From Manchester to the south coast of England and all the way to Athens, there will be a host of top football matches happening this weekend that fans of the game will be eagerly awaiting.
Premier League
Manchester City v Chelsea
The Blues of Manchester and London come to a head at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with City looking to bounce back from that midweek fumble in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain.
It seems like ages ago since City started the season with a convincing 2-0 win at Chelsea on Matchday 1 of the Premier League, with the Blues gaining good momentum afterwards up to the point they started taking every chance to deny being title contenders.
Pep Guardiola and his team are now two points behind Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea ahead of the reverse fixture on Saturday, with the Blues from London aiming to extend City’s misery from Paris in order to go further clear of the Cityzens on the table.
Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest
Before blockbuster evening kick-off on Saturday comes the clash of Premier League surprise teams as Forest go on the daunting trip to the south coast for a date with Bournemouth.
Forest may be third on the table and seven points clear of the Cherries, but they are heading to the Vitality Stadium where the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool have failed to get a win.
That said, Forest have the second best away record so far this season in the Premier League, making this a tantalising match every football fan must watch.
Serie A
Napoli v Juventus
Antonio Conte’s league leading Napoli welcome his former employers, Juventus, to Naples with the Old Lady yet to taste defeat this season yet ‘languishing’ in fifth place as a result of 13 draws from 21 matches so far.
It was a cagey, goalless affair in the reverse fixture back in September 2024 and going by Juve’s form of four draws in their last six matches in all competitions, Thiago Motta’s side are odds on to come away from this one with yet another draw.
Greek Super League
Olympiacos v Panathinaikos
First meets second when the two giants of Greek football clash on Sunday at the Karaikakis Stadium in Piraeus, with Olympiacos heading into this one unbeaten since last October (11 wins and six draws since then) while Panathinaikos are unbeaten in 15 since last November.
The rivals shared the spoils 10 days ago in a keenly contested 1-1 draw in a Greek Cup quarter-final first leg clash in Athens, and also played out a goalless in the reverse league fixture also in Athens back in early October.
Similar outcome should be expected from the second of three meetings in three weeks between the rivals, with the next one coming in the first weekend of February in the Greek Cup.
Women’s Super League
Chelsea v Arsenal
The top two teams meet this weekend in a London derby poised to test the credentials of Arsenal’s new head coach, Renee Slegers, who won 11 of 12 matches as interim coach before guiding the Gunners to the League Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 win at Brighton in her first game as full-time head coach.
Interestingly, Slegers took the interim job at Arsenal after the club parted ways with Jonas Eidevall following a 2-1 home loss to Chelsea, led by former Olympique Lyon boss, Sonia Bompastor, whose record since that game at the Emirates Stadium is just as impressive as Slegers’ – 14 wins and a draw.
But Arsenal will be aiming for a win to close the seven-point gap Chelsea hold in the Women’s Super League and avoid dropping to fourth with the Manchester clubs lurking within two points of the Gunners in third and fourth.