The smart money on this weekend's biggest games in Europe
Serie A have their faith in the hands of Roma this weekend as Juventus could realistically wrap up the title race before Christmas with a win over Luciano Spalletti's side. Chelsea could also move a step closer to securing the Premier League crown, but they could do this without kicking a ball as Manchester City and Arsenal face off and will present Antonio Conte's side with a present other way or another.
MANCHESTER CITY vs ARSENAL - Draw @3.60
Pep Guardiola's worst fears were confirmed on Friday when it was discovered key midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will miss the rest of the season with another serious knee injury. The 26-year-old is the most important player to help implement Guardiola's tactics and there is simply no replacement in the current squad. City were already going to be without suspended duo Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho, so it has only got worse for Guardiola closer to kick-off against Arsenal.
It hasn't been a fantastic week for Arsenal either. Arsene Wenger's men slipped to a surprise 2-1 defeat away to Everton on Tuesday and they are still no closer to securing the long-term futures of star duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. However, the Frenchman will be hoping to isolate Sanchez with Nicolas Otamendi as much as possible on Sunday, which will surely be their best chance of punishing a dire City defence.
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City are winless in their last four in the league against Arsenal but may fall short again here, with key absences in important areas of the pitch perhaps too much for even Guardiola to produce a magic result on Sunday.
JUVENTUS vs ROMA - Juve Winning Margin 1 @3.60
Roma weren't expected to be this close to Juventus at this stage of the season but, as Spalletti said, "This is a great chance. The Scudetto tiebreaker though must be the return leg." It means that for Roma it is more important to leave this match without defeat to remain at least four points adrift of the reigning Champions.
This season Roma and Spalletti have been more clinical than ever, showing more maturity in their game. Now they are equipped to set back and wait to kill off opponents when the opportunity presents itself. This facet of their game has been particularly evident in big games against Inter, Lazio, Napoli and AC Milan already this season. It's a ploy that may also yield success against Juventus, as Massimiliano Allegri's side would come out on top in an open game.
Despite Roma's strong form, Juventus have resources available to them that simply nobody can match. Paulo Dybala, for example, came off the bench to win the Turin Derby in a late 15-minute cameo. Injuries to Leonardo Bonucci and Davi Alves will mean Juventus revert to a 4-3-1-2 formation, with Miralem Pjanic operating in the trequartista role. Roma, meanwhile, also have injury concerns, with Antonio Rudiger forced to play right back in the absence of Bruno Peres. Spalletti's men will be banking on Edin Dzeko to end his three-game drought, his longest lean spell of the season.
Juventus are the only team down as creating goalscoring chances on the WhoScored Match Forecast and you can get them to win by a margin of just one goal on Bet365 at 3.60.
BARCELONA vs ESPANYOL - Barcelona -2 @1.83
Espanyol have gone seven years without a win at the Camp Nou, but they are used to this. They have previously gone 13 and 17 years without a win against their nearest rivals. Barcelona have won by a winning margin of at least three goals in each of their last three home encounters with Espanyol. If things weren't any clearer, the WhoScored Match Forecast has a long list of how Barcelona will dominate the game…
RB LEIPZIG vs HERTHA BERLIN - Leipzig Winning Margin 1 @3.40
The most disliked team in the Bundesliga finally surrendered first place in the Bundesliga and now they must look to keep pace with Bayern Munich until their meeting in midweek before the winter break. However, they are now tasked with fending off third place and this will not be a straightforward game for the newly promoted side, although Hertha have only won two of their seven away games this season. Hertha have only lost one game by goal margin of more than one since May in the Bundesliga, which indicates how the scoring while go in this match.
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MONACO vs LYON - Monaco to win @1.83
This weekend in Ligue 1 will see second host fourth, although the distance between the sides is 11 points. Monaco are in unbelievable form this season and have scored more goals than any other side in Europe's top five leagues (53). They will be looking to finish the first half of the season in the best possible shape before they prepare to face Manchester City in the next stage of the Champions League next year. The only two 'very likely' outcomes in the WhoScored Match Forecast are in favour of Monaco scoring and creating many chances.
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