Our Picks: Kilmarnock riding a wave and promotion favourites clash
Take a look at some particularly interesting football fixtures across Europe that have caught our eyes ahead of this weekend's action:
Motherwell v Kilmarnock - Ste Carson
Kilmarnock have started the domestic season in Scotland about as well as could ever be hoped – with the East Ayrshire side already boasting victories over Rangers and Celtic.
The latter was in the Scottish League Cup, to be clear, but that shouldn't distract from the major morale boost the team are currently enjoying after beating both sides of the Old Firm.
The Killie have recorded a win and a draw in their first two opening Premiership matches – the same run of form this weekend's opponents, Motherwell, are in.
The Steelmen do, however, find themselves already knocked out of the League Cup – at the hands of St. Mirren, who have started the season well.
It could be expected, then, that Motherwell will be up for the task of knocking Kilmarnock down a peg – a task typically not as tall as their recent win over Hibernian, especially so on home soil at Fir Park.
The Killie are naturally a more defensive side and will be hoping to keep Motherwell hotshot Conor Wilkinson, recently signed from Walsall, at bay on Sunday afternoon.
The forward has two goal contributions in as many matches thus far this season.
It is perhaps midfielder Brad Lyons, man of the match against Rangers three weeks ago, who may be the danger man for Kilmarnock this weekend - but the Killie have been unpredictable this term.
In any case, both sides will be out to prove naysayers and doubters wrong – despite relatively positive starts to both of their campaigns.
Peterborough v Derby - Ali Pollock
Two promotion favourites go head-to-head in League One on Saturday afternoon, with Peterborough hosting Derby.
The two sides battled out for the play-off spots last season – with Posh taking sixth place ahead of the Rams on the final day of the season.
Ultimately, though, they were beaten by the comeback to end all comebacks in their 5-5 semi-final draw (and shootout loss) against Sheffield Wednesday.
League One looks significantly weaker than last year after the promotions of Ipswich, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday – with two of the sides coming down from the Championship in Wigan and Reading already given points deductions.
That leaves the division wide open, and both Peterborough and Derby will be pushing for the top two spots.
The home side have won three and lost once, while the visitors have picked up two victories and two losses so far.
Both possess exciting squads with individuals who could make a huge impact on the match. Peterborough’s Jonson Clarke-Harris is a veteran at League One level, scoring 99
goals in 249 appearances and winning the top scorer award twice.
Derby signed Joe Ward in the summer – a former Posh player who registered six goals and 10 assists last season – and he will be looking to get the better of his former employers.
Couple those two key men with other important players across both squads, like Martyn Waghorn and Conor Hourihane for the Rams or Ephron Mason-Clarke and Kwame Poku for Peterborough, and Saturday’s fixture is shaping up to be crucial in the League One promotion race.
Kortrijk v Standard Liege - Joel Barnett
It’s a bottom-of-the-table clash at Guldensporen Stadion on Saturday with Kortrijk, currently rooted to the foot of the Belgian Pro League, against surprise strugglers Standard Liege.
Kortrijk - 14th last season - have already shipped 13 goals in their opening four league games and face a wayward-shooting Liege who finished sixth last season but have only scored once this term.
Perhaps the outcome will depend on whether Liège can keep eleven players on the pitch at the same time, with midfielder William Balikwisha sent off against Royale Union and Nathan Ngoy seeing red against Charleroi in two of their last three matches.
They also had defender Konstantinos Laifis sent off the last time these two sides met in February as they collapsed to a 2-0 defeat.
Liège’s frustrating lack of discipline and focus has already been costly: on the opening day, Aboubakary Koita sent St. Truiden fans into delirium by scoring the winner five minutes from time, a last-minute penalty earned Charleroi a point while last weekend Cercle Brugge could have doubled their lead in the 94th minute had it not been for VAR.
It’s a nervy time Liege but they face a Kortrijk side who have simply been woeful so far this term and a calamity of errors have seen the team plummet.
But with tricky fixtures against Anderlecht and Club Brugge to come, Kortrijk will be banking on reversing their fortunes against a side without a league win since April.
Hannover 96 v Hamburger SV - Brad Ferguson
Two relative sleeping giants of German football face off on Saturday in the second tier of German football.
Both are now becoming increasingly desperate to return to Germany's top flight, with Hamburger SV now spending their fifth straight season in 2. Bundesliga having narrowly missed out on promotion in the previous couple of campaigns.
They've started strongly this time around, taking an early lead at the top of the table with two wins and a draw from their opening three games, including a humbling of fellow sleeping giants Schakle 5-3 on the opening day and a solid 3-0 win over Hertha Berlin in their last outing.
The visitors are hoping former Cardiff man Robert Glatzel and Slovakian international Laszlo Benes can continue their decent goalscoring form - both of them have bagged four goals apiece in three games played.
Hannover meanwhile have made a steady start to this season, loitering in sixth place after solid if uninspiring draws against Nurnberg and Elversbeg.
A late penalty finally helped them on their way to their first win of the season against Hansa Rostock in their last fixture, and a bit of momentum would be welcomed going into September's busy schedule.
Hannover have only beaten their opponents once in their last five outings, with Die Rothosen proving to be something of a bogey team for Die Roten.
The home side will also be mightily keen to avenge their embarrassing 6-1 defeat to Hamburger SV at the tail end of last season. Glatzel and Benes caused them plenty of problems that day - can they learn from their mistakes this time around?
Gil Vicente v Benfica - Anthony Paphitis
An upset could very well be on the cards on Saturday night when Gil Vicente host Liga Portugal title-holders Benfica at Estadio Ciadade de Barcelos.
The hosts were the surprise package two seasons ago by gaining qualification for the Europa Conference League and will be looking to hit similar heights under new manager Vitor Campelos after a bottom-half finish last term.
The Gilistas have intrigued in their two games so far scoring six goals - thrashing Portimonense 5-0 in their season opener but then losing 2-1 to Vitoria de Guimaraes after leading with 30 minutes of play remaining.
Knowing they can find the back of the net, they will sense an opportunity to surprise visitors Benfica, who have appeared slightly unconvincing to open the campaign.
Roger Schmidt's men first suffered a frustrating 3-2 defeat at Boavista in which they led 1-0 and 2-1 before conceding twice in second-half stoppage time to leave empty-handed.
They did manage to get through newly-promoted Estrela 2-0 last weekend, dominating the lion's share of the play but a breakthrough still did not come until late in the second period.
There does seem to be an element of adjustment in play for Benfica following the departure of striker Goncalo Ramos and with summer signing Arthur Cabral slotting in, and one would think the star power of Angel Di Maria could help tip the balance in their fixture this weekend.
However, a potentially dangerous and stubborn Gil Vicente outfit makes the prospect a tricky one for As Aguias.
