Salzburg need Austrian first as Bellingham looks to match Mbappe, Haaland – Champions League in Opta Numbers

By Sports Desk November 02, 2022

Salzburg will have to do what no other Austrian side has done before at Milan to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, while Jude Bellingham has his eyes on an achievement managed by only two players previously.

The Rossoneri need only a point from the game at San Siro and the historical facts suggest they will achieve their aim to make it out of Group E.

For Bellingham, he can put his name in the record books alongside former team-mate Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe by scoring for Borussia Dortmund at Copenhagen.

There is plenty to play for as the Champions League group stage wraps up on Wednesday, and Stats Perform has trawled through the data to shine a light on the most interesting angles.

Milan v Salzburg

With a win, Salzburg will advance to the knockout stages for the second consecutive season after never making it out of the group stage previously.

They will need to defy the odds on their trip to Milan, where the Italian side are undefeated in home fixtures against Austrian opponents in the competition (W4 D1), while averaging 3.8 goals per game.

Salzburg have never beaten Milan in their three previous Champions League meetings, but after losing the first two, they collected their first point with a 1-1 draw in this campaign's reverse fixture.

While Olivier Giroud became the oldest player in Champions League history to reach 20 goals (36 years old) during Milan's win at Dinamo Zagreb last time out, Salzburg boast the youngest starting XI in the competition with an average age of 22 years and 279 days.

Shakhtar Donetsk v RB Leipzig

Shakhtar have only won one game in the group stage, but sit three points behind second-placed. A win would see them through to the knockout stages for the third time in the past four seasons.

The reverse-fixture was a memorable one for Shakhtar and exciting young winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who showed why he is so in-demand with a goal and two assists in a 4-1 away win.

Unfortunately for the Ukrainian side, that was their only victory from their past 12 Champions League matches (D6 L5).

Meanwhile, Leipzig have found some form in the competition, with back-to-back victories against Celtic before making it three wins in a row when they beat Real Madrid 3-2.

Manchester City v Sevilla

City are eyeing an undefeated group stage when they host Sevilla, having only conceded one goal in total from their five games until this point.

English sides have given Sevilla trouble for years now, with their last Champions League win over a Premier League team coming back in 2007 against Arsenal. 

If Jorge Sampaoli's side are to stand any chance of a shock win, they will need to pay special attention to Jack Grealish, who has impressed in the group stage with 10 chances created from open play, the most in Pep Guardiola's squad.

Maccabi Haifa v Benfica

If Juventus can salvage even a draw in their clash with Paris Saint-Germain, then Benfica will be able to win Group H by defeating Maccabi Haifa.

It has been a special run of form for Benfica, who for the first time since 1990 have gone six Champions League games without a loss (W3 D3).

Maccabi will have their backs against the wall, as only Malmo have a worse winning percentage (17 per cent) than their 24 per cent among teams to have played at least 15 Champions League games.

Also working in Benfica's favour is manager Roger Schmidt's record in the competition. Between his time with Bayer Leverkusen (2014-2017) and Benfica in this campaign, his run of 13 games unbeaten is the most by any active manager qualified for this season's Champions League.

Other fixtures:

Juventus v Paris Saint-Germain

- Juventus are looking to avoid becoming the second Italian side to ever lose five matches in a Champions League group stage, after Roma in 2004-05.

- Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe has six goals in the group stage. With one more he can tie Christopher Nkunku (last season) for the most by a French player in a single group stage, while with two more he can tie Zlatan Ibrahimovic's club-record of eight in 2013-14.

Copenhagen v Borussia Dortmund

60  - Despite Copenhagen still being without a win in Group G, they have kept a clean sheet in 60 per cent (nine-of-15) of their Champions League home games – the best ratio of any team with at least 10 appearances.

- With a goal, Bellingham can become just the third teenager to ever score in all three away games in a Champions League group stage, following Mbappe (2017-18) and Haaland (2019-20).

Chelsea v Dinamo Zagreb

10  - Chelsea are undefeated in their past 10 group stage games in the Champions League dating back to September 2019 (W6 D4). Over that period, they are averaging 2.3 goals per game.

10  - Along with City's Grealish, Chelsea's Mason Mount is the only other Premier League player from this Champions League campaign to tally at least 10 shots and 10 chances created.

Real Madrid v Celtic

20  - Since the beginning of last season's Champions League, no player has been involved in more open-play sequences that have resulted in a goal than Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior (20).

14  - Celtic's Matt O'Riley has attempted the most shots in the Champions League this season without scoring, with no goals from his 14 shots.

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    Eddie Howe lauded the impact of Arne Slot with Premier League leaders Liverpool, though insists the title race is far from over ahead of Newcastle United's meeting on Wednesday.

    Liverpool are nine points clear at the summit heading into the midweek action, having dispatched Manchester City with a 2-0 win at Anfield on Sunday.

    That opened up an 11-point gap between the Reds and Pep Guardiola's defending champions, yet Howe believes the title battle is far from over in December.

    "No, I think nothing is ever secure or done until it's done," said Howe. "The Premier League is known for twists and turns, so who knows what's going to happen.

    "I think they're a team at the moment playing with full confidence, they've still got the hallmark of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.

    "But Arne has now had his time with the team and tweaked certain things, that makes them a very difficult proposition because they've added new strengths."

    Newcastle were defeated 2-0 at home by West Ham before a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace last Saturday.

    Slot believes travelling to Newcastle will pose a tougher test than facing Real Madrid, however, having defeated Los Blancos last week in the Champions League.

    "We know we have a difficult week coming up again," Slot said.

