Welcome to another thrilling weekend of top-notch relegation football, what more can we wish for! This 5th calendar week features several nail-biting relegation battles across Europe’s Top 5 leagues. We’ll take a closer look at three crucial matchups – Ipswich vs. Southampton, St. Pauli vs. Augsburg, and Monza vs. Hellas Verona – and try to predict the results.
Ipswich vs. Southampton
First up is the clash between two newly promoted teams in the Premier League. Ipswich’s season hasn’t been stellar, but they still have a decent shot at staying up, with Leicester and Wolves also heavily struggling. On the other hand, Southampton’s first priority is reaching at least 11 points to avoid taking Derby’s infamous title of “Worst Premier League Season of All Time.” If the Saints want to have any real hope of survival, a victory here is absolutely essential; otherwise, the lights might go out for their season.
Both teams boast an offense capable of scoring, but they’re consistently let down by their dreadful defenses. My prediction is a 2-2 draw, a result that likely won’t benefit either side much. For deeper insights, be sure to check out my guys from the Total Saints Podcast covering Ipswich vs. Southampton.
St. Pauli vs. Augsburg
Over in the Bundesliga, the hottest fixture this week sees St. Pauli hosting Augsburg. Both teams come into this encounter in impressive form: St. Pauli has won its last two, while Augsburg, led by Jess Thorup, has emerged from a midseason slump with three straight victories. A win for either side would all but secure their safety in the league.
In contrast to Ipswich and Southampton, these Bundesliga teams feature solid defenses but massively struggle going forward. Especially St. Pauli is a big surprise this season, going from intense attacking football with Hürzeler, to a compact defense with Alexander Blessin. He really did an amazing job securing the defense, having the second best defense after Bayern München, conceding even less than Leverkusen so far.
This match could well hinge on the performances of Morgan Guilavogui – who tallied three goal contributions last week – and Alexis Claude-Maurice, Augsburg’s most reliable attacking option, who had an amazing first half of the season. Given their current momentum and their bulletproof defense, I’m predicting a 1-0 victory for St. Pauli.
Monza vs. Hellas Verona
Arguably the most exciting game this weekend is the Serie A showdown between Monza and Hellas Verona, both fighting to survive in a relegation battle that involves seven teams. Monza has managed only one win in its last 14 league games (yes, you read that correctly) and desperately needs three points to stop its free fall. Meanwhile, Verona has been maddeningly inconsistent – winning two matches, then losing three in a row, that’s their story of this season so far. They missed a golden opportunity to climb out of trouble last week when they failed to win against a stellar Filip Stankovic and Venezia.
With Monza already seven points away from safety, this game is a do-or-die scenario. A victory for Verona would give them an important cushion before they face a rough patch of fixtures against Atalanta, Milan, Fiorentina, Juventus, and Bologna. Under these circumstances, I’m predicting a 3-0 win for Verona, which would leave Monza in very real danger.
These three matchups promise a weekend full of drama. Will Ipswich end Southampton’s survival hopes? Can St. Pauli or Augsburg take another big step towards safety? And will Monza finally end their horrific streak? One thing is certain: this weekend’s fixtures are sure to deliver a lot of excitement!