With the German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 already decided, all eyes will be on the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A where the title races are still open in this weekend’s action.
First, the English Premiership comes to life again when the titles rivals Manchester City and Liverpool FC (separated by just a single point) get into the fray on Saturday, April 30.
Second-placed Liverpool open the day’s menu with a lunchtime kick-off (2:30pm in Uganda) at Newcastle while table leaders Manchester City travel to Elland Road to play against Leeds United in the late evening game.
The pressure will certainly be on Liverpool (with 79 points from 33 games) to win and maintain pace with Man City, with 80 points from same number of games.
Ordinarily, Liverpool, who have won three of their last four Premier League games (three wins and one draw) are favourites, but a resurgent Newcastle presents a very big threat to the Kop. Newcastle have won their last four games and are one of the most in-form teams at the moment.
On the other hand, Man City are expected to face stiff resistance from Leeds, whose recent form has seen them go five games unbeaten.
On Labour Day (Sunday, May 1), the race for the top-four slot takes centre stage when Arsenal visit West Ham in a London derby while Tottenham Hotspurs host Leicester City.
Only two points separate Arsenal (60 points from 33 games) and Spurs (58 points from 33 games) in the race for the top-four finish, so each of them will be out to win.
MILAN SIDES CONTINUE SERIE A DUEL
In the recent games, Arsenal demonstrated their seriousness with resounding victories over Chelsea (4-2) and Manchester United (3-1) that have kept the Gunners in the front seat.
Away from England, the Italian Serie A is another flash point where the two Milans; AC and Inter, are separated by two points at the top and will be in action against Fiorentina and Udinese respectively on Sunday, May 1.
Going into Sunday’s games, AC Milan leads the 20-team table with 74 points from 34 games followed by Inter at 72 points from the same number of matches. Neither side can afford to slip up.
REAL CHANCE
And in the Spanish La Liga, table leaders Real Madrid could wrap up the title on Saturday, April 30 if they avoid defeat at home against Espanyol. Actually, Real need only a point to seal the title so a draw would suffice in this game.
On paper, it’s hard seeing Espanyol cause a major upset at the Bernabeau following their 0-1 loss to Rayo Vallecano last weekend. Real Madrid (with 78 points from 33 games followed Sevilla with 68 points from 34 games) are coming off a 4-3 defeat to Manchester City in the Uefa Champions League but they still possess all the weaponry to destroy Espanyol.
There’s not much to write home about in the German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 where Bayern Munich and PSG respectively wrapped the titles last week.
FIXTURES:
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Saturday, April 30 @2:30pm:
Newcastle v Liverpool
Saturday, April 30 @7:30pm:
Leeds United v Man City
Sunday, May 1@4pm:
Tottenham v Leicester City
Sunday, May 1@6:30pm:
West Ham v Arsenal
Monday, May 2 @10pm:
Man United v Brentford
ITALIAN SERIE A
Saturday, April 30@4pm:
Napoli v Sassuolo
Sunday, May 1@1:30pm:
Juventus v Venezia
Sunday, May 1@4pm:
Milan v Fiorentina
Sunday, May 1@7pm:
Udinese v Inter
SPANISH LA LIGA
Saturday, April 30 @5:15pm:
Real Madrid v Espanyol
Saturday, April 30 @10pm:
Bilbao v Atletico Madrid
Sunday, May 1 @10pm:
Barcelona v Mallorca
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
Saturday, April 30 @4:30pm:
Mainz v Bayern Munich
Dortmund v Bochum
FRENCH LIGUE 1
Saturday, April 30 @10pm:
Rennes v Saint-Etienne
Sunday, May 1 @9:45pm:
Marseille v Lyon