Nottingham Forest have yet to taste defeat in the Championship this season and look in better shape than Birmingham at this early stage. The Blues have failed to score a goal since an opening 2-2 draw with Norwich and that has seen their Trueform ratings slump.
Swansea and Leeds will both be more than happy with their Championship results so far and we reckon they are hard to split at Liberty Stadium. United are two points better off following three straight wins in this division, but home advantage can help City to hold their own in Wales.
Real Madrid can recover from their UEFA Super Cup loss to city rivals Atletico by starting the new La Liga season with a win over Getafe at the Bernabeu. The Whites have won the last nine head-to-head meetings between these sides, with the most recent being a 3-1 triumph at this venue in March.
Stoke have not adjusted well to life in the Championship and could still be vulnerable when visiting Preston on Saturday evening. North End are always difficult opponents at Deepdale and have already claimed league and EFL Cup victories on home turf this month.
Celtic could still be feeling sorry for themselves after a disappointing Champions League exit when visiting Partick in the Scottish League Cup. Add on the fact that Thistle pushed the Hoops hard in two Premiership encounters at Firhill last season and the feeling is that we may get a tight tussle in this tie.
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to make his Serie A debut for Juventus at Chievo on Saturday and all eyes will be on the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Ronaldo took just eight minutes to hit the target in Sunday’s 5-0 friendly win over his new club’s B team, so the omens are good for his sensational switch to Italy to pay off.
Barcelona are expected to begin their La Liga title defence by brushing aside Alaves, but the visitors do not have a bad record at Camp Nou. Babazorros El Glorioso claimed a shock 2-1 win here a couple of years ago and have since been competitive in a 2-1 Copa del Rey defeat and a 3-1 league loss.
Sheffield Wednesday were convincing winners at the Stadium of Light in the Championship in April and can repeat the trick against Sunderland in Thursday’s televised EFL Cup clash. The Owls have a similar squad this season, whereas the Black Cats have continued to cut costs since dropping down into League One.
Burnley are favourites to qualify from their Europa League tie with Istanbul Basaksehir after returning from Turkey on level terms but we fear the away goals rule could go against them. The Clarets set their stall out to stifle decent opponents and were up to the task, but now the onus is on them to be more positive.
Rangers have a golden chance of making the Europa League play-offs as they take a 3-1 lead to Slovenia for the second leg of their tie with NK Maribor. Steven Gerrard’s side have already managed to grind out positive results at Shkupi and Osijek in this competition, securing a goalless draw and a 1-0 triumph.
Molde have been impressive at home this season and Hibs face a tough test when visiting Norway for Thursday’s Europa League second-leg tie. Last week’s goalless draw at Easter Road was not the worst result in the world for the Edinburgh outfit, but we still feel they are now up against it.
Celtic’s bid to reach the Champions League group stage for a third straight season is set to right down to the wire when they visit AEK Athens. The Hoops will travel to Greece on level terms following last week’s 1-1 stalemate at Parkhead, when their opponents were reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute.
The Sky Sports cameras will be at Huish Park scenting an EFL Cup upset when League Two outfit Yeovil host Championship promotion hopefuls Aston Villa. Steve Bruce’s side did lose at Luton in the first round a couple of years ago and everything is geared around getting into the Premier League this term.
Runaway LaLiga winners Barcelona crushed Sevilla 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final but we’re expecting a much-closer contest in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup clash. Los Rojiblancos drew 2-2 at home to the Catalan giants in league action last March and only went down 2-1 at Camp Nou in November.