Soccer Insights header featuring Manchester City

Soccer Insights – Dec Vol. 3

The Premier League prepares for the hectic Christmas schedule as other European leagues approach the winter break, Liga MX reaches a conclusion and the Champions League last-16 draw has taken place – all in this weeks round-up.

Premier League
england

Results
Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle
Burnley 1-0 Southampton
Chelsea 2-0 Hull
Crystal Palace 1-1 Stoke
Everton 3-1 QPR
Leicester 0-1 Man City
Man United 3-0 Liverpool
Sunderland 1-1 West Ham
Swansea 1-2 Tottenham
West Brom 1-0 Aston Villa

Table
1. Chelsea 39pts
2. Man City 36pts
3. Man United 31pts
4. West Ham 28pts
5. Southampton 26pts

Talking points
• Manchester United made it six wins in a row with a comprehensive victory over rivals Liverpool. The Reds have lost seven league games already and sit 11th in the table.
• Frank Lampard scored his 175th Premier League goal to draw level with Thierry Henry on the all-time list as Man City won at bottom club Leicester.
• QPR have lost all eight away league games this season, and over their last three years in the Premier League have only won two of 40 away games.

La Liga
Spain

Results
Almeria 1-4 Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid 0-1 Villarreal
Cordoba 0-0 Levante
Deportivo 1-0 Elche
Espanyol 2-1 Granada
Getafe 0-0 Barcelona
Malaga 1-0 Celta Vigo
Real Sociedad 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla 0-0 Eibar
Valencia 3-0 Rayo Vallecano

Table
1. Real Madrid 39pts
2. Barcelona 35pts
3. Atletico Madrid 32pts
4. Sevilla 30pts
5. Valencia 28pts

Talking points
• Barcelona were frustrated with a goalless draw at Getafe. Luis Suarez is still searching for his first league goal with the club.
• No such problems for Real Madrid, who are guaranteed to be top at the winter break. Despite a ‘poor’ performance, Ronaldo scored two more to take his tally to 25 in 15 league games.
• Defending champions Atletico lost ground on the top two as they conceded a late goal at home to sixth place Villarreal.

Bundesliga
German

Results
Augsburg 0-4 Bayern Munich
Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
Freiburg 0-0 Hamburg
Hertha Berlin 1-0 Borussia Dortmund
Hoffenheim 3-2 Frankfurt
Mainz 1-1 Stuttgart
Schalke 1-2 Koln
Werder Bremen 3-3 Hannover
Wolfsburg 1-1 Paderborn

Table
1. B Munich 39pts
2. Wolfsburg 30pts
3. B Leverkusen 24pts
4. B M’gladbach 24pts
4. Augsburg 24pts

Talking points
• Bayern will be the ‘Autumn Champions’ (top at winter) as they continue to run away with the league. They have still conceded just three league goals.
• More misery for Dortmund as former player Julian Schieber consigned them to a ninth defeat in 15 league matches.
• While the title race may be a foregone conclusion already, the race for Europe is exciting with just four points separating fourth from ninth.

Serie A
Italy

Results
Cesena 1-4 Fiorentina
Chievo 0-2 Inter
Empoli 0-0 Torino
Genoa 0-1 Roma
Juventus 1-1 Sampdoria
Lazio 3-0 Atalanta
Milan 2-0 Napoli
Palermo 2-1 Sassuolo
Parma 0-0 Cagliari
Udinese 1-2 Verona

Table
1. Juventus 36pts
2. Roma 35pts
3. Lazio 26pts
4. Sampdoria 26pts
5. Genoa 26pts

Talking points
• Juventus saw their 25 match winning run at home in Serie A ended by an impressive Sampdoria side.
• Roberto Mancini finally tasted victory in his second spell with Inter with a win against lowly Chievo.
• Milan had a notable win over Napoli that moves them above their visitors in the table.

Ligue 1
france

Results
Bastia 2-0 Rennes
Guingamp 1-0 PSG
Lille 3-0 Toulouse
Lorient 3-1 Metz
Lyon 3-0 Caen
Monaco 1-0 Marseille
Montpellier 3-3 Lens
Nantes 2-1 Bordeaux
Nice 0-0 St Etienne
Reims 3-2 Evian

Table
1. Marseille 38pts
2. PSG 37pts
3. Lyon 36pts
4. St Etienne 33pts
5. Bordeaux 31pts

Talking points
• PSG suffered their first league defeat of the season with a surprise defeat away to Guingamp.
• Marseille were unable to capitalise as they lost away to Champions League group winners Monaco.

Liga MX
mexico

Results
Tigres 1-0 America
America 3-0 Tigres (agg 3-1)

Talking points
• America have won their 12th Liga MX Apertura title, a significant achievement as they overtake Chivas as Mexico’s most successful club.

Champions League
ucl

The draw has been made for the last 16 of the Champions League, and features a number of familiar match-ups:

Arsenal v Monaco
Basel v Porto
Bayer Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid
Juventus v Dortmund
Man City v Barcelona
PSG v Chelsea
Schalke v Real Madrid
Shakhtar v Bayern Munich

What to look out for next week
• Premier League – Liverpool don’t have long at recover from their Old Trafford nightmare; they host Arsenal on Sunday.
• La Liga – Barcelona will hope to beat Cordoba and close the gap on Real Madrid, who will be at the Club World Cup.
• Bundesliga – Wolfsburg have a tough double-header, with a midweek trip to Dortmund before hosting Bayern on the weekend.
• Serie A – the cities of Rome and Milan clash as Roma host AC Milan and Lazio travel to Inter.
• Ligue 1 – PSG will look to rebound from their first league defeat of the season at home to Montpellier.

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Greg Bortkiewicz
greg.bortkiewicz@acmconnect.com