Tottenham know a point against Marseille will see them qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League. Harry Kane thought he had fired Spurs into the knockout stage in their last outing against Sporting Lisbon, but his last-gasp goal to make it 2-1 was ruled out by VAR.
Rangers need a point in their final Champions League group game against Ajax to avoid a piece of unwanted history. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side have lost all five matches with a goal difference of -18, putting them in danger of posting the worst ever group-stage record.
Manchester United and West Ham return to Premier League action after wins in Europe on Thursday night extended their decent runs of form. United gave us a 5/1 correct score pay-out with a 3-0 victory over Sheriff while West Ham secured a place in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League after beating Silkeborg 1-0.
Arsenal’s stunning start to the season is showing signs of slowing down as their busy schedule continues with the visit of Nottingham Forest. The Gunners start the weekend top of the Premier League but last weekend’s draw at Southampton was followed by a Europa League defeat at PSV Eindhoven.
Fulham are making a much better attempt at Premier League survival than in recent seasons and look more like top-10 contenders than relegation battlers. The Cottagers start the weekend in seventh place and are providing plenty of entertainment with only matches involving Manchester City averaging more goals per game.
Liverpool will be looking for a response when they travel to Ajax on Wednesday night. The Reds’ mini revival came crashing to a halt on Saturday with a defeat at struggling Nottingham Forest, while Ajax have restored some confidence in their last two outings.
Tottenham need to ensure their season stays on track when they face Sporting on Wednesday night. Spurs’ defeat to Newcastle was their second in a row to leave them off the pace in the Premier League and they cannot afford to slip up again if they are to progress to the knockout stage.
Barcelona are on the brink of Champions League elimination and Bayern Munich can seal their fate on Wednesday night. Barca’s faint hopes of reaching the last 16 may be over by the time they take to the field, depending on the result in the earlier game between Inter Milan and Viktoria Plzen.
Napoli could heap more misery on mis-firing Rangers on Wednesday night. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side, off the pace in the Scottish Premiership, were beaten 3-0 by the Serie A side last month at Ibrox and have lost all four games in the group stage so far.
Arsenal will be aiming to return to winning ways and complete the double over PSV Eindhoven on Thursday night. The Gunners secured their place in the next round of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over the Dutch side last week, but were held by Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
Manchester United cannot afford to ease up if they are to clinch the all-important top spot in their Europa League group. Winning the group would see them go straight through to the last 16 rather than face a team eliminated from the Champions League in the play-off round but they trail Real Sociedad by three points with two games remaining.
Celtic cannot qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League but a Europa League place is still up for grabs in their final two matches. The 2-0 defeat against RB Leipzig two weeks ago left bottom of Group F with one point from four matches and with no chance of making second place following Shakhtar Donetsk’s draw against Real Madrid in Warsaw.
Borussia Dortmund will look to join Manchester City in the knockout stages of the Champions League as they prepare to welcome Erling Haaland back to BVB Stadion Dortmund. The Bundesliga side have a five-point cushion over Sevilla heading into matchday five while City advanced after three successive wins and a draw.
RB Salzburg and Chelsea both have a chance of progressing to the Champions League round of 16 when they meet in Austria on matchday five. Chelsea lead Group E by a point over Salzburg following back-to-back wins over AC Milan while the Austrians are the only unbeaten side in the group, drawing three of their four matches.