What to watch this weekend in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga - December 12th

West Brom vs. Aston Villa

This derby doesn't have a catchy name -- one suspects "West Midlands Derby" was simply made up by a Wikipedia author trying to complete a list. It doesn't feature clubs lighting up the league -- in fact, both sides struggled against relegation last season. And finally, fans can't even agree on whether a rivalry exists -- many believe that the real derbies occur with other nearby clubs.

Aston Villa fans may tell you that it's more important to beat Birmingham City. West Brom fans may claim that wins over Wolves are more satisfying. But with both those sides in the Championship, Villa and West Brom have little choice but to accept that this is the biggest derby they're likely to see these days.

Yet those with a sense of history will probably admit that this rivalry has deeper roots, stretching back to the end of the 1800s, and the results in recent seasons mean this derby is getting all the more heated. While many Villa fans like to consider themselves above this rivalry, seeing the Baggies as newcomers to the top division with little past success, having West Brom finish ahead of them in the last two out of three seasons is starting to bring their noses down just a tad. As for West Brom supporters, they're quite willing to put those noses out of joint again, particularly after finishing behind Villa in the table again last season.

Of course, there's a difference between rivalries that only mean something to the fans involved, and derbies that are actually interesting to the outsider. This game does appear to be the former. After all, this is a Villa side that failed to score in six straight matches, while West Brom have netted just once in their last five games. And let's face it...neither are known for their consistently attractive and engaging play.

So why bother? Well, if this game is anything like the derbies of last season, you won't want to miss it. Neither side had exactly been knocking them in when they met at the Hawthorns last November, yet West Brom scored twice inside ten minutes, only for Villa to reply in the same manner in the second half. The reverse was even more exciting, with the Baggies again taking a two goal lead, only to have the score read 3-3 at the break. A late penalty decided it for Villa.

Sure, this one is likely to be a fairly staid, low scoring affair. But thoughts will haunt you, have you wondering what you're missing, if you decide to skip it. Why take that chance?

Porto vs. Benfica

In the great global rankings of all the football matches nicknamed 'the Classic', or variations thereof, Portugal's O Clássico tends to get a bit overlooked. Not as loaded with stars and money as its Spanish counterpart, not quite as dementedly fierce as the Argentine version -- ooh, that's a super classic? Well get you -- the meetings between Benfica and Porto nevertheless stands among Europe's premier derbies. An eagle fighting a dragon. What's not to love?

This is a game that always matters, in the sense of two rivals clashing, but it also almost always matters in terms of the title. Portugal's league is skewed so heavily towards the Big Three -- these two, plus Sporting, have won 78 of the 80 leagues ever contested -- that these games can't help but amount to notable moments in the season. Last season's second instalment was peculiar in that it was largely irrelevant; it came right at the end of the season, and Porto's 2-1 win, though doubtless enjoyable, couldn't prevent Benfica winning the title and completing an unprecedented domestic treble.

Not this time: though Sporting, along with Vitória Guimarães and Braga, have made bright starts to the campaign, two familiar names are sitting in first and second. Benfica top the league with 31 points from 12 games, a 2-1 away loss at Sporting Braga the only real blip on their record. Porto sit in second, three points behind, undefeated so far but having accumulated a few more draws. Benfica have scored 28 goals and conceded seven; Porto have scored one fewer, 27, but have also conceded two less, shipping just five. Porto, who host on Sunday, have a slightly superior home record -- they've conceded just the one goal as opposed to two -- but Benfica are the best away side in the league. The numbers suggest that it's going to be close, while the styles and players involved suggest it should be attractive.

Perhaps Europe can help us here. Porto progressed to the last sixteen with minimal fuss, topping a fairly straightforward group ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk. Benfica, however, not only failed to get out of their group -- won in which they should have been competitive -- they also missed out on the Europa League, a competition that they came within penalty kicks of winning last season. As such, manager Jorge Jesus is under pressure, and all of a sudden the league is the only real prize left to play for. Three losses in Europe speak, perhaps, of a certain weakness against stronger teams.

But even if none of that catches your eye, then there's one other reason to tune in Sunday evening, and that's because the scouts of the continental titans will be doing the same. In the great tangle of the European transfer market, Portugal's big clubs have established themselves as importers and polishers of talent. Players arrive, excel, and then move on a couple of years later for vastly increased fees: in recent years, Manchester United's Ángel Di María and PSG's David Luiz have jumped from Benfica to bigger, shinier things, while Porto's list of graduates includes Real Madrid's James Rodríguez, United's Radamel Falcao and Zenit Saint Petersburg's Hulk.

Who to watch out for this time around? Well, Porto's brilliant Algerian Yacine Brahimi has just been named BBC African Player of the Year, Colombian Jackson Martínez has been the next big thing for a while, and Mexican Hector Herrera has been tearing up the midfield. On the other side, unorthodox but excellent Brazilian Talisca has recently picked up his first international cap on the back of his domestic form -- nine goals in 18 games -- while Argentine Enzo Pérez has been strongly linked with a move to either Valencia or Manchester United. So sit back and make like a scout. Somebody, somewhere on this pitch, is going to cost a fortune one day.

Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao

Initially, David Moyes’ decision to take charge of Real Sociedad was quite alarming. The pasty-faced Scot had so long been part of the furniture of English football that the idea of him popping up in the mysterious surrounds of northern Spain was really rather disconcerting. With his classic brand of press conference awkwardness, his Glasgow drawl and his alleged (that’s alleged, lawyers!) penchant for lamping irritants in the grisly wine bars of deepest darkest Lancashire, Moyes was an indigenous inhabitant of the grey, industrial surrounds of northern Britain. In cosmopolitan San Sebástian, how would he function?! How would he speak?! What would he eat?!

However, all of these fears were allayed when he took charge of his first game against fellow relegation strugglers Deportivo La Coruña. So was the concern that he may have been swept away by a euphoric wave of Basque cider and thrilling tiki-taka, as he witnessed his side play out a deeply uninspiring goalless draw. Phew. It was still the Moyesey we all knew and loved. He was still alright. Or so it seemed.

Things had changed by the time La Real came out for their second game under Moyes: a convincing 3-0 victory over Elche. Suddenly things looked alarmingly … good. Carlos Vela netted a hat-trick, as the Basque side recorded their biggest league victory since seeing off the same side 4-0 back in January. But, reassuringly, it didn't take long for normal service to be resumed, as they followed that win up with another goalless draw against football hipster-funded second-tier opponents Real Oviedo in the Copa del Rey. And then things turned even worse than we were expecting at the start.

Yep, their last match, Moyes' side were hammered 4-0 away against Villarreal after a second half collapse of epic proportions. The premonitions of Moyes being sacked in January were strong, not helped by his facepalmworthy ‘Spanish’, in which he helpfully told the assembled press that he’d watched "the B team train uno, dos, tres, cuatro times." Sí.

However, the good news is that Moyes could turn things in his favour again with a victory against La Real’s Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao this weekend. Ernesto Valverde's side haven't got off to a great start to the season, and find themselves down in 10th place at present. A win for Moyes’ team would move them within a couple of points of their illustrious opponents. More importantly, it would move them further clear of the relegation zone. Another defeat, on the other hand, and he'd move closer to landing back in his natural habitat as quickly as we all feared.