Make some room on your calendar for these fixtures.
It’s the holiday season so we’re not going to pretend you’re swamp with more important things than keeping up with your favorite teams and blockbuster fixtures.
These are the highlighted fixtures for the weekend (and Monday).
English Premier League
It is a 2-way tie at the top of the English Premier League.
Tottenham and Chelsea are both on 21 points.
Manchester City vs Fulham (English Premier League)
Chelsea vs Leeds (English Premier League)
Sheffield United vs Leicester (English Premier League)
Tottenham vs Arsenal (English Premier League)
Liverpool vs Wolves (English Premier League)
French Ligue 1
Montpellier vs Paris St. Germain (French Ligue 1)
Lille vs Monaco (French Ligue 1)
Dijon vs Saint-Etienne (French Ligue 1)
German Bundesliga.
Hertha Berlin vs Union Berlin (German Bundesliga)
Frankfurt vs Dortmund (German Bundesliga)
Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig (German Bundesliga)
Schalke vs Leverkusen (German Bundesliga)
Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid are looking at 4 straight league games without a win.
Atletico Madrid vs Real Valladolid (Spanish La Liga)
Granada vs Huesca (Spanish La Liga)
Alaves vs Real Sociedad (Spanish La Liga)
Sevilla vs Real Madrid (Spanish La Liga)
Italian Serie A
Juventus vs Torino (Italian Serie A)
Roma vs Sassuolo (Italian Serie A)
Udinese vs Atalanta (Italian Serie A)
Crotone vs Napoli (Italian Serie A)
Hertha Berlin vs Union Berlin (German Bundesliga)
A Berlin derby. Union Berlin on 16 points in 6th will look to move closer to the direct qualification spot for Champions League football with a win against the city rival Hertha Berlin. Hertha Berlin are currently 13th in the league on 8 points.
Manchester City vs Fulham (English Premier League)
10 rounds into the season and Manchester City are leading the wrong half of the league table. They’ve picked up the maximum points from their recent league matches; and must continue to do so. Manchester City will take on Fulham with the expectation to win.
Chelsea vs Leeds (English Premier League)
Chelsea are two points from the top of the table in the Premier League. A win at home against Leeds will open the possibilities for a top of the table finish at the end of the round.
Frankfurt vs Dortmund (German Bundesliga)
Dortmund are looking to make up for defeat in the last round. They will need a win at Frankfurt and hope that other results involving teams in the title race play in their favor.
Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig (German Bundesliga)
It will be up to Leipzig to stop Bayer Munich from stretching their lead in the title race. Can RB Leipzig go to Munich and deny Bayern a win? Or pick up a win?
Bayern Munich’s 2-point lead can be wiped away if they don’t get a win against RB Leipzig.
Bayern will widen their lead with a win against RB Leipzig.
Leverkusen will be second in the league with a win if Bayern Munich are to avoid defeat.
Dortmund will use a win and a Bayern Munich win to move above Leipzig.
Wolfsburg will use a win and a Bayern Munich win to equal points tally with Leipzig.
Sevilla vs Real Madrid (Spanish La Liga)
A fourth successive league win after ending a run of 4 successive winless league games will take Sevilla into the ‘top 4’ of the Spanish La Liga standings. Sevilla will need to keep Real Madrid without a league win for the fourth straight match. What response can we expect for Real Madrid?
Atletico Madrid vs Real Valladolid (Spanish La Liga)
Atletico Madrid with games in hand are just a point from the top of the league table. They will need a win against ‘relegation zone’-threatened Valladolid and hope that Real Sociedad stumble against Alaves.
Juventus vs Torino (Italian Serie A)
Apart from needing the win to help them take advantage of the ‘Roma vs Sassuolo’ fixture, the Turin Derby will be a must win for Juventus to keep their place in the top 4 at the end or the round.
Montpellier vs Paris St. Germain (French Ligue 1)
The cost for dropping points in a third successive league match for Paris St. Germain will be losing the 2-point lead they currently have in the Ligue 1 title race.
Lille, Lyon, Monaco, and Montpellier are all in position to use a win over the weekend to equal or surpass the point tally to PSG in the league.
Sheffield United vs Leicester (English Premier League)
Sheffield United will try for the 11th time to win their first league game of the 2020/21 Premier League season. Unfortunately for Sheffield United, they have at home a Leicester City side that have all the incentives to win this game. Leicester has to make up for the defeat in the last round and they are still in place to use the three points from a win to equal the point tally at the top of the league table.
Tottenham vs Arsenal (English Premier League)
North London derby. (An in-form) Tottenham will welcome Arsenal. As of writing, Tottenham are top of the table and Arsenal are 14th.
Liverpool vs Wolves (English Premier League)
After a win at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, Wolves will take another away test against Liverpool. Wolves have a recent history of going away and coming with wins against some of the big teams in the league. Tied in points with Tottenahm and having Chelsea and Leicester creeping closely behind, this is a must-win for Liverpool.
Schalke vs Leverkusen (German Bundesliga)
Leverkusen will be looking to grab three points from bottom table Schalke. A win for Leverkusen allows them to take full advantage of the ‘Bayern vs Leipzig’ fixture. Schalke on the other hand are staring at 26 league matches without a win.
Granada vs Huesca (Spanish La Liga)
Huesca’s chase for win number 1 in the league will be against Granada.
Alaves vs Real Sociedad (Spanish La Liga)
Real Sociedad does not have the room to drop points this weekend.
Atletico Madrid are lurking.
Roma vs Sassuolo (Italian Serie A)
Roma will try to erase the 4-0 defeat in Naples with a win against Sassuolo. With just a point between the two sides, Sassuolo could be leaving Rome with a 4-point lead or 2 points behind Roma.
Udinese vs Atalanta (Italian Serie A)
Udinese and Atalanta are both in poor form but we expected better from Atalanta. Udinese come into this match from a win against Lazio, while Atalanta comes in from a defeat to Hellas Verona. ( draw with Danish club Midtylland if we consider all competitions). It won’t be an easy task, but Atalanta will be expected to live up to their pre-season expectations when they take on Udinese.
Crotone vs Napoli (Italian Serie A)
Crotone’s search for their first win of the season in the Italian Serie A has ended up against a Napoli side that is coming to the match on the back of a 4-0 win against Roma in tha last round.
Lille vs Monaco (French Ligue 1)
Results from recent league games have not been great for Lille. Goal-difference is what keeps Lille above Monaco. Equal on 23 points, this is a top of the table clash in the French Ligue 1 that has the possibility for a team to finish top of the league table at the end of the round. A fifth straight win in the league for Monaco will put them as prime title contenders.
Dijon vs Saint-Etienne (French Ligue 1)
Dijon picked up the first win of the season on Sunday. Saint-Etienne are 9 games without a win (2 draws sandwiching 7 consecutive defeats). Despite playing away from home, this would be Saint-Etienne’s best shot at ending this horrible streak.
