• Saturday, April 20, 2024
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BusinessDay

Excitement returns as Crystal Palace lock horn with Man City, Real Madrid host Sevilla 

Manchester City-Crystal Palace

A fascinating game lies in prospect when Real Madrid host Sevilla at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga on Saturday. The game kicks off at 4pm.

Los Blancos, who are joint league leaders (currently second based on goal difference), head into the match on the back of a 3-0 win away at Getafe. Zinedine Zidane’s team have the chance to temporarily pull ahead of their arch-rivals, Barcelona, who play on Sunday. Yet Sevilla, managed by Julen Lopetegui, a former Real Madrid manager, will be no easy prey for the hosts. Los Palanganas might have won just two of their last five games, but the fourth-placed team have shown that they can wreak damage on teams.

In the Premier League, defending champions, Manchester City, welcome Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The game will be aired live on SuperSport Select 2 at 4pm.

Manchester City, led by Pep Guardiola, know that they cannot afford any more slip-ups as they attempt to close the 14-point deficit created by Liverpool and successfully defend their league title. The Citizens head into the game with a rich vein of form having won four out of their last five games. On the other hand, the Eagles seem to be punching above their weight as they are currently in ninth position. Although they have drawn three and lost one of their last five games, Roy Hodgson’s team are still a danger, as Guardiola will remember from his team’s 2-3 loss in their December 2018 encounter.

Also to be broadcast on Saturday is the Serie A encounter between Napoli and Fiorentina at the Stadio San Paulo..

Napoli are still looking to find their feet under new manager Gennaro Gattuso, having lost three and drawn one of their last five games. Gil Azzurri are struggling to fight their way into contention for a place in Europe next season but will need to replicate last season’s scintillating form to get back to the top six. They, however, meet a Fiorentina side, who have stumbled into the wrong end of the league log and are just nine points from safety. Manager Giuseppe Iachini will hope to galvanize his players to pick a surprise win against their Naples-based host.

Sunday’s action will see Leicester City hopes to continue their improbable challenge for the Premier League title when they travel to face Burnley at the Turf Moor. The game begins at 3pm and will be live on SuperSport Select 2. Nigeria’s Wilfred Ndidi will be missing in action through injury but fellow countryman, Kelechi Iheanacho is likely to be deployed by manager Brendan Rogers during the game.

The weekend’s coverage will be concluded with the game at the Camp Nou between the defending La Liga champions, Barcelona, and Granda. The game kicks off at 9pm on Sunday on SuperSport Select 5. Quique Setién will take charge of his first match as Barcelona’s manager following the club’s dismissal of Ernesto Valverde. Los Blaugrana will be eager for revenge over Granda, after the Andalusian team claimed a 2-0 home win during their last meeting in September 2019.