Derby day for Umar Sadiq, Chukwueze faces rock-bottom club - WK 3 Preview

With two matchdays completed, the LaLiga table is beginning to take shape and four teams, including table-topping Villarreal CF with its Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze, will put their 100 per cent records on the line this weekend.

Matchday 3 kicks off on matches taking place across Friday and wraps up on Monday night with two of the biggest games of this round slated for the city of Barcelona featuring fierce rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. 

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The very first fixture of Matchday 3 takes place in Catalonia as Girona FC welcomes RC Celta to the Estadi Montilivi on Friday evening. It was there that the newly promoted side earned their first win of the season on Monday night, something Celta is still chasing.

In contrast, Real Betis and CA Osasuna have won their two fixtures so far, but they can't keep up their 100% records as they go head-to-head in the second on Friday.

Three LaLiga duels will take place on Saturday evening, starting with Elche CF vs Real Sociedad. Since Los Franjiverdes were promoted back into the top tier in 2020, they’ve lost all four of their clashes with La Real. So, they will hope summer signings Álex Collado and Roger Martí can help them change that trend. 

Later on, unbeaten Rayo Vallecano plays at home for the first time this season when they face RCD Mallorca.

Vallecano has already taken four points on the road and would hope Vallecas can be a fortress once again as it was at the start of 2021/22 when they took 25 points from the first 27 of the campaign. 

Sadiq and UD Almería will also hope to make their home ground, the Power Horse Stadium, a fortress, especially this Saturday night as they have an Andalusian derby at home to Sevilla FC. 

There are three more games on Sunday’s slate of fixtures, the first of which is Getafe CF vs Villarreal CF. These are the teams currently bottom and top of the table, as Geta have zero points and an early season goal difference of minus five, while Unai Emery’s side has six points already and are five goals to the good. 

Then, all eyes will be on the city of Barcelona later on Sunday night as the Catalan capital hosts two matches in a row, both of which could be crucial in the title fight.

First, it’s Barcelona vs Real Valladolid at the Spotify Camp Nou as Barça seeks their first home victory of the campaign against Pacheta’s side, who frustrated Sevilla FC on the road just last week.

Robert Lewandowski has now scored his first two LaLiga goals and will lead the line for the home side, seeking his first official strike in front of his new fanbase. 

Then, RCD Espanyol vs Real Madrid will take over just five kilometres down the road. This was one of just four fixtures that Los Blancos lost on their way to the championship last term, so they know it could be a tricky contest.

The matchday concludes on Monday with two more games, the first of which sees Cádiz CF host Athletic Club. This will be a first for Ernesto Valverde, who has coached 445 LaLiga matches in total but quite incredibly has never before faced Cádiz CF.

The day's second game is a blockbuster battle at Mestalla, with Gennaro Gattuso’s Valencia CF taking on Diego Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid. Their last two meetings produced 11 goals, four of the goals arrived after the 90-minute mark to completely change the destination of the points and it could be just as dramatic as these two historic clubs lay it all on the line once again.