STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images. Kylian Mbappe (right) celebrates with Idrissa Gueye.
While the Premier League is on break for the FA Cup this weekend, the rest of Europe’s major soccer leagues are in action.
Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 were all in action this week, so here is a recap of the action we saw on Wednesday:
- A Romelu Lukaku-less Inter Milan squad was upset on the road by Sampdoria 2-1, but remains in second place in the league standings.
- Napoli was upset as at home by newly promoted side Spezia, 2-1, dropping them to sixth place in the table.
- Juventus beat league-leader AC Milan, 3-1 on the road, moving them within seven points of the top spot in Serie A.
- Barcelona won a five-goal thriller, 3-2, on the road at Athletic Bilbao, keeping their title hopes alive for another week.
- Lyon held on to beat Lens, 3-2, extending their lead in Ligue 1 to three points.
- PSG was held to a 1-1 draw at Saint Etienne and subsequently remain three points behind Lyon for the top spot in the league.
- Lille was upset at home by Angers, 2-1, dropping them down to third place in Ligue 1.
With Ligue 1 and Serie A being in action during the middle of the week, managers will begin to rotate their squads to rest certain players. Therefore, might be a good idea to wait until starting lineups come out before heading to the wagering window.
You can use these projections to identify early betting value on the opening lines, and follow me in The Action Network App to see any bets I make throughout the week.
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Bundesliga
Bundesliga Notes
- Gladbach vs. Bayern Munich: Gladbach’s start to the season has been less than ideal, as they are in seventh place and 12 points off Bayern Munich for the top spot in the league. Bayern Munich’s lead is only two points at the moment and they haven’t been as dominant this season, dropping six points in their last eight matches. Gladbach has had some success against Bayern Munich at home over the years, winning three of their last five meetings at Borussia Park against the defending champions.
- RB Leipzig vs. Dortmund: RB Leipzig has been dominant at home, with a 6-1-0 record, and are outscoring their opponents 16-3. Dortmund has struggled with consistency this season, as they’ve only accumulated 10 points in their last eight matches. Since RB Leipzig was promoted to Bundesliga in 2016, they’ve only beaten Dortmund twice.
Bundesliga Injury News
- Augsburg: Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (CB) is out against VfB Stuttgart. Raphael Framberger (RB) is questionable.
- Bayern Munich: Serge Gnabry (RM) is questionable to play against Gladbach.
- Bayer Leverkusen: Charles Aranguiz (CM) and Sven Bender (CB) are out against Werder Bremen.
- Borussia Dortmund: Jude Bellingham (CM) and Thorgan Hazard (CAM) are questionable to play against RB Leipzig.
- Borussia Monchengladbach: Marcus Thuram (ST) is out against Bayern Munich. Valentino Lazaro (RM) is questionable.
- Freiburg: Lucas Holer (CM) and Jonathan Schmid (RM) are out against Koln.
- Hertha Berlin: Dedryck Boyata (CB) is out against Arminia Bielefeld.
- Hoffenheim: Kevin Akpoguma (CB) and Sebastian Rudy (CM) are out against Schalke. Florian Grillitsch (CAM) is questionable.
- Koln: Ismail Jakobs (LM), Sebastian Andersson (ST) and Florian Kainz (RM) are questionable to play against Freiburg.
- Mainz: Robin Zentner (GK) is out against Frankfurt.
- RB Leipzig: Christopher Nkunku (CAM) and Nordi Mukiele (RM) are questionable to face Dortmund.
- Schalke: Rabbi Matondo (RW), Nassim Boujellab (CM) and Salif Sane (CB) are out against Hoffenheim.
- Union Berlin: Grischa Promel (CM) is out against Wolfsburg.
Serie A
Serie A Notes
- Roma vs. Inter: Roma is unbeaten at home this season, while Inter suffered their first loss on the road this season on Wednesday. Before the loss, Inter was one of the hottest teams in Europe, winning eight straight matches and outscoring opponents 24-8. What is quite strange about this matchup is the last five times these two teams have met in Serie A, the match has finished in a draw.
- Juventus vs. Sassuolo: Juventus got their season back on track Wednesday by beating AC Milan, 3-1, on the road. The defending champions are now seven points off the lead and need to go on a run if they are going to win their 10th straight Serie A title. Sassuolo is starting fall back in the pack after a blistering start to the season, winning just three of their last eight matches.
Serie A Injury News
- AC Milan: Alexis Saelemaekers (RM) is out against Torino. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (ST), Ante Rebic (LM) and Ismael Bennacer (CM) are questionable.
- Atalanta: Duvan Zapata (ST) is out against Benevento.
- Bologna: Mattias Svanberg (CM) and Lorenzo De Silvestri (RB) are out against Genoa.
- Cagliari: Marko Rog (RB) and Nahitan Nandez (RM) are out against Fiorentina. Diego Godin (CB) is questionable.
- Crotone: Luca Cigarini (CM) is questionable to face Verona.
- Fiorentina: Gaetano Castrovilli (CM) is out against Cagliari. Franck Ribery (LW) is questionable.
- Genoa: Edoardo Goldaniga (CB) and Cristian Zapata (CB) are out against Bologna.
- Juventus: Juan Cuadrado (RB), Alex Sandro (LB) and Alvaro Morata (ST) are questionable to play against Sassuolo.
- Lazio: Joaquin Correa (ST) and Mohamed Fares (LM) are questionable to face Parma.