    "We thought Madrid and City were very difficult teams to face, which they actually were as well. I think it’s even harder going away to Newcastle.

    "We're not even halfway through the season yet."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Newcastle United – Alexander Isak

    Fitness permitting if Alexander Isak can shake off a knock suffered at Palace, the Sweden striker will be key to any home hopes here.

    The Newcastle forward has 21 goals in 30 home Premier League appearances, although he has only scored twice from 18 attempts at St James' Park this season.

    Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

    Mohamed Salah stole the show once more against City, scoring from the penalty spot and assisting Cody Gakpo's opener.

    The Liverpool star has also been involved in 14 Premier League goals against Newcastle (eight goals, six assists), with these coming in his last 13 appearances against them.

    MATCH PREDICTION – LIVERPOOL WIN

    Liverpool are firm favourites for this one considering they have won each of their last six meetings with Newcastle in the Premier League.

    The Magpies are winless in the last 15 top-flight meetings overall (D4 L11), while Liverpool have won five of their last six league visits to St. James' Park.

    Indeed, the Reds' three-match winning streak on the road against Newcastle is their longest such streak against Wednesday's hosts in the competition.

    Expect drama, too, given Liverpool have won 11 Premier League games in which they have trailed against Newcastle, the most comeback wins one side has against another in the competition's history.

    To make matters worse for the hosts, they have won just one of their last 26 Premier League meetings against sides starting the day top of the table (D7 L18), a feat which could continue here.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Newcastle United win – 26.2%
    Draw – 23.6%
    Liverpool win – 50.2%

  • 'Palace can breathe a little easier after Ipswich win' - Mateta 'Palace can breathe a little easier after Ipswich win' - Mateta

    Jean-Philippe Mateta said Crystal Palace can "breathe a little bit easier" following their 1-0 victory over Ipswich Town.

    The Eagles recorded their first away win of the season at Portman Road, where Mateta's second-half strike was enough to move them three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

    Receiving Eberechi Eze's pass in the 59th minute, the striker accelerated away from Jacob Greaves, before neatly lifting the ball over the advancing Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

    Mateta underlined the importance of the victory, which he believes will give Palace momentum heading into their next match against struggling reigning champions Manchester City.

    "The start of the season was not what we expected, but we keep working," he told Amazon Prime. "Today, we have the away win, and we are very satisfied.

    "We can breathe a little bit easier because we were under pressure. The fans, everyone was on us. Before the game, it was a must win. Even when you score, you stay focused and the time goes slowly. As soon as the ref blew the whistle, we were so happy.

    "Because of this win, everyone is confident. We can't wait to play against Manchester City. It is a good time to play them. We have to stay focused because they are a great team."

    "Very pleased with the result," Palace head coach Oliver Glasner concurred. "It was not about performing brilliantly. We expected a big fight and it was a big fight.

    "It was an amazing goal, an amazing finish by JP [Mateta]. We had two or three chances to take the game away from them and didn't take them. In the end, we had to be a bit lucky, but I think we deserved to win.

    "When JP gets the ball in the box, he is such a good finisher, and it is usually a goal. We're pleased with our defensive performance, we didn't allow them a chance from open play - just one from a set-piece in the first half and one in the second half."

    Ipswich remain in the bottom three and the only Premier League side still seeking their first home win of the campaign and Kieran McKenna is desperate for them to address that as soon as possible.

    "A disappointing night and probably many similarities to Saturday [the 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest]," he told Match of the Day. "It was a competitive game, an even first half, not the highest quality game, and not our best performance here.

    "But we were right in the game and started the second half better, but then gave away a poor goal, and we were not able to produce the quality to open them up. We're not happy with the result and didn't make it the kind of game we wanted to give us a chance of getting a result.

    "We've had some really good performances here. We've not turned one of those into a win, and until we do that, this will be held over us [no home wins] and that's something we can't remove until we win at home."

  • AC Milan 6-1 Sassuolo: Chukwueze brace powers Rossoneri into Coppa Italia last eight AC Milan 6-1 Sassuolo: Chukwueze brace powers Rossoneri into Coppa Italia last eight

    AC Milan made light work of Serie B side Sassuolo as Samuel Chukwueze scored twice in a 6-1 thrashing to reach the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.

    The last-16 clash was already over as a contest by the 23rd minute after Chukwueze's brace, along with goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao handed Milan a 4-0 lead at San Siro.

    Davide Calabria added their fifth 11 minutes after the interval, though Samuele Mulattieri managed a consolation three minutes later, before Tammy Abraham rounded off the win in the 61st minute.

    Chukwueze opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a Reijnders ball over the top put him through one-on-one with Giacomo Satalino, and after his first effort hit the upright he tapped in the rebound.

    Reijnders drilled home from outside the area five minutes later and Chukwueze netted his second in the 21st minute, curling beyond the reach of Satalino after an Abraham lay-off.

    A no-look pass from Ruben Loftus-Cheek freed Leao to score two minutes later before Christian Pulisic's lofted cross bounced off the post and Calabria reacted quickest to convert in the second half.

    Mulattieri's effort squirmed under Lorenzo Torriani to finally give Sassuolo something to cheer about, but Abraham finished off the rout, tucking his finish around Satalino just past the hour.

    Data Debrief: Rampant Rossoneri

    Milan's victory came by an impressive scoreline, though the underlying stats suggest the 6-1 win was somewhat flattering on the home side's performance.

    Indeed, the home side accumulated just 1.89 expected goals (xG) from their 15 attempts, but the quality of finishing proved too much for Sassuolo to handle.

     

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