Top 4 Derbies for the Weekend

15/03/22 2355

Occasionally, the fixture list around Europe brings us a selection of big derby matches over one weekend. That is the case this weekend and we have 4 thrilling derby games to look forward to, beginning with a London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

You must go back to 1898 to find the first time these two teams met and it was Tottenham Hotspur who came out on top that day. However, if we look towards more recent times in the Premier League and it is West Ham who have the better record, winning 2 and drawing 1 of their last 3 Premier League meetings with Spurs.

If anything, we expect to see plenty of goals in this game and Spurs have scored at least 2 goals in 7 of their last 8 home Premier League matches.

There have also been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Tottenham's last 6 home Premier League games. Both teams are still hoping to finish in the top four this season, meaning this should be an entertaining match.

El Clásico is arguably the biggest derby in world football and on Sunday the 20th of March Real Madrid and Barcelona collide at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Real Madrid have the title firmly in their sights whereas Barcelona are aiming to finish in the top four.

Real Madrid have had the upper hand in recent El Clásico games, winning 4 of the last 5 clashes between the Spanish giants. Home advantage could be hugely important in this match as Real Madrid are undefeated in their last 24 home games in La Liga.

Real Madrid have kept a clean sheet in 5 of their last 6 league matches but Barcelona have scored at least 2 goals in their last 6 La Liga games, meaning we should see both teams score.

Now we travel over to Italy for the Derby della Capitale and both Roma and Lazio will believe they can still finish in the top four this season. Despite the teams sharing the same stadium, it is interesting how the ‘home’ team has had the better of recent derby games.

The team designated as the home side have won 5 of the last 7 matches, with the other 2 games ending level. In fact, you must go back to April 2017 to find the last time the away team won the Derby della Capitale.

There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 11 of Lazio's last 12 Serie A away games and we expect more of the same in a closely fought match this weekend.

Finally, we travel to the Netherlands for De Klassieker, a match between Ajax and Feyenoord. Having suffered an embarrassing 6-2 defeat at Feyenoord in 2019, Ajax have dominated this fixture, winning each of the last 4 league meetings between the teams.

Ajax have scored 10 goals without reply in those 4 matches but Feyenoord have been scoring plenty of goals on the road in recent Eredivisie games, netting at least 2 in 4 of their last 5.

Ajax have seen over 2.5 goals in their last 6 home league fixtures, so this game should be full of goals.