A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:
ENGLAND
It is a big day at the foot of the Premier League with relegation strugglers Wolverhampton and Nottingham Forest going head-to-head at Molineux. Manager-less Wolves are third from bottom and Forest sit a point and a place below in 19th. Bottom club Leicester could capitalize when it hosts Crystal Palace in the early kickoff and could move out of the relegation zone - even if only temporarily - with a win. Third-placed Tottenham takes on Everton, and Fulham faces Bournemouth.
FRANCE
Sitting just one point behind Paris Saint-Germain, surprising Lorient can move to the top of the league. The Brittany side hosts Reims, which fired coach Oscar Garcia midweek and has failed to win since the end of August. Lorient is on a six-game winning streak. After escaping relegation with one game to spare last season, the team has been rejuvenated by coach Regis Le Bris' attack-minded approach in a 4-2-3-1 system. Lorient forward Dango Ouattara is expected to make his return after missing last weekend's game through suspension. Ouattara has four goals and delivered as many assists. Reims has only eight points from its 10 games yet held leader PSG to a goalless draw last week. Also, Lens hosts Montpellier.
ITALY
Struggling Juventus has been in punitive retreat ahead of the derby against Torino. The Bianconeri were embarrassed by a 2-0 defeat at Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League on Tuesday, which came three days after a loss by the same score to AC Milan. Juventus president Andrea Agnelli is sticking with embattled coach Massimiliano Allegri after the loss in Europe. Torino is two points behind eighth-placed Juventus and would enjoy nothing more than leapfrogging its more accomplished city rival. Also, second-placed Atalanta looks to extend its unbeaten start against Sassuolo and move atop the table — at least for a day. Leader Napoli hosts Bologna on Sunday. Promoted Monza aims for a fourth consecutive win when Silvio Berlusconi’s club visits Empoli.
SPAIN
Athletic Bilbao hosts Atlético Madrid aiming to extend its superb start and move closer to the top of the league. Bilbao has won five, drawn two and just lost once since the return of coach Ernesto Valverde for his third stint with the Basque club. That is good enough for Bilbao to sit in third place at five points behind Barcelona and Real Madrid before the front-runners clash on Sunday. Bilbao will be without suspended midfielder Ander Herrera. Atlético is in fourth place at one point behind Bilbao. Sevilla also visits Mallorca looking for its first victory under Jorge Sampaoli after two draws with its new coach. Jorge Almirón debuts in his second stint in charge of last-placed Elche in a visit to Valencia, while struggling Cádiz plays at Girona.
GERMANY
Xabi Alonso started impressively as Bayer Leverkusen coach with a 4-0 hammering of struggling Schalke but came back to earth in a 3-0 loss to Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday. As Alonso aims to make up for the poor results under predecessor Gerardo Seoane at 15th-placed Leverkusen, he visits an Eintracht Frankfurt team stuck in mid-table and keen to build momentum. Frankfurt is without defender Makoto Hasebe after he injured a knee ligament on Wednesday in the 3-2 loss at Tottenham. Desperately needing consistency after up-and-down campaigns in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League, Leipzig hosts Hertha Berlin, while Borussia Mönchengladbach visits Wolfsburg. Promoted Werder Bremen is in the European places as it hosts Mainz. The two lowest-placed teams meet when Stuttgart plays Bochum.
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