Manchester City experienced a much worse run than this in the past but they still made it to top then. They aren't in a bad condition right now. They just made some simple point losses recently and Arsenal took advantage of it. But when it comes to the general consistency we never know. Arsenal will have a really difficult job against them to keep their lead.

Because normally Manchester City have the strongest squad in the league by far. They always have a chance to make a comeback to the top. Arteta will have a big responsibility to keep the concentration level of the team high after this long break. Honestly I would also like to see them becoming the champions and making a difference.

I'm aware of their performances now yeah. Besides Neymar's condition doesn't seem that bad right now. He is expected to recover in only a few days. He just needs to be careful about not having a more serious injury until the end of the World Cup. PSG will need all of the players in the trio to do well in the Champions League.

Messi might return earlier than the other two I believe. Because Argentina don't seem to have a very reliable performance. Whenever they return PSG will need each one of them as healthy and fit to play for PSG without a problem.

Fernandes was really impressive today. He missed the chance to make a hat-trick there as his shot was saved by the goalkeeper. We must have all thought that Ronaldo scored the first goal but the cross directly found the back of the net. I assume Ronaldo would have taken that penalty if he wasn't subbed off before.

Portugal have guaranteed qualifying for next round but Uruguay are in a really troubling situation now. I don't feel like they will be able to make it. Because they need to win their last game but it is against Ghana. We have seen how good they are so far.

Manchester United were really close to finalizing the Gakpo deal but they couldn't last summer. I think he has increased his value even more since the beginning of the season. This might mean that Manchester United would need to pay much more money to sign him from now on.

Besides the Red Devils might not be the only team interested in signing him as well. Gakpo is one of the promising players and there are some big teams which love to transfer this kind of players to invest into their future. If a team that is in a better condition than the Red Devils makes an offer then the Red Devils might have bigger difficulties.

Union Berlin have started a really disappointing run these days. But I think their supporters are still happy about the position they are at in the league standings now. Because they are only three points behind even the second-placed team right now. They can still regain their old form by focusing on their weaknesses lately.

It will be really difficult for them to take their position back from Bayern Munich for sure. Because Bayern Munich are back in their usual form again and they seem unstoppable for now.

It won't take long because Benzema is about to recover in around two weeks. He must be ready until their next La Liga games. It is just France that is really feeling his absence. But France players have still been doing pretty well in offense. They owe this to Mbappe the most of course.

As Benzema is close to recovering I don't think that Real Madrid would even think of signing any striker in January to fill his place. Ronaldo was being rumoured for it but I don't think Real Madrid will lean towards a deal lasting like even 6 months.

I wonder if Newcastle is thinking of making some new additions to the team in January. They have so much money to spend that they might not be patient until next summer. They are already doing a great job with their current squad of course. But it would still be better for them to strenghten it a little more to consolidate their position in the league.

Because we might watch a completely different second half in this season. They might face a bigger difficulty in case teams like Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea start playing stronger. Newcastle would need to fight harder to keep their presence in top 4.

Uruguay don't seem very comfortable against Portugal right now. So far in the game Portugal have been the better playing side. They have some goal attempts already but there is none on target yet. Portugal have been in control of the ball by a huge percentage like 74%. Scoring a goal before the end of the first half would be great for them after all this effort.

If Uruguay manage to keep the score at 0-0 until the end of this half then maybe we can see some improvement from them later. I hope so otherwise this game can be really boring because of being one-sided.

Maybe Napoli are quite far away from the others in the league standings now. But there is still a competition among many teams for top 4 positions now. There are like 6 teams fighting for entering and staying in this area now. Besides Napoli still have a long way to go before guaranteeing their title as well. We don't know how much strong they will be able to return.

I hope to see the title competition not ending early. It wouldn't be very different than the times Juventus were dominating the league otherwise. Of course I want to see a different champion but at least we should be able to see a race for it between two teams for example.

Arsenal are indeed one of the best teams when it comes to playing strong as a team. This is very critical for a team fighting for the league title. Because this prevents them from even the feeling of depending on one player to score nearly all of the goals. This is a key factor to handle tough situations at the same time.

For example Gabriel Jesus hasn't been in-form for a very long time. He hasn't scored for like two months. But Arsenal still played great and continued to get wins in the meantime. Having players capable of making the needed score contribution in this kind of times is really important just as in this example.

There is a really great balance about the performances of the Messi - Mbappe - Neymar trio now. They all have showed really good performances by making important contributions with goals and assists. Maybe Mbappe was more selfish as for assists but he is the most scorer of the team currently on one hand.

