Kante vs Pogba among weekend’s top head-to-head battles in Europe

While there may be no Premier League action to look forward to this weekend, there are still some intriguing fixtures to watch, and a number of exciting head-to-head battles to feast upon.

Atalanta vs AC Milan

Saturday night’s fixture in Bergamo will be an interesting one for a number of reasons, with just one point separating the sides in what is shaping up to be an intense race for the final Champions League spot in Serie A. It’s AC Milan that occupy that position at present, but their hosts are in strong form too, matching the rossoneri’s results for the past six league matches since Christmas. Both teams are unbeaten in that time, so it may take some clinical finishing for either streak to be snapped.

Luckily both sides have in-form strikers capable of breaching the strongest of defences at present, with Duvan Zapata and Krzysztof Piatek both in the reckoning to end the season as the Capocannoniere. The former recently saw a 10-game scoring streak come to an end at Cagliari but bounced back immediately to return to the scoresheet against SPAL, taking his league tally to 16 for the season.

Piatek, meanwhile, has started his career at AC Milan in the same vein as he did with Genoa at the start of the season, scoring four goals in his three starts for the club in all competitions. Goals in back-to-back league games have taken his Serie A total to 15 for the campaign, so all eyes will be on two of the most lethal marksmen in Italy this weekend.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia M.Gladbach

Another match up between two teams with aspirations of a Champions League finish, Frankfurt know that anything but a win here would leave them with a mountain to climb, with nine points separating the hosts in fifth from their visitors in third. Adi Hutter’s side have picked up impressive draws with both Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar of late, but their trip to face the latter in Ukraine on Thursday could take its toll.

Luka Jovic played the full 90 minutes in the Europa League, with Sebastien Haller rested, but the Serbian will be desperate to play given that he leads the scoring charts in the Bundesliga as things stand. The 20-year-old’s 14-goal haul is far from uncatchable, however, and while it will take some doing Alassane Plea is one of a number of players that still has the youngster in his sights.

The Frenchman has gone off the boil somewhat after an excellent start to life in Germany but has enjoyed playing away from home in general this season, where many of his teammates have struggled by comparison. The former Nice star has 10 league goals to his name, though eight have come on the road, which is something only Robert Lewandowski can match in the Bundesliga thus far.

Chelsea vs Manchester United

We may have to be patient until Monday night to take in the glamour tie of the fifth round of the FA Cup but given the form of the two teams it promises to be a spectacle well worth the wait. The two teams’ respective results in Europe in midweek may well have balanced the difference in morale between the sides to a degree, but there’s little doubt which team enters the game in greater spirits.

The Blues rested some key players for their trip to Malmoe, notably Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain and, pertinently, N’Golo Kante, who had looked uncharacteristically fatigued in the 6-0 drubbing to United’s cross-city rivals. The Frenchman will need to be on his game back at the Bridge, that’s for sure, as he is set to be tasked with keeping Paul Pogba under wraps, whilst still carrying out the more attacking duties that Maurizio Sarri is asking of him.

While the two are still very different players it’s still fair to say that the disparity in the roles either play have lessened, highlighted best by the fact that Kante’s figure for tackles per 90 of 1.9 is not only almost half that of his first season at Chelsea (3.6) but not a long way ahead of Pogba (1.3) this season. Given the latter’s own increase in attacking output under Solskjaer - the midfielder has now had the joint most shots on target per 90 of all players to start more than ten times in the Premier League - we could see Kante’s defensive numbers improve on Monday night. If they don’t it may just be another long 90 minutes for Sarri’s side.