Dortmund have made a positive start to the season with one win and one draw from their opening two matches. It’s certainly a better start to the campaign than they had last time around with Dortmund languishing in the bottom half of the Bundesliga for large parts of the 24/25 campaign.

Niko Kovac has spearheaded a revival which should continue here up against a Heidenheim side who have lost both of their Bundesliga matches so far. Heidenheim finished in the relegation playoff spot last season and only survived due to their dramatic victory over Elversberg in the game to decide who takes the final spot in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund beat Heidenheim in both league meetings between the sides last season. They ran out 2-1 winners on the road and fired four past Heidenheim in a 4-2 victory in front of the Yellow Wall.

Dortmund have a scoring power which Heidenheim will struggle to match here. The likes of Guirassy, Beier and Adeyemi can cause the home side plenty of problems here; and Dortmund have also reinforced their squad over the summer with signings like Chukwemeka and Fabio Silva to help add some depth to the side. 

Real Madrid have made a faultless start to the season so far under the guidance of Xabi Alonso. Los Blancos have won all three of their LaLiga matches so far against Osasuna, Real Oviedo and Mallorca - only conceding one goal across these matches.

They face up against a Real Sociedad who should, on paper, be their toughest assignment of the season to date. However, Sociedad are going through a bit of a patchy spell at the moment which has seen them fail to win any of their opening three LaLiga matches, drawing two of these games.

It’s not like these results were against the elite sides in LaLiga either, they’ve dropped points against the likes of Valencia, Espanyol and newly promoted Real Oviedo. Sociedad will have to be proactive to ensure that this does not become the trend for their season but that revival is unlikely to happen here against the most impressive side in LaLiga so far. 

Real Madrid overcame Real Sociedad in the most recent head to head meeting between the sides back in May. Madrid ran out 2-0 winners on that occasion thanks to a brace from Mbappe. They were dominant in the game and managed to generate an xG of 2.58 from their 16 shots.

The worrying sign for Real Sociedad is that their poor form is not limited to the early parts of this season. They ended last season with just one win from their final eight LaLiga matches.

Chelsea have made a strong start to the 25/26 season, winning two of their three Premier League matches. These games have all been against London based sides so Chelsea’s tour of the capital continues here when they make the very short trip across West London to take on Brentford.

I had Brentford marked as one of the sides I thought may struggle this season and their performances in the opening few weeks of the campaign confirm to me that they mind find themselves in the ugly portion of the bottom half of the table this season.

Brentford’s three Premier League games so far have seen them lose to Forest and Sunderland on the road and register a 1-0 win over a struggling Villa side at home. I think they’ll really struggle to break down a Chelsea side that has only conceded one goal so far this term, and has one of the best defensive records this calendar year. 

Chelsea avoided defeat against the Bees in both meetings between the sides last season. The clash at the Gtech Community Stadium ended in a 0-0 draw but Chelsea did get the better of Brentford at Stamford Bridge in a 2-1 victory. 

Chelsea’s stern backline will prove difficult for Kevin Andrews’ side to break down, especially when factoring in the losses of Mbeumo and Wissa during the summer transfer window. The Blues should be able to extend their positive record against London sides here, no London side won more city derbies than Chelsea in the Premier League last season. 

Feyenoord welcome Heerenveen having won all three of their games in the Eredivisie so far, scoring eight goals and conceding just one in the process. Robin Van Persie’s side are aiming to win the title for the first time since the 2022/23 season having finished 11 points off the pace last year.

Feyenoord ran out 3-0 winners in this fixture last season and were totally dominant in the game. This was a trend reflected throughout Feyenoord’s home games last season, they were very difficult to overcome in front of their home fans with just three defeats from their 17 matches at Stadion Feijenoord.

Notably, Feyenoord have also kept two clean sheets across their opening three matches so it could be a challenge for the away side to find the back of the net here. Herenveen had the worst away record of any side in the Eredivisie last season, losing 14 of their 17 matches and conceding 42 goals across these games and scoring just 12.