Our Weekend Football Tips - 23/10/21

The El Clasico is always one of the most-watched football games every season, no matter the players, and with the first El Clasico since the departure of Lionel Messi to PSG and with the recent struggles of Barcelona, it will definitely be an intriguing game.

Real Madrid have been very hot and cold this season under new manager Carlo Ancelotti, shown very recently before the international break, beating Inter Milan, Valencia, and thrashing Mallorca 6-1, before drawing to Villarreal and losing to Sheriff and Espanyol.

After beating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 away from home in the Champions League, it looked like they have returned to form, especially with Vinicus Junior coming to life this season, with two goals and an assist against Shakhtar put his total up to seven goals and three assists so far this season, eclipsing his total for the whole of last season.

Even though Barcelona have won their last two games against Valencia and Dynamo Kyiv, they have really struggled playing against stronger opposition this season, losing to Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Benfica by a combined 8-0.

Elsewhere, Benzema is proving himself as one of the world's very best once more, and we think he'll get on the scoresheet again.

PSG have made a sensational start to this season’s Ligue 1 season, currently sitting top of the league on 27 points, already with a nine-point lead ahead of second-placed Lens and 10 points ahead of this weekend's opponents Marseille.

Messi has yet to score in the league for PSG but his midweek performance in the Champions League performance, scoring two goals against RB Leipzig, could give him the confidence to get his first Ligue 1.

Mbappe has been really good in the league so far, scoring five goals and providing four assists in the 10 games he has played so far, whilst, along with Messi, he also netted in midweek against RB Leipzig. He will be looking to expose a Marseille defence that can be easily opened up.

Marseille under manager Jorge Sampaoli like to play a very attacking style, often leaving few defenders back when they attack, with space to work with, Messi and Mbappe definitely have the quality to expose and punish the way Marseille play.

West Ham United have started the season very well, currently sitting seventh after eight games with their only losses coming with two late winners against Manchester United and Brentford and with an impressive win away to Everton last weekend, they are coming into this game high with confidence.

Tottenham have turned around their form in their last two games, winning against Aston Villa and Newcastle, however not only did West Ham not lose to Tottenham last season, winning once and drawing once, they also beat Nuno’s Wolves twice last season, meaning West Ham will know what to do to win this game, especially at home.

Michail Antonio has been West Ham’s main man up front this season, scoring five goals and assisting three goals in the seven Premier League games this season, his pace, athleticism and improved footballing IQ has seen him become a top Premier League forward this season and with Tottenham without a clean sheet in eight games, he will be eager to get involved.

Mohamed Salah has been one of the world's best players so far this season, scoring seven goals and providing four assists in eight games so far in the Premier League, leading the Liverpool resurgence to claim back the Premier League title.

Liverpool are very close to being back to their best this season, currently sitting second in the table. They are the only team not to lose so far this season, whilst also being the top scorers this season scoring 22 goals so far this season.

With Liverpool being top scorers this season, they will be a massive threat to expose a very leaky Manchester United defence with them only keeping one clean sheet in their last twenty games and conceding six goals in their last two games.

Salah, who scored twice in midweek against a very stringent Atletico Madrid defence, will be Liverpool main goal threat at Old Trafford as he targets another Golden Boot.

Despite a very slow start to the season, Juventus have been back to their best recently and they are currently nine games unbeaten with eight wins in this stretch, as notable wins over Chelsea and Jose Mourinho’s Roma give them great confidence now.

Inter Milan after selling key players such as Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi have started the season relatively well, currently sitting third in the Serie A whilst being top scorers in the league on 23 goals.

With Juventus, their games are very low scoring, only scoring six goals in their last five games, whilst only conceding once, they have become very regimented defensively recently under new manager Massimiliano Allegri and have started churning out wins which has seen them climb the Serie A.

We think given the form of the two, Juventus get it done with a low scoreline.