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A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Sunday:
ENGLAND
Last season’s top two teams go head-to-head in the Premier League when Arsenal hosts Manchester City. Arsenal is one point behind defending champion Man City and can go level on points with first-place Tottenham with a win. Liverpool travels to Brighton, looking to put last weekend’s VAR controversy behind it and put more pressure on at the top of the standings. West Ham hosts a Newcastle team that is on a high after beating Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 in the Champions League.
SPAIN
Robert Lewandowski will miss Barcelona’s trip to Granada in the Spanish league with the defending champions needing a win to stay one point behind leader Real Madrid. Lewandowski sprained his left ankle in a 1-0 win at Porto in the Champions League this week. The Poland striker leads Barcelona with six goals overall this season. Ferran Torres scored at Porto after coming on for Lewandowski, so the former Manchester City forward could spearhead Barcelona’s attack again at Granada. Barcelona will also be without injured Pedri González, Frenkie de Jong, and Raphinha. Barcelona is in third place behind Girona in second. Fifth-place Atletico Madrid hosts sixth-place Real Sociedad.
ITALY
Defending champion Napoli and Fiorentina will both be looking to move into third place when they face each other at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The two teams sit three points behind third-place Juventus and seven below Serie A leader AC Milan. Napoli scored eight goals in its last two league matches but is recovering from a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League. Atalanta is just a point further back and visits Lazio, which is struggling in the league. Roma will be confident of a win at bottom club Cagliari.
GERMANY
Bayer Leverkusen is bidding to return to the top of the Bundesliga with a win at home over Cologne in the Rhine derby before Bayern Munich hosts Freiburg. Both Leverkusen and Bayern are unbeaten going into the seventh round. Leverkusen has impressed under coach Xabi Alonso, only dropping points against Bayern in their draw in the fourth round. Last-place Cologne is still looking for its first league win of the season — but it won the last two derbies played in Leverkusen. Bayern was unbeaten until it lost in the seventh round both last season and the season before. Eintracht Frankfurt hosts promoted Heidenheim.
FRANCE
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain is looking to bounce back from its heavy loss at Newcastle in the Champions League when it visits Rennes in the French league. Rennes is still unbeaten in the league and beat PSG twice last season. PSG striker Kylian Mbappe hasn’t scored in his last three games. Last season’s runner-up Lens hopes to make up ground after a sluggish start to the campaign when it hosts Lille in the Derby of the North. Marseille seeks to snap a six-game winless streak in all competitions against promoted Le Havre.
