What to watch this weekend in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga - November 7th

Liverpool vs. Chelsea

Here, for the avoidance of any doubt, is the official SBN Soccer judgement on Brendan Rodgers' team selection at the Bernabeu. If he swerved the game, he's an idiot. If he dropped a load of first-teamers because they've been playing appallingly, then he's fine, since that's what managers are supposed to do and it would be hard to claim many of his players have earned their place. Either way, of the four English teams that played in this week's Champions League, Liverpool emerged with arguably the least embarrassing result.

It was, however, a difficult game to assess. Liverpool's midfield looked a little more secure without Steven Gerrard's ageing legs in there, but then Real Madrid were playing somewhere between first and third gear for much of the game. Up front, Fabio Borini did significantly more running than Mario Balotelli ever will, but football isn't just about running and he didn't offer much else. As for Kolo Toure, well, it's clear than he communicates and works better with Martin Skrtel, but let's not overlook the fact that while the brave blocks against Ronaldo were all very encouraging, it was the Ivorian who lost Karim Benzema for the game's only goal.

In short, it doesn't matter who walks out at lunchtime on Saturday; it'll be some shade of a gamble. Virtually nobody is playing consistently well, and whoever does get the nod will be under immense pressure. So far this season, Liverpool have looked dysfunctional in nearly every department, and Rodgers, who spent most of last season one step ahead of the opposition, has looked almost overwhelmed. Losing the two best strikers in the league perhaps explains the limp attack, but the absence of the departed Luis Suarez and the injured Daniel Sturridge can't be blamed for a midfield that's looked porous without the ball and ponderous with it, not to mention that overhauled but still-dysfunctional defence.

From a team that nobody wanted to play, to a team that nobody needs to fear, Liverpool are desperately in need of three things: a good performance; a positive result; and something that amounts to a statement, to an assertion that last time around wasn't just a blip. Which makes the fact that it's Chelsea coming to town a serious inconvenience. After all, Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham have all beaten Liverpool by sitting deep, keeping their shape, then breaking at speed. And they all managed that without Eden Hazard. Or Oscar. Or Willian. Or Cesc Fabregas. Or John Terry.

Though Hazard's late penalty miss denied the Blues a victory against Maribor midweek, and though Jose Mourinho has spent the last couple of weeks in a seething funk, grumbling about his own inadequate fans, Chelsea are still embarrassingly superior to the rest of the Premier League. Only late equalisers at both Manchester clubs -- arguably undeserved in both cases -- have kept them from a perfect record, and it's starting to look like the only way to beat them is to hope they turn up undercooked and over-confident. But you suspect Mourinho won't let that happen against Liverpool.

For this game has more to it than just three points. These two clubs don't like one another much -- they haven't done for years, possibly forever -- and hanging over this fixture is the spectre of last season's pivotal game in the title race. Chelsea, by Liverpool's account, came to Anfield to waste time and nick a draw, only to end up fluking a win; Liverpool, by everybody else's account, were gulled into trying to win a game they only needed to draw, and ended up falling on their face. Literally. Whichever version of events you prefer, it was a spicy game with far-reaching consequences and still-lingering bitterness, which is precisely how these things should go. Something similar, and we can all go into the rest of weekend happy.

Fiorentina vs. Napoli

Interesting times in Italian football. The two best sides, Juventus and Roma, are having a mixed time of it in the Champions League, and after the latter's two defeats at the hands of Bayern Munich, former Germany goalkeeper and part-time honey monster Oliver Kahn put the boot in:

"Once German football trembled before Italy, now the opposite is true … The passage of time has left Italian football behind. It has nothing in common with the modern game, especially in regard to quick football. All teams in Italy play in an old-fashioned slow style."

But if Italy isn't measuring up too well against the rest of the continent, at least they know how to put on an internal scrap. Ignore the big two at the top and focus on the mezzanine level: after ten games, third through sixth are separated by just one point. And Napoli, currently in fifth, are starting to show signs of the quality that was supposed to have them outsiders for a title this season. Unbeaten in their last seven games at home, they outclassed Swiss side Young Boys 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday, and should, Rafa Benitez selection and motivation curiosities notwithstanding, go into this weekend's game against Fiorentina in good heart and form. The relationships between manager, owner, fans and squad are taut and tense, but they're holding for the moment.

Which isn't quite true of their Tuscan opponents, whose recent form has been all over the place. Convincing 3-0 wins over Udinese and Internazionale have been interspersed with disappointing defeats to Lazio and Sampdoria, and la Viola sit precisely in mid-table. Robbed of the services of Mario Gomez and Giuseppe Rossi by injury, Vincenzo Montella's men have struggled for goals, and the effervescent Juan Cuadrado has been moved all over the pitch, his form suffering as a consequence. They go into the weekend second favourites.

But let's be real for a second here. This game is partly about the football, but it's mostly about the shirts. With apologies to Manchester City, no side has ever made pale blue work quite as well as Napoli, and with all due respect to, er, Anderlecht and Germinal Beerschot, purple just is Fiorentina. This is as aesthetically pleasing a match up as European football has to offer, one of the most quintessentially Italian shirt clashes, and even if you've no interest in the events on the pitch, just pop it on and look at it. Like a lava lamp, but with yellow cards. Unless Napoli ruin everything by wearing their denim monstrosity.

PSG vs. Marseille

With Monaco's emphatic failure to follow in Paris Saint-Germain’s footsteps and become the newest nouveau riche team to establish themselves as a serious European powerhouse, Ligue 1 looked at serious risk of becoming a one-horse race. PSG are ostensibly the only French club with the pulling power and financial backing to sign some of the Europe’s best players, and, as such, they were expected to cruise to a third consecutive title.

And then Marcelo Bielsa appeared.

Since rocking up on the south coast after Marseille finished last season in a disappointing 6th place, Bielsa has started to wake France’s sleeping giant. Heading into their match against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, they're four points clear at the top of the table, and have lost only twice all season. For the first time in a couple of years, they’re looking like contenders once again.

Their start hasn’t been without problems, and Bielsa has again proven himself to be a tricky character to deal with. He fell out with attacker Morgan Amalfitano early in the season, before lambasting the club’s transfer policy by announcing that he didn’t sanction the arrivals of Romain Alessandrini and Michy Batshuayi, nor the departure of fan favourite and star man Mathieu Valbuena. After highly-rated young defender Dória arrived on deadline day, Bielsa launched into a remarkable press conference tirade, declaring that he would’ve rather the club sign Toby Alderweireld or Benjamin Stambouli instead.

But, there’s no denying that on the field, Bielsa has his team doing the business. The squad have adapted excellently to his style of high-tempo, free-flowing football, and have found the net 27 times in their first 12 games of the campaign. Youngsters like Gianelli Imbula and Florian Thauvin have impressed, and striker André-Pierre Gignac is one of the most in-form strikers in Europe at the moment.

If Marseille can get a result away at second-placed PSG on Sunday, we’ll know that we really have a title race on our hands.