In-depth analysis and insights before every match across Europe's top leagues.
Lyon
LorientRight, Sunday evening football at the Groupama Stadium. Paulo Fonseca's Lyon hosting Lorient under the lights in Décines-Charpieu. Sixty-one thousand five hundred and fifty-six seats. That's a proper
Como
InterThere is a version of this fixture that writes itself. Fourth in Serie A hosting the leaders, a compact lakeside stadium packed to its 13,602 capacity, and two managers with very different amounts of
FSV Mainz 05
SC FreiburgFSV Mainz 05 arrive at the MEWA ARENA on Sunday afternoon, and what the table does not quite capture is how different the trajectories feel right now. FSV Mainz 05 ha
Celta Vigo
OviedoCelta Vigo host Oviedo at Abanca-Balaídos on Sunday afternoon. This is not a complicated fixture to read. One side is sixth in La Liga with 44 points from 30 matches. The other is bottom of the table
Bologna
LecceThere is a particular quality to Italian football in April, when the season begins to reveal its true character, when the table stops lying and starts telling the truth. Bologna arrive at the Stadio R
Chelsea
Manchester CityStamford Bridge hosts one of the fixture list's most tactically loaded matchups on Sunday afternoon when Vincenzo Maresca's Chelsea welcome Josep Guardiola i Sala's Manchester City. No correction need
VfB Stuttgart
Hamburger SVRight, Sunday afternoon football. Stuttgart Arena. 60,469 seats. And honestly... this one should be pretty straightforward on paper. VfB Stuttgart are fourth in the Bundesliga, sitting on 53 points fr
1. FC Köln
Werder BremenTwo sides separated by a single point in the Bundesliga's lower reaches make their way to Cologne Stadium on Sunday, and the detail in the numbers tells a more complicated story than the standings sug
Sunderland
Tottenham HotspurRight, this is a proper one. Sunderland hosting Tottenham Hotspur at the Stadium of Light. Sunday afternoon. 49,000 fans packed in. And honestly, look at the fixtures, look at the form, look at the ta
FC Groningen
GO Ahead EaglesTwo mid-table Eredivisie sides who have spent this season proving they are more difficult to read than their positions suggest meet at the Euroborg on Saturday evening, with FC Groningen hosting GO Ah
Nice
Le HavreTwo sides who know all too well what it feels like to lose are meeting at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday, and the picture here is not a comfortable one for either manager. Nice sit 15th with 27 points
Parma
NapoliAntonio Conte brings his Napoli side to the Stadio Ennio Tardini on Sunday, and the context around this fixture is straightforward enough: a second-place team in imperious form visiting a club that ha
Nottingham Forest
Aston VillaThere is a version of this fixture that writes itself: Sean Mark Dyche's newly-appointed Nottingham Forest side, still finding their shape, hosting a polished Unai Emery Aston Villa team with European
Rennes
AngersRennes vs Angers is the kind of match that asks quiet but important questions of both sides as the season enters its final weeks. Re
Crystal Palace
Newcastle UnitedTwo mid-table sides with negative goal differences and inconsistent form. That is what you are getting at Selhurst Park on Sunday. Crystal Palace sit 14th on 39 points from 30 matches. Newcastle Unite
PEC Zwolle
ExcelsiorThere is a particular kind of Sunday afternoon football that asks very direct questions. Not questions of style or ambition, but of survival. When PEC Zwolle welcome Excelsior to the **MAC³PARK Stadio
Sevilla
Atletico MadridRight, this is a proper La Liga six-pointer in its own way. Sevilla hosting Atletico Madrid at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, 7pm kick-off. Two Argentine managers going head-to-head. Matías Almeyd
NEC Nijmegen
FeyenoordThere are matches that feel like a formality on paper, and then there are matches where the standings table tells one story while the form guide tells another entirely. Sunday's Eredivisie fixture at
Toulouse
LilleToulouse host Lille at the Stadium de Toulouse on Sunday afternoon in a Ligue 1 fixture that separates a mid-table side still working out what it wants to be this season from a team with genuine Europ
Heracles
