European football matchday: Under pressure Manchester United visit Spurs; Barcelona face Alaves

A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday: England Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is fighting to keep his job heading into an away match at Tottenham in the Premier League. Solskjaer’s position has come under heavy scrutiny after a 5-0 home loss to Liverpool that left United in seventh place. Tottenham are a point and a place higher in the standings. Chelsea take a one-point lead into a match at Newcastle, still without a win since coming under new Saudi ownership and still without a permanent manager after firing Steve Bruce. Second-place Liverpool host Brighton and third-place Manchester City host Crystal Palace. Arsenal travel to Leicester in one of the three other games.

👕 1️⃣8️⃣ appearances
🎯 🔟 goals
📮 5️⃣ assists@Cristiano has plenty of experience against Spurs 💪#MUFC | #TOTMUN pic.twitter.com/wFVgx7Rqnc

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 29, 2021

Spain Barcelona caretaker coach Sergi Barjuan will guide his team at Camp Nou for their game against Alavés while the club works on finding a permanent replacement for Ronald Koeman. Barcelona have fallen to ninth place in the standings after back-to-back losses to Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid that cost Koeman his job. Reports say former midfielder Xavi Hernández is the leading candidate to become Barcelona’s new coach. Ansu Fati is doubtful for the Alavés match after right-knee pain kept him out of the loss at Rayo this week. Real Madrid are at Elche also needing a victory after only winning one of their last four league games. They are in second place level on points with Sevilla and Real Betis at three points behind leader Real Sociedad. Sevilla face a surprising Osasuna side that is undefeated on the road with four wins and a draw, while Villarreal are at Valencia in a regional derby. Italy Juventus visit Hellas Verona looking to bounce back from a home loss to Sassuolo that prompted coach Massimiliano Allegri to question the dedication of his players. The Bianconeri trail Serie A leader Napoli by 13 points through 10 matches and don’t have room for many more missteps if they want to revive their pursuit of the Serie A title. Also, fifth-place Atalanta host sixth-place Lazio and Torino play Sampdoria. Germany Union Berlin’s 21-game unbeaten run at home in the Bundesliga will be tested when Bayern Munich visit them. Bayern are smarting after their heaviest defeat for 43 years and will be looking for a reaction to Wednesday’s 5-0 loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the German Cup. Union are a tough opponent, however. The team is fifth with only one loss in nine games, and was the only Bundesliga team Bayern failed to beat last season. Borussia Dortmund will be without top scorer Erling Haaland again when they host Cologne, and Florian Kohfeldt makes his debut as Wolfsburg coach at a Bayer Leverkusen side going through their first dip in form under new coach Gerardo Seoane. High-flying Freiburg host last-place Greuther Fürth, who have been hit by coronavirus infections after making the worst start of any team to the Bundesliga. France Second-place Lens visit a Lyon side which is looking to bounce back from a 3-2 loss to Nice and will miss winger Tino Kadewere through suspension and striker Moussa Dembele through injury. Metz and Saint-Etienne meet for a game between teams in the relegation zone. Saint-Etienne is still chasing their first win of the season while Metz hava lost their last three games.