Etihad thriller beckons as Mourinho eyes third straight win over Guardiola

With the surge in Covid-19 cases, there is no stopping of football actions as fans keep their eyes glued on the screens for exciting, scintillating and jaw-braking soccer drama.

The pick of matches from this weekend’s Premier League action sees Manchester City host Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 13th February. This clash sees Jose Mourinho looking to pick up a third straight win over his old rival Pep Guardiola, with Spurs having beaten City 2-0 in the teams’ last two league meetings.

Spurs will be looking for another powerful performance from midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, who has come on in leaps and bounds this season.

Everton host Fulham on the evening of Sunday 14 February.

Another crunch clash sees Leicester City host Liverpool at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, 13th February, with Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers hoping his side produces the same kind of home performance which saw them outclass Chelsea last month.

The round of Premier League matches also sees a potential thriller between Arsenal and Leeds United at the Emirates on Sunday, 14th February. Manchester United will back themselves to win away to ‘Big Sam’ Allardyce’s West Bromwich Albion on Sunday and Chelsea will be eager to boost their European hopes with a win at home to Newcastle United on Monday, 15th Februarys.

In LaLiga, where the pick of matches for this round sees Real Madrid welcome Valencia to Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Sunday. This match will be a revenge mission for Los Blancos, who were humbled 4-1 by Los Che when the teams met at Estadio de Mestalla in November. Also, on Sunday, the clash between Villarreal and Real Betis will air at 9pm live on SS La Liga (channel 32).

Elsewhere in Spain, Barcelona will look to claim a home win over Deportivo Alaves on Saturday. The Catalan giants are still stinging from their Super Cup defeat to Athletic Bilbao, though manager, Ronald Koeman, insists they have shrugged off the disappointment.

Atletico Madrid face a tricky trip to Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes to face a Granada side with European ambitions, while Sevilla will back themselves to overcome Huesca in a home clash as they continue to push for a return to the UEFA Champions League next season.

The headline fixture from Serie A sees Napoli welcome Juventus to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday.

This clash will have plenty of spice – not only have these two teams been title rivals in recent seasons, they also met in the recent Italian Super Cup and had a league clash earlier this season controversially postponed. Napoli felt they were unable to travel to Turin for an October fixture due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, but the match should have gone ahead and was awarded to Juve. However, the Neapolitans successfully appealed and the clash has been rescheduled for later this year. Also, on Saturday, Spezia’s fight with Milan.

Internazionale host Lazio at the San Siro on Sunday evening. The Nerazzurri are right in the hunt for the title and cannot afford to drop points against Le Aquile – as was the case when the teams met back in October and played out a 1-1 draw in Rome.