What to watch this weekend in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga - December 5th
David Ramos/Getty Images
(click to expand schedule)
Premier League
Saturday, December 6
07:45 ET Newcastle United vs. Chelsea
10:00 ET Hull City vs. West Bromwich Albion
10:00 ET Liverpool vs. Sunderland
10:00 ET Queens Park Rangers vs. Burnley
10:00 ET Stoke City vs. Arsenal
10:00 ET Tottenham Hotspur vs. Crystal Palace
12:30 ET Manchester City vs. Everton
Sunday, December 7
08:30 ET West Ham United vs. Swansea City
11:00 ET Aston Villa vs. Leicester City
La Liga
Saturday, December 6
10:00 ET Elche vs. Atlético Madrid
12:00 ET Athletic vs. Córdoba
14:00 ET Real Madrid vs. Celta
16:00 ET Deportivo La Coruña vs. Málaga
Sunday, December 7
06:00 ET Rayo Vallecano vs. Sevilla
11:00 ET Barcelona vs. Espanyol
13:00 ET Villarreal vs. Real Sociedad
15:00 ET Granada vs. Valencia
Bundesliga
Friday, December 5
14:30 ET Borussia Dortmund vs. Hoffenheim
Saturday, December 6
09:30 ET Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Hertha BSC
09:30 ET Hannover vs. Wolfsburg
09:30 ET Köln vs. Augsburg
09:30 ET Paderborn vs. Freiburg
09:30 ET Stuttgart vs. Schalke 04
12:30 ET Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Sunday, December 7
09:30 ET Hamburger SV vs. Mainz 05
11:30 ET Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Werder Bremen
Serie A
Friday, December 5
14:45 ET Fiorentina vs. Juventus
Saturday, December 6
12:00 ET AS Roma vs. Sassuolo
14:45 ET Torino vs. Palermo
Sunday, December 7
06:30 ET Napoli vs. Empoli
09:00 ET Atalanta vs. Cesena
09:00 ET Genoa vs. AC Milan
09:00 ET Parma vs. Lazio
14:45 ET Inter Milan vs. Udinese
3 To Watch
-
Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen
The Bundesliga, experts agree, is by some distance the most exciting league in Europe. Admittedly, this has nothing to do with the top of the table -- where Pep Guardiola is strolling off into the sunset, big plate under his arm, whistling merrily -- and everything to do with the bottom, where Borussia Dortmund are attempting to pull off the neat trick of being simultaneously one of the worst sides in Germany and one of the best sides in Europe. That Klopp's a visionary.
Still, it's to the top we go for this weekend's hot slice of BuLi fun. The latest side to try (and fail) to stop the Bayern juggernaut will be Bayer Leverkusen, who go the Allianz Arena on Saturday in third place and the (futile) hope of cutting the ten-point gap between themselves and the leaders.
Bayer do, at least, promise to try (and fail) in a refreshing, entertaining manner. Stats nerds can find more details here, but in brief: Bayer press hard and high, attack as quickly as possible, and shoot on sight. With Heung Min Son purring on one flank, Karim Bellarabi tearing things apart on the other, and Hakan Çalhanoğlu -- the best free-kick taker in Europe -- strolling around in the middle, their (doomed) efforts are guaranteed to be fun.
As for Bayern, well, they've played thirteen league games, won ten, lost none, and scored thirty-two goals in the process. While conceding three. That's three. And all that despite an extensive injury list and Guardiola's ongoing mission to turn every single footballer on the planet into Sergio Busquets. Indeed, Bayern have only lost once this season, and since that defeat was almost a ten-man stroll past the champions of England, there's not much hope to be had there. Stefan Kießling is many admirable things, but none of them are Sergio Agüero.
With second place Wolfsburg facing a potentially tricky game away at Hannover, Bayern could (will) finish the weekend ten points points clear. At the beginning of December. Keep up the good/bad work, Klopp! You're all we've got left.
