European leagues this weekend: Waiting for Ibra to score again

This weekend's round is a chance for the Man Utd superstar to end his goalless streak. But many other big names are afraid of stumbling due to the recent busy schedule.

Sunderland - Arsenal (6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 29):The fact that Wenger and his team are desperate for points to continue competing for the top spot could mean another defeat for the home team. Sunderland have not won any matches since the beginning of the season and have made coach David Moyes feel like he is sitting on a pile of fire with each match. With only two points, the "Black Cats" are sinking deep into the bottom of the table. Last weekend, they lost 0-1 to West Ham and then lost to Southampton by the same score in the fourth round of the League Cup in midweek. The 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough ended Arsenal's six-match winning streak. However, excluding the loss to Liverpool on the opening day of the season, they have not lost on all fronts so far. Furthermore, the last time Sunderland defeated the North London representatives in the Premier League was in November 2009.

Man Utd - Burnley(9:00 p.m. Saturday, October 29):Ibrahimovic's form is showing signs of slowing down after flying high at the beginning of the season.

The Swedish striker scored five goals in his first five games for Man Utd, including four in the Premier League. However, Ibrahimovic has not scored in the last five games. The last time he failed to score for that long was in September 2010.

Previously, in December 2007, Ibrahimovic had gone six consecutive Serie A matches without scoring while playing for Inter Milan. Of course, Man Utd fans do not want this to happen again. Man Utd's opponents this round, Burnley, have lost all three away matches since the beginning of the season and have conceded three goals in each of those matches. This is the premise for Ibrahimovic to set a goal of scoring again.

Tottenham - Leicester(9:00 p.m. Saturday, October 29): Having had a perfect start to this season, Mauricio Pochettino's team is showing signs of declining form.

That resulted in their first defeat of the season when they lost 1-2 to Liverpool in the League Cup. Although it was not a defeat in the Premier League, Tottenham have been held to a draw in their last two matches.

However, Pochettino's team are still in the top five of the Premier League, separated by just one point. As for Leicester, they ended a three-match winless streak by beating Crystal Palace 3-1 in the previous round. The defending champions are currently 12th, eight points behind Tottenham.

Last season, the two teams met four times, with each team winning one match. However, Tottenham fans will never forget the 1-0 defeat at White Hart Lane in January. That match set the stage for Leicester to beat Tottenham in the title race last season.

West Brom - Man City(9pm Saturday, October 29):The defeat to Man Utd in the League Cup was the sixth consecutive match that Pep Guardiola's team did not win.

That contrasts with their convincing form, which has helped them win all 10 matches at the beginning of the season. This is the first time Pep Guardiola has gone six matches without a win in his coaching career. Before the match with Man Utd, Guardiola expressed that he would not prioritize his forces to compete in the League Cup, but would save his strength to play in the Premier League and Champions League.

Guardiola mentioned West Brom, who face Man City this weekend, and Barca, who they host at home next midweek. He considered these two games to be difficult and left several key players on the bench for the Man Utd game.

Man City have not lost to West Brom in the Premier League since December 2008. Tony Pulis' team is also in crisis, not winning any match in the last four rounds.

Crystal Palace - Liverpool(11:30 p.m. Saturday, October 29):Liverpool is the team with the best form in the Premier League at the moment.

Jurgen Klopp's side are unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions and are one of the top three teams in the Premier League, behind only Man City and Arsenal on goal difference.

The trip to Selhurst Park will see Liverpool and Christian Benteke reunite. The Belgian left Anfield in the summer to join Palace. Benteke has a rocky relationship with Klopp, having previously blamed the German for ruining his Liverpool career. Benteke has scored three goals for Palace this season.

Neither Liverpool nor Palace are known for their solid defences. Palace have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 Premier League games, while Liverpool have managed 10.

Southampton - Chelsea (11pm Sunday, October 30):Chelsea have the second best attack in the Premier League since the start of the season, but this time they will have to face the second best defence in the league.

Southampton have conceded just eight goals in nine games, half of them from penalties. Coach Claude Puel's side are on par with Everton and only behind Tottenham in terms of defensive quality.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have scored 19 goals since the start of the season. In their last two games, they scored seven goals, including four against Man Utd last round. Chelsea's tally is the same as Arsenal's, behind only Liverpool and Man City, who both have 20 goals.

The two teams' recent form promises an exciting match at St Mary's.

Juventus - Napoli (1:45 a.m. Sunday, October 30):Not only is it a match between the Serie A leaders and third-placed teams, the rivalry will heat up even more when Gonzalo Higuain meets his former teammates again.

