European football matchday: Tough test for Liverpool against Hammers; Atletico Madrid look to extend lead

A look at what's happening in European football on Sunday:

ENGLAND

Liverpool are seven points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City heading into a tricky-looking away match against West Ham, with the Hammers one of the surprises of the season under David Moyes.

Liverpool got their title defence back on track with a 3-1 win at Tottenham on Thursday but the champions cannot afford a slip up if they are to keep in touch with City, who have won their last eight league games.

Liverpool start in fourth place and two points ahead of West Ham, who have won their last four games.

Tottenham are in sixth place and are set to be without striker Harry Kane, who was injured against Liverpool, for their away match against Brighton.

Thomas Tuchel takes charge of his second match as Chelsea manager when Burnley visit Stamford Bridge, and third-place Leicester host Leeds United.

SPAIN

Spanish leaders Atlético Madrid visit Cádiz aiming to take full advantage of Real Madrid's loss at home to Levante on Saturday. Coming off seven straight wins in the league, Diego Simeone's side have a seven-point advantage over second-place Madrid and two matches in hand before the trip to southern Spain.

Luis Suárez is the joint-leading scorer in the league with Sevilla's Youssef En-Nesyri with 12 goals. Suárez has scored three goals in Atlético's last two wins.

Barcelona need a victory at Camp Nou over a resurgent Athletic Bilbao to move level on points with Madrid. New coach Marcelino Garcia Toral has Athletic on a five-game winning streak in all competitions.

Also, Granada host Celta Vigo, while Alavés face Getafe needing a win to escape the relegation zone.

ITALY

Atalanta host Lazio for the second time in a week with the capital side looking for revenge following their Italian Cup defeat. Atalanta beat Lazio 3-2 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

They will be looking for a similar result in the league to move into the top four in Serie A. But seventh-place Lazio are only two points behind Atalanta.

Roma are fourth, a point above Atalanta, and host Hellas Verona. Verona won 3-0 by default earlier in the season after Roma fielded an ineligible player.

Sixth-place Napoli host Parma, who are in the relegation zone along with Cagliari and Crotone. Cagliari welcome Sassuolo while Crotone host Genoa. Also, Udinese visit Spezia.

GERMANY

Cologne hope to leave the Bundesliga's relegation zone with a win at home over Arminia Bielefeld. Bielefeld are just two points ahead of Cologne, who boosted their squad with former Schalke star Max Meyer. The club is hoping the now 25-year-old Meyer can live up to his potential after a disappointing spell at Crystal Palace.

Cologne are yet to win a league game at home this season, while Bielefeld has only won one of their eight away games.

Wolfsburg will aim to extend their four-game unbeaten run with a win over Freiburg in Sunday's late game.

FRANCE

Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain find themselves in the rare position of being involved in a three-way title challenge, with Lille and Lyon. PSG and Lille are both trailing Lyon by one point. PSG need a win away to 19th-place Lorient to guarantee reclaiming top spot since they have a better goal difference than Lille, who are expected to beat 18th-place Dijon at home.

PSG will be without midfielder Marco Verratti and central defender Abdou Diallo after both tested positive for the coronavirus this week.

Elsewhere, fourth-place Monaco look to make it seven games unbeaten when they travel to play former France coach Raymond Domenech's struggling Nantes side.

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