Hello and welcome back to another week of Predictions!
While Champions League catched the eyes midweek we were back to the office on the weekend with domestic leagues and what a weekend it was! It was packed with high quality games and it did not disappoint. The El Clasico happened on Saturday afternoon and it was once again Jude Bellingham who left his mark and while Madrid can rely on his English youngster, the struggle of Manchester United continues after they lost the Manchester derby with 0-3. These two games have just been two of the highlights on the weekend where we can expect informs coming from, go on and check out the full prediction down below to see who could make it into the side on Wednesday! Also just to let you know, there could be a small adjustment tomorrow, depending on the outcome of the games tonight, so make sure to come back tomorrow and see if something changed and make sure to follow us on our Socials to not miss these changes!
TOTW7 Predicted Starting XI
GK: Davy Roef (KAA Gent) - 71 OVR -> 80 OVR:
Goalkeepers are kind of difficult to predict this week with two clear candidates and I've really struggled to decide who to pick, one of them being gold and the other is a silver. In the end I went with
CB: Facundo Medina (RC Lens) - 80 OVR -> 83 OVR:
RC Lens got a win on the board with a 4-0 thumping of the hitherto high-flying FC Nantes. With Sotoco scoring twice and adding an assist he's the obvious choice for an inform but with Medina also getting on the scoresheet and being in L'Equipe's TOTW with an 8 match rating I'm going to give him the spot.
LWB: Federico Dimarco (Inter) - 82 OVR - 84 OVR:
Inter Milan needed a late Marcus Thuram goal to overcome a stubborn Roma at San Siro in Serie A on Sunday. The victory sends the Nerazzurri back to the top of Serie A, leapfrogging Juventus who ascended to the summit 24 hours earlier. The Italian wing-back played with a great deal of confidence whilst on the ball, continuously moving forward and taking on defenders in one-vs-one scenarios. The 25-year-old proved to be pivotal as he brought down Kristjan Asllani’s sublime first touch and picked out Marcus Thuram for the game-winner with an exceptional low-driven cross. Gazzetta only rewarded him with a 6.5 match rating but I still think a player from Inter should be in, could also be Thuram.
LB: Katie McCabe (Arsenal Women) - 85 OVR -> 86 OVR:
Ireland made it three wins from three in the Women's Nations League with an (eventually) conclusive victory over Albania in Tallaght on Saturday night, winning 5-1. It was one of Katie McCabe's finest performances in an Irish shirt - and that is certainly saying something. Hat-trick hero on a night where she was allowed to roam free in the Irish attack, and did so with aplomb and also two assists to her name, five goal contributions for a defender is absolutely insane.
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) - 82 OVR -> 84 OVR:
Liverpool were completely dominant as they ran out 3-0 winners against a toothless Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah were on target to extend the home team's unbeaten run to five games. Szoboszlai was sensational on Sunday afternoon, completing bossing the midfield battle and looking like the complete footballer that he is. The 23-year-old teed up Nunez and Mohamed Salah with assists, and was near-perfect in everything he did, combining technical quality, power and work-rate.
CAM: Isco (Real Betis) - 80 OVR -> 85* OVR:
I've had many options this week for midfielders so it was a bit difficult to pick them and this one could easily miss out. Real Betis recorded a narrow 2-1 victory at home to Osasuna and Isco continued his impressive form this season so far, adding another goal and assist to his tally.
CAM: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) - 87 OVR -> 88 OVR:
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in stoppage-time at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium and who else than Jude Bellingham was the star of the show! Only 20 but he's already proven himself a big-game player. Wasn't in the game at all until he thumped home a sensational equaliser from distance and then ghosted into the box to win the game for his side in injury time. World-class. It's that simple.
LM: Leroy Sané (Bayern) - 84 OVR -> 86 OVR:
History was made at the Allianz Arena with three red cards in the first half before Bayern Munich scored eight second-half goals - including a spectacular effort from inside his own half from Harry Kane, who scored a second Bundesliga hat-trick - to beat Darmstadt 8-0 and go top of the table. With Kane being featured in TOTW4 and in the Trailblazers promo recently I'm instead picking Leroy Sané for the inform who scored twice and assisted another.
