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The football year 2024 was slowly coming to an end. But before the contemplative Christmas season begins, there is still a lot on offer in Europe’s top leagues. Three game days before the winter break, Adi Hütters AS Monaco meets Olympique Marseille in the French Ligue 1. In Germany there will be a duel in the Bundesliga on Saturday: Borussia Dortmund welcomes FC Bayern Munich for the top game, while a real treat awaits football fans in England. Because the struggling Manchester City is a guest of the league leaders at Anfield Road. Is the first decision in the Premier League title race perhaps already being made there?

Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich

Saturday, November 30th, 2024, 6:30 p.m., German Bundesliga

This fixture speaks for itself, as it is one of the most interesting and prestigious encounters in European football, even if Borussia has become more of a sideshow in the Bundesliga since Jürgen Klopp’s departure. The team continued to develop into great players, like the two Englishmen Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham. Of course, ex-Salzburg player Erling Haaland should also be mentioned here, who began his path in the city of Mozart, developed it further in Dortmund and continued unabated in Manchester. The game is not an easy football game, even if the performance gap between the two teams has widened in recent years.

Borussia Dortmund can count themselves lucky that the fixture takes place at their home Signal Iduna Park. Nuri Şahin’s team always lacks consistency, especially when away from home. The black and yellow were able to secure a magical point on foreign territory. At home, however, Borussia Dortmund has a clean slate. Six games, six wins and a goal difference of 18:6 are evidence of outstanding home strength. However, maintaining this series against a strong Bavarian team is anything but easy. Harry Kane is more accurate than ever before. Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise inspire game after game with their creativity and enthusiasm for the game, while the defense has clearly stabilized and is even threatening to score. Central defender Min-Jae Kim scored the 1-0 win in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern can also look back on an impressive run of seven games without conceding a goal in all competitions and hope that they don’t have to concede any goals in the game against BVB either.

Liverpool FC vs Manchester City

Sunday, December 1st, 2024, 5:00 p.m., Premier League

The top game in the English Premier League also promises to be top-class. Liverpool FC against Manchester City sounds like fast-paced football, a lot of passion and a great atmosphere at Anfield Road. From a neutral perspective, the anticipation is somewhat clouded by Manchester City’s poor form. The Citizens’ susceptibility to counterattacks is particularly noticeable this season. Here you can see the dependence on Rodri, who did an excellent job on the six for Spain last season and also at the European Championships. As a ball distributor and conqueror, he played a key role in winning the title in the 2023/24 season. The weakness in defense could become a big problem, especially against a strong offensive team like Liverpool. The Reds have the second-best offense with 24 goals and the best defense in the league with eight goals conceded from 12 games. Liverpool FC also kept a clean sheet in the Champions League against last year’s winners, even without the injured Alisson, and with the 2-0 win there they moved ahead at the top of the table with only one goal conceded and no points lost.

After the bitter 3:3 after a 3:0 lead against Feyenoord, Manchester City is not only under pressure in the league. As is well known, the head is a footballer’s strongest opponent. Maybe the Skyblues will have a “surprise success” at Anfield Road at the weekend and find their way back to their old strength. It is possible that an unexpected success will cause the knot to burst and loosen the chests of the tense actors. One game can change everything.

Olympique Marseille vs AS Monaco

Sunday, December 1st, 2024, 8:45 p.m., League 1

Of the three games mentioned, this game pairing is probably the one that is given the least importance. But if you look at the Ligue 1 table, the game holds a lot of excitement. Second in the table (AS Monaco) meets third in the table (Olympique Marseille), although they are only separated by three points. AS Monaco, which together with PSG has the best defense (10 goals each), faces the second best offense in the league. Both teams will also be challenged if they want to keep up with Paris Saint-Germain.

Marseille is convincing this season under Roberto De Zerbi with a lot of ball possession and is relying on a dominant style of play. But the Monegasques also try to determine the game through phases of possession. It is therefore not surprising that Olympique Marseille is second with 59.4 percent of ball possession and AS Monaco is third in this statistic with 58 percent. What is striking about Marseille is their excellent conversion of chances, because although they achieved an xGoal value of 17.8 over the season, they were able to score 27 goals. The outstanding player is former Manchester United player Mason Greenwood, who is the best scorer in the team with eight goals and has found his way back to his old strength. The Danes Pierre-Emil Højbjerg and Adrien Rabiot impress in midfield with their dominant style of play. Højbjerg’s creativity will put a lot of strain on Monaco’s defense. But that is a great strength of the Monegasques this season. No team has as many successful ball conquests per game as Hütter’s team (13.8).