Five games to watch this weekend: Real Madrid up against it & Man Utd face in-form Hammers

Latest odds and previews ahead of five unmissable matches this weekend.

We’ve already taken an in-depth look at three of the Premier League’s biggest matches right here, but that’s not the end of the footballing feast on offer this weekend.

West Ham have won three in a row and will look to make it four as Man Utd visit, while Sevilla will look to profit from the poor form of struggling Real Madrid. Over in the Bundesliga, first-placed Bayern Munich take on second-placed RB Leipzig in a table-topping clash.

We’ve covered all of those games plus two more as we help plan your weekend football-watching schedule.

West Ham v Manchester United – Saturday (17:30)

West Ham find themselves on a promising run of form, with victories over Fulham, Sheffield United and Aston Villa propelling them into fifth place in the table. To add to that, they’ve beaten Man Utd the last two times they’ve met at the London Stadium.

While Man Utd have also won three in a row in the league, they fell to a 3-1 defeat against PSG in midweek and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may find he needs to rotate his side. On the other hand, Edinson Cavani is starting to look a real threat up top, adding a killer instinct to an already skilful attack.

Keep a look out for the midfield battle and how Bruno Fernandes tries to find space between Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice. If he can evade the duo or keep them pegged back it could swing the tie in United’s favour.

West Ham can be backed at 13/5 to win here, with the draw also at 13/5. A Man Utd win is at 21/20.

Sevilla v Real Madrid – Saturday (16:15)

It’s safe to say things haven’t gone the way Zinedine Zidane envisaged when he accepted an offer to return as Real Madrid’s Head Coach back in March of last year. Already they’re on the precipice of Champions League elimination and with three La Liga defeats in their opening 10 games this season – they only lost three league games in total last year.

Back-to-back defeats to Alaves and Shakhtar Donetsk leave them on the verge of a crisis, and Sevilla will be all too happy to push them over the edge.

Sevilla have already qualified for the Champions League knock-out stages, despite a dispiriting 4-0 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday. In the league, they sit one point behind Real, with a game in hand – having won their last three games. This is an opportunity to leapfrog their opponents and join Real Sociedad, Atletico and Villareal in an unfamiliar top four.

Sevilla are 31/20 to win the tie, with 12/5 about the draw and a Real Madrid win at 17/10.

Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig – Saturday (18:30)

Despite what now looks like a freak result back in September – as they lost 4-1 to Hoffenheim – Bayern Munich’s aura of invincibility looks largely intact. Already this season, they’ve qualified comfortably at the top of their Champion League group, won the UEFA Super Cup and find themselves in a familiar first-place in the Bundesliga.

With the patchy form of Borussia Dortmund, the task of stopping Bayern from running away with yet another league title looks to have fallen to RB Leipzig.

Leipzig are in second place in the league and boast a formidable backline (despite that 5-0 Champions League defeat to Man Utd), conceding just six league goals so far this season. They’ll be put to the test against the league’s most prolific attack – Bayern have scored 31 goals already in their opening nine games.

Bayern Munich are 2/5 to win the tie, with the draw at 21/5 and a RB Leipzig win at 6/1.

Man City v Fulham – Saturday (16:00)

One team whose aura seems to be on the verge of shattering is Man City. Yes, they claimed their customary 5-0 win over Burnley last week and have qualified from one of the easier Champions League groups – but there has been something unconvincing this term about Pep Guardiola’s side, and the table doesn’t lie. They’re 11th in the league and deserve to be based on their performances so far.

Their opponents Fulham look to have finally found their feet, with an impressive display as they beat Leicester 2-1 last weekend. But for a couple of high-profile penalty misses they’d probably be higher up the table, but for now they’ll be happy to have climbed out of the relegation zone.

Can they build on those recent performances, or have Man City returned to their flat-track bully ways after last week’s win?

Man City are the heavy 1/8 favourites to win, with the draw at 17/2 and a Fulham win way out at 22/1.

Sheffield United v Leicester City – Sunday (20:00)

Sheffield United’s dismal start to the Premier League finds them rock-bottom with just a single point from their opening 10 games. This is perhaps the worst possible time for them to come up against their bogey team. Leicester have won their last five games against Sheffield United in all competitions, including both Premier League fixtures last season.

And Leicester need a win here. After beating Wolves 1-0 on 8th November, they’ve lost both Premier League ties, while drawing and losing in the Europa League. Perhaps last week’s loss to Fulham was the most damaging – they looked the inferior side for much of the game.

Despite that, they still hold on to fourth position in the League, but they’ll need to stop the rot quickly – just three points separate them from Man City in 11th place.

Sheffield United at 29/10 to find their first win of the season, with the draw at 12/5 and a Leicester win at Evens. 

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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication