The race for the top five leagues is heating up: Manchester City are facing a point-giving boy, and Barcelona are struggling to repair their defence
Chao News client reporter Ying Luyang
The top five leagues are all halfway through the season and the Premier League and La Liga are the most fierce in the title race. In the Premier League, Liverpool is temporarily at the top of the table with a 4-point lead, followed by Manchester City and Arsenal will stage a battle for points; in La Liga, third-ranked Barcelona is already 8 points behind the top Real Madrid, and urgently needs a win to retain the suspense of the title, and fourth-ranked Atletico Madrid should not be difficult to win against Almeria, but their recent ups and downs have made it difficult for the team to return to the title ranks. In this issue, the General Staff of the Quiz provides readers with a preview of the four major battles for the reference of lottery buyers.
February 25, 01:30 (Beijing time)
Bournemouth v Manchester City
In the 18th round of the Premier League, Haaland won alone. Courtesy of Visual China
Bournemouth have been in a decent season with seven wins, seven draws and 10 defeats in 24 league games, and have secured themselves in the middle of the league with a four-game winning streak in December. However, in the last six rounds, Bournemouth have fallen into a hard to find a win.
After 25 rounds of league matches, Manchester City has a record of 17 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses, accumulating 56 points, 4 points behind the leader Liverpool with one less round, and is still one of the favorites for the Premier League title. Last weekend, Manchester City's red-hot form was unexpectedly held to a halt by a Chelsea side who have not had a good run of form this season, ending an 11-game winning streak in all competitions and criticised for the team's top scorer Erling Haaland. However, the world's top centre-forward proved his worth by scoring the only goal of the game against Brentford in the next game.
Judging from the past records, the two teams have won all the past 12 meetings with the "Blue Moon". In the last round of the league, the Blue Moon Army at home played a wave of 6-1 victory, which shows the difference in strength between the two sides. Although Bournemouth is at home in this round, they are only afraid that they will not escape the fate of "sending the boy".
February 25, 04:00 (Beijing Time)
Arsenal v Newcastle United
In the Champions League, Arsenal was beaten away by Porto. Courtesy of Visual China
Recently, the "Gunners" Arsenal have won five in a row after three consecutive defeats in all competitions. In the last two league rounds, Arsenal have scored 11 goals and kept clean sheets on the road. However, they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at Porto in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Despite their setbacks in the Champions League, Arsenal are still one of the strongest title contenders in the Premier League. After 25 rounds of league matches, Arsenal has a record of 17 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses, only 1 point behind Manchester City and is in third place. Although leading striker Gabriel Jesus may continue to be sidelined due to injury, Arsenal frontline players such as Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have performed well recently.
Newcastle United's form has been up and down this season, with 11 wins, 4 draws and 10 defeats in the first 25 rounds, ranking 8th. Recently, the Magpies' form has shown signs of recovery, with 3 wins and 2 draws in the last 5 rounds of matches to remain unbeaten. After successive exits in the Champions League and EFL Cup, the pressure on them to play on multiple fronts has also been eased. With Isak, Botman and others returning from injury, coach Eddie Hayie is finally no longer so stretched in terms of personnel.
In the past 12 meetings between the two teams, Arsenal has the advantage of 9 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, and this round is at home, and the Gunners who have been hit in the Champions League will inevitably riveting their firepower to attack with all their might, and the Magpies as a visiting arsenal will not be easy to get out.
February 24, 23:15 (Beijing time)
Barcelona vs Getafe
Lewandoves. Courtesy of Visual China
Barcelona has improved significantly after coach Xavi announced his departure from the season, and after losing at home to Villarreal, a team in the middle and lower reaches of La Liga, Barcelona has won three and drawn two in the last five matches to remain unbeaten. After 25 rounds of league matches, Barcelona has achieved 16 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses, temporarily ranking third in the league with 54 points, 8 points behind the leader Real Madrid, and there is still a glimmer of hope for the championship. The 35-year-old Poland's top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski has been on a recent resurgence in form, scoring nine goals in all competitions since the start of the year. However, Barcelona has conceded goals against weak teams in the last three rounds of the league, which shows that there are still holes in the defense.
Getafe's recent form has been up and down, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in the last 6 rounds, and the team is currently in 10th place with 34 points after 25 rounds of league games. It is worth mentioning that Getafe's away results this season are not ideal, with only 1 win, 7 draws and 5 defeats. The two teams have met in the previous 12 games, Barcelona has 7 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss, and this game is optimistic that Barcelona will win at home.
February 25, 04:00 (Beijing Time)
Almeria vs Atletico Madrid
Almeria's overall performance this season has been quite sluggish, with 8 draws and 17 losses after 25 rounds, and a win is hard to find, ranking at the bottom of La Liga. Almeria have conceded 52 goals this season, top of the table and have obvious defensive problems.
This winter window, the team brought in Belgian central defender Radovanovic in the defence in hopes of reducing the goals that have plagued the team throughout the season. The new signing has lived up to the team's expectations to a certain extent, starting the last two rounds of games, contributing the team's highest number of clearances. Draws with Athletic Bilbao and Granada have seen the poor defence improve a bit, but the team has continued to be poor in attack, keeping clean sheets in their last five league home games.
Atletico Madrid's performance this season is mediocre, with 16 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses after 25 rounds, accumulating 51 points, 11 points behind the top Real Madrid, and almost losing hope of competing for the title. After drawing with Real Madrid at the beginning of the month, the team lost the Copa del Rey and then lost to a mesdiocre Sevilla side. In the last round of the league, the team was able to halt the decline with a 5-0 thrashing of Las Palmas.
Judging from the past records of the two teams, Atletico Madrid has 6 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, although the recent form has been a little up and down, but it should not be a problem to hold the "deputy squad leader" Almeria.
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