-
West Ham United vs. Swansea City
It was an uncertain summer for both West Ham United and Swansea City. The Hammers had decided to stick with unpopular manager Sam Allardyce, but the board made it very clear they expected more than long balls to Andy Carroll in what was expected to be another season of struggle near the foot of the table. The Swans, meanwhile, headed into the season with rookie manager Garry Monk, who looked set to continue their transition away from being BarcelonaLite and towards an uncertain future.
However, the first 14 games of the season have allayed pre-season concerns for both of these sides, who continue to be the Premier League’s two great overachievers. Allardyce has indeed proven himself to be rather more dexterous than his fetizisation of Kevin Nolan would suggest, skilfully fashioning a team out of a rabble of summer signings that hardly convinced on first glance. Strikers Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia have seamlessly transitioned into Premier League football, and even Mauro Zárate has managed to score a couple of times. Oh, and Stewart Downing (yes, the Stewart Downing) is now a silky midfield playmaker.
Meanwhile, down in the south of Wales, Garry Monk has indeed slightly modified Swansea’s slow-tempo passing game, but that has proven to be no bad thing whatsoever. While previously they could be accused of being too much bark and too little bite, Monk has forced his team to play a little deeper without the ball, and counter-attack ruthlessly with it. The Premier League’s curtain-raiser in which the Swans crashed Louis van Gaal’s welcome party at Old Trafford was a prime example of how the new, ruthless Swans style functions at its best.
They too, have benefited from some very intelligent summer business. They may have lost Michu to Napoli in the summer, but there's now no doubt Gylfi Sigurðsson is an upgrade on the Spaniard. Michel Vorm may have trotted over to warm the bench at Tottenham, but Łukasz Fabiański is a very competent replacement. And Jefferson Montero is probably the most squeezable player in the entire division.
All of this has combined to turn what would last season have been a yawn-inducing mid-table snoozefest into a surprisingly mouthwatering prospect. Both of these sides are at their best when on the attack, and between them have some of the most exciting players in England. There's also the fact that West Ham continue to keep Arsenal out of fifth place, which never fails to amuse. If there’s one Premier League game you catch this weekend, it should be this one.
-
Barcelona vs. Espanyol
The result is likely not in doubt. Espanyol, sitting 12th, are 17 points back of Barcelona, in second. The hosts could leap Real Madrid should they stumble, and although that's unlikely against Celta, Barcelona at least know they must keep the pressure on. Too many years without a title is unacceptable in this day and age, after all. And considering Espanyol has only managed to beat three teams this season, all below them in the table, Barça probably think they've already got three points in the bag.
But football will be football, and perhaps more importantly, derbies will be derbies. It shouldn't matter that Espanyol are struggling, or that they haven't won the Barcelona Derby since 2009. Or even scored a goal in the last four meetings...
Except, of course, for that fateful day not so long ago, when the two sides met in the first-ever Catalan Super Cup. Barcelona took an early lead, but Espanyol managed an equalizer, and refused to let Barça through again. Barcelona ultimately won on penalties, but there was more than a moment of uncertainty there. And lest you think the game wasn't taken seriously, Luis Enrique trotted out nine starters for his side.
That match may have counted for little beyond a rather meaningless trophy, but it showed Espanyol does have the capacity to surprise. And after a rare win last week, there could be no better way to show their intention of advancing up the table then to go to the Camp Nou and come away with a result. Espanyol are the overshadowed, the overlooked kid at the back of the gym, not so much picked last but not noticed by the rest of the world. To them, Barcelona are rivals, but to Barça, Real Madrid are the enemy. Barcelona play on the world stage, while Espanyol go unnoticed.
Inferiority complexes rarely take the initiative to score goals. But that little bit of extra grinta, an added desire to unseat a rival that barely acknowledges your existence these days...that could go far toward making a decent football match. And if Barcelona already think this result is a foregone conclusion, and have turned their attention toward winning their Champions League group with a result against PSG on Wednesday, Espanyol could produce a surprise that finally draws some eyes.
