Soccer on TV: Arsenal-Manchester United, West Ham-Liverpool, USMNT’s first game of 2021

Saturday, 9 a.m. (ESPN+)

Wednesday’s Milan-Inter game in the Coppa Italia lived up to the hype. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a goal, got into a fight with Inter star Romelu Lukaku, and got sent off for another infraction later. Then Lukaku scored the equalizer and Christian Eriksen scored a 97th-minute winner with a beautiful free kick.

Now Milan returns to Serie A, where it’s in first place by two points (43 total) over Inter (41). Buckle up as the title race kicks up a notch. And if either team slips, Roma is four points back of Inter (37), and Juventus and Atalanta are just one point further behind (36). Inter will host 11th-place Benevento later Saturday (2:45 p.m., ESPN+).

» READ MORE: This weekend's Serie A schedule

Saturday, 10 a.m. (NBCSN, Universo)

Sheffield United’s 2-1 win at Manchester United on Tuesday was the upset of the season in the English Premier League, and it helped Manchester City take over first place in the standings. Suddenly, the Blades have won four of their last five games in all competitions, including two of three in the league. They will go to the blue side of Manchester hoping to pull off another stunner, while City hopes to take charge of the title race.

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (NBC, Telemundo)

The quest to figure out what kind of team Arsenal is these days continues, but with a twist: There’s been actual progress on overhauling the roster. Mesut Ozil is gone to Fenerbahce, Sokratis is gone to Olympiakos, and Martin Odegaard has arrived on loan from Real Madrid.

Many more moves are needed to fix the Gunners’ problems, and a win over second-place United would count as an upset — even though Arsenal won at Old Trafford in November. But three points would give Arsenal a season sweep of the Red Devils, and a momentary station above Chelsea in the standings.

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Bayern Munich has run away from the field in the Bundesliga again, with a seven-point lead over second-place Leipzig. So it’s now about jockeying for Champions League berths, with Leipzig and ninth-place Freiburg separated by eight points. Leverkusen is in third, three points behind Leipzig, which means a win here would put it in second.

» READ MORE: This weekend's Bundesliga schedule

Saturday, 3 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

The final of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s version of the Champions League, is an all-Brazilian matchup. Coincidentally, the pre-set neutral site for the game is Brazi’s ultimate soccer shrine, the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Palmeiras, led by veteran forward Luiz Adriano, is going for its second all-time Libertadores title. The club’s only one to date came in 1999. Santos, the former club of Neymar and Pele, is looking for its fourth title and its first since Neymar led the club’s 2011 triumph. That was the club’s first Libertadores title since Pele won titles back-to-back in 1962 and 1963.

Sunday, 9:30 a.m. (NBCSports.com, atafootball.com)

United is tied with Chelsea atop the FA Women’s Super League, but not all is well. Tobin Heath is out 10-12 weeks with an ankle injury suffered in a recent practice session, which means she’ll miss the SheBelieves Cup and a lot of club games.

The good news is Christen Press has overcome the illness that sidelined her earlier this month. But she has yet to play a full 90 minutes in eight appearances, and has just one goal for United — last Oct. 18. Right now would be a big time for a big game from her.

» READ MORE: New second-tier pro U.S. women’s soccer league planned to launch in 2022

Sunday, 11:30 a.m. (Peacock)

When Liverpool’s game at Tottenham on Thursday kicked off, West Ham was above the Reds by a point in the standings. The Hammers’ rise to fourth place gave them their highest standing in England since 2016. But Liverpool finally woke up, beating Tottenham, 3-1. The goals were Liverpool’s first in the Premier League since Dec. 27, and the win was the first in the league since eight days before that.

West Ham, meanwhile, has won four straight games and tied the two games before those. This matchup will be a big measuring stick for both sides.

» READ MORE: This weekend's Premier League schedule

Sunday, 7 p.m. (FS1, UniMas, TUDN)

The U.S. men will play their first game of the year with a squad that’s got a lot of candidates for the under-23 team that will play in Olympic qualifying. Union goalkeeper Matt Freese is one of them, though the New England Revolution’s Matt Turner is likely to get the start in net. Turner has a big opportunity here to show he can be No. 2 or No. 3 on the senior U.S. depth chart heading into World Cup qualifying.

Keep an eye on centerback Aaron Long too, amid reports that he’s got suitors in France and England.

Monday, 4:30 p.m. (GolTV)

GolTV is hard to find these days, only available on a few pay-TV systems and streaming platforms Fanatiz and FuboTV. But if you have access, you’ve got a chance to watch one of Portugal’s most famous rivalry games. The Lisbon derby rarely lacks for spice or talent, with both of these teams regular participants in the UEFA Champions League.

Sporting currently tops the Liga NOS table, with winger Pedro Goncalves and veteran centerback Sebastian Coates leading the team’s quest to win a first league title since 2002. Benfica is Portugal’s biggest powerhouse, with 37 league titles and international drawing power. The club’s squad includes ex-Dortmund midfielder Julian Weigl, ex-Queens Park Rangers (and many other clubs) playmaker Adel Taarabt, ex-Manchester City centerback Nicolas Otamendi (though he’s out with COVID-19), and ex-Tottenham centerback Jan Vertonghen.

» READ MORE: A decade after Freddy Adu joined the Union, he admits he didn’t work hard enough in MLS