Club football will resume this week and there are a number of stories to play out across European football. Here is a look at some key points to watch out for during the weekend action across major European leagues.
Lethal Dortmund to punish Frankfurt
Title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund will host DFB Pokal holders Eintracht Frankfurt at the Signal Iduna Park on Friday night in the Bundesliga. Lucien Favre’s Dortmund have regained their sharpness upfront and they created plenty of chances in their last outing against Hannover. Marco Reus, Maximillian Philipp, Christian Pulisic, and Jordan Sancho are all reliable forwards and now they have Paco Alcacer too. Frankfurt were poor defensively towards the end of last season, after conceding 18 goals in their last eight away fixtures. Their troubles are not over when you consider that they have allowed the second most shots on goal in the Bundesliga this season. Not the best time to visit Dortmund.
St. Etienne to wait longer for a win
PSG and St. Etienne are yet to lose a Ligue 1 fixture this season, though the hosts have a pretty good record against their opponents in the recent past. PSG have tended to dominate this fixture and to that extent, they are unbeaten in their last 16 meetings. Etienne have shown elements of class at times this season but their failure to win against three teams who finished in the bottom 11 last term, will not help them against the defending champions. It is expected that their winless run will continue on Friday when they travel to Paris.
Ronaldo to finally score?
Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to score a goal since making the switch from Real Madrid to Juventus in Serie A. This has been the case despite the fact that he has been named to start all three of their competitive fixtures this season. All eyes will be on the Portuguese when the Old Lady play host to Sassuolo. He has found it much harder to find space due to the attention he is receiving from opposition defenders. He has been contributing well in other areas but it might be the time that he got himself on the scoresheet if he is to keep his confidence.
Turnaround time for Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid’s season has not gone according to plan following a draw, a win and a loss in their first three fixtures of the new campaign. They have an opportunity to turn this around this weekend when they host Eibar. The Colchoneros have a good record against their visitors as they have won three of their last five encounters with two of those ending in draws. With Barcelona and Real Madrid already miles ahead in the race for the title, Diego Simeone will be out to ensure they take all three points at here.
Leverkusen’s away woes to continue
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich will welcome Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena on Saturday as they seek to maintain a perfect start to their season. Unfortunately for the visitors, they are yet to earn a point despite having played two fixtures already. Bayern loves nothing more than putting on a show for the home fans and the record stands at 15 wins from their last 18 home outings. Leverkusen, as with