Sporting Tribune presents a short preview of football action taking place around European league on Friday, February 16, 2023
ITALY
Napoli can move 18 points clear at the top of Serie A with a win at lowly Sassuolo. Victor Osimhen had a hat trick in Napoli’s 4-0 win over Sassuolo in October. The Nigeria striker has scored eight goals in his past six league matches to take his tally to 17 in Serie A this season. Sassuolo is undefeated in its past four matches, including impressive wins over AC Milan and Atalanta, to inch away from the relegation zone but it is nevertheless only seven points clear of the bottom three.
GERMANY
It’s a meeting of two established Bundesliga teams wary of relegation as American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and Hoffenheim travel to Augsburg. Hoffenheim has been in the Bundesliga since 2008 and is 14th in the 18-team league. Augsburg, a top-division team since 2011, is one place higher. Matarazzo was hired last week to stabilize Hoffenheim but lost his first game 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen to continue a winless run stretching back to October.
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FRANCE
France striker Alexandre Lacazette is unavailable for Lyon’s trip to struggling Auxerre in the French league. Lyon’s top scorer injured his left thigh last weekend in a 2-1 win over Lens. Lyon will also be without coach Laurent Blanc, who has a lung infection. Blanc will be replaced by Franck Passi in the dugout. After a poor start to the season, Lyon seems to have found the right balance and has won three of its last four league games to move six points off the European places. Auxerre sits in 19th place after posting just three wins in 23 matches.
SPAIN
Almeria visits Girona seeking to break a two-game losing run against a team that will likely be a direct rival to avoid relegation. Both teams won promotion last season. Girona is in 11th place, but just two points above Almeria, which is only two points above the drop zone.
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