What to watch in international soccer this weekend
The weekend’s top televised soccer action from Europe will include surging Arsenal trying to continue its climb up the English Premier League table while Leipzig seeks to keep pace with the leaders in Germany. In Spain, Girona is the next La Liga team that will attempt to avoid being sacrificed in Barcelona.
EPL: Arsenal took a while to find its rhythm under new manager Unai Emery, who took over when Arsene Wenger retired after 21 seasons, but the Gunners are clicking now. They have won three in a row to move to seventh in the Premier League table. A win Sunday over struggling Everton could lift Arsenal as high as fourth (NBCSN, 8 a.m. PDT). Betting on a victory would be a good wager since Arsenal hasn’t lost a home league match to Everton since 1996 — 10 months before Wenger was hired as coach, a string of 20 wins and four draws.
Bundesliga: Leipzig, with only one loss in its last 10 matches in all competitions, is one of the hottest teams in Germany. Unfortunately, it’s only 1-1-1 in the Bundesliga, leaving it in the middle of the pack heading into Sunday’s match against Frankfurt (FS1, 9 a.m. PDT). The game will also feature some of the league’s top offensive players. Frankfurt’s Sebastian Haller is tied for the Bundesliga lead with three goals, one ahead of Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Jean-Kevin Augustin, while Leipzig’s Emil Forsberg is tied for the assist lead with two.
La Liga: Barcelona and Real Madrid already have separated themselves from the pack in Spain, leaving Girona in need of a positive result in Barcelona on Sunday to keep contact (BeIN Sports, 11:45 a.m. PT). That will be a tough order. Barca has scored a league-high 14 goals in four games while Girona has given up six, tied for fourth worst. And Barcelona has lost only once in 49 league games dating to April 2017.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