The only thing PSG need is to see them showing the same ambition in the Champions League as of this stage. The Bayern Munich draw is really tough for them as it is no different than an early finale. If this trio lack in performance then it would bring their end in the tournament.

I don't think Manchester United would be able to sign Osimhen or Vlahovic. I think the same for not only this January but also for next summer. Because before anything else they would surely have opponents in a probable race to sign these players. For example Real Madrid would be in line to sign Osimhen and then the Red Devils would be in a really disadvantageous condition.

I don't think Vlahovic would leave Juventus so soon as well. As long as Juventus have a good run in the rest of the season I don't see any reason for Vlahovic to even think about leaving.

I believe that Germany have a really big chance to move on. Because the last games are really in favour of them.

First of all they should be able to get a very comfortable win against Costa Rica. We saw how Spain destroyed them before. Germany got one point from Spain today therefore I expect a solid effort from them in the Costa Rica game as well. I don't think Japan can steal any point from Spain. I know that they made a surprise before by defeating Germany. But I think it was only a one time thing. They lost to Costa Rica and this would affect them mentally as well.

Tuchel's getting sacked hasn't left any good effect on most of us of course. There was a completely different reason behind this sacking rather than the results actually. As far as I know it was related to some financial topics. Otherwise there was no reason for them to sack Tuchel immediately despite his successful times with Chelsea.

Potter is highly criticised these days of course. I also do this honestly. Maybe he needs time but he needs to give something to the fans as well. Because there is no green light to the future for now. There isn't any significant change in their tactics so the results still don't change. I don't think that the reason of these results is simply related to the need of some transfers.

I don't like the idea of not focusing on titles for Juventus. Because it is the biggest motivation that can push them to play better. They can adopt this mentality this season as well even if it seems really difficult. Because they are already doing an amazing job in the league recently. They need a motivation source to keep up this good form as much as possible.

Finishing in top 3 would be a really good success for them by the way. Despite a bad start it would still be a good achievement for them. Besides the Europa League title should also be a target for them. Allegri needs to be successful to remain in the team next season as well.

Belgium are really in trouble now. Croatia got a solid win like 4-1 against Canada and have taken the lead. Belgium are one point behind them and Morocco both. In addition to that Belgium's last game is even the most difficult one in the group. It doesn't seem like Belgium can qualify for next round to me.

I don't know how Belgium can lose to Morocco. It was another big surprise in the World Cup. They actually have a great lineup but something is going wrong. We don't see the same productivity of Belgium team. They weren't having any difficulty in EURO tournaments against weaker teams. Somehow they can't show the same performance in the World Cup which is the most important tournament.

Barcelona shouldn't go for new transfers in this winter. Because they just don't need any more player. It is good to see that La Liga financial rules are hindering them from doing this. Because they have spent so much money already and they are going to pay a lot of money for the salaries of these players as well.

Instead of buying new players they had better part ways with some of the players in the squad. Depay is close to leaving for example and they should do their best to send him from the team. His departure will help increase their wage budget quite much.

I think Arteta didn't have the championship in the Premier League in his mind before the season started. He must have just targeted to achieve the best success they could. But after leaving quite many weeks so far he must have changed his mind and he must be aiming the title. Because this can really be Arsenal's biggest opportunity.

When you have an extraordinarily powerful team like Manchester City in your league it is just very difficult for you to even stay in the title rivalry until the end of the season. Liverpool have been the only team able to do this for some time. But now the balances have changed a lot. Arsenal are just dominating the season.

Mane is one of the critical players for Bayern Munich at the moment. They are just lucky to have this World Cup break now as he can get well in the meantime. Because he is one of their goal sources in the absence of a solid striker like Lewandowski. I must admit that Choupo-Moting is doing a pretty good job in the league these days.

But it would still be better for them to sign a good striker next summer. Maybe they are still having a very productive season but they can't rely on this all the time. For being consistent they need to make this transfer. I assume they would be prepared to make a top striker signing to fill Lewandowski's place in the best way possible.

Mbappe transfer is not possible in the near future I'm afraid. Real Madrid had their biggest chance before but Mbappe didn't choose them. Most probably, Mbappe won't be signing for Real Madrid at the end of this season as well. I started to expect him to play for PSG for at least a couple of years more. Maybe winning the Champions League title earlier might change his mind.

Osimhen and Martinez are more realistic targets of course. But I don't know whether Osimhen is eager to leave Napoli so soon while they are doing an amazing work. I don't expect him to make a big decision like this in the middle of the season. I think the same for Martinez as well. Both of their teams need them this season very much.