Five Football Matches To Watch This Weekend

as seen on Sports Pundit

Time for a new section on Sports Pundit, where we'll preview some of the biggest must-see football games around Europe due to take place over the weekend.

Rubin Kazan v Zenit St Petersburg
Russian Premier League
Saturday, midday (CET)

The significance of this clash is victory for hosts Rubin means they claim a second successive Russian title. With two games to play in the season, Rubin leads second-placed Spartak Moscow by 4 points and the Muscovites have a difficult match against CSKA too.

But Zenit, the 2007 champions, will be no pushover. Curiously Rubin’s prolific ex-Zenit forward Alejandro Dominguez can’t play in this fixture due to a contractual agreement. And Rubin skipper Sergei Semak will be looking to put behind a poor week, following Russia’s loss to Slovenia.

Liverpool v Manchester City
English Premier League
Saturday, 1.45pm (CET)

Big-spending sixth-placed Manchester City go to out-of-form 7th-placed Liverpool in the EPL on Saturday. Realistically, this could be a crucial clash for the fourth UEFA Champions League spot.

And Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is feeling the pressure too with his side struggling domestically and in the current ECL, with early elimination likely. So Steven Gerrard returning to fitness will be a boost for the Spaniard but he’ll be worried to see his shaky defence come up against a lively City forward-line including pacy pair Shaun Wright-Phillips and Carlos Tevez.

Dynamo Kiev v Shakhtar Donetsk
Ukrainian Premier League
Saturday, 2pm (CET)

Dynamo Kiev’s Halloween stumble last time out to Karpaty Lviv means Saturday’s heavyweight clash with rivals Shakhtar takes on added importance. Shakhtar can close to within a point of the leaders Dynamo with victory in Kiev.

Three weeks ago, Shakhtar defeated Dynamo 2-0 in a cup match in Donetsk with Darijo Srna important for the victors. Milos Ninkovic has been impressive this term for Dynamo, but the stage is set for Andriy Shevchenko to really mark his return to Ukraine.

Besiktas v Fenerbahce
Turkish Super Lig
Saturday, 7pm (CET)

Turkish champions Besiktas host this big Istanbul derby against Super Lig leaders Fenerbahce. Besiktas started the season slowly but have won their last 6 Super Lig matches and Bahce will know their rivals are coming.

The worry for Fenerbahce is they’ve only claimed one point from their last two away league matches. But they did beat their other local rivals, Galatasaray, recently with Brazilian Alex the inspiration.

Sports Pundit’s Game of the Weekend
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen
German Bundesliga
Sunday, 3.30pm (CET)

Struggling German giants FC Bayern host undefeated Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen in a massive match on Sunday. Bayern need to get their season back on track, while Leverkusen can prove their credentials as genuine title contenders.

Bayern boss Louis van Gaal is under plenty of pressure with his side languishing in eighth. And to make matters worse, there have been rifts between the Dutch boss and some of his players, the most public involving disgruntled Italian Luca Toni. The only good news is Arjen Robben is fit again.

Van Gaal, though, doesn’t seem to have the total support of his board with president Franz Beckenbauer saying, "I cannot say things are great if we are eighth in the league. Van Gaal must learn to have more confidence in people and to delegate responsibility."

Juup Heynckes’ Leverkusen, on the other hand, are flying three points clear at the top of the table although they had drawn 3 league matches in a row before they won 4-0 against Frankfurt in their last outing. Toni Kroos, on loan at Leverkusen from Bayern, will have a point to prove, while Stefan Kiessling’s good form promises goals.
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