ENGLAND. Arsenal hosts Wolverhampton on Saturday after sliding to fifth in the Premier League by collecting only one point from its last two games. That came from a draw against Crystal Palace after throwing away a lead and seeing captain Granit Xhaka run into dispute with his own Arsenal fans.
North London rival Tottenham is faring even worse, traveling back to Merseyside on Sunday to play Everton after losing at Liverpool a week earlier to remain winless on the road in the league since January and in 11th place.
Leader Liverpool is at Aston Villa on Saturday holding a six-point lead over champion Manchester City, which hosts Southampton. The south-coast club was thrashed 9-0 in the last round by Leicester, which is flying high in third place.
The 11th round opens with Manchester United only ahead of opponent Bournemouth on goal difference and 15 points behind Liverpool in seventh place.
SPAIN. With Lionel Messi coming off his best performance of the season, Barcelona is at Levante on Saturday chasing a sixth consecutive league win.
Messi scored twice and had two assists in the champion’s 5-1 rout of Valladolid on Tuesday. Barcelona is one point in front of Real Madrid at the top of the standings.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have a game in hand because their “clásico” match scheduled for last weekend was postponed until December because of a separatist rally in the Catalan capital.
Real Madrid, which routed Leganés 5-0 on Wednesday, hosts Real Betis on Saturday when fourth-place Atlético Madrid visits fifth-place Sevilla.
Surprise performer Granada, Atlético and Sevilla are two points behind Barcelona. Granada hosts sixth-place Real Sociedad on Sunday.
ITALY. Juventus is unbeaten ahead of the Turin derby against Torino at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Roma and Napoli are both on five-match unbeaten runs ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime meeting, but experiencing mixed fortunes. While Roma has gained confidence and climbed to fourth under new coach Paulo Fonseca, Napoli has sunk to sixth.
Second-place Inter Milan visits Bologna on Saturday and struggling AC Milan hosts Lazio the following day.
GERMANY. Promoted Union Berlin hosts Hertha Berlin in the highlight of the German league’s 10th round on Saturday. It’s the first meeting of the capital’s biggest clubs in the Bundesliga and it comes one week before the city celebrates 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Union warmed up with a 3-1 win at Freiburg in the German Cup on Tuesday, while Hertha has a day less to recover after a penalty shootout win over Dynamo Dresden on Wednesday.
The clubs previously enjoyed a friendly relationship going back to when the city was divided, but the rivalry has developed in recent years, particularly since the sides competed in the second division.
League leader Borussia Mönchengladbach visits Bayer Leverkusen, also Saturday, when defending champion Bayern Munich visits coach Niko Kovac’s former side Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund hosts Wolfsburg, the only unbeaten side remaining in the league.
Also Saturday, Leipzig welcomes Mainz and Freiburg visits Werder Bremen. AP
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