A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Sunday:
ENGLAND
Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the Premier League will be put to the test with the visit of defending champion Manchester City to Anfield. Liverpool came into the weekend in first place and is the only team without a loss after the opening six games. City completes a difficult week of away games that started with a win at Chelsea in the league and was followed by a loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Tottenham is looking to end a three-match losing run in the league in a home game against Aston Villa. West Ham is at home to Brentford, and Leicester visits Crystal Palace.
SPAIN
Real Madrid visits Espanyol needing a win to rebound from two straight games without a victory. Madrid was deeply embarrassed in its last Champions League match when it lost 2-1 at home to Moldovan club Sheriff. That came after a 0-0 draw with Villarreal. But Carlo Ancelotti’s team leads the Spanish league even though Atlético Madrid pulled level on points after beating Barcelona on Saturday. Madrid will be without the injured Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy. Espanyol has only won once since its return to the top flight. Real Sociedad visits Getafe aiming to keep up its strong season which has it entering the match in third place.
FRANCE
Runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain looks for a ninth straight win in the French league when it visits Rennes. But Rennes is improving under coach Bruno Genesio and has found its scoring touch with striker Gaetan Laborde netting five goals so far — one more than PSG star Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe could again line up alongside Neymar and Lionel Messi, who seeks his first league goal after a brilliant solo effort in the Champions League on Tuesday. Defending champion Lille faces a Marseille side looking to maintain its strong start and struggling Saint-Etienne hosts Lyon in their bitter local derby.
ITALY
Napoli will be looking to maintain its perfect start to the Serie A campaign after its first loss of the season. Napoli lost 3-2 to Spartak Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday. It visits Fiorentina in the Italian league, where it has won all six of its matches. AC Milan is two points behind Napoli and will be hoping to keep its unbeaten start when it travels to nearby Atalanta. Roma and Lazio are not far behind and play Empoli and Bologna, respectively. Also, Spezia visits Hellas Verona and Sampdoria hosts Udinese.
GERMANY
Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich hosts Eintracht Frankfurt and the contrast between the teams could hardly be greater. Bayern is cruising in all competitions with 43 goals scored in nine games so far, while Frankfurt is still waiting for its first Bundesliga win under new coach Oliver Glasner. It’s unlikely to come at Bayern, where Frankfurt hasn’t won a league game since Nov. 18, 2000. That broke a winless run stretching back over 24 years. Mainz earlier hosts Union Berlin in a midtable clash, and Bayer Leverkusen closes out the seventh round with a game at promoted Arminia Bielefeld.
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