North London derby, Der Klassiker headline decisive weekend
After a midweek round of fixtures, this weekend serves up another tasty slate as title races are beginning to take shape all around Europe. Stateside, the U.S. women press on in the #SheBelieves Cup and MLS makes its long-awaited return. Here are the matches to watch:
Premier League: Tottenham vs. Arsenal (Saturday, 7:45 a.m. ET on NBCSN)
North. London. Derby. Say no more, right? Well, with 10 games remaining and three points back of leaders Leicester City, Tottenham look to be in pole position to finish above Arsenal for the first time since the 1994-95 season. On the back of midweek losses, however, Spurs and the Gunners failed to make up ground on the Foxes' slip-up against a stingy West Brom side. The two butt heads at White Hart Lane for the 158th time in league play in what many consider to be one of the more pivotal installments of the storied encounter to date, and rightly so.
Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET on FX)
After Bayern's surprise home defeat to an in-form Mainz and Dortmund's victory at Darmstadt midweek, suddenly the door has flung wide open for Thomas Tuchel's men to close the gap on the league leaders. What was once an 11-point gap could be reduced to just two points when all is said and done. Against a question-marked Bayern defense, Saturday would be the perfect time for the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus to exploit the Bavarians' biggest weakness of late.
#SheBelieves Cup: USWNT vs. France (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN3)
Fresh off a 1-0 triumph over the Three Lionesses â and a tremendous showing from Crystal Dunn to boot â the U.S. women are getting exactly what they bargained for in the inaugural #SheBelieves tournament. After strolling to their fourth straight Olympic qualifying tournament last month, Jill Ellis' side had to put up all the stops to weather a staunch and committed England outfit. Next up, an equally strenuous test lies in wait against another top-four team in France.
MLS: Seattle Sounders vs. Sporting Kansas City (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET on FS1)
It's baaaacckkk. After a four-month hiatus, Major League Soccer returns for its 21st season, and what better way to kick it off than in the Pacific Northwest. After getting his first taste of professional action in the CONCACAF Champions League, highly touted Homegrown product and U.S. national team forward Jordan Morris looks to make his mark domestically. The Sounders seek to put their new formation, reconstructed midfield and revamped attacking line to good use against Sporting Kansas City, who'll look to compensate for the goal-scoring threat left vacant following the departure of coveted forward Krisztian Nemeth.
