North London Derby, Barcelona’s red-hot run and other talking points heading into European football weekend

With the international break coming to an end, it’s time for us to shift our attention back to club football with plenty of fixtures to look forward to this weekend.

The international break witnessed plenty of memorable clashes in the UEFA Nations League, with sides such as Portugal, Italy, England and Sweden getting their campaigns off to a perfect start by winning both of their fixtures so far.

Among the key moments in the Nations League that got underway last Thursday were iconic forward Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 900th goal across competitions during Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Croatia.

The tournament also witnessed the beginning of a new era for England, who have won both of their matches so far against Ireland and Finland under interim manager Lee Carsley, who takes over following Gareth Southgate’s decision to step down following an eight-year spell as ‘Three Lions’ boss.

The final set of Nations League fixtures in the recent international break took place on Wednesday, 11 September in which Hungary held Bosnia and Herzegovina to a goalless draw and North Macedonia beating Armenia 2-0.

The next set of fixtures will take place on 11 October starting with England vs Greece.

As for European club football, here’s what’s in store this weekend:

Premier League

Key fixtures:

Southampton vs Manchester United

Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest

Manchester City vs Brentford

Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal

The biggest fixture in the Premier League this weekend is Sunday’s north London derby, in which Tottenham Hotspur host Arsenal on Sunday. The Gunners had finished runners-up last season and have won two out of three games so far this season, with their home fixture against Brighton ending in a draw.

Both Manchester City and Liverpool have had perfect starts to their season so far, the latter under new manager Arne Slot, and will be eyeing a fourth win in as many outings when they face Brentford and Nottingham Forest respectively.

City’s home game, however, takes place a couple of days before their trial over 115 charges of breaking Premier League’s financial rules begins, and manager Pep Guardiola will be hoping that doesn’t affect their performance on Saturday.

LaLiga

Key fixtures:

Mallorca vs Villareal

Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid

Girona vs Barcelona

Atletico Madrid vs Valencia

The 2024-25 season has witnessed a brilliant start from Barcelona so far as the 27-time LaLiga champions have won all four matches under Hansi Flick, who replaces Xavi in the role. That includes a 7-0 thrashing of Real Valladolid in their last outing.

The international break is OVER! 👀

And there’s plenty of #LALIGAEASPORTS action to come this weekend! pic.twitter.com/qogd46EBB6

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) September 13, 2024

Barca will hope to keep the party going when they face Girona away from home on Sunday.

Defending Spanish and European champions Real Madrid, on the other hand, have had a mixed start to their campaign – winning two and drawing as many to sit at the second spot on the table. They will be hoping to beat Real Sociedad in an away clash on Saturday in order to close the gap on their fierce rivals.

Serie A

Key Fixtures:

Empoli vs Juventus

AC Milan vs Venezia

Cagliari vs Napoli

Monza vs Inter Milan

It’s a four-way tie at the top of the table with defending champions Inter Milan and 36-time champions Juventus tied on seven points along with Torino and Udinese. Inter and Juve, however, have a better goal difference compared to the other two, which should keep them at the top if they beat Monza (Sunday) and Empoli (Saturday) respectively in their upcoming fixtures.

AC Milan, however, find themselves all the way down at the 14th spot after drawing two out of their three games and suffering a 1-2 loss against Parma. The 19-time Italian champions will be hoping to climb back into the top 10 with a victory when they face the 19th-ranked Venezia at home on Saturday.

Bundesliga

RB Leipzig vs Union Berlin

TSG Hoffenheim vs Bayer Leverkusen

Holstein Kiel vs Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich will have the chance to seize the top spot for themselves when they face Holstein Kiel late on Sunday. That will also depend on the outcome of Friday’s late fixture between Borussia Dortmund and FC Heidenheim, who surprisingly find themselves at the top spot, ahead of 32-time champions Bayern thanks to goal difference.

Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen meanwhile have had an indifferent start to the season, slipping to the eighth spot with a win and a loss and a GD of nil, and will be hoping to catch up with Bayern, Dortmund and the others in the top five when they face TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Ligue 1

Marseille vs Nice

Paris Saint-Germain vs Brest

Lens vs Lyon

PSG have hardly let Kylian Mbappe’s high-profile departure to Real Madrid affect them, collecting three wins in as many outings to sit at the top of the Ligue 1 table with a goal difference of +11 – thrashing Montpellier 6-0 in their second game.

They will be hoping to stay on top when they face Brest at home on Saturday. And hoping to catch up are Marseille, who are a close second with two wins and a draw and are up against Nice on the same day. Seven-time champions Lyon, meanwhile, find themselves at the 14th spot and will be hoping to revive their campaign that has had a solitary win and two defeats when they face Lens on Sunday.