What Matches to Watch this Week: Friday, October 18 through Monday, October 21, 2024
Friday October 18 through Monday, October 21
Welcome back from the international break! Let’s take a look at the matches I recommended in my previous article before getting into this week’s recommendations.
The Good
Napoli 3–1 Como: The game started out with a bang with Scott McTominay scoring in the first minute. Como equalized before halftime, then Napoli’s quality shone through to pull away in the end. Como can keep their heads up as they’re being competitive against even the strongest of Italian opposition in the top flight.
Espanyol 2–1 Mallorca: Espanyol got three crucial points at home in a competitive contest. It gave Mallorca a bit of a heat check, but so far the early returns suggest both these interesting clubs should survive La Liga this campaign. Additionally, this result could be chalked up to paw-sitive karma as seen here: https://x.com/espnfc/status/1842583683250745779?s=46&t=3hiIdotSanhzfjnZHivEVw
Real Madrid 2–0 Villarreal: Villarreal fought hard in the Santiago Bernabéu but a professional Real Madrid performance earned them victory. Vinicius Junior had an inspirational outing but had to be subbed off due to an injury, which will hopefully turn out to be minor. Unfortunately after that Dani Carvajal suffered a more serious looking injury.
Chivas 2–3 Atlas: As a Chivas fan, it hurts to lose both rivalry matches this season. I can’t deny it was a fun matchup to watch though from what the players provided. Liga MX at its best.
Aston Villa 0–0 Manchester United: A hard fought batlle from both sides as Aston Villa remain hard to beat at home. Manchester United still have victories alluding them but at least they’re getting stronger defensively. Who knows if it’ll be enough.
Sevilla 1–0 Real Betis: As expected in La Gran Derbi, you could cut the tension with a knife. It required a Dodi Lukebakio penalty goal to break the deadlock in the second.
Fiorentina 2–1 AC Milan: Christian Pulisic remained in good form scoring the lone Milan goal but it was Yacine Adli’s Fiorentina who looked sharper in front of goal, particularly thanks to him. David de Gea saved a pair of penalties (not taken by Pulisic, much to Paulo Fonseca’s confusion and frustration) to give Fiorentina their biggest win of the season.
The Bad
Leganés 0–0 Valencia: No shots on target until the 81st minute. Both found some chances after that, but it wasn’t inspiring for either side.
West Ham 4–1 Ipswich: This is not what Ipswich fans had in mind when they thought their draw streak would end at the London Stadium.
St. Pauli 0–3 Mainz: Continuing the trend of promoted teams getting demolished, Mainz showed why they are Bundesliga mainstays.
Portland Timbers 0–0 FC Dallas: An unexpected loss to San Jose Earthquakes eliminated FC Dallas from playoff contention before this fixture kicked off. A scoreless draw further cemented the pointlessness of this encounter.
A final score of 7/11 might sound like a convenience store, but probably not my best round of recommendations. Still a solid ratio especially leading into the international break.
Now that the biggest leagues will resume, let’s get into my picks for this slate!
Friday, October 18
12 pm P/3 pm E: Leeds United vs Sheffield United Paramount+
It’s been a while since I recommended a Championship fixture as there have been a lot of juicier options in top flights during the times these games take place, but Leeds United and Sheffield United are both desperate to return to the Premier League. These six pointers can help or sink their cause.
Saturday, October 19
4:30 am P/7:30 am E: Tottenham vs West Ham USA
London derbies seem like they come up often because one third of the Premier League sides are based in the English capital. Whatever combination of London clubs face off against each other, form and “big club status” goes out the window. For different reasons, this is an important game for both clubs.
6:30 am P/9:30 am E: Leverkusen vs Frankfurt ESPN+
Amine Adli returns from his inspired form in a Morocco shirt to help Leverkusen assert their dominance against a scrappy Eintracht Frankfurt side visiting them at the BayArena.
