A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:
ENGLAND
Manchester City heads to Southampton seeking a 13th straight win to move 14 points clear in the Premier League. Liverpool and Chelsea — the teams in second and third place, respectively — do not play until Sunday so City can strengthen its status as the big favorite for a sixth title in 11 seasons. Southampton has posed problems for City in recent years, though, and has drawn at Etihad Stadium already this season. Manchester United could move into fourth place, if only for a day, by winning at home to West Ham, which currently occupies that position. Duncan Ferguson takes charge of the first game of his second spell as Everton's caretaker manager in a home match against Aston Villa, while Newcastle travels to Leeds and Brentford hosts Wolverhampton.
Manchester City players celebrate at full time after defeating Chelsea during an English Premier League soccer match at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (AP PhotoDave Thompson)
SPAIN
Sevilla can move closer to Spanish league leader Real Madrid with a win at home against Celta Vigo. Sevilla is four points behind Madrid, which hosts Elche on Sunday. Sevilla is unbeaten in seven consecutive league games, with five wins and two draws that came against Barcelona and Valencia. Celta has won three of its last four league games. Defending champion Atlético Madrid hopes to end its poor run when it hosts Valencia. Diego Simeone's team is coming off eliminations to Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup semifinals and to Real Sociedad in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. Atlético has lost four of its last six league matches and is 16 points behind Madrid with a game in hand. Also Saturday, last-place Levante hosts Cádiz and Mallorca visits Villarreal.
ITALY
Dortmund's Erling Haaland leaves the pitch disappointed after losing the German Soccer Cup round of 16 match between FC St. Pauli and Borussia Dortmund in Hamburg, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
Serie A leader Inter Milan’s match against Venezia could be postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak on Venezia. The promoted squad has eight players positive with COVID-19. Inter could use the rest after needing extra time to beat Empoli in the Italian Cup on Wednesday. Also, Lazio hosts Atalanta and Udinese visits Genoa, which has new coach Alexander Blessin making his debut after Andriy Shevchenko was fired.
GERMANY
Borussia Dortmund visits Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga seeking a win to reduce the six-point gap to leader Bayern Munich. Dortmund coach Marco Rose has challenged his team to be more consistent after crashing out of the German Cup to second-division St. Pauli on Tuesday. Hoffenheim is fourth and chasing a Champions League spot. Third-place Bayer Leverkusen ended a four-game winless run in the league by beating Borussia Mönchengladbach last week and now hosts struggling Augsburg. Gladbach coach Adi Hütter is under pressure with his team in 12th ahead of a visit from Union Berlin. Freiburg hosts Stuttgart, last-place Greuther Fürth plays Mainz and Bochum takes on Cologne.
FRANCE
Third-place Marseille travels up north to take on Lens with new striker Cedric Bakambu available to try and fix the team's attacking shortcomings. Bakambu scored 48 goals in 71 appearances for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan before joining the nine-time French champions. With Arkadiusz Milik struggling for form, Marseille has been lacking firepower, managing just 28 goals in 20 matches so far. Lens is looking to secure a third consecutive league win in 2022. Lens coach Franck Haise will be without the injured Deiver Machado, with Massadio Haïdara and Ignatius Ganago also missing the contest because of their commitments at the Africa Cup of Nations. Marseille could move past second-place Nice with a win. Brest takes on defending champion Lille in Saturday's other match.
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A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:
GERMANY
Bayern Munich can seal a record 10th consecutive Bundesliga title in style with three games remaining with a victory at home over second-placed Borussia Dortmund. Bayern is hoping to continue its strong record against Dortmund after winning their last seven encounters. In Europe’s top five leagues, Bayern is tied for the record of nine consecutive titles with Juventus, which won Serie A every season from 2012 to 2020. For Dortmund, Erling Haaland ended a goal drought by scoring twice against Wolfsburg last week amid speculation over his future. Elsewhere, Leipzig hosts Union Berlin for the second time this week after winning their German Cup semifinal, and Champions League-chasing Freiburg hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bayer Leverkusen visits last-placed Greuther Fürth, Eintracht Frankfurt takes on Hoffenheim, and Cologne plays Arminia Bielefeld.
PSG's Kylian Mbappe, center right, celebrates his goal with teammates during the League One soccer match between Angers and Paris Saint Germain, at the Raymond-Kopa stadium in Angers, western France, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (AP PhotoJeremias Gonzalez)
FRANCE
Paris Saint-Germain is just one point away from sealing a record-equaling 10th league title. With five matches left to play this season, Mauricio Pochettino’s players have the opportunity to wrap up their dominant campaign in front of their home fans against Lens at the Parc des Princes. PSG has a 15-point lead over Marseille and can be crowned even if it loses against Lens on the condition that Marseille does not beat Reims on Sunday. PSG is set to move level with Saint-Etienne, which won its 10th title in 1981 and is fighting to stay up this season. Only two of PSG's previous titles — in 1986 and 1994 — were conquered before Qatar Sports Investments took over PSG in 2011 with the aim of turning it into a world-class club. Also, Saint-Etienne hosts in-form Monaco and Montpellier travels to Lyon.
ENGLAND
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (AP PhotoDave Thompson)
Manchester City can move four points clear of second-placed Liverpool in the back-and-forth Premier League title race with a home win over relegation-threatened Watford. A victory for City would put pressure on Liverpool ahead of its Merseyside derby against Everton on Sunday. More intrigue this weekend might lie in the race for Champions League qualification, with two candidates meeting at Emirates Stadium when fifth-placed Arsenal hosts sixth-placed Manchester United. Arsenal is tied on points with fourth-placed Tottenham, with United three points back. Tottenham visits Brentford in a match between Christian Eriksen's past and present clubs. Last-placed Norwich is eight points from safety heading into a home match against Newcastle, and Leicester hosts Aston Villa in the other game.
SPAIN
Real Betis and Valencia play the final of Spain’s Copa del Rey in Betis’ hometown of Seville. The match will be at Estadio La Cartuja, a neutral ground where Spain’s national team played its group phase matches for last year’s European Championship. Valencia will be seeking its ninth Copa del Rey after winning No. 8 in 2019. Betis’ second and last cup title came back in 2005. The winner will also earn a Europa League berth.
ITALY
Inter Milan forward Edin Džeko could bring up a century of Serie A goals by scoring twice against his former club as the defending champion hosts Roma. Džeko has a total of 98 goals in the Italian league — 13 for Inter this season and the rest in five years at Roma. A win would send Inter to the top of Serie A, with current leader AC Milan playing at Lazio on Sunday. Inter will also be buoyed after beating Milan 3-0 midweek to reach the Italian Cup final. A win could reignite Roma’s challenge for a Champions League berth. Atalanta has seen its hopes of a top-four finish evaporate following a run of three straight defeats and it visits relegation-threatened Venezia. Two other sides battling the drop, Sampdoria and Spezia, travel to Hellas Verona and Torino respectively.
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