Manchester City vs. Arsenal headlines major weekend of action including Der Klassiker and Marseille vs. PSG

The weekend is here and not only is club soccer back, but it is back with a bang as we have Manchester City vs. Arsenal, Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund and Olympique de Marseille vs. Paris Saint-Germain to look forward to. Jonathan Johnson here to 

📺 Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Friday, Mar. 29
🇫🇷 Ligue 1: Lille vs. Lens 4 p.m. ET ➡️ beIN Sports USA

Saturday, Mar. 30
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 WSL: Liverpool vs. Manchester City, 8:30 a.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇮🇹 Serie A: Lazio vs. Juventus, 1 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Bayern vs. Dortmund 1:30 p.m. ET ➡️ ESPN+
🇮🇹 Serie A: Fiorentina vs. Milan, 3:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+

Sunday, Mar. 31
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EPL: Liverpool vs. Brighton, 9 a.m. ➡️ USA Network
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EPL: Manchester City vs. Arsenal, 11:30 a.m. ➡️ NBC
🇫🇷 Ligue 1: Marseille vs. PSG 2:45 p.m. ET ➡️ beIN Sports USA 

⚽ The Forward Line

💥 City vs. Arsenal EPL cracker

Manchester City and Arsenal meet at Etihad Stadium on Sunday as two of the Premier League's top three do battle with a chance to do significant damage to the other's title aspirations. A win here, for either side, will create a significant advantage ahead of the final nine games of the EPL season with this arguably the strongest potential for meaningful ramifications. Whoever comes out on top will be heavily fancied along with Liverpool and City can point to an unbeaten record at home against the Gunners as Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta prepare to face off again. The visiting London outfit have won once against City in the Premier League already and also secured the Community Shield at their rivals' expense too. This one could be won and lost away from the field through injuries with Kyle Walker and John Stones now ruled out of this weekend's mammoth tussle. Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji all have or had minor issues, but it is now certain that City's XI will not feature the two England internationals with Stones a particularly big loss for the home side. James Benge weighed in on Stones and Walker in particular ahead of the game.

• Benge: "There is no one quite as effective as Stones in the City squad, perhaps in the sport, at stepping out from center back to form a double pivot. In general, when the England international has been sidelined -- as he has frequently this season -- it has been Akanji who has stepped out from the back alongside Ruben Dias, solidly if not quite as effectively. The absence of Walker might be just as profound though that really depends on Arsenal's situation too. Mikel Arteta is sweating on the fitness of three key players: Gabriel, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. The latter, the match winner when these sides met at the Emirates Stadium in October, might be the player whose absence is most keenly felt, particularly if the Gunners are facing off against a Walker-less City. Walker hasn't forgotten the damage the young Brazilian can do, back in October he named Martinelli and Jeremy Doku as the two fastest players in the Premier League after himself."

Although these are the player on player contest which make these Games so absorbing, there is little doubt that it can hand one team or the other an advantage and that is certainly what Stones and Walker appears to do in Arsenal's favor. City have a stronger record in Manchester and still an extremely strong XI regardless of a few missing players, but the Gunners now have a huge chance to go after in search of three potentially crucial points. In turn, that could open up what was expected to be a tight and potentially low-scoring Game so it could be that this has actually done all neutrals a favor. A few months ago at Emirates Stadium it finished with Arteta's men winning by a single goal although the sense of occasion was much grander than that. Perhaps this Sunday will finally be the moment that this Game catches fire and delivers and all-time EPL classic with so much at stake.

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🔗 Midfield Link Play

👀 Big European weekend ahead

It is not just Manchester City vs. Arsenal in the Premier League which will attract major attention in Europe with a host of big games starting on Friday night with France's Northern derby between Lille OSC and RC Lens. Things pick up with Der Klassiker between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday before Fiorentina vs. Christian Pulisic's Milan in Italy's Serie A. Sunday brings not only City vs. Arsenal in the EPL, but also Le Classique in France between Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain as well as Real Madrid vs. Athletic Club in Spain.

It is a weekend packed with big games which could have an impact on the title race given how far we have advanced into the season and how we are entering into the final stretch of domestic and continental competition which of course impacts the international summer given the number of major tournaments all of this soccer is building up to. Performances between now and the end of the campaign will influence national team selections for UEFA Euro 2024, Copa America and also the Paris Olympic Games which will see some players feature in two different continental competitions for their countries before the start of the next club term. 

City vs. Arsenal will have major ramifications at the EPL summit while Der Klassiker could well put paid to Bayern's lingering Bundesliga title hopes and Le Classique pits an improved Marseille up against bitter rivals PSG with Kylian Mbappe returning to Stade Velodrome where he was jeered and whistled just a few days ago while captaining Les Bleus to victory over Chile in a friendly. The Easter weekend is generally regarded as the start of a sprint finish to the season and these games promise to make that an explosive start from the blocks as everybody heads towards the home stretch.

🔗  Top Stories

🤫 Xabi Alonso's future: The Bayer Leverkusen boss is staying with the Bundesliga leaders which is bad news for German giants Bayern Munich and Premier League outfit Liverpool -- both are looking for new managers.

🫠 Chelsea's PSR nightmare: The Blues have been a PR disaster under Todd Boehly but could they now also be a PSR catastrophe too? Expect major sales to avoid EPL sanctions at Stamford Bridge.

🤕 Midge Purce ACL: Gotham now need attacking solutions with crucial 2023 winner out for the 2024 NWSL season through injury. On that note, what are the general vibes like right now? We catch you up.

🎲 Sandro Tonali ban: Newcastle United's Italian midfielder has been charged by the FA despite already being suspended for 10 months.

📅 UEFA Euro 2024: Your definitive schedule guide for this summer in Germany with group and venue details now that the slate is fixed.

💰 The Back Line

💵 Best bet

• Bundesliga: Bayern vs. Dortmund, Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
  💰 THE PICK: Under 1.5 goals (+700) -- Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund do battle at Allianz Arena on Saturday in Bundesliga's Der Klassiker, which could impact this season's title race. The hosts are already behind Bayer Leverkusen as the visitors seek a UEFA Champions League spot while both are in the UCL quarterfinals. That is not enough to stop Bayern from losing out on a 12th consecutive German title, though, with the DFB Pokal already gone for Thomas Tuchel's men. Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen lead by 10 points so even a win is not enough to truly close the gap, but anything will do right now against traditional rivals Dortmund. Bayern won 4-0 at Signal Iduna Park earlier this season for 16 wins from 20 meetings with BVB and European form is the only thing protecting Edin Terzic ahead of this clash. Dortmund need to keep up their recent run of four straight wins with RB Leipzig in action before this one even takes place. It suggests a tight and low-scoring affair which neither side can afford to lose.

📺 What's on CBS Sports Golazo Network

☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.

📦 Box 2 Box (Weekday afternoons): The news-driven show quickly recaps all the latest headlines from around the world with panelists previewing the top matchups of the day. Catch Box 2 Box on CBS Sports Golazo Network on the CBS Sports app, PlutoTV and Paramount+. 

3️⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, Thursday): The leading women's soccer podcast and social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women's game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will be breaking down the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic season all year long.  

👟 Kickin' It (Tuesdays): CBS Sports Golazo Network's new unfiltered interview show returns Tuesday Hosted by Kate Abdo, Clint Dempsey, Mo Edu and Charlie Davies, the group chat candidly with the biggest names from the Beautiful Game and share their stories from on and off the pitch. 

⚽ Call it What You Want (Monday night): A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Jesse Marsch and Charlie Davies cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States.

🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the newest place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can't-miss goals from the day's action, starting Thursday and airing seven days a week.

📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.