greater cutting edge than their visitors, and they can use it to inch further away from danger.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Liverpool make the long journey to meet Bournemouth
In what may be one of the trickiest tests of their Premier League title mettle yet, Liverpool make the long journey south to meet Bournemouth in Saturday afternoon’s fascinating Premier League contest.
Arne Slot‘s men return to domestic duty on the back of a 3-2 Champions League loss to PSV Eindhoven, while their hosts were also involved in a five-goal thriller last time out, albeit one where they hit Nottingham Forest for five without reply.
Indeed, a much-changed Reds side were slain for the first time in European competition this season, although their last-16 spot had already been sealed before the final matchday, and their first-placed ranking was confirmed thanks to Barcelona’s failure to overcome Atalanta BC.
As the Merseyside giants wait to learn their opponents for the next continental stage, their Premier League title pursuit continues at full throttle following last weekend’s routine 4-1 thumping of Ipswich Town.
Liverpool have managed to avoid defeat in each of their last 18 Premier League contests, unsurprisingly the longest ongoing run in the division.
Slot’s men will take nothing for granted at a ground where Arsenal and Manchester City have already been bested this season.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Nottingham Forest welcome Brighton to the City Ground
One week on from an unexpected and brutal Premier League title setback, a humbled Nottingham Forest endeavour to right their recent wrongs on Saturday, when Brighton visit the City Ground.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s men were slaughtered 5-0 by a brilliant Bournemouth side in gameweek 23, while their visitors also came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline at home to David Moyes‘s Everton.
However, not even the pluckiest Cherries supporter could have confidently predicted that their side would hit the Tricky Trees for five without reply on the South Coast.
Forest’s atrocious away day came just as observers were starting to consider them genuine contenders for the Premier League crown, but Santo’s third-placed side are not mathematically out of the question just yet, even if Liverpool are now nine points better off, with a game in hand.
Just making the top four and bringing Champions League football to the City Ground would be a magical feat for Nottingham Forest, whose thrashing in gameweek 23 ended their nine-match unbeaten run across all competitions.
Brighton never run into any problems putting the ball in the back of the net away from home, but their lack of cutting edge versus Everton was alarming, and a fired-up Forest side should take full advantage.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Premier League
Saturday
Nottingham Forest 12:30 Brighton & Hove Albion
AFC Bournemouth 15:00 Liverpool
Ipswich Town 15:00 Southampton
Wolverhampton Wanderers17:30 Aston Villa
Sunday
Brentford 14:00 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United 14:00 Crystal Palace
Spanish La Liga
Friday
Saturday
Villarreal15:15 Real Valladolid
Atlético Madrid 17:30 Mallorca
Sunday
Barcelona 13:00 Deportivo Alavés
Real Betis 20:00 Athletic Club
Italian Seria A
Friday
Saturday