- Napoli: Victor Osimhen (ST) and Dries Mertens (CF) are questionable to face Udinese.
- Parma: Riccardo Gagliolo (LB), Juraj Kucka (CAM) and Simone Iacoponi (CB) are out against Lazio. Gervinho (ST) is questionable.
- Roma: Pedro (RW) and Antonio Mirante (GK) are questionable to face Inter.
- Sampdoria: Manuel Gabbiadini (CAM) is questionable to play against Spezia.
- Spezia: Matteo Ricci (CM) and Daniele Verde (RW) are questionable to face Sampdoria.
- Udinese: Stefano Okaka (ST) is questionable to play against Napoli. Ignacio Pussetto is out.
La Liga
La Liga Notes
- Sevilla vs. Real Sociedad: After leading La Liga for a majority of the season, Real Sociedad is starting to fall off the pace, as they are currently in fourth place. They’ve hit a nasty run of form, winning just one of their last eight matches. Sevilla is starting to make their way up the table after a poor start to the season, winning five of their last eight. A win for Sevilla could potentially move them into fourth place in the La Liga standings.
- Granada vs. Barcelona: Lionel Messi and company are quietly putting together a run at the moment, as they are now in third place. Barcelona has won five of their last seven matches, including three in a row on the road. Pretty much all of Granada’s success this season has came at home, where they’ve earned five of their seven wins. Barcelona has won seven of their last eight meetings against Granada.
La Liga Injury News
- Alaves: Victor Laguardia (CB) is out against Cadiz.
- Athletic Bilbao: Yeray Alvarez (CB) is questionable to face Atletico Madrid.
- Atletico Madrid: Stefan Savic is out against Athletic Bilabo.
- Barcelona: Gerard Pique (CB) and Sergi Roberto (RB) are questionable to play against Granada. Philippe Coutinho (CAM) and Ansu Fati (LW) are out.
- Cadiz: Salvi Sanchez (RM) is questionable to face Valencia.
- Celta Vigo: Iago Aspas (ST) and Renato Tapia (CDM) are out against Villarreal. Nolito (LM) is questionable.
- Granada: Domingos Duarte (CB) is out against Bracelona. Luis Milla (CM) and Darwin Machis (LM) are both questionable.
- Huesca: Borja Garcia (LM), Pablo Maffeo (RB) and Sandro Ramirez (ST) are questionable to play against Real Betis.
- Levante: Ruben Vezo (CB) is questionable to play against Eibar.
- Osasuna: Oier (CM) is out against Real Madrid.
- Real Betis: Joaquin (RM), Claudio Bravo (GK), Cristian Tello (LW), Marc Bartra (CB), William Carvalho (CM) and Sergio Canales (CM) are all questionable to face Huesca. Guido Rodriguez (CM) is out.
- Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos (CB) and Rodrygo (RM) is questionable to play against Celta Vigo. Daniel Carvajal (RB) is out.
- Real Sociedad: Joseba Zaldua (CM), David Silva (CAM) and Adnan Januzaj (LM) are questionable to face Sevilla. Nacho Monreal (LB) is out.
- Sevilla: Jesus Navas (RB), Lucas Ocampos (RW) are questionable to face Real Sociedad. Fernando (CDM) is out.
- Valencia: Gabriel Paulista (CB) and Jasper Cillessen (GK) are questionable to face Real Valladolid.
- Villarreal: Paco Alcacer (ST) is questionable to face Celta Vigo. Vicente Iborra (CDM) is out.
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 Notes
- Rennes vs. Lyon: Two of the hottest teams in Ligue 1 meet in Rennes on Sunday for a top-four matchup. After a bad run of form in November, Rennes has won four of their last five matches in Ligue 1 play. Lyon is one of the hottest teams in Europe, winning eight of its last nine matches, while outscoring their opponents 22 to 7. Lyon has a three-point lead at the top of the table, so they will need to keep their win streak going if they are going to hold off PSG.
Ligue 1 Injury News
- Angers: Rachid Alioui (CM) and Sofiane Boufal (LM) are out against Monaco.
- Bordeaux: Hatem Ben Arfa (CAM) is out against Lorient.
- Lens: Facundo Medina (CB) is out against Strasbourg.
- Lille: Zeki Celik (RB) and Renato Sanches (CM) are questionable to play against Nimes.
- Lyon: Karl Toko Ekambi (LW) and Bruno Guimaraes (CDM) are questionable to play against Rennes.
- Marseille: Jordan Amavi (LB) and Morgan Sanson (CM) are questionable to play against Dijon.
- Metz: Opa Nguette (LW) is questionable to play against Nice.
- Monaco: Cesc Fabregas (CM) is questionable to play against Angers.
- Montpellier: Teji Savanier (CM), Pedro Mendes (CB) and Stephy Mavididi (LW) are all questionable to face Nantes.
- Nice: Kasper Dolberg (ST) and Pierre Lees-Melou (CM) are questionable to play against Metz.
- Nimes: Loick Landre (CB) is questionable to face Lille.
- PSG: Neymar (CF), Presnel Kimpembe (CB), Layvin Kurzawa (LB), Danilo Pereira (CM), Alessandro Florenzi (RB), Rafinha (CM) and Mauro Icardi (ST) are all questionable to play against Brest.
- Rennes: Faitout Maouassa (LB), Romain Del Castillo (RW) and Daniele Rugani (CB) are questionable to face Lyon.
- Strasbourg: Bingourou Kamara (GK) is out against Lens.