LM: Hirving Lozano (PSV) - 81 OVR -> 84 OVR:
Dutch giants Ajax slipped to the bottom of the Eredivisie table on Sunday after blowing a half-time lead in a 5-2 thrashing by PSV Eindhoven. Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano brought an 18-year cycle at PSV to a close by netting a hat-trick in a 5-2 demolition of hapless Ajax. The Mexico international was at his inspirational best as he claimed the match ball in another impressive victory for the men from Eindhoven that has cemented their standing at the top of the Eredivisie table.
ST: Edin Džeko (Fenerbahce) - 83 OVR -> 85 OVR:
Fenerbahce maintained their flawless record in the Turkish Süper League, recording another 5-0 victory against Pendikspor and made it 10 consecutive league wins. While a lot have been talking about Icardi recently, Edin Dzeko once again proved he's still capable of scoring despite his age as the Bosnian raised his season tally to now 10 goals after he scored a hat-trick.
ST: Erling Haaland (Man City) - 91 OVR -> 92 OVR:
Manchester is blue after Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Pep Guardiola’s side dominated Erik ten Hag’s outfit as they look back to their imperious best. Haaland probably should have had five goals after twice being denied by Onana, but made sure of the points with a well-taken penalty and a buried header. Bernardo Silva was MOTM on every single newspaper but it's hard to ignore Haaland with him being involved in all three goals.
TOTW7 Predicted Subs & Reserves
RB: Ethan Pinnock (Brentford) - 79 OVR -> 82 OVR:
Chelsea's chronic inability to stick the ball into the back of the net struck again as Brentford snatched a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. The Man mountain lived up to his nickname with a supreme display in both boxes, keeping Chelsea's attackers quiet and also got on the scoresheet with a goal.
CAM: Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig) - 79 OVR -> 82 OVR:
Although I'm still not 100% sure with including players who recently featured in promo's, we've seen EA appearantly changed their 'rules' so I'll adapt to it and include Xavi Simons this week who assisted two of his side's goals in Leipzig's 6-0 trashing to Cologne.
RM: Edon Zhegrova (Lille) - 75 OVR -> 81 OVR:
AS Monaco missed the chance to move back to the top of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table after going down 2-0 away to LOSC Lille. Ivan Cavaleiro and Bafodé Diakité scored for the home side, who go fourth. There is nobody better in Ligue 1 at coming in from the right flank onto their left foot and causing havoc for opposition defences. Here the Kosovo international set up both goals, three days after setting up Rémy Cabella’s winning goal against Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Europa League.
RW: Anders Dreyer (RSC Anderlecht) - 74 OVR -> 80 OVR:
It's often difficult to include two players from lower tier leagues and it's even harder this year with TOTW only being 18 players. Anders Dreyer from Anderlecht is impossible to ignore tho after he scored three goals in their 5-1 win against OH Leuven.
ST: Bruno Fornaroli (Melb. Victory) - 68 OVR -> 80 OVR:
We are yet to see an inform from the A-League after their restart, this could and should change this week after Fornaroli scored four goals in Melbourne's entertaining 5-3 win against Newcastle Yets.
ST: Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal) - 75 OVR -> 81 OVR:
Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable victory against Sheffield United. Nketiah will always have his critics but he can't do much more than grab the opportunities he's given. With Jesus out injured, he more than stepped up with a hattrick that showed his typical poaching instincts as well as a bit of long-range panache with the third. Exactly what Arteta would have wanted to see.
ST: Leonardo Pavoletti (Cagliari) - 70 OVR -> 80 OVR:
Gazzetta have been really strange lately with providing match rating for Serie A but one who deservedly picked up the highest rating this week with an 8.5 was Leonardo Pavoletti after he scored twice and assisted another in Cagliari's 4-3 win against Frosinone.
That concludes this week's Team of the Week predictions! What do you make of these predictions? Is there anyone else who should have made the TOTW? Let us know below!
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