After recent reports suggested that Louis Van Gaal could be sacked this weekend with another poor result, Manchester United is in dire need of three points when it travels to Anfield to face an improved Liverpool.

Last-place Aston Villa will look to make it two-in-a-row on Saturday when the Villans host co-league leaders Leicester City. Villa is coming off of a decisive 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace midweek, which gives Remi Garde’s side hope of climbing out of the relegation zone.

La Liga is heating up, with Spain’s dominant trio continuing to keep pace with one another as the teams settle into the second half of the season. Meanwhile, seventh-place Sevilla can leap into a UEFA Europa League position with a win over the weekend against 10th-place Malaga.

In France, Paris Saint-Germain is pegged against relegation-side Toulouse, while the Parisians continue their magical 2015-16 campaign. With the massive gap at the top of the table, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and company can begin to hone in their focus on Champions League competition as well as France’s Coupe de France.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Following a tough 1-0 defeat against Leicester, Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to bounce back at White Hart Lane against Sunderland. With the two clubs on opposite ends of the Premier League spectrum, Saturday’s fixture will prove key to both Mauricio Pochettino and Sam Allardyce’s squads, albeit for different reasons.

Chelsea continues its run under coach Guus Hiddink, and although the Blues have yet to lose in the Dutchman’s second tenure with the team, the club still has a long way to go before getting back into consideration for a European slot in England. Hiddink’s side will host Romelu Lukaku and Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Saturday

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland

AFC Bournemouth vs. Norwich City

Chelsea vs. Everton

Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace

Newcastle vs. West Ham United

Southampton vs. West Bromwich Albion

Aston Villa vs. Leicester City

Sunday

Liverpool vs. Manchester United

Stoke City vs. Arsenal

Monday

Swansea City vs. Watford

SPANISH LA LIGA

Second-place Barcelona will host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, and will look to regain control of La Liga with an Atletico Madrid slip up. The Blaugrana come into this weekend’s clash on a 21-match unbeaten run, one that will surely have the rest of the Spanish field trembling in its boots.

Meanwhile, Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid will continue its new era against relegation side Sporting Gijon at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Sporting, currently on 15 points, sit 18th in the table and severely need a victory to find its way out of the bottom three.

Saturday

Sevilla vs. Malaga

Celta Viga vs. Levante

Villareal vs. Real Betis

Real Sociedad vs. Deportivo La Coruña

Sunday

Valencia vs. Rayo Vallecano

Real Madrid vs. Sporting Gijon

Getafe vs. Espanyol

Las Palmas vs. Atletico Madrid

Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao

Monday

Eibar vs. Granada

ITALIAN SERIE A

There’s a tight race for the Serie A title, with four teams separated by three points at the top of Italy’s first division. League leaders Napoli play host to Sassuolo on Saturday, while Juventus, Inter Milan and Fiorentina are all tasked with traveling to its opposition.

The Viola will face AC Milan on Sunday in a critical matchup of top 10 sides. Milan needs a victory to keep pace with the rest of Italy’s elite, currently sitting eighth in the league table. A win could potentially jolt Sinisa Mihajlovic’s team up to sixth, just outside of Serie A’s European designations.

Saturday

Atalanta vs. Inter Milan

Torino vs. Frosinone

Napoli vs. Sassuolo

Sunday

Genoa vs. Palermo

Roma vs. Hellas Verona

Bologna vs. Lazio

Carpi vs. Sampdoria

Chievo Verona vs. Empoli

Udinese vs. Juventus

AC Milan vs. Fiorentina

FRENCH LIGUE 1

While PSG remains unbeaten and sits atop Ligue 1, the final three European spots in the French division are firmly up for grabs at this stage of the season. After PSG, spots two through 14 in the league table are separated by a mere nine points.

Second-place Angers will travel to fourth-place Nice on Friday, with the latter looking to open up a more sizable gap against its Ligue 1 competition. Angers comes into the fixture having knocked off fifth-place Caen less than a week ago.

Friday

Nice vs. Angers

Saturday

Toulouse vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Bastia vs. Montpellier

Bordeaux vs. Lille

Ajaccio vs. Stade de Reims

Guingamp vs. Nantes

Troyes vs. Stade Rennes

Sunday

Lorient vs. Monaco

Caen vs. Marseille

St Etienne vs. Lyon

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Will Manchester United sack Van Gaal if the club loses this weekend? Can Barcelona re-take the top spot in La Liga? How will Fiorentina fare against Milan?

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