The best action to follow this weekend
Saturday
??????? There’ll be no time to relax post-International Break with seven games lined up in the Premier League alone. We open with Watford vs. Liverpool and the return of a certain Claudio Ranieri to England’s top flight.
The former Chelsea, Fulham and famously, Leicester City coach will be responsible for maintaining what has, on paper looked like an okay start to the season for Watford as they welcome the only unbeaten side left in the division to Vicarage Road.
Elsewhere, Leicester against Manchester United has been known to produce interesting results of late, Manchester City host Burnley and current leaders Chelsea are the latest big side to run the gauntlet at newly promoted West London neighbours Brentford. As Arsenal and Liverpool will attest, it isn’t the easiest place to go.
?? With both Real and Atlético Madrid having their weekend fixtures postponed due to the late running World Cup qualifiers in South America, Real Sociedad are the only one of the top three due to play this weekend.
And as all three sides are level on 17 points, a draw against Mallorca would be enough to take La Real clear in the table. Should they lose however, Sevilla and Osasuna (both playing Sunday) will have the opportunity to make it a five-way tie by the end of this round.
?? Two big games appear on the slate for Serie A today. Defending champions Inter (3rd) head to the capital in order to face Lazio (6th) whilst Milan (2nd) are at home against Hellas Verona.
And despite both Milan clubs remaining unbeaten in the league, it’s the Rossoneri, or black and red side of the city who can temporarily oust Napoli from top spot with a win.
?? PSG managed to mount a comeback to beat Angers 2-1 in Ligue 1’s Friday night game, a result that puts the pressure on the other title contenders playing today.
Lille go to Clermont Foot, who seem to be adapting to life in what is their first ever season at this level and Lyon host Monaco.
??????? In Scotland, we’ll see top of the table action when Rangers (1st) meet Hearts (2nd). The latter have been something of a surprise package with a solitary League Cup defeat to Celtic the only blot on their copy book across 13 games played during the campaign to date.
Sunday
?? Looking ahead to tomorrow and one of the biggest games of the weekend takes place in the Bundesliga. Here again, we get a battle between the sides who are second and first in the table, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern München.
You may have seen a series of articles delving in to the current form of Leverkusen and their 18-year old sensation Florian Wirtz published in the app recently, with perhaps this here being the best example.
??????? Only two games to bring you in the Premier League tomorrow, and most eyes will be on just one of them as we wait to see how Newcastle United get on against Spurs in what is their first fixture since the must-talked about takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Group.
The other game pits Everton against West Ham. Albeit very early stages, a win for Rafa Benitez’s side could take them in to the Champions League places.
?? Back in Serie A, José Mourinho’s Roma should guarantee some entertainment as they travel to Juventus. And Napoli will be defending their 100% start to the season at home to Torino.
? Because we know everybody loves a derby game, here’s three to keep your eye on tomorrow.
In MLS, NYRB and NYCFC play each other for the third time in a month.
A week after the women’s derby set a league record attendance of 18,537 for the Stockholm Derby, it’s the turn of Hammarby and AIK‘s mens teams to bash heads in Sweden’s top flight.
And back in the English Championship, the two biggest Welsh sides, Swansea and Cardiff City will continue their longstanding rivalry.
? Finally, and despite not being a derby as such, the quarter finals of the Asian Champions League have thrown up a meeting between two teams who’ve been fighting over the K League title in South Korea for the last few seasons.
Jeonbuk and Ulsan will take a break from a domestic rivalry where Ulsan lead Jeonbuk by a single point having finished second to them in the previous two years to battle instead, for Asia’s biggest club competition. To add some extra spice to proceedings, Ulsan are actually the current holders of the Champions League.
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Cover Image from IMAGO