5️⃣ spicy fixtures you must watch this weekend 🌶 | OneFootball

It’s time to take a look at the most exciting non-Premier League fixtures from around the globe this weekend.

Lyon v PSG

Lyon boss Peter Bosz is under big pressure after consecutive league defeats and a result against Paris Saint-Germain could be just the ticket to kickstart the new season.

Les Gones sit a disappointing fifth in the league but a result against PSG could really kickstart their season.

One problem: PSG look unstoppable.

Lionel Messi has 10 goals and assists in seven Ligue 1 games, Neymar has 14 in the same number of appearances, and Kylian Mbappé has scored seven in just six matches. How do you stop them?

Monaco went closest so far, with a Neymar penalty rescuing a 1-1 draw against the principality club, and it’s about time Lyon have ‘only’ lost two of their last four league games against PSG. Can they frustrate them once more?

Spice rating: Mild 🌶

Liverpool Women v Chelsea Women

The Women’s Super League is back and Liverpool are back in the top flight!

Matt Beard’s side dominated the Championship last season and are certain they can compete at WSL, he said on Friday, but they could not have asked for a tougher start to the season.

Chelsea are the WSL’s team to beat, winning three titles in a row heading into 2022/23 and strengthening over the course of the summer with the addition of Kadeisha Buchanan from Lyon a true standout signing.

With Arsenal taking the title race to the final day last season, Emma Hayes will be demanding a fast start.

Liverpool’s mens’ side should have met Chelsea’s in London on Sunday but, with that game postponed, this is a hefty consolation.

Spice rating: Medium 🌶 🌶

Milan v Napoli

Milan are the Serie A holders, Napoli are top of the table. Do you see where we’re going with this?

A vacuum has been left at the summit of Italian football as Juventus have fallen off the pace in recent seasons. Inter won the title in 2021, then Milan in 2022, and now a new-look Napoli would love to assert their own position among the pantheon of contenders to be Italy’s next dominant club.

A big summer in the south saw club icons Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens all move on but Napoli look as strong as ever. Spalletti is known for fast starts and continuing this season’s, at the home of the champions, would lay down a true marker.

Only goal difference separates the sides heading into the weekend, making the three points a big early leap forward in the fight for the Scudetto.

Spice rating: Hot 🌶 🌶 🌶

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04

The Germans call it “the mother of all derbies” and who are we to argue?

This one, though, comes with added bite. Dortmund and Schalke didn’t meet last season (with the latter in Germany’s second tier), making it the first campaign since 1990/91. To make matters worse for those who love the Revierderby, the last three games between the sides all took place behind closed doors. With the exception of 300 Dortmund fans who were allowed to attend the last meeting.

Dortmund won all three of the pandemic-affected matches without conceding a goal but Saturday’s game will bear no resemblance to those. Erling Haaland scored in each of those wins and is now gone, for starters.

Both sides will be full of players yet to experience this fixture, and certainly not in front of a packed house.

Dortmund’s midweek exertions in Manchester, and the pressure of responding to last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at RB Leipzig mean all the pressure is on them, handing a free hit to a Schalke side that won for the first time this season last time out. The gloves are off.

Spice rating: Fire 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

Atlético Madrid v Real Madrid

Spice rating: Insane 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