5 games to watch: Liverpool look for revenge against Tottenham

Here are five of the best matches in Europe that you should watch this weekend, including a big Premier League matchup on Saturday.

Following an international break that seemed to go on forever, the club season resumes on Friday. The top four leagues all have great games this weekend that should provide great entertainment value and many reasons to watch. The Bundesliga and Premier League both offer games featuring teams with top four aspirations. In Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona both face competitive mid-table teams. In Italy, Napoli play Fiorentina looking to get revenge for a late-season loss last year.

5. Watford vs. Manchester United — Saturday, Sept. 15, 12:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

Only three teams in the Premier League have started with 12 points in their first four games: Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford. The Hornets shocked Tottenham in their last game before the international break and are playing well above what was expected from them going into the season. On Saturday, Watford host Manchester United at Vicarage Road, where the team has already won three games this season.

Since taking over halfway through last season, Javi Garcia has helped Watford improve defensively. Under Marco Silva, Watford were one of the worst teams in their own end of the field. To start the season, Watford have conceded only three goals.

They’ve also been able to maintain their attacking quality, despite selling Richarlison in the summer. Roberto Pereyra has had a great start to the season, scoring three times, while Troy Deeney has scored twice, providing the club with a target in the middle.

Manchester United have had an up and down start to the season, winning two and losing two. Week to week, it is hard to predict what United team will show up. The pressure is starting to build for Jose Mourinho. United always have title aspirations and another loss will put Mourinho further onto the hot seat and that much closer to being fired. A win on Saturday will help calm the storm around Mourinho and give the club and fans more belief that he is the right man to lead United back to glory.

Mourinho has seemingly lost the locker room after feuding with Paul Pogba in the media. Despite the feud, Pogba has had a good start to the season, scoring two goals. Romelu Lukaku has got off to a great start, scoring three goals, including both in United’s win against Burnley. The Belgium international is looking to improve on the 16 goals he scored last season.

4. Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen — Saturday, Sept. 15, 9:30 a.m. ET (FS1)

Going into the season, both Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen were expected to claim Champions League spots. While Bayern have got off to a perfect start, Leverkusen have stumbled out of the blocks, losing both of their games.

Leverkusen have struggled at both ends of the field. Leon Bailey scored the club’s only goal in their 3-1 loss to Wolfsburg. After a strong season, Bailey and Julian Brandt were expected to take another step forward. The duo combined for 18 goals and 11 assists last season as 21-year-olds.

In their own end, Leverkusen have struggled to keep the ball out of their net, conceding five goals. Keeper Lukas Hradecky signed on a free transfer after a strong season with Eintracht Frankfurt to replace Bernd Leno. However, injuries have prevented Hradecky and center-back Sven Bender from playing in either of Leverkusen’s games. The return of both players should help strengthen their defense.

There’s no denying Bayern are the most talented team in the Bundesliga. The expectation in Munich is championship or bust. It is no longer a case of if Bayern win the Bundesliga but how early in the season can they capture the title. With Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller scoring in both of the first two games, it will be tough to stop the Bavarians.

Honorable mention: Wolfsburg vs. Hertha Berlin – Saturday, Sept. 15, 9:30 a.m. ET (Fox Sports Go)

Only three Bundesliga teams have started the season with two wins: Bayern, Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin. By the end of the weekend, one of Wolfsburg or Hertha Berlin could be the only team left in the Bundesliga with a perfect record.

Wolfsburg had to win the relegation playoff for a second straight season to remain in the Bundesliga last year. Bruno Labbadia’s side opened the season with wins over Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen, two teams that finished in the top five last season. Wolfsburg’s strong start to the season can be credited to several players. American John Anthony Brooks has played better at the back, while newcomer and towering striker Wout Weghorst has played well in the middle providing a target man for Yannick Gerhardt and Maximilian Arnold to play balls into.

Hertha started the season with wins over Nuremberg and Schalke. The Old Lady have kept clean sheets in the first two games of the season. While the midfield has played well to start the season, the results might be fools gold. Nuremberg are one of the favorites to be relegated while Schalke have struggled to start the season.

3. Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid — Saturday, Sept. 15, 2:45 ET (BeIN Sports)

Real Madrid have won their first three games to start the season. With Cristiano Ronaldo gone, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale have impressed. Benzema has scored four goals, while Bale has three.

Despite losing Ronaldo, Real remain one of the best teams in Europe because of their midfield and defense. Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro gel well together because they all bring a different skill set to the field and make up for where another player might have a weakness. Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos make life difficult for any opposing strikers, preventing them from getting into good scoring positions, while Dani Carvajal and Marcelo are able to prevent crosses from getting into the box as well as jumping up and joining the attack.

