Bundesliga action returns this week after an absence of over two months when RB Leipzig entertain Bayern Munich on Friday night. These teams clashed at this venue in the German Super Cup at the start of the season, when FC Hollywood won a classic encounter 5-3.
With Valentine’s Day approaching, we’ve taken our annual look at which pairs of footballers form the best strike partnerships on the pitch. We’ve measured this across a range of leagues by calculating the combined goalscoring rate of every pairing per 90 minutes spent together.
Tottenham have struggled for consistency this season but are traditionally reliable when hosting Arsenal in the Premier League. Spurs have won the last three north London derbies played in front of their own fans and last lost to the Gunners on home turf in the top flight in 2014.
Newcastle and Fulham are both riding the crest of a wave but preference is for the Magpies when they meet at St James’ Park. United prevailed 4-1 at Craven Cottage back in October and the Cottagers have tended to come unstuck when taking on teams above them in the table.
Chelsea are in desperate need of a lift and can hopefully get the better of similarly out-of-sorts Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have hosted four teams from the bottom half of the table so far this term and picked up maximum points on each occasion.
Brentford have been one of this season’s biggest success stories and all the evidence suggests they should account for Bournemouth. The Bees are ninth in the Premier League after enjoying a hot streak of late, whereas the 16th-placed Cherries have been in freefall.
Wolves and West Ham are rated better teams than their lowly Premier League positions suggest and each has started to turn things around. Wanderers have looked much more solid since Julen Lopetegui took charge, while the Hammers have had two decent results this month.
Nottingham Forest have recovered well from a tough start to life in the Premier League and get the nod to see off struggling Leicester. The Foxes have been badly affected by injuries again of late and Brendan Rodgers has yet to work out a way to cope with such problems.
Southampton have enjoyed a couple of cracking cup wins and will now look to improve their Premier League prospects when visiting Everton. However, the Toffees are also facing a relegation battle and know this is a match they can ill-afford to lose, so a tight tussle is expected.
Aston Villa suffered an FA Cup upset versus Stevenage last Sunday but their recent Premier League form is good enough to see off Leeds. Unai Emery has given the Midlands outfit fresh impetus and we’d back him to outwit Whites boss Jesse Marsch any day of the week.
Napoli are fancied to come through another stiff test of their Serie A title credentials by edging out Juventus on home turf on Friday. The visitors have fought their way up to second in the table but have lost on their last three trips to Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Tottenham have won only four times in all competitions since October 19 so look uneasy favourites for Wednesday’s trip to Selhurst Park. Their top-four hopes suffered a further setback on New Year’s Day when they lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa and Antonio Conte has expressed his frustration at the quality of his squad.
Aston Villa have started to show their true worth since the departure of Steven Gerrard but they do not have a great record versus Wolves. Wanderers did the double over their Midlands rivals last season and have won four of the past six derbies, whilst losing only one.
David Moyes knows the pressure is mounting after five straight Premier League defeats but the West Ham boss may settle for a draw at Leeds. The Hammers are only above the drop zone on goal difference, but their hosts are hardly flying high with just two points more.