AjaxAjax travel to the Erve Asito in Almelo on Saturday evening to face a Heracles side that is running out of room at the bottom of the Eredivisie table. On paper this is a straightforward contest betwee
Osasuna
Real BetisRight, Sunday lunchtime La Liga football and we are heading to Iruñea. Osasuna host Real Betis at Estadio El Sadar and honestly... this one has proper scenes potential. Two teams with absolutely nothi
AZ Alkmaar
SC HeerenveenAZ Alkmaar host SC Heerenveen at the AFAS Stadion on Sunday afternoon. One point separates these sides in the Eredivisie table. Both have been inconsistent enough to make this a proper contest. AZ sit
Atalanta
JuventusTwo Croatian managers, one compact stadium in the lower Alps, and a fixture that carries real weight in the Serie A picture. Atalanta host Juventus at the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday evening, and the c
Birmingham
WrexhamThere is a fascinating tension at the heart of this fixture. Birmingham sit 16th in the EFL Championship
Genoa
SassuoloTwo sides with a combined goal difference of minus 11 meet at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris on Sunday, which tells you something immediately about the underlying quality of this fixture. Genoa si
Fortuna Sittard
NAC BredaTwo teams that cannot afford to look away from the relegation zone meet at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion on Sunday. Fortuna Sittard sit 12th on 35 points from 29 matches. They are not safe yet. NAC Bred
Mallorca
Rayo VallecanoThere is a particular quality to a match like this one, where neither side carries the easy confidence of safety nor the despair of certain relegation, and yet everything feels taut with consequence.
Auxerre
NantesSaturday afternoon at the Stade de l'Abbé Deschamps. Two clubs who have spent the better part of this season failing to compete at the level this division demands. Auxerre sit 16th. Nantes sit 17th. N
Sparta RotterdamPSV EindhovenThere is a particular kind of beauty in what Peter Bosz has built at PSV, and it is the kind that announces itself not with a flourish bu
FC St. Pauli
Bayern MünchenFC St. Pauli host Bayern München at the Millerntor-Stadion on Saturday, and the numbers on paper could hardly be more stark. A side sitting 16th in the Bundesliga, fighting to avoid the drop, welcomes
Barcelona
EspanyolRight, it doesn't get much bigger than this in Barcelona, does it. The Derbi barceloní. Camp Nou. Hans-Dieter Flick's side against their city rivals Espanyol, who are having one of those seasons where
Liverpool
FulhamTwo sides heading in different directions arrive at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, and the context around this fixture tells an interesting story. Liverpool sit fifth in the Premier League table with
AC Milan
UdineseMassimiliano Allegri brings AC Milan to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday afternoon as heavy favourites to extend their push for a top-three finish, hosting a Udinese side managed by No correctio
Utrecht
TelstarUtrecht host Telstar at Stadion Galgenwaard on Saturday and the gap between these two sides tells you most of what you need to know. Ron Jans has his side sitting ninth with 41 points from 29 matches.
Stoke City
BlackburnTwo managers still finding their feet at new clubs, a Championship table that separates them by seven points and 13th versus 19th, and a fixture at the bet365 Stadium that means very different things
Elche
ValenciaThere is a particular quality to a relegation battle in the Spanish spring, when the afternoon light sits low over the pitch and every misplaced pass carries the weight of an entire season. The Estadi
Middlesbrough
PortsmouthRight, Saturday afternoon at the Riverside Stadium and this one is about as straightforward as Championship fixtures get on paper. Middlesbrough, third in the table, hosting Portsmouth, who are sittin
Leicester
SwanseaThere are fixtures in the Championship that carry weight beyond the three points, and this is one of them. Leicester City, a club still adjusting to life without a Premier League safety net, host Swan
Southampton
DerbySouthampton host Derby at St. Mary's Stadium on Saturday afternoon in what is, on the surface, a straightforward Championship fixture between two sides who have spent most of this season tracking each
