Sunday’s Key Games: 27th September
Sheffield United v Leeds United
Sunday’s early kick-off in the Premier League will see Sheffield United host Leeds United. The game is a Yorkshire derby. Though their last meeting was in the Championship in 2019, the two have not played against each other in English’s topflight since 1994.
John Egan will be suspended for the game, which could mean a start for Ethan Ampadu. There is a dilemma for Chris Wilder as to who starts up front with Oli McBurnie and Oliver Burke in competition to start alongside David McGoldrick. Lys Mousset is out injured and will be unavailable for the game.
Leeds will have Liam Cooper available after he returned to the starting line-up last weekend, but they will be without Pablo Hernandez, which could see Rodrigo Moreno start. Adam Forshaw is also unavailable, but new signing Diego Llorente is available for the game.
The last game between the two took place in 2019, which saw Sheffield United win 1-0.
Both sides have played two Premier League games this season. Leeds lost on the opening day of the season 4-3 to Liverpool but beat Fulham 4-3 last weekend.
Sheffield United lost 2-0 to Wolves and last weekend they lost 1-0 to Aston Villa.
Sheffield United will be looking to get their first points of the season, whereas Leeds will be looking to build on last weekend’s victory.
Manchester City v Leicester City
Manchester City will host Leicester on Sunday. Man City will play their first home league fixture of the season, and will be looking for a win against Leicester.
Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva will miss the game through injury. Joao Cancelo and Olksandar Zinchenko are also both out injured and will miss the game. Ilkay Gundogan will also miss the game as he is observing a period of self-isolation after he tested positive of COVID-19.
Wilfried Ndidi is out injured. Ricardo Pereira and Filip Benkovic are also both unavailable for the game. Jonny Evans returns and is available for selection after he served a three-match suspension. New signing Cengiz Under is not available to next week and Demarai Gray is unwell and misses out.
Man City won the last fixture between the two 1-0 back in February.
Man City have had a good start to the season after they won last week 3-1 against Wolves and they won 2-1 against Bournemouth in the League Cup during the week.
Leicester have won their opening two Premier League fixtures with a 3-0 away win at West Brom and they won 4-2 last week against Burnley. They did lose in the League Cup during the week, but they will be looking to carry on their positive start in the league against Man City.
Man City are favourites for the game and will be looking for a positive result as they play their first home league game of the season, but Leicester will pose a threat with the likes of Jamie Vardy and James Maddison.
AS Roma v Juventus
The second round of Serie A fixtures sees Champions Juventus play Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Edin Dzeko is likely to start the game after he was on the bench last weekend against Verona. New signing Marash Kumbulla is set to make his debut. Nicolò Zaniolo and Diego Perotti are both unavailable for the game. Javier Pastore and Justin Kluivert are also both out injured.
Juventus are likely to field the same side that played last weekend with new signing Alvaro Morata set to be on the bench. Matthijs de Ligt and Paulo Dybala are unavailable due to injury. They also will not have Alex Sandro and Federico Bernardeschi available who are both injured.
The last fixture between the two sides saw Roma win 3-1 back in August.
Roma lost their opening game of Serie A last weekend, with a 3-0 defeat away to Verona.
Juventus got off to a winning start with a 3-0 win over Sampdoria.
Roma will be looking for a better result after they lost last weekend, whereas Juventus will be looking for their second league victory is as many games.
Barcelona v Villareal
Barcelona start their La Liga season at home and after a summer that has seen Lionel Messi looking to move away, only to decide to remain with the club. Barcelona will play their first competitive game since the disappointing 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League quarter-final. This will also be the first competitive game as Barcelona manager for Ronald Koeman.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be out until October with a tendon injury, which means Neto will start in goal for Barcelona. Sergi Roberto will start at right back and Phillip Coutinho looks set start for the club after he has returned from his loan spell at Bayern Munich. Martin Braithwaite and Samuel Umtiti are both out injured.
Villareal will be without Rubén Peña, who will miss the game as he is out injured until October with an adductor injury. Ramiro Guerra and Alberto Moreno are both out through injury. Raúl Albiol is doubtful for the game after he suffered a broken nose
Barcelona won the last game between the two, 4-1 back in August.
Barcelona have played three friendlies that have seen wins over Gimnastic, Girona and Elche.
Villareal have played two La Liga games this season. They drew against Huesca 1-1 on the first game of the season and won 2-1 last weekend against Eibar.
Barcelona will be looking for a winning start, but Villareal is a tough side to play in the opening game of the season.
Galatasaray v Fenerbahce
Sunday sees the Intercontinental derby take place. It is also known as the Eternal derby and is regarded as the biggest game in Turkish football, between the two most successful teams in Turkish football.
Galatasaray are without Fernando Muslera who is out injured, which means Fatih Ozturk will continue in goal. Emre Akbaba is unavailable through injury. Marcelo Saracchi also misses the game through injury.
Fenerbahce have a full squad to choose from. The newest arrivals of Nazim Sangare and Marcel Tisserand are both expected to start on the bench.
Galatasaray won 3-1 in the last fixture between the two sides, which took place back in February.
Galatasaray have won all four games that they have played in all competitions this season. They have won twice in the Europa League and have won both league fixtures. They won 3-1 against Gaziantep and won 2-0 against Basaksehir.
Fenerbahce have also played two league games and they have beat Rizespor 2-1 and drew against Hatayspor, 0-0.
Both sides will be looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season and the game promises to be a competitive affair.
