Our Picks: League Two rivals and bolstered European outfits
From League Two hopefuls, a couple of German clashes and a new dawn for last season's Champions League finalists, Flashscore UK's editors have pawed through fixture lists aplenty to highlight matches that are worth keeping an eye on this weekend.
Dortmund v Koln - Joel Barnett
Borussia Dortmund came agonisingly close to ending Bayern Munich’s monopoly of the Bundesliga last season and will be out for revenge this time around.
The widely-expected main challenger to Harry Kane’s title ambitions in Germany will be looking for a commanding win on the opening day of the season, as they look to impose themselves on the 60th edition of the league.
The Signal Iduna Park - a fortress last season - will be rocking once again on Saturday with new signings Marcel Sabitzer, Felix Nmecha and Ramy Bensebaini all expected to feature, but how much will they miss Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro, who joined Real Madrid and Bayern in the summer?
Despite winning 13 of their last 14 matches at home, they face a Koln side who will be no pushovers. The Billy Goats have scored 11 times in their last 13 matches, and towards the end of last season, as Dortmund’s campaign imploded, managed to pick up more away points than any other team in the division.
They will be missing Ellyes Skhiri - their top-scorer from last season who joined Frankfurt in the summer - but still have Florian Kainz in their ranks. The 30-year-old scored in their 3-2 win over die Schwarzgelben last term and will be eager to put a poor pre-season firmly behind him.
Crawley v Gillingham - Brad Ferguson
Things are beginning to shape up nicely in England's League Two, and while Hollywood Wrexham may still be hogging the national limelight despite their mediocre return thus far to the football league, it’s the south-eastern sides who have caught the eye with their fast starts to the season.
Gillingham travel to not-too-distant neighbours Crawley on Saturday as a club very much full of beans.
Fresh off a status-securing takeover last season, Neil Harris’ Gills have got out of the traps lightning fast and stormed to an early lead at the top of the league table.
A stunning defeat of Southampton in the League Cup last week has got the long-suffering fans of the Kent club purring over their side’s new players and performances.
In the league, they’ve picked up maximum points from their first three fixtures against decent opposition, bagging a trio of sturdy 1-0 wins over Sutton United, Accrington Stanley and Stockport County.
Former Crawley Town forward Ashley Nadesan has bagged two of those league goals - plus one in Gillingham’s 3-1 win over the Saints - and will be hoping to put a dent into the hopes of his former club this weekend.
After narrowly avoiding relegation last year, Crawley themselves are riding a positive wave right now, sitting in third place having taken seven points from a possible nine - including an excellent 2-1 victory over more-fancied MK Dons.
It’s a 52-mile drive along the M25 from Medway over to West Sussex for this fixture, one that could deliver some serious horsepower for one club’s early hopes for a genuine promotion push this season.
Inter v Monza - Ali Pollock
Serie A football returns this weekend with the division wide open following Napoli’s triumph in 2022/23.
Any of the aforementioned Napoli, Inter, AC Milan, Juventus or Lazio could contend for the title, as well as other clubs with an outside chance.
Inter return to league action with a point to prove following their Champions League final loss to Manchester City - getting their campaign underway against Monza on Saturday evening.
Filippo Inzaghi has bolstered his side over the summer with a number of experienced additions, including Marko Arnautovic, Juan Cuadrado and Yann Sommer as they look to make a solid start to their season.
Monza, on the other hand, are still relative Serie A newcomers, having only been promoted a year ago – enjoying an 11th place finish during their first season in the top division.
Their side is full of Italian talent, such as Matteo Pessina and former Inter player Roberto Gagliardini, while also having an exciting new strike force in Andrea Petagna and Gianluca Caprari.
While Inter will be expecting a win, their opponents will provide a tough challenge which sets up an interesting encounter between tow experienced squads.
Union v Mainz - Ste Carson
Germany's Bundesliga has been on the minds of many these past few weeks, following England captain Harry Kane's transfer saga with giants Bayern Munich.
But both the Bavarians and Borussia Dortmund get the spotlight all too often. Union Berlin recently secured a deal for Robin Gosens in club-record transfer from Inter, so they've also enjoyed some limelight - and I want to continue that here.
They've been on a bit of a ride over the last few seasons; moving up from the second tier to a top-ten finish in the Bundesliga, to qualifying for the Europa Conference League, to qualifying for the Europa League and, finally, qualifying for the Champions League last season with a fourth-place finish. That all happened in five years, by the way.
The 2023/24 season of top flight football in Germany gets underway this weekend, and Union will be aiming to start with a bang against Mainz.
Mainz have a different story in recent times - a mainstay of the Bundesliga for over a decade, but a constant struggle to break into the league's top ten positions.
The club painfully missed out on European football action last term, by going on a dismal run of four losses and a draw to end their 2022/23 campaign.
Notably, though, Mainz halted Dortmund on the final day last season in a 2-2 stalemate - effectively denying die Schwarzgelben a rare Bundesliga title over bitter rivals Bayern.
Both of these teams have a history of being quite fiery in their offensive play - with Union, who recently signed Kevin Volland, having the edge - so expect sparks to fly in their domestic league curtain-raiser.