Like many La Liga sides, Athletic Bilbao have started the season with four points in their first two games. After a poor season last year, where Bilbao finished 15th, the club changed managers. Eduardo Berizzo was hired to guide the club back to a top-seven finish, where they had finished in the four seasons prior to last year. Saturday’s game against Real Madrid will be the first test of the season for Berizzo. Bilbao bought left-back Yuri Berchiche from Paris-Saint Germain in the summer. Berchiche scored in Bilbao’s 2-2 draw against Huesca and will be tasked with marking Bale.

Honorable mention: Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona – Saturday, Sept. 15, 10:15 a.m. ET (BeIN Sports)

Barcelona have started the season with three straight wins. Lionel Messi is again off to an incredible start to the season, scoring four goals in his first three games. The success of Barcelona will always run through their superstar. However, the past few seasons, Barcelona have added players to take the pressure off of Messi. Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele were bought from the profits of the Neymar sale. While Coutinho enjoyed a successful half season with Barcelona, Dembele missed most of the season with a hamstring injury. Now healthy, Dembele looks like the player he was at Dortmund. The French winger has scored two goals to start the season. If Dembele can continue to fill the net, Barcelona will be extremely difficult to slow down.

Real Sociedad have started the season by picking up four points in their first three games. Injuries have hit Sociedad hard to start the season, with at least five players unavailable Saturday. Top scorer Willian Jose will miss the game, creating a void up top for Sociedad. The injuries will put more pressure on talented 21-year-old winger Mikel Oyarzabal. The Spanish winger was second on the club last season with 12 goals.

2. Napoli vs. Fiorentina — Saturday, Sept. 15, 12:00 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Napoli’s title hopes came crashing down last season against Fiorentina. After beating Juventus to move within one point, Napoli needed to win. However, Fiorentina, led by a Giovanni Simeone hat-trick, demolished any hopes of Napoli capturing their first title since 1990.

Napoli changed managers in the summer as Maurizzo Sarri left for Chelsea and was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. While Sarri rested some of his players during European competitions last season to chase the Scudetto, Ancelotti is taking the opposite approach. Napoli rotated their squad in the last game, losing 3-0 to Sampdoria. With the Champions League starting next week, it will be interesting to see what approach Ancelotti takes to Saturday’s game.

The other notable change that Ancelotti has introduced is moving Arkadiusz Milik into the starting lineup for Dries Mertens. While Milik and Mertens have both scored this season, Milik will have to be a lot more productive if he’s going to match Mertens’ 18 goals last season.

Perhaps Napoli’s best player this season has been Piotr Zielinski. The Polish midfielder has been great to start the campaign, winning the ball back with strong tackles. Zielinski’s two goals against AC Milan helped his side come back from two goals down to defeat Milan.

Fiorentina have finished eighth in the last two season. However, the Viola have higher aspirations. Simeone and Federico Chiesa are two of the brightest young talents in Serie A and the players to watch for Fiorentina. Both players have scored to open the season and look to improve on their goal tallies from a season ago. Marco Benassi has had a strong start of the season, scoring three goals in the Viola’s first two games.

1. Tottenham vs. Liverpool — Saturday, Sept. 15, 7:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN)

Two of the most entertaining teams to watch in the Premier League are Tottenham and Liverpool. On Saturday, the two clubs meet in London, looking to steal points from each other. Liverpool have got off to a perfect start, winning all four of their games and outscoring their opposition 9-1. Tottenham have played well, winning their first three games before losing to Watford in their last game.

Mauricio Pochettino will have to make changes to his starting XI. Keeper Hugo Lloris will miss another game with an injury and Dele Alli has been ruled out of the game. The loss of Alli will put more pressure on Christian Eriksen to create from midfield. Heung-min Son returns from the Asian games and should help take some pressure off of Harry Kane. However, it’s unclear if he will be able to start against Liverpool.

Pochettino has used both a back four and back three this season. Against Liverpool’s vaunted front three, it would be wise to stick with the back three. The back three allows Tottenham to get their three best center-backs on the field at the same time. When Pochettino uses a back four, one of Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez cannot start.

Liverpool might be the most entertaining team to watch in Europe. Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino are among the best front threes in Europe. Mane has had an incredible start to the season, scoring four goals. Opposing teams are still struggling to find a way to shut down Liverpool’s attack.

While the season is only four games old, Jurgen Klopp has seemingly solved the defensive problems that hurt his teams earlier in his tenure. Virgil van Dijk is playing at a very high level and 21-year-old Joe Gomez has emerged as a rising star.