Last season, the winners of various of elite European leagues were comfortable in their title successes. This term, a few of those champions are in trouble and they have vital clashes this weekend.

There are two games from the Premier League, two from Serie A and one from Ligue 1 to get your teeth into.

All kick offs are in Eastern time. Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the games!

 

Fiorentina vs. Inter Milan

Friday, February 5, 2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Inter Milan have the opportunity to put pressure on their Scudetto rivals early when they visit Florence to play Fiorentina on Friday night.

Antonio Conte’s team trail their city rivals and league leaders AC Milan by two points. The table-toppers have what should be a routine game at home to Crotone to negotiate on Sunday, but it’ll be a lot more challenging if Inter are top of the pile.

Inter have been a little inconsistent as of late and a 2-1 loss to Juventus in the Coppa Italia in midweek will have undoubtedly taking some energy out of them. Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku continue to thrive though and it’s no surprise that the Nerazzurri sit at the top of the goalscoring standings with that pair in tandem.

Fiorentina do represent a banana skin of sorts. They have already beaten Juventus 3-0 in Serie A this season and last weekend they were only a couple of minutes away from a remarkable win at Torino, having played with nine men since the 71st minute. Andrea Bellotti’s equalizer meant it finished 1-1.

 

Juventus vs. Roma

Saturday, February 6, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Some slips from the Milan giants have ensured that Juventus remain in contention to win yet another Serie A prize despite a sluggish start. Roma will not make things easy for the Bianconeri in Turin though.

A Serie A loss to Inter has been the only blemish on Juve’s 2021 so far, with nine wins from their last 10 games. That’ll be an ominous sign for the rest of the division, as Andrea Pirlo finally seems to be getting a tune out of the best squad in the league and star forward Cristiano Ronaldo is beginning to find a groove in front of goal.

It was Ronaldo’s brace that saw Juve past Inter in midweek and you can bank on the Portugal international to make a number of key contributions in the business end of the season, including matches like this one against a dangerous opponent on Saturday.

After a little wobble, Roma have got back to winning ways in the last two rounds of Serie A matches. Last weekend, Verona had no answer for the Giallorossi’s attacking talent, as they raced into a 3-0 lead after 29 minutes; they’ll no doubt find things much more difficult on Saturday.

 

Manchester United vs. Everton

Saturday, February 6, 2:45 p.m ET, NBCSN, Universo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV

After a record-equalling win in midweek, Manchester United welcome top-four hopefuls Everton to Old Trafford for what should be an intriguing match.

United took advantage of an early red card for Southampton on Tuesday and totted up handsome scoreline, netting nine unanswered goals and playing some fantastic football in the process. For manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, there’ll be a number of attacking players brimming with confidence ahead of this one.

Early-season talk of a title push has faded a little for the Red Devils, but a win here would put them level on points with pace-setters Manchester City, who would still have two games in hand.

Everton have been away-day experts this season though, with their four Premier League victories in a row their best run on the road in the top flight since 1985. Carlo Ancelotti’s team go into the weekend in eighth, but are just six points back on Leicester in third with two games in hand.

 

Liverpool vs. Manchester City

Sunday, February 7, 11:30 a.m. ET, NBCSN, Telemundo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV

Manchester City will be looking to put another nail in Liverpool’s title defense on Sunday and end their wretched run of form at Anfield in the process.

Despite their relative dominance of English football in recent years, City have always struggled at the home of the current champions. 2003 was the last time they headed back to Manchester with all three points and Pep Guardiola’s team have failed to cope with the intensity of Jurgen Klopp’s side previously.

This is a different kind of City side though, with a robust defense the foundation for their surge to the top of the table. John Stones and Ruben Dias have been formidable at centre-back, with just 13 goals conceded in their 21 Premier League games.

A succession of injury problems have left Liverpool on their knees and it’ll be intriguing to see how Klopp shuffles his pack again. They’ve lost their last two matches league matches at Anfield having not been beaten there since 2017; if City are going to end their barren run at the home of the Reds, this weekend feels like their best opportunity for a while.

 

Marseille vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Sunday, February 7, 3 p.m. ET, beIN SPORTS Connect, fuboTV, Sling World Sports and Vidgo

While the focus ahead of Le Classique matches in general tends to be on PSG, it’s Marseille who come into Sunday’s contest hogging the headlines.

Andre Villas-Boas confirmed in a press conference this week that he wanted to resign as the club’s manager, as they signed Olivier Ntcham from Celtic against his wishes. Marseille’s hierarchy turned down the request, instead deciding to suspend Villas-Boas for disciplinary reasons and then sack him.

That sacking following the ransacking of the Marseille training ground by the club’s disgruntled ultras. The supporters are unhappy with the presidency of Jacques-Henri Eyraud and the team’s form; after looking like possible Champions League qualifiers early in the season, one win in their last eight has left them down in ninth.

PSG will undoubtedly be in the title race and they appear to have serious company this season. They are third, three points behind Lille and a point behind Lyon; it means there’s little chance of any complacency from the Parisians as they seek to heap more misery on their big rivals.