By AYDEN REYHAN

While MLS takes centerstage in North America, Europe promises a weekend of soccer that promises both league and cup action.

The FA Cup takes centerstage this weekend as Liverpool take on Blackburn Rovers while Aston Villa and West Brom collide after Villa’s victory midweek. In addition, Tottenham faces off with Queen Park Rangers in Premier League action.

In Spain, Atletico Madrid hosts Valencia in La Liga with the hosts looking to protect or build on their one-point lead ahead of their visitors, who sit right behind them in fourth.

Elsewhere, Napoli hosts Inter Milan, Schalke plays Hoffenheim with a two-point lead ahead in the Bundesliga standings and Ligue 1-leading Lyon visits Montpellier.

Here is an overall look at the action from the top five European leagues that is coming up this weekend:

ENGLAND

Queens Park Rangers takes on Tottenham Hotspur in the only Premier League fixture of the weekend. Tottenham look to break into the top-six while QPR looks to escape the bottom three. QPR lost 2-1 at home to Arsenal in midweek whereas Tottenham were 3-2 winners over Swansea at home.

On Monday, Arsenal hosts Manchester United in the first leg of the FA Cup quarterfinals. The rivalry is being carried over from the EPL where the Gunners hold a one-point advantage in third place, which could make this a bit more tense than normal.

 

Here are the important fixtures happening in England this weekend:

Saturday:

Premier League:

Queens Park Rangers vs Tottenham Hotspur

FA Cup:

Bradford City vs Reading

Aston Villa vs West Bromwich Albion

Sunday:

FA Cup:

Liverpool vs Blackburn

Monday:

FA Cup:

Arsenal vs Manchester United

SPAIN

Real Madrid visits Athletic Bilbao looking to get back to the win column after dropping points in last weekend’s 1-1 home draw against Villarreal.

Barcelona hosts Ray Vallecano hoping to overlap Real Madrid into first place with Atletico Madrid looking to maintain or improve on their one-point lead ahead of the visiting Valencia.

Here is everything happening in La Liga this weekend:

Friday:

Levante vs Eibar

Saturday:

Deportivo La Coruna vs Sevilla

Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid

Elche vs Almeria

Granada vs Malaga

Sunday:

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano

Real Sociedad vs Espanyol

Villarreal vs Celta Vigo

Atletico Madrid vs Valencia

Monday:

Cordoba vs Getafe

GERMANY

Schalke hosts Hoffenheim, looking to maintain their two-point lead ahead of their guests in the Bundesliga table. A Schalke win would be a confidence-booster ahead of their return-leg in the UCL Round of 16 at Real Madrid next week.

Bayern Munich visits Hanover 96 with nothing but victory in mind as they look to improve on their eight-point lead ahead of Wolfsburg atop the table. Wolfsburg themselves visit Augsburg, looking to stay perfect in league play in 2015.

Here is all the action in the Bundesliga this weekend:

Friday:

Stuttgart vs Hertha BSC

Saturday:

Schalke vs Hoffenheim

Augsburg vs Wolfsburg

Hanover 96 vs Bayern Munich

Freiburg vs Werder Bremen

Hamburg vs Borussia Dortmund

Mainz vs Borussia Moenchengladbach

Sunday:

Koln vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Paderborn vs Bayer Leverkusen

ITALY

Napoli hosts Inter Milan in the most mouthwatering Serie A game of the week, as Napoli looks to cut Roma’s four-point lead ahead in second down to one while Inter look to jump into sixth.

Third-placed Lazio welcomed Fiorentina, while Juventus looks to extend its nine-point lead atop the standings with a win over Sassuolo in Turin.

Here is everything happening in Serie A this weekend:

Saturday:

Sampdoria vs Cagliari

Milan vs Hellas Verona

Sunday:

Cesena vs Palermo

Chievo vs Roma

Empoli vs Genoa

Parma vs Atalanta

Udinese vs Torino

Napoli vs Inter

Monday:

Lazio vs Fiorentina

Juventus vs Sassuolo

FRANCE

Toulouse kicks off the Ligue 1 weekend by hosting Marseille who look to tie PSG in second with 53 points. PSG looks to overlap Lyon into first when they welcome 19th-placed Lens.

Montpellier looks to rise into fourth when they host league-leading Lyon. Saint Etienne can jump up to fourth when they host Lorient while Monaco looks to bounce back from their Coupe de France loss to PSG when they visit Evian.

Here is all of the Ligue 1 action that will take place this weekend:

Friday:

Toulouse vs Marseille

Saturday:

PSG vs Lens

Bastia vs Nice

Caen vs Bordeaux

Evian vs Monaco

Reims vs Nantes

Rennes vs Metz

Sunday:

Saint Etienne vs Lorient

Guingamp vs Lille

Montpellier vs Lyon