The top section of the Premier League makes for pretty remarkable reading at this late point of the calendar year, with surprise leaders and sluggish champions.

This weekend, the last before the calendar becomes convoluted with festive fixtures, will tell us plenty about the credentials of this season’s title challengers. Vibrant leaders Leicester City travel to a team who are equally free-scoring, while the sides currently occupying second and third also square off in what should be a tremendous clash.

Elsewhere, the top two in English soccer’s second tier go head-to-head, while the winner of the Club World Cup will be crowned in Japan. Capping off a brilliant weekend will be the league leaders in Serie A, who face testing fixture of their own.

All kickoffs are in Eastern time, enjoy your weekend and enjoy the games!

Middlesbrough vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

Saturday, December 19, 7:30AM, beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS CONNECT

It’s rare for a second tier clash to feature in our list of fixtures, but this game between Middlesbrough and Brighton & Hove definitely falls into the must-watch category.

Chris Hughton has done a wonderful job with Brighton, who remain undefeated at this point of the campaign. The Seagulls weren’t expected to be among the sides pushing for promotion this term, but they’ve played dynamic soccer throughout the campaign, and as their admirable undefeated start illustrates, they’re very tough to beat.

They aren’t top of the league, though. After Hughton’s side surrendered a two-goal advantage to draw with Queens Park Rangers, Middlesbrough nicked top spot. Aitor Karanka has done a brilliant job himself at the Riverside Stadium, and after last season’s playoff final heartbreak, Boro seem beset on automatic promotion.

The hosts have proven extremely difficult to get the better of at the Riverside, making this the ultimate test of Brighton’s promotion mettle. Whoever emerges victorious will have major momentum as we move toward the halfway point in the Championship season.

Everton vs. Leicester City

Saturday, December 19, 10:00AM, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Live Extra

Surprise league leaders Leicester City took another significant step in their season on Monday evening as they beat Chelsea. Now they face another free-scoring side in Everton this weekend.

The Foxes have delighted everyone with their exciting attacking play this term, flying forward with intent and incision. In Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, they are in possession of the Premier League’s two standout performers, and provided those two stay fit, Claudio Ranieri’s men will continue to dream big.

They’ll come up against another potent combination this weekend in Gerard Deulofeu and Romelu Lukaku, who have been on fire for Everton as of late. The latter is actually looking to score in his eighth successive Premier League game, with the former bringing out the best of him with his pinpoint passing and crossing.

The Toffees look a lot more vulnerable at the back compared to Leicester, and conceding cheap goals has ultimately been their downfall this term. With both sides set to attack in this one, expect plenty of goals to go in at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, as they top three scorers in the division — Vardy, Lukaku and Mahrez — take to the field.

Barcelona vs. River Plate

Sunday, December 20, 5:30AM, FOX Sports and FOXSoccer2Go

Luis Enrique’s Barcelona team will be seeking to make it five trophies in the calendar year on Sunday as they face River Plate in the final of the Club World Cup.

The Blaugrana have won the Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey and the European Super Cup in 2015 and are the big favorites to lift this title, too. They beat Guangzhou Evergrande in Thursday’s semifinal to make it to the Yokohama showpiece, and with Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all set to feature, Bracelona will definitely fancy their chances.

River will be dogged opposition, but the Copa Libertadores champions were not at their fluent best when they edged past Hiroshima Sanfrecce in their semifinal. It was their man for the big occasion, Lucas Alario, who grabbed the winner on Wednesday, as the Argentines eventually converted their possession into a victory.

Needless to say, the South Americans will be starved of the ball when they go up against the European champions. They’ll have to defend superbly to have any chance of nicking a victory, but having qualified for this tournament, they clearly have the mentality of champions. Every player will have to be at their best if they’re to repress this Barcelona attack, though.

Inter Milan vs. Lazio

Sunday, December 20, 2:45PM, beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS CONNECT

In among the chaos at the summit of Serie A, Inter Milan have quietly built up a four-point lead over the chasing pack and will be seeking to extend their advantage with a win over an interesting Lazio team.

As the teams between second and fifth all locked horns on Sunday in a pair of intriguing tussles, Inter produced a tremendous display against Udinese to ensure they remained top of the pile, winning 4-0. A loss for Fiorentina against Juventus and a draw in the Napoli-Roma match made it a perfect weekend for Roberto Mancini’s men.

While things are going brilliantly for the Nerazzurri, Lazio are in a real rut. After finishing in third position last season, many expected this talented team to go on and challenge for the Scudetto this campaign. However, Stefano Pioli’s team are languishing down in 12th place in Serie A, having not won in their last seven outings.

The visitors are capable of putting performances together on any given day, though, and a win at the San Siro would blow the title race wide open. However, Inter will be confident of continuing their steady progression towards what’d be a long overdue league championship.

Arsenal vs. Manchester City

Monday, December 21, 3:00PM, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Live Extra

The standout clash of the weekend comes from the Emirates Stadium, as both Arsenal and Manchester City seek to steal a march on their title rivals.

Despite a typical influx of injuries, the Gunners are in a rich vein of form. Having sauntered into the last 16 of the Champions League following a clinical win over Olympiakos, the Gunners backed up the win with a professional showing against Aston Villa. If they can beat City, then Arsene Wenger’s men may feel it’s their year to sample Premier League glory.

It’d be foolish to write off City. At times Manuel Pellegrini’s men have been brilliant, but without key players like Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero, they seem to lack the killer instinct which champions must possess. Even so, if things click on Monday night, they’re more than capable of getting a result in North London.

This is the kind of game which can spark a season into life. Arsenal and City have both shown frailties in recent weeks and in a normal campaign, that’d be enough to rule them out of contention for the title. But in this wide open division, they’ll each feel confident of making their way back to the top and as such, we should be in for a brilliant 90 minutes here.