Weekend football | How much is too much?
EURO 2024 was followed by the ongoing league season, which will be followed by the restructured Club World Cup, which will be followed by a new league season, which will be followed by the 2026 World Cup, which will be followed by… For the very best, a moment to breathe might have to wait until summer 2027.
Rodri, one of the favourites for the 2024 Ballon d’Or, played 66 Premier League minutes this season before a serious injury to his right knee sent him to the operating table. He will not return this season. A hamstring injury picked up in the EURO 2024 final kept him out early on, and although City gave him time to recover, it might not have been enough in the end.
Last season, Rodri played a total of 63 games for club and country. It will not stop there: including the 32-team Club World Cup, some top players could play over 80 games between August 2024 and July 2025, meaning once every four days. FIFPro – the players union – has suggested a limit of 55 games per season. Something does not add up.
“We are close to that. There will be a moment when we have no other option,” Rodri said when asked about a potential players’ strike. Did karma struck the Spaniard, the football gods saying the show must go on, with or without? But many others agreed. Pep Guardiola, sure, but also Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, La Liga president Javier Tebas etc. Rodri hit the right notes.
After all, do we, as fans, want players to play day in, day out? Would we not want the players fresh and firing? Maybe it would be healthier for us personally, too, if we would have to do something else with our evenings. “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that,” legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once said. Is it, though?
To be fair, it has been happening for a while now. Oscar (remember the Brazil midfielder?) played 80 games in 2012-13, Lionel Messi played 78 times in 2011-12, Javier Mascherano 73 times in 2015-16, Bruno Fernandes 77 times in 2020-21, and so on. But here we are, thinking about which games to enjoy over the weekend.
All times listed below are in Eastern European Summer Time (GMT+3).
Manchester City – Fulham
Saturday 17:00
With Rodri out for the foreseeable future, Pep Guardiola will have to find balance without the midfield lynchpin. They have lost points in two consecutive rounds, but have done rather well against Fulham – in all competitions, City have won the last 16 meetings, the longest run in English league history. They have also won a penalty in each of their previous six Premier League matches (and converted them all).
Fulham can not be taken lightly though. After a 0-1 defeat at Manchester United on MD1, Fulham have gone unbeaten (3W 2D), their longest such run in the Premier League since 2010. Andreas Pereira is second in the league in chances created (20 in 6 games) despite not getting any assists yet, so Fulham have room to grow as well. They are currently sixth in the table and would be on equal footing with City should they win.
Aston Villa – Manchester United
Sunday 16:00
Are those the days to be a Villa fan or what? Bayern Munich just left Villa Park frustrated, and they have put together their best start to a league season in 15 years (13 points in 6 games). Jhon Duran, the hero vs Bayern, has averaged a goal every 43 minutes at Villa Park in the Premier League. Villa are going from strength to strength.
The same can not be said for United, who have equalled their worst-ever start to a league season with just seven points in six games so far (13th; GD -3). This could be the moment to turn things around though as they have usually dominated at Villa Park, losing on just one of their last 25 visits. They have also kept two consecutive away clean sheets.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Bayern Munich
Sunday 18:30
Eintracht finished sixth last season, their second-best result in the past decade, but can they do even better and finish in the top four for the first time since 1993? After a 0-2 defeat to Dortmund on MD1, they have put together a four-game win streak and are now second to just Bayern. Omar Marmoush might not be a household name just yet, but the 25-year-old Egyptian currently leads the Bundesliga scoring charts with six goals to his name.
For new Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, moments like this will matter a lot. He will expect a reaction from his players after first losing points to Leverkusen and then returning empty-handed from Villa Park in the Champions League; how his team responds will indicate whether Kompany has the respect of his players to succeed at Bayern. Per xG, they were the better team against both Leverkusen and Villa, so maybe it is too early to ring alarm bells.
The Betis Babble
OlyBet is the proud betting partner of Real Betis.
Next game: Sunday 19:30 @ Sevilla
Four points from last week (1-1 @ Las Palmas, 1-0 vs Espanyol) signify a solid return, but Betis will not be entirely happy with the first game. They dominated at the Canary Islands and were once again let down by poor finishing. Giovani Lo Celso scored both goals, meaning the Argentinian has now scored five in his last four appearances (and all of Betis’s goals since September 13th).
This week, it will be derby time, with the last four Seville meets ending in a draw. Betis are currently eighth but have not won away in their last five matches (D4 1L) while Sevilla are 13th, but this is actually their best start to a season since 2016 (9 points from 8 games).
This will be the last derby for Sevilla’s Jesus Navas, who, at 38, is nearing retirement. No talk of retirement yet for Manuel Pellegrini though, as the Real Betis coach will most likely become the oldest manager to win a La Liga game soon. He will be four days older on MD than current record holder Helenio Herrera, who got his last win at 71 years and 16 days in 1981.