9:30 am P/12:30 pm E: Girona vs Real Sociedad ESPN+
A battle of surprise packages from last season, both of these clubs find themselves in the bottom half of La Liga so far. The good news is they each picked up encouraging results in their previous fixtures: Girona beat Athletic Bilbao 2–1 while Real Sociedad earned a 1–1 draw against Atlético Madrid
11:45 am P/2:45 pm E: Juventus vs Lazio Paramount+
The best fixture of the day as 3rd place Juventus host 4th place Lazio in Turin. Perhaps not specifically this younger Juventus squad, but the club’s fanbase certainly knows what it feels like to win Serie A, and the “Old Lady” look to return to that status this season. Lazio have often threatened to be title challengers but have come up short every time. If they can beat Juventus in their own backyard, that could change the narrative for the blue half of Rome.
Rapid Fire: Matches to Follow for MLS Decision Day (all matches available on Apple TV MLS Season Pass)
3 pm P/6 pm E: Eastern Conference
Philadelphia (11th East/3 points out of a playoff spot) vs Cincinnati (3rd East locked in)
Montreal (9th East/win and in no matter what) vs NYC (5th East/2 points off hosting a home playoff round)
DC United(8th East/level on points with Montreal) vs Charlotte (6th East/wants to avoid 7th)
Western Conference
6 pm P/9 pm E: Dynamo (5th West/wants to avoid slipping) vs Galaxy (1st West/points to clinch top spot)
MLS Decision Day always brings the drama, even if more of it is concentrated on the Eastern Conference than the Western side of things. Montreal’s negative goal difference opens the door for Philadelphia to sneak in the back door, but Philadelphia has no easy task needing to beat FC Cincinnati to make it happen.
Sunday, October 20
5 am Mallorca vs Rayo Vallecano ESPN+
7th place Mallorca host 8th place Rayo Vallecano, making up two thirds of the surprise inhabitants of La Liga’s top 8 alongside Osasuna. Despite losing 2–1 to Espanyol in their last fixture, Cyle Larin continued his hot run of form picking up the assist. Winger Jorge de Frutos scored a brace to inspire Rayo Vallecano to a 2–1 victory over Real Valladolid.
8:30 am Liverpool vs Chelsea Telemundo and USA
The only thing keeping me from being more excited about this match as a Premier League fan is the managerial batlle. Arne Slot vs Enzo Maresca will take some getting used to, mainly because of the absence of Jurgen Klopp. But to their credit they’ve led their teams to top four places so far with Liverpool one point ahead of Manchester City.
11:45 am Roma vs Inter Paramount+
This is by far Roma’s biggest Serie A fixture of the season. A 1–1 draw against relegation threatened Monza doesn’t inspire confidence when hosting the defending Serie A champions. Roma desperately need Paulo Dybala to return from a muscle injury, but that won’t happen in time for this game. Captain Lorenzo Pellegrini needs to step up for Roma to have a shot here.
Monday, October 21
12 pm Valencia vs Las Palmas ESPN+
This isn’t vintage Valencia and they’re missing a few key players like Jose Gaya to injury, but a side with Giorgi Mamardashvili, Thierry Correia, Pepelu, and Hugo Duro in their starting lineup should be higher than 18th in La Liga. This is as close to a must win as you can have in October. Las Palmas are bottom of the league, and major questions will be asked if Valencia don’t come away with all 3 points at La Mestalla. Manager Ruben Baraja could face the sack if things don’t turn around.
European Competitions Lightning Round (All Matches on Paramount+)
Tuesday, October 22
9:45 am P/12:45 pm E AC Milan vs Club Brugge
12 pm P/3 pm E Real Madrid vs Dortmund
Wednesday, October 23
7:30 am P/10:30 am E Braga vs Bodo/Glimt (Europa)
9:45 am P/12:30 pm E Atalanta vs Celtic
12 pm P/3 pm E Barca vs Bayern
Thursday, October 24
Europa
9:45 am P/12:45 pm E Roma vs Dynamo Kyiv
12 pm P/3 pm E Fenerbahce vs Manchester United
Conference
7:30 am P/10:30 am E Vikingur vs Cercle Brugge
9:45 am P/12:45 pm E Gent vs Molde
12 pm P/3 pm E Real Betis vs Copenhagen
Let me know which of these games you are most looking forward to! Thank you as always for reading!
