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Our Picks: Huge Women's League Cup clash, Bologna continue march

Flashscore UK Staff
Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes
Chelsea head coach Emma HayesAFP, Flashscore
We are now out of the international break and Flashscore UK's editors have curated a collection of clashes we believe are worth keeping tabs on this weekend.

From an eye-watering face-off in the Women's League Cup to Bologna aiming to hold up their incredible Serie A form, take a look at 'Our Picks' below:

Bologna v Salernitana - Ali Pollock

Bologna are flying high in Serie A, sitting in the top four after a very productive campaign so far.

They face bottom-of-the-table Salernitana on Monday who already look destined to fall into Serie B, currently 11 points from safety and without a win in 2024.

Not many supporters would have predicted Bologna to be so high in the table – ahead of the likes of Napoli, Lazio and Roma – yet they find themselves fighting for a Champions League spot.

Current standings
Current standingsFlashscore

Young striker Joshua Zirkzee has excelled so far with 10 goals but faces a race to return to fitness for the match.

In his absence, Bologna will likely see Riccardo Orsolini as their greatest threat in front of goal. The Italian winger has netted nine in the league this season and was included in the latest Italy squad.

Another player to keep an eye on in Scottish midfielder Lewis Ferguson, who took the unusual step of moving to Europe after excelling for Aberdeen.

Ferguson in action
Ferguson in actionAFP

For Salernitana, their key man is veteran forward Antonio Candreva who has been directly involved in 11 goals this season – just under half of the 23 the Italian side have scored in the league.

Candreva has had a stellar career in Italy, playing 496 Serie A matches and turning out for the likes of Juventus, Inter and Lazio.

The forward is Salernitana’s best hope of mounting a historic great escape.

Marseille v PSG - Ste Carson

Two giants of French football, with varying levels of joy this term, meet this coming Sunday.

Paris Saint-Germain are currently sat atop the Ligue 1 table, 12 points clear of second-placed Brest.

Marseille, not quite as lowly as Lyon, are slumped in seventh place, level with Rennes and three points behind Lens in sixth.

Current standings
Current standingsFlashscore

Both sides have two stand-out stars this season. One, Kylian Mbappe, who has 29 goal contributions to his name, needs no introduction.

But, for Marseille, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is absolutely flying. The Gabon superstar has scored 11 times this term and has an outstanding seven assists racked up.

The Phoceens will be hoping to turn their fortunes around against the Parisiens, after losing two matches back-to-back before the international break.

That said, Marseille's 3-1 defeat to Villarreal in the Europa League was of no consequence (as the Ligue 1 outfit progressed 5-3 on aggregate).

Domestically, PSG have hit a bit of a wall in recent weeks - drawing three of their last five matches - but a storming 6-2 win over Montpellier just before the international break has likely changed the mood of the visitors' changing room.

Head-to-head, the Rouges et Bleus have an historical advantage over their hosts this weekend - claiming an eye-catching 23 triumphs from their last 29 meetings.

Recent results
Recent resultsFlashscore

Arsenal W v Chelsea W - Anthony Paphitis

A replay of last season's Women's League Cup final - also known as the Conti Cup - awaits as Chelsea take on Arsenal at Wolves' home of Molineux.

Chelsea had led the final early on at Selhurst Park last year but quickly fell away by conceding three more in the first half to eventually suffer defeat.

Previous round of results
Previous round of resultsFlashscore

They will be hoping to go one better and begin a potential quadruple sweep in manager Emma Hayes' final season with the club.

But Chelsea will be thinking about actually getting over the line in the League Cup final, having been beaten in their last two outings there.

And Arsenal - the most successful club in the competition's history with six titles - will be out to play spoiler again as they seek to notch their second in a row.

Jonas Eidevall's team have had a respectable season so far and trail their opponents by six points in the league, but they will be confident in their abilities to win out a one-off game nonetheless.

Chelsea and Arsenal split their Women's Super League encounters this season - the Gunners winning the first 3-1 before Hayes' side romped to a 4-1 victory in response a fortnight ago.

Pre-match info
Pre-match infoFlashscore

Norrkoping v Malmo - Keith Moore

Allsvenskan, Sweden's domestic league, gets underway this weekend in what will be its 100th consecutive season without interruption - while other domestic leagues in Europe were halted during the Second World War, Allsvenskan was one of the few to continue due to Sweden's neutrality.

This season's opening game sees Malmo, the defending champions and the most successful team in the league's history with 26 titles, travel to the Platinumcars Arena to take on Norrkoping.

The two sides last met earlier this month in the quarter-finals of the Svenska Cupen - Sweden's domestic cup - with hosts Malmo comfortably winning 5-2.

However, Malmo boss Henrik Rydstrom is expecting a different beast when his team travel to their opponents this weekend.

"Teams are often in a different way when they play in their home environment versus when they play away," he said. "Therefore, we do not expect that we have any advantages from the fact that we defeated them here at the Eleda Stadium just a couple of weeks ago."

Malmo managed the home-and-away double over Norrkoping and have not lost to Saturday's opponents in a competitive fixture since July 2021.

However, Norrkoping are joint second with Goteborg for all-time league titles with 13, and with the fresh slate of a new season, they have every chance of ending Malmo's dominance that has seen Rydstrom’s side win three of the last four Allsvenskan titles.

"I really like this part of the season," Rydstrom added. "This time is great for all football teams because everyone has high hopes."

Full round of fixtures
Full round of fixturesFlashscore
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