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HAS WENGER BROKEN MOURINHO HOODOO?
Chelsea will be hoping to kickstart their faltering season against Arsenal after a midweek Champions League victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Gunners, meanwhile, will be hoping to bounce back from a nightmare night in Zagreb on Tuesday. Arsene Wenger finally broke his Jose Mourinho hoodoo in the Community Shield in August at the 14th attempt, but in the league, the north Londoners remain winless in their last seven Premier League clashes with the Blues (D3 L4).
Theo Walcott, who netted against Dinamo Zagreb, could be key to Arsenal’s chances having netted 11 goals in his last 11 league starts.
As for Mourinho, he’ll be hoping to keep alive his record of having never lost consecutive home Premier League games following a shock defeat to Crystal Palace.
League leaders Manchester City, meanwhile, will be eager to return to winning ways at home to West Ham after a defeat to Juventus. Manuel Pellegrini’s side have won their opening five games of a top-flight season for only the second time ever (after 1912-13).
City have now gone an impressive nine hours and 26 minutes of Premier League football without conceding a goal but in Dimitri Payet, they’ll face a player in form. Including last season’s Ligue 1 campaign with Marseille, the playmaker has been directly involved in 11 goals (four goals, seven assists) in his last 13 league appearances.
Like Arsenal and City, Manchester United also endured a difficult Champions League opener in midweek, going down 2-1 away at PSV. On Sunday, Louis van Gaal’s side face another tricky away trip to St. Mary’s, with Southampton winning five and losing just one of their last seven Premier League home fixtures.
Under Van Gaal, United have won just seven of their 21 Premier League away matches while against the Saints, they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven league encounters. However, Ronald Koeman’s side are currently enduring a difficult run of form, with only two wins in their last 11 top-flight games (D4 L5).
If Southampton are to make it three wins in 12, they’ll have to deal with United’s intense work ethic, which has seen the Red Devils cover more ground than anyone else in this season’s Premier League (578.5 km).
BARCA SLOW TO START?
Barcelona were held by Roma in the Champions League in midweek, but face Levante as the only side in La Liga with a 100 per cent record so far this season.
Barca are unbeaten in 17 league games (W15 D2), keeping 11 clean sheets in the process, while Levante are without a win in seven (D4 L3) and have failed to score in each of their last three away La Liga fixtures. If they fail to score at the Camp Nou at the weekend, they will equal their longest goalless streak on the road in the league (four games), a run they last suffered back in 1964.
Expect a slow start to this game, with all six goals scored by these two sides in La Liga this season coming in the second half (four for Barcelona, two for Levante).
Fresh from his hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk, Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping to add to his season tally at home to Granada.
The Portuguese superstar netted five goals in Madrid’s 9-1 mauling of Saturday’s opponents back in April while overall, they have lost only one of their previous 21 home league games against Granada, winning 18 and drawing two.
However, it is in defence where Rafael Benitez’s side have impressed most this season, with Manchester City the only other side in Europe’s top five leagues yet to concede a single goal. Indeed, if Madrid manage another shut-out this weekend, they equal their best ever defensive start to a league campaign (four games without conceding in 1975-76).
DORTMUND FACE LEVERKUSEN TEST
Bayern Munich travel to Bundesliga new-boys Darmstadt at the weekend eager to keep alive their 100 per cent start to the new league season.
Bayern have won each of their last 21 Bundesliga games against newly-promoted sides, with their last defeat coming in August 2010, when they were beaten 2-0 in Kaiserslautern. Darmstadt have only taken one point in total from their four previous top-tier clashes with the German champions, losing the other three.
However, like Bayern, Darmstadt remain unbeaten in the league this season and are the only side in the top division yet to find themselves behind in a game.
But in Thomas Muller, Darmstadt faces a man in form after his brace in midweek against Olympiacos. The 26-year-old has scored six times in the Bundesliga already this season and will take some stopping.
Borussia Dortmund host Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday hoping to make it five wins out of five in the league this season. Their record of 12 points and a plus-12 goal difference after four games is second only to Stuttgart in Bundesliga history (+13 goal difference in 1996-97) but Leverkusen will be no push-overs.
Dortmund are without a win in their last four Bundesliga games against Leverkusen (D2, L2) and have lost their last two home games against Bayer without scoring. However, Roger Schmidt’s side have struggled so far this season and currently find themselves 13th in the league, having lost their last two games.
TOP VS SECOND IN SERIE A
Inter have enjoyed a flying start to the season and remain the only side in Serie A with a 100 per cent record. This weekend, they face a top-of-the-table clash with second-placed Chievo.
The Nerazzurri have an impressive record in Serie A against Chievo, winning 15 of 26 meetings and losing just four times. Indeed, Chievo have failed even to find the back of the net in six of their last nine league clashes with Inter.
However, the Flying Donkeys themselves have enjoyed a superb start to 2015-16, remaining unbeaten after their first three games, something they have achieved only once before in Serie A (2004).
Juventus beat Manchester City in midweek but have struggled in the early stages of the Serie A season, and in Genoa face one of the three sides to beat them in the league last season (along with Parma and Torino).
In total, Genoa have won just two of their last 23 Serie A encounters against Juventus, and have netted a total of three goals in their last seven league meetings with Juve, so the Turin giants will be confident of a first domestic win of the season.
GOALS GALORE FOR PSG & REIMS
Ligue 1 champions PSG lost their 100 per cent record at the start of this season in a 2-2 draw with Bordeaux, and face a tricky trip to Reims at the weekend.
At the Stade Auguste Delaune, Reims have lost only two of their last nine Ligue 1 meetings with PSG (W3 D4) and whatever the result, the crowd should expect goals, with the last 18 encounters between these two sides producing a total of 65 goals (3.6 per game), the most on average of any game played 10 or more times.
On Sunday, Marseille and Lyon, two of last season’s title hopefuls, go head-to-head at the Stade Velodrome.
Having won just three of their last 17 home clashes with Lyon (D8 L6), Marseille will need to be at their best against a visiting side who have lost just two of their last 13 top-tier games (W7 D4) and only one of their last eight on the road (W6 D1).
With Lyon also keeping a clean sheet in five of their last six games, the hosts will look to the likes of Michy Batshuayi to make the breakthrough at the weekend. The striker is currently in the midst of a fine run of form, having had a hand in five of Marseille’s last eight Ligue 1 goals (scoring three and assisting two).
Source : http://www.goal.com/en-gh/news/4349/main/2015/09/18/15501082/mourinho-keen-to-preserve-chelsea-record-barcelonas-unbeaten-run-
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