By AYDIN REYHAN

After the international break, domestic club action returns this weekend.

The Premier League’s opening fixture on Saturday will pit Arsenal and Liverpool against one another at the Emirates with major Champions League implications. The first meeting ended 2-2 at Anfield in the first half of the season.

Bundesliga-leading Bayern Munich will visit 10th-place Borussia Dortmund, a team they are a whopping 31 points ahead of in the standings despite the two teams’ recent history.

In Serie A, second-place Roma hosts Napoli, the club that sits six points below them in fifth.

Here is a closer look at this weekend’s European action:

ENGLAND

Arsenal and Liverpool kick off the Premier League’s return on Saturday. Arsenal sits in third with 60 points whereas their counterparts are two spots below with 54. This is definitely one to watch as Champions League soccer will be on the mind.

The Tyne-Wear derby returns to the Stadium of Light as Sunderland hosts Newcastle United. The home side sits one point out of the relegation zone with 26 points whereas their rivals have 35 in 12th. Not only is a higher place in the standings at stake, but pride in this region of England is also up for grabs.

Here are this weekend’s Premier League fixtures:

Saturday

Arsenal-Liverpool

Everton-Southampton

Leicester-West Ham

Manchester United-Aston Villa

Swansea-Hull

West Brom-QPR

Chelsea-Stoke

Sunday

Burnley-Tottenham

Sunderland-Newcastle

Monday

Crystal Palace-Man City

 

SPAIN

The Derby of the Community between Valencia and Villarreal returns this weekend with the visitors looking to avenge their 3-1 loss at the Madrigal. Villarreal sits 11 points behind third-place Valenciav — a win would inch Villarreal closer to fifth and European qualification.

Real Madrid hosts Granada with the hopes of cutting Barcelona’s lead down to one point atop the standings. Their 2-1 loss at the Catalans may have left a sour taste in their mouths, but a win over Granada would restore their confidence.

Barcelona will visit Celta Vigo, possibly without Lionel Messi, who missed two Argentine friendlies last week with a foot injury. His absence could open the door for the home side, a team that won 2-0 over Atletico Madrid earlier this season.

Here are the La Liga fixtures for this weekend:

Friday

Eibar-Rayo

Saturday

Sevilla-Bilbao

Cordoba-Atletico

Almeria-Levante

Malaga-Real Sociedad

Sunday

Real Madrid-Granada

Valencia-Villarreal

Getafe-Deportivo

Celta Vigo-Barcelona

Monday

Espanyol-Elche

 

GERMANY

The biggest match will of course be Bayern Munich visiting Borussia Dortmund. Being that the visitors are in first by 10 points ahead of second-place Wolfsburg and a whopping 31 ahead of Dortmund in the standings, this is mainly going to be about pride, as BVB looks to continue to rebuild on what has been a disappointing season to say the least.

Bayer Leverkusen will host Hamburg, which sits in the relegation zone. This will be fun for Turkish international Hakan Calhanoglu, who joined Leverkusen from Hamburg before the season.

Wolfsburg will host last-place Stuttgart, which could jump out of the bottom three with a victory. Winning won’t be easy against a team that wants to finish in second at the very least. Wolfsburg sits just seven points ahead of Moenchengladbach.

Augsburg hosts Schalke, a club it trails for fifth place by a single point. Expect a tactical yet attack-minded match as both sides vie for European competition.

Here are the Bundesliga games to be played this weekend:

Saturday

Bayer Leverkusen-Hamburg

Eintracht frankfurt-Hannover 96

Freiburg-Cologne

Hoffenheim-Moenchengladbach

Werder Bremen-Mainz

Wolfsburg-Stuttgart

Dortmund-Bayern Munich

Sunday

Augsburg-Schalke

Hertha Berlin-Paderborn

 

ITALY

Roma will welcome Napoli to the nation’s capital in a game where the visitors could climb within three points of the second-place hosts. It won’t be an easy match for Napoli, but the tools to come up with a huge road win are all there.

Fiorentina hosts Samdoria just two points shy of the visitors for fourth place. Two talented and successful teams are in for a tough test.

Here is this weekend’s Serie A schedule:

Saturday

Roma-Napoli

Atalanta-Torino

Cagliari-Lazio

Genoa-Udinese

Hellas Verona-Cesena

Inter-Parma

Palermo-AC Milan

Sassuolo-Chievo

Fiorentina-Sampdoria

Juventus-Empoli

 

FRANCE

Monaco sits in fourth place with 53 points and a game in hand when they host fourth-place Saint Etienne (52 points) to kick off Ligue 1’s weekend action. Both sides are expected to deploy a 4-3-3 formation. Clearly they both want to keep possession and create plays from the back. This is going to be an attack-minded approach for the most part from both squads.

League-leading Paris Saint-Germain visits Marseille, a club that sits in third place but only trails PSG by two points. If the Parisians win on the road, the league is all but theirs pending their results toward the end of the season. If they lose, they need to win most of their remaining games, hoping that Marseille slips up here and there.

Here is the list of fixtures to be played in Ligue 1 this weekend:

Friday

Monaco-Saint Etienne

Saturday

Guingamp-Lyon

Lille-Reims

Lorient-Rennes

Metz-Toulouse

Montpellier-Bastia

Nice-Evian

Sunday

Bordeaux-Lens

Nantes-Caen

Marseille-PSG