Five for Friday: what we’re looking forward to this weekend

Arsenal meet Spurs at White Hart Lane for what could arguably be the most decisive North London derby in years. As it stands Tottenham are in the driving seat, sitting three points behind leaders Leicester in the title race and racking up four wins in their last five home games. Arsenal are coming off the back of three straight defeats and have notched up just two wins from their previous eight on the road. If the Gunners fail to pick up any points from this then you can expect effigies of Wenger on stakes outside the Emirates come Sunday morning.

Over the last few weeks, thanks to three consecutive defeats, Manchester City's title challenge has gone more off road than a dirt bike. That is not good enough for a side of their calibre but given that those defeats came against City's Achilles' heel – top-half-of-the-table sides – they are not wholly unexpected. Fans should then rejoice that they are coming up against the soon to be relegated Aston Villa. After all, this is a side that have only two points from their last six away games. The problem with this, however, is that Rémi Garde has already shown this season that he can take on City and emerge unscathed and Villa are still fighting for their Premier League lives. Garde will also notice – as Jürgen Klopp (and others) have – that City's ageing midfield (especially in the middle) is not what it used to be. Expose that and who knows?

After all four MLS teams crashed out of the CONCACAF Champions League this week, a positive start to the 2016 season seems all the more important. The league is trying something new by staggering all 10 opening games across its “Soccer Sunday”. It begins with the New York Red Bulls hosting Toronto FC and last season’s runaway MVP Sebastian Giovinco. The Portland Timbers then take on the Columbus Crew in a rematch of last year’s final. It all finishes with the DC United traveling to the LA Galaxy, who have added Ashley Young and Nigel de Jong to their core of Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane and Giovanni dos Santos.

It’s a fact: La Liga is getting a bit boring regarding the title quest. Barça are sailing away and it looks like Atlético and Real Madrid's ships have sailed. Regardless, in La Liga there are still a few hidden delicacies in his menu. A few weeks ago Gary Neville was the captain of a sinking Titanic but the recent winning streak (forget that horrible defeat against Athletic) brought Los Che back to life. Atlético are going to experience some hard times in Mestalla but the three goals scored against Real Sociedad brought some peace to a team recently having troubles finding the back of the net, with just two goals scored in the previous four matches. Trusting Oblak’s 5 consecutive clean sheets, Valencia will struggle to score, so Atlético should take this one.

The Portuguese league is more exciting than ever this season, with the classic “big 3” fighting for the title like in the good old days. The difference between Sporting and Porto, first and third respectively, is just four points, which makes Liga NOS the most stiffer league in Europe at the moment. The big derby is tomorrow. Sporting play Benfica at José de Alvalade and there’s only one point separating the two rivals. Sporting might be seen as favourite, as the Lions already have beaten Benfica this season in three occasions, but Benfica have been performing amazingly only failed to win once in all matches played in 2016. But there’s more. Porto is playing Braga, third against fourth, and this is their golden chance of getting closer to the top, as either Benfica or Sporting (or both) will lose points this weekend. There’s absolutely no margin of error for the “big 3”!