The Argentine striker was branded a traitor by Napoli fans and president Aurelio De Laurentiis after his Serie A record transfer to Juventus for $99 million late last summer. Higuain has often refused to comment on the matter, while coach Maurizio Sarri wants his players to focus on the game.

Napoli are in crisis up front and that makes their chances of breaking through Juventus's solid defence slim. New signing Arkadiusz Milik, who has scored six goals in his first four games for the club, is out for the long term with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Milik's scoring record in his early games was even better than Higuain's when he first arrived at Napoli, which made the fans of this team excited. Milik was absent, the man chosen to replace him, Manolo Gabbiadini, proved to be unsuitable for the striker position and could not play in this match due to a red card in the previous round.

But there is a silver lining. With no attacking options, Sarri let Dries Mertens play as a false nine and the Belgian midfielder immediately shined in this role. Every 64 minutes on the pitch, he contributed to a goal. Surely, Mertens will be Juventus' top target in the next match.

Alaves - Real Madrid (9:45 p.m. Saturday, October 29):Zidane and his team are aiming for victory this weekend to maintain their unbeaten streak since the beginning of the season.

Real are currently top of La Liga, one point ahead of second-placed Sevilla, and need to build on their lead before facing arch-rivals Atletico and Barca in November and early December.

Zidane rested several key players for the Copa del Rey tie against Cultural Leonesa, so Real are likely to field their strongest line-up. The problem for the visitors is the poor form of star man Cristiano Ronaldo. He has scored just twice in his last six games and looked disappointed in the 2-1 win over Bilbao.

Meanwhile, newly promoted Alaves beat Barca 2-1 at the start of the season. However, they have only won one more match in the next six rounds.

Atletico Madrid - Malaga (11:30 p.m. Saturday, October 29):The 0-1 defeat to Sevilla in the previous round pushed Diego Simeone's team from the top of the table to fifth.

It was their first defeat of the season and Malaga could be the target for Atletico when they visit the Vicente Calderon this weekend. Koke is unavailable after picking up a red card in the previous game, leaving Atletico fans even more hopeful of Antoine Griezmann, who has been out of form of late despite Simeone giving him the chance to link up with different partners in attack.

Malaga beat newly promoted Leganes 4-0 last time out and that was their third consecutive unbeaten game, including two wins. Four goals in the previous game were scored by four different players, a sign of the visitors' good form.

Barca - Granada (1:45 a.m. Sunday, October 30):Barca played later than Real in round 10 of La Liga. Therefore, if Real win, Luis Enrique and his team will be under pressure to keep up the pace.

Barca are two points behind Real. They lost 0-1 to Espanyol in the Catalan Super Cup midweek. In La Liga, the Nou Camp team had a tough time against Valencia last time. It was only thanks to Messi's penalty in stoppage time that they took all three points.

Barca are on a three-game winning streak, all against strong opponents - Deportivo, Man City and Valencia. This shows that Messi and his teammates are in good spirits, despite the Argentine star's swearing scandal after scoring the decisive goal against Valencia.

However, Barca continue to face personnel difficulties in this match. Jeremy Mathieu joins the group of injured defenders, along with Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba. Meanwhile, the absence of Andres Iniesta in midfield will give Luis Enrique a headache.

Augsburg - Bayern Munich(20:30 Saturday, October 29):Carlo Ancelotti and his team will meet again the team they defeated on October 27 in the German National Cup.

Bayern won that match 3-1 thanks to goals from Philipp Lahm, Julian Green and David Alaba. South Korean player Ji Dong-won scored the only goal for Augsburg.

Since two consecutive draws with Cologne and Frankfurt in early October, Bayern have won three consecutive matches in three different competitions. Before Augsburg, they also lost to PSV (Champions League) and Monchengladbach (Bundesliga). Therefore, this weekend's match is expected to be easy for the defending champions.

Dortmund - Schalke 04(11:30 p.m. Saturday, October 29):This year's Ruhr derby was less fun because of the two teams' inconsistent form since the beginning of the season.

Dortmund are on a three-game winless streak in the Bundesliga, losing to Leverkusen and drawing with Hertha Berlin and Ingolstadt. The disappointing run has left Thomas Tuchel's side in sixth place, six points behind Bayern Munich.

Schalke, meanwhile, are even more disappointing, struggling in 14th place. Having lost their first five games of the season, Schalke have picked up seven points from their last three. The positive form of striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has given the visitors some confidence as they face their rivals, who they have failed to beat in their last three meetings.

According to VNE