Arsenal vs. Manchester United in a massive midweek showdown; Leverkusen knock out Bayern Munich in Pokal play

Happy Wednesday! Club soccer is in overdrive this midweek with a double dose of action across Europe featuring Arsenal vs. Manchester United and Athletic Club vs. Real Madrid, not to mention Coppa Italia, DFB Pokal and early Copa del Rey action. I’m Jonathan Johnson to bring you up to speed at the midway point of this week.

Footy Fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Wednesday, December 4
EPL: Newcastle United vs. Liverpool, 2:30 p.m. Peacock Premium
DFB Pokal: RB Leipzig vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, 2:45 p.m. ESPN+
La Liga: Athletic Club vs. Real Madrid, 3 p.m. ESPN Deportes
EPL: Arsenal vs. Manchester United, 3:15 p.m. Peacock Premium

Thursday, December 5
EPL: Fulham vs. Brighton and Hove Albion, 2:30 p.m. Peacock Premium
Coppa Italia: Lazio vs. Napoli, 3 p.m.  Paramount+
EPL: Bournemouth vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 3:15 p.m. USA Network

The Forward Line

Huge Arsenal vs. Manchester United clash

This midweek’s big matchup sees Arsenal host Manchester United in the Premier League with the Gunners second and the Red Devils ninth. Mikel Arteta’s men are nine points behind EPL leaders Liverpool, who have a tough away day at Newcastle United, while Ruben Amorim’s side are four points behind Manchester rivals City in fifth. Pep Guardiola’s outfit are at home to Nottingham Forest as they bid to turn their poor form around and close the two-point gap to Arsenal and the Londoners will want to avoid dropping points here.

Arteta’s Gunners find themselves level on points with Chelsea and two ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion as well as City, but far off the pace that they perhaps expected to pursue Liverpool with. The Reds seem unlikely to drop enough points to let anyone back into the title race at present, thanks to their impressive Premier League and Champions League form. Arsenal have only won two of their last six EPL outings, though, so need to make sure that their recovering form after big wins over Forest and West Ham United does not go to waste.

United have had three games under Amorim so far and have returned one win and a draw in the Premier League as well as another victory in the UEFA Europa League. The Portuguese tactician has a big job on his hands at Old Trafford and it will take more than three points at Emirates Stadium to fix that, but closing that ground now would be a big boost ahead of a chaotic festive period where anyone can drop points and gain them with plenty of movement expected by January. Even a point could be a useful building block for Amorim’s Red Devils, so this is absolutely a game that Arsenal cannot lose, while there is less pressure on United.

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Midfield Link Play

Bayern’s Pokal hopes dashed

Bayern Munich will have to wait for another year to challenge for DFB Pokal glory after Bayer Leverkusen edged the Bavarians 1-0 at Allianz Arena to advance past the round of 16. For a club as dominant as Bayern, it is a strange quirk that their most recent domestic cup triumph came back in 2020 with Die Werkself the defending champions having been preceded by an RB Leipzig double as well as a Borussia Dortmund triumph since the last time that the 20-time winners lifted the trophy twice consecutively. Vincent Kompany’s men went down narrowly with 10 men after Manuel Neuer saw red after 17 minutes and it was a Nathan Tella goal which made the difference.

The Bayern hierarchy will likely be frustrated by another premature Pokal exit given that preseason expectations are at least a minimum of two titles. However, the recent turnaround in general form and a strong resurgence in the UEFA Champions League will count in Kompany’s favor as he still finds his feet at Allianz Arena. The result does place greater emphasis on continental form which should continue to improve with winnable remaining games in the league phase. The current four-point lead at the Bundesliga summit cannot be allowed to be whittled down by Eintracht Frankfurt who are four points adrift or Leverkusen who are seven points behind Bayern.

Xabi Alonso’s men will be focused on overhauling Frankfurt in second spot and remain ahead of Bayern in the UCL standings and given that RB Leipzig take on Die Adler on Wednesday in the cup, the quarterfinals are opening up nicely for the German champions who can still dream of that successful title defense. Another trophy would be a big boost for a club which historically does not boast a bulging trophy cabinet and especially if it comes at the expense of traditional dominant force Bayern who now know that they will have to wait for at least another season to pull off their next domestic double.

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UEFA Champions League standings: Perfect Liverpool lead with Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in danger as the Reds have 5 wins from 5 while the defending champions and PSG are in major UCL trouble.

The Back Line

Best Bet

• Coppa Italia: Lazio vs. Napoli, Thursday, 3 p.m. ET
  THE PICK: Lazio to win and both to score (+400) — Two of Italy’s form teams meet on Thursday with four points separating these two in Serie A. Napoli lead the way but Lazio are upwardly mobile and this is also one of those quirky ones where two teams meet in the cup days before they do in the league. Expect things to be close both times but do not be surprised if both sides score but the hosts come out on top here ahead of the return game in Naples this coming weekend.

For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss out on CBSSports.com’s betting home page. 

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.

3⃣ 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. And don’t miss Wednesday live streams on YouTube at 11 a.m. ET.

  Call it What You Want (Monday and Thursday): A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can can catch the show streaming live on YouTube every Monday at 1 p.m. ET and Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.  

 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+.