What to watch in international soccer this weekend
With September’s international friendlies out of the way, soccer’s focus returns to club games that matter. And the unbeaten leaders in Europe’s top three leagues will be facing major tests this weekend:
Ligue 1: After scoring a goal in both of Brazil’s September games, Neymar returns to France to lead unbeaten Paris Saint-Germain against unbeaten Saint-Etienne on Friday (BeIn Sports, 11:45 a.m. PDT). The difference is PSG has won its four games while Saint-Etienne has played to a draw three times. Another difference: PSG has Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, who have combined for eight goals and three assists in four games. Saint-Etienne, which has just three goals as a team, hasn’t beaten PSG in the teams’ last 11 meetings (0-9-2).
EPL: You’ll have to get up early Saturday to see this weekend’s top match in the Premier League with Tottenham playing host to first-place Liverpool (NBCSN, 4:30 a.m. PDT). The Reds (4-0) have lost just one of their last 12 EPL matches dating to March and Sadio Mane has led the way this summer, scoring four times. Tottenham is off to a 3-1 start but will be without midfielder Dele Alli (hamstring) and keeper Hugo Lloris (thigh). Also on Saturday surprising Watford, also unbeaten, plays host to struggling Manchester United, which has lost two of its four matches (NBC, 9:30 a.m. PDT).
Serie A: Cristiano Ronaldo is still looking for his first Serie A goal and Sunday might be a good time to get it when he leads first-place Juventus against second-place Sassuolo (ESPN+, 6 a.m. PDT). Juventus has gotten a pair of goals from Mario Mandzukic this season while Domenico Berardi and Kevin-Prince Boateng both have that many for Sassuolo.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
