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Your sofa is the place to be come this Sunday, with some epic fixtures taking place including Manchester United versus Arsenal at Old Trafford. Here are three fixtures you have to watch this weekend.
Tottenham v Newcastle United (KO: Sunday, 12:00 UK time)
Spurs won this fixture 2-1 back in February, but Gareth Bale won’t be here this time to grab a match-winning double. Their goals will have to come from a different source. Goals have actually been a bit of a concern for Spurs, given they’re averaging less than one per game after 10 games. This side is still trying to gel and needs a bit more time before they really start to click. Newcastle, meanwhile, are doing better in this area, netting 14 goals in their 10 games.
But while Spurs have experienced problems scoring goals, they’ve done well to avoid conceding them, boasting the league’s second-best defence after conceding just five goals. Newcastle, meanwhile, have conceded 16, an average of 1.6 per game, which should have Spurs licking their lips. They would also draw confidence from the fact that they’ve won their last three league encounters at home versus the Toon. Alan Pardew would be hoping to halt that record.
Manchester United v Arsenal (KO: Sunday, 16:10 UK time)
Even with United in eighth place, this is still arguably the fixture of the weekend. United are actually in a good bit of form at the moment, winning three of their last four games.
While against Arsenal, they’ve won eight of their last nine home matches in all competitions. But Arsenal are in good form too, winning nine of their last 10 away matches in the league. They also grabbed a priceless smash-and-grab win away to a high-flying Borussia Dortmund side. As far as key players go, it’ll be interesting to see how Aaron Ramsey performs, as he is in a real rich vein of form, scoring in the win versus Liverpool in the last round and then the heading home the winner in mid-week in Germany.
Juventus v Napoli (KO: Sunday, 19:45 UK time)
It’s third versus second in a match that sees the coming together of two teams with the same points tally (28). This is a game in which only a win will do for either side. Anything but would see Roma increase their lead at the top, should they win. Juventus won this fixture 2-0 last season and will fancy their chances again here, given they’ve kept clean sheets in their last three Serie A matches. Confidence will also be high, given they fought back to claim a 2-2 draw with a strong Real Madrid side in mid-week Champions League action.
Napoli are a stronger side this season, though, and will certainly be no pushovers, despite being the away side. They, like Juventus, have won five of their last six league matches, and have the league’s third-strongest attack, scoring 24 goals, one more than their hosts. A draw seems likely, but it should be anything but a boring one.
