A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Sunday:
ENGLAND
Manchester City can take a giant step toward the Premier League title with a win at stumbling titleholder Liverpool. With second-placed Manchester United only drawing Everton 3-3 on Saturday, City holds a two-point lead with two games in hand. Liverpool is seven points behind City after losing its last two games at Anfield, where it had previously gone 68 games unbeaten in the league. Chelsea looks to continue its unbeaten streak under new manager Thomas Tuchel when it heads to last-placed Sheffield United, while Tottenham is on a three-match losing run going into a home game against West Bromwich Albion. Wolverhampton hosts third-placed Leicester in the other game.
SPAIN
Barcelona visits Real Betis looking for its sixth straight Spanish league win. The victory would put the Catalan club back into second place, ahead of Real Madrid, which won at last-placed Huesca on Saturday to open a three-point gap. Barcelona is 10 points behind league leader Atlético Madrid, which will remain with a game in hand after visiting Celta Vigo on Monday. Betis is coming off an elimination against Athletic Bilbao in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. Athletic visits Valencia, while its Basque Country rival Real Sociedad hosts Cádiz. Eibar plays at Osasuna in a match between relegation-threatened teams.
ITALY
AC Milan will be confident of going back to the top of the Serie A when it faces bottom-placed Crotone. Milan is a point below city rival Inter Milan, which won at Fiorentina 2-0 on Friday. Crotone has lost five of its past six matches and is four points from safety. It has also failed to even score against Milan in their past three encounters. Key Crotone forward Junior Messias is serving a one-match ban. Crotone could find itself farther from safety if Parma wins at home to fellow struggler Bologna or Cagliari triumphs at Lazio. But Lazio would move above city rival Roma and into the top four with a victory. Udinese is only six points above the relegation zone and hosts Hellas Verona. Sampdoria visits Benevento in the lunchtime kickoff.
GERMANY
Eintracht Frankfurt hopes to stretch its unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to nine games at Hoffenheim. The visitors can reclaim fourth place from Bayer Leverkusen with a win. Luka Jovic could make his first start since returning on loan from Real Madrid. The Serbian has three goals in four substitute appearances for Frankfurt, but faces strong competition from Portuguese striker André Silva, who has 18 and scored twice in his last two games. Arminia Bielefeld can leave the relegation zone at Hertha Berlin’s expense with a point or more against visiting Werder Bremen. Bremen is unbeaten in three games while Bielefeld has lost its last two.
FRANCE
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain is sweating on Neymar’s fitness ahead of its trip to bitter rival Marseille. The Brazil star missed Saturday training because of gastroenteritis and the club was making a late decision on his fitness. Marseille is without imposing striker Arkadiusz Milik, who has a minor thigh injury. Tensions are running high at Marseille with coach Andre Villas-Boas resigning this week, just days after a mob of angry fans stormed the training ground in protest at bad results. To prevent any further incidents, 400 police officers will be deployed. Lille can return to the top by winning at struggling Nantes, while fourth-placed Monaco looks for a seventh straight victory when it travels to last-placed Nimes.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
