4-2-3-1 Formation

Under new coach Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid have adopted a strategy focused on structured control and smart positioning for the 2025/2026 season. Arda Güler has thrived in this new system, transforming from a promising player into a key creative force for the team. Playing mainly in the right half-space as...

Aston Villa defeated Manchester City by a slender margin of 1-0 in round 9 of the 2025/2026 Premier League. The result saw Unai Emery's Villa close the points gap to just one, leaving City in fifth place. Meanwhile, the hosts are now in eighth, just behind Liverpool on goal difference....

Ever since the club's marvellous success story with the great Eden Hazard from 2007-2012, Lille has emerged as one of Europe's top-selling clubs and a talent developer. This summer was perhaps the greatest example, as Les Dogues recouped over €90m from the sales of Lucas Chevalier, Bafodé Diakité, and Edon Zhegrova. More generally, in...

While most of the attention in the Bundesliga fell onto "Der Klassiker“ between FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund this Saturday, a couple of exciting other games were taking place earlier. One of those games happened in Heidenheim, where the home team 1. FC Heidenheim faced off against Werder Bremen in...

The Bundesliga title race has been dominated by two clubs over the past 15 years. Bayern Munich have been the serial winners of the league, with only Bayer Leverkusen being able to beat them out over the course of a season in recent years (2023/2024). In their first season under...

The primarily Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan has never been defined by footballing success. On the international stage, the Hawks have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, and none of their national icons have been able to play in Europe's elite leagues. Since the brave switch from the Asian Football Confederation to...

With four wins and two draws, Belgium has moved much closer to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after beating Wales in Cardiff following a complicated away game that ended with a 2-4 final result for the Belgians. Belgium are actually at the top spot of their group J with 14 points, one point...

Switzerland faced Sweden in the third match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm. With a deserved 0-2 win, the Swiss lead the group and have now reached nine points in the group standings. Switzerland can now secure their World Cup ticket with a win in Slovenia...

SV Elversberg's story has been one of the best in German football over the last couple of seasons. Starting in the fourth division, the Regionalliga, CSO Nils-Ole Book took the club to multiple promotions with head coach Horst Steffen. During these seasons, the team consisted of a strong core that...

Paulo Fonseca was appointed by Olympique Lyonnais on the 31st of January, 2025, to improve overall performance and achieve European qualification. Lyon had played 19 matches at that point and had only one win in their last five showings. With him on board, they won seven of the next nine games, setting a positive benchmark....

Barcelona lost their UEFA Champions League clash with PSG at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium after a challenging match that witnessed an excellent level of football from both sides, but with more realism, concretisation, and consistency from PSG, who were more determined to win throughout the 90 minutes. Barcelona failed...

Galatasaray won their second match of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase after playing a historic match against Liverpool and beating them 1-0, a huge result for the Turkish side. Galatasaray failed to win their first UEFA Champions League game, losing 1-5 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Making up for that in the...

Since the arrival of Unai Emery, Aston Villa has undergone a complete transformation.  When Emery was appointed, the club was in 16th place under Steven Gerrard, while Dean Smith’s tenure before that had also ended in decline.  Emery immediately altered the direction of travel, leading Villa to seventh, fourth, and...

At one point, Jaden Philogene was considered one of England’s most promising young talents. Unlike many of his peers who came through established elite academies, a young Jaden Philogene developed his skills at London’s Pro: Direct Academy. This non-traditional route helped shape his resilience and distinctive playing style. His performances there...

Barcelona hosted Real Sociedad in matchday seven of the 2025/2026 La Liga season, which ended in a narrow 2-1 victory for the Catalans. With yet another domestic game where they had over 70% ball possession (75%), it was no surprise that Sociedad struggled to create opportunities and generated just a...

Formed just over a decade ago from a merger of two modest local sides, Cypriot club Pafos were never expected to trouble Europe’s elite. What began as a quiet project to consolidate senior football in the touristic Paphos district, harmlessly floating between the top two divisions, quickly became one of...

Still only 16 years old, August De Wannemacker is quickly emerging as one of Belgium’s most exciting midfield prospects. Along with Nathan de Cat, Noah Fernandez, and Jesse Bisiwu, August De Wannemacker (born December 25, 2008) is a young Belgian talent drawing attention from top clubs through his performances with...

Brentford hosted Chelsea in matchweek 4 of the 2025/2026 Premier League season, which ended in a 2-2 draw. However, this matchup was far from monotonous, as fans witnessed end-to-end action; with four goals on the night, the fixture delivered on its promise to be exciting. The Bees opened the scoring without reply in...

On Saturday, August 30, 2025, Werder Bremen faced off against Bayer Leverkusen at the Weserstadion, for Matchday 2 of the new Bundesliga season. Both teams had hired new managers in the offseason: Horst Steffen for Werder and Erik ten Hag for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Yet both teams had started the season with defeats and were...

In recent years, Belgium has become a popular destination for Japanese talent, and Rihito Yamamoto (born December 12, 2001) is one of the recent examples to make his mark in the Jupiler Pro League with Sint-Truiden. The defensive midfielder’s rise has been steady and consistent. A product of Tokyo Verdy’s...