Manchester United v Arsenal may not be the fixture it once was, but it’s still a worthy headliner on a big weekend for Marco Asensio and Andoni Iraola.
Game to watch: Manchester United v Arsenal
At one time – and for a long time – the key fixture in English football, Man United v Arsenal may have a slightly reduced status now but remains compelling viewing.
It appeared to be a game that would pit two struggling sides together, albeit struggles on different scales.
Both teams were struggling desperately in front of goal, with the only tiny difference between them that United’s struggles meant they were stuck in the bottom half of the league scrapping with Spurs and West Ham, while Arsenal’s struggles meant they couldn’t keep pace with leaders Liverpool and would likely finish second in the league for a third year in succession.
So not quite the same. And then Arsenal went to PSV in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and made the bold, correct decision to take all of their chances instead of none of their chances. It really is a mystery why more teams don’t do this.
United were in their own European last-16 clash two nights later, but didn’t adopt that new foolproof strategy devised by the Gunners and managed only a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad.
The lack of preparation time that leaves them for this clash with an Arsenal team that is also much better than they are means United start this one on the back foot.
The league may not now be top priority for either side as they chase European titles but there’s no doubt that result in Eindhoven this week gives Arsenal more scope to hit this game harder than they otherwise might knowing they effectively have a week off given the state of that Champions League tie.
No such luck for United, who really do appear to have very little going for them in a game that before Tuesday night we’d have said came with huge 0-0 energy.
Player to watch: Marco Asensio
We’re still trying to get our heads around the idea of Marco Asensio’s Barclaysman era, but it’s certainly not something that appears to be fazing him after helping himself to five goals in his last four games for Villa, his latest putting the cap on a fine away win at Club Brugge that leaves Villa on the cusp of a Champions League quarter-final to go with the FA Cup quarter-final his goals have also helped secure.
Villa go to Brentford on Saturday evening and could really do with another compelling result away from home to match the one they got in Bruges. There is a pattern developing, in the league at least, at Villa where they are a force at home but too soft-centred and easily picked off on their travels.
Their last Premier League away game was a chastening 4-1 defeat at Palace, which was also a fourth three-goal defeat in a run of four points from nine Premier League away games stretching back to October.
Asensio and co now face an interesting chance to start turning that form around against a Brentford side that started the season with an even more prominent reliance on home form but who have now failed to win a home game since early December.
Team to watch: Nottingham Forest
A huge day in Forest’s unexpected Champions League challenge. After three Premier League games without a win, Forest’s grip on third place has loosened sufficiently that defeat at home to Man City will see Pep Guardiola’s side leapfrog them and slightly restore the natural order of things.
And if Forest do lose on Saturday lunchtime they are likely to find themselves outside the top four for the first time in the longest time with Chelsea, a point behind City and two behind Forest currently, at home to Leicester on Sunday afternoon.
As with all discussion of Forest, there must be some acknowledgement that ‘possibly dropping to fifth this weekend’ wasn’t the sort of grave concern that haunted their pre-season dreams, but times and expectations change and shift.
The battling goalless draw against Arsenal in their last league game offers a Gerard Pique-irritating blueprint, but it might be harder to make that plan stick against a City side that quite famously does possess a centre-forward.
Things do, inevitably, get easier again for Forest after this but however harsh it may be Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will carry the look of one running out of momentum and energy if Saturday goes sideways.
Manager to watch: Andoni Iraola
Tottenham’s lacklustre defeat at AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of the last 16 in a Europa League campaign that represents their only plausible route to saving a rotten season has reopened the Ange Out talk, and the Bournemouth manager remains high on the list of contenders to be next in line for English football’s impossible job.
It creates an interesting backdrop for Bournemouth’s trip to Spurs this weekend, and a match that should on the face of it matter far more to the Cherries than to Spurs, for whom all eyes are now on next Thursday’s attempts to repair the damage suffered in the Netherlands.
Unlike Spurs, Bournemouth still have something beyond the last shreds of their dignity to play for in this league campaign, but they are in need of a lift themselves. They’ve slipped slightly off Champions League pace after a run of one win and three defeats since that astonishing demolition job on Nottingham Forest.
And the one win was at Southampton, which barely counts. Iraola’s Bournemouth have always operated in this kind of streaky fashion. It’s not even the first time this season they’ve had a four-game run containing three league defeats and a 3-1 win over Southampton.
The last time that happened they ended the sequence with a 2-0 win over a side from North London. And that time it was the good side from North London, so every chance, you’d think, of doing likewise when presented with an opportunity against the rubbish one.
Football League game to watch: Notts County v AFC Wimbledon
Fourth v fifth here as League Two’s teak-tough promotion race comes to a boil. These teams have dropped off the pace at an inopportune time having managed just one win between them in their last eight games combined.
Both currently have a game in hand over the three teams above them, but whoever loses here finds themselves at risk of drifting away from the automatic promotion places and being sucked back into a play-off fight in which they suddenly won’t feel too secure.
European game to watch: Juventus v Atalanta
A significant if surely final chance for Juventus to insert themselves into the Serie A title race. A draw between top two Inter and Napoli last week, combined with Atalanta’s own failure to break down Venezia at home and Juve’s 2-0 win over Verona have just slightly brought that top four back together.
If Juventus can extend a Serie A winning streak that currently stands at five then they will move level on points with Atalanta and potentially within three of the summit having at long last seemingly found the key to turning all those draws – 13 in the space of 18 league games between September and January – into wins.
