No rest for football fans as mid-week Premier League ensures plenty of action. We give you the five best games to watch.
Norwich City v Chelsea
beIN Sports, Tuesday, 11.45pm
Two teams headed in very different trajectories in the English Premier League table. Chelsea may have surrendered their title meekly, but under interim coach Guus Hiddink, the reigning English champions are unbeaten in the league and are headed slowly clawing their way back to respectability in mid-table. Baba Rahman’s place in the team could be under threat; the left-back’s mistake against Southampton at the weekend gifting the hosts the opening goal which saw the Ghanaian hauled off at half time. Norwich are out of the bottom three on goal difference, but have picked up just a single point from a possible 24 in their last eight games.
Liverpool v Manchester City
beIN Sports, Wednesday, midnight
Liverpool get the chance to banish the heartache of their League Cup final defeat to Manchester City when they face the same opponents at Anfield tomorrow. Willy Caballero, the City goalkeeper who saved three spot kicks in the Wembley penalty shoot-out, saving three of Liverpool’s four spot kicks, is likely to be rewarded with a place on the bench, with Joe Hart restored to the starting line-up. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could have an enforced change to his line-up that started Sunday’s final, Mamadou Sakho was forced off after a clash of heads with teammate Emre Can and will have to be cleared of any concussion suspicions before he can return.
Al Ahli (KSA) v Al Ain
beIN Sports, Wednesday, 5pm
The wheels are threatening to come off and derail Al Ain’s quest for honours both domestically and on the continent. The UAE champions were outmuscled and outplayed in a 2-1 defeat to Qatar’s El Jaish in their Asian Champions League (ACL) opener last week just days after a loss to Al Shabab in the Arabian Gulf League that allowed bitter domestic rivals Al Ahli to leapfrog them into top spot in the table. A subsequent win in the President’s Cup last 16 at the weekend, against Kalba, should restore confidence to Zlatko Dalic’s side ahead of a daunting away assignment to Saudi Arabia giants Al Ahli in Group D of the ACL.
Rayo Vallecano v Barcelona
beIN Sports, Thursday, midnight
How do you stop Barcelona? Luis Enrique’s side stretched their unbeaten run to 34 matches on Sunday with a comeback win against Sevilla. Lionel Messi, who scored a peach of a free kick, and Gerard Pique were on the scoresheet in a 2-1 victory. The win extended Barca’s lead at the top of La Liga to eight points over Atletico Madrid, and 12 over fierce rivals Real Madrid. If Barca can avoid defeat against a Rayo Vallecano side still looking nervously over their shoulder at the wrong end of the table the Catalans will set a new La Liga record for matches unbeaten, usurping Real Madrid’s effort in the 1988/89 campaign. What better incentive?
Roma v Fiorentina
beIN Sports, Friday, 11.45pm
Two of Serie A’s top four lock horns as Roma host Fiorentina at Stadio Olimpico. Luciano Spalletti has presided over a revival of fortunes in the league since replacing Rudi Garcia in mid-January, with just one defeat in seven games. The topic of much debate in the Italian capital revolves around the omission of club talisman Francesco Totti from the first team, which is doing a huge disservice to the performances of Italy international Stephan El Shaarawy, whose two goals in a 3-1 win against Empoli on Saturday had lifted the club up to third. Fiorentina were in action against another top-four side last night, second-placed Napoli.
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