Here’s a look at the European soccer scene on Saturday.
ENGLAND
Liverpool can reduce the gap to Premier League leader Manchester City by beating West Ham at Anfield. This would increase the pressure on City ahead the Manchester derby against United. Jesse Marsch, an American coach, takes control of Leeds in an away match against Leicester. His new team has been dragged into a relegation battle. Leeds is now two points ahead of third-to-last Burnley which hosts Chelsea. Last-placed Norwich will be at home to Brentford in a crucial game at the bottom. Brentford has fallen like Leeds towards the bottom three, and is now three points away. Newcastle hopes to continue its escape from trouble by beating Brighton at home.
SPAIN
Real Madrid hosts Real Sociedad just three days before it faces Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The quarterfinals will be decided by a 1-0 defeat. Madrid is now leading the Spanish league by five points, after Sevilla at Alaves was held on Friday to 0-0. Sociedad will be without its midfielders Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde due to a muscle problem. Both will be available for PSG against Coach Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti said he wouldn’t change his starting line-up against Sociedad in order to rest players for Champions League. So it looks like Karim Benzema will start. Villarreal will visit Osasuna having won its two previous games with a combined score 9-2, even without striker Gerard Moreno. After reaching the Copa del Rey Final this week, Valencia will welcome Granada. A better Getafe hopes to win its first road victory against struggling Espanyol after it has lost seven of seven.
ITALY
Atalanta and Roma will try to maintain the pressure on the top four by facing each other in Serie A. Jose Mourinho’s Roma won four consecutive matches, including a 1-0 win over Spezia. Atalanta is three points behind the capital team, and three points less than fourth-placed Juventus. Atalanta also has played less matches than other teams. Lazio will hope for a slipup from Roma to rise above its city rival in this table. It visits relegation-threatened Cagliari. Sampdoria and Udinese are just four points behind the bottom three, and they will face each other in an important match in Udine.
GERMANY
Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich hosts Bayer Leverkusen, third in the table for a game that is sure to be dominated by goals. Leverkusen already has 63 points in 24 league matches, while Bayern is at the top of the charts with 75 — 28 goals scored by Robert Lewandowski. Bayern won all four of their previous encounters and a win would give them a nine point advantage over Borussia Dortmund, which is second. Leipzig entertains Freiburg for a duel with Champions League qualification at stake, Wolfsburg welcomes Union Berlin, and relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin hosts Eintracht Frankfurt in a match between teams that have lost their last three games. Hertha is in worse shape after they failed to win any of their games this year. Tayfun Korkut and his team are in the playoffs for relegation. Stuttgart, second from the bottom, is welcoming Borussia Monchengladbach.
FRANCE
Paris Saint-Germain, the leader of the runaway league, will be without Kylian Mbappe, their star striker for the difficult trip to Nice. He has been suspended. A win for Nice would lift it up two places above Marseille, second place, and into the automatic Champions League spot. Nice coach Christophe Galtier, who has been a good opponent to PSG, is looking for a fifth consecutive clean sheet. He led Lille to the French title last season and his team drew and lost against PSG. Nice finished sixth in the French Cup and league, drawing 0-0 in Paris. They advanced on penalties. Lens, which is sixth in the league, will be at Brest. Lens’ win will bring it level with Rennes, fourth in points, and the Europa League spot.
