With the English clubs involved in mid-week action, we cannot but look at how they performed in Europe before moving on to the weekend preview of English Premier League (EPL) action.
Firstly, Kudos to Wayne Rooney and Shinji Kagawa, whose movement on and off the ball left the Bayer Leverkusen defence in shambles.
David Moyes has made far easier work of the Champions League (CL) than the EPL campaign so far, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that seeing how inconsistency plagues almost every legitimate title contender in England this season.
However, Manchester United's 5-0 away performance was against a, quite frankly, listless Bayer Leverkusen.
The German side are second in the Bundesliga, four points behind Bayern Munich and, to be fair, similarities with Borussia Dortmund 2011-12 in their first CL campaign under Jurgen Klopp are quite apt, both teams underperforming in groups you would otherwise expect them to excel in.
Down to 10 men and without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, Real Madrid showed that they were far more than the one-man show certain sections of the media are making them out to be.
With the favourite for the Ballon D'Or award out with a minor thigh injury, the goals came from defenders, midfielders and Gareth Bale.
Scoring four after going down to 10 men is no easy feat, and a stunning free kick by Bale showed that the options available at lining up for set-pieces does not begin and end with the Portuguese superstar.
Scoring goals seems effortless for Manchester City, yet the defence is charitable enough to ensure that Pellegrini's boys need a large cushion to truly feel comfortable when seeing out games.
Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo both getting on the scoresheet once again; the "Death of the strike partnership" hype that drifted along for a handful of seasons now can safely be put to rest.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani at PSG, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge at Liverpool, and Diego Costa alongside David Villa at Atletico Madrid show that the strike partnership is merely evolving, not dying out as an art.
Another classy performance by Kaka helped AC Milan ease some pressure off the players and manager Masimiliano Allegri, but they would require at least a draw in their final group match against Ajax Amsterdam to ensure progress to the round of 16.
Frank De Boer's men are coming off four straights wins for a perfect November. The San Siro will be buzzing for this match-up, with the first meeting between both sides this season ending in a 1-1 tie.
EPL action on more level footing
Moving on to the EPL action this weekend… forget "glamour" ties as this weekend of fixtures in the Premier League are intriguing as teams come head-to-head on level footing or perceived advantaged positions.
Dare we say the Gunners at Cardiff or Chelsea hosting Southampton is a shoo-in for the big teams?
The Bluebirds pegged back Manchester United and while Arsenal can pass the ball better than anyone in England at the moment, there is no guarantee it will all be smooth sailing.
Hard fought it will be with perhaps the more experienced Gunners sneaking in the winner.
The Blues of Chelsea will be hoping Blunder Boruc continues with his arrogance and hands another gift, but Jose Mourinho knows that this team from the south are capable of at least a draw at Stamford Bridge.
There are similarities in the playing styles. Both teams pass the ball with precision and intent but Chelsea has the advantage of having better individuals.
Coming off a shock defeat to Basel in the midweek Champions League clash, there is all to play for at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea look to close the gap between them and London rivals Arsenal.
Two other ties which could be termed "six-pointers" – Norwich City at home to Crystal Palace and West Ham United hosting Fulham – will set sparks flying as all four desperately need to "stay in touch".
However, are these matches bigger than Tottenham Hotspur versus Manchester United?
Yes, the match of the weekend certainly has bigger names and tradition, but bigger still are the stakes.
Andre Villas-Boas wins our inaugural weekly "Manager Under the Most Pressure" award with that thumping defeat at the Etihad doing no favors to a side which seems unable to function smoothly as an attacking unit.
After the "Etihad Embarrassment", the situation has turned into a "can't afford to lose" tightrope.
Jump or be pushed if defeat happens, but certainly AVB has played himself into a corner.
He has to keep in mind that Manchester United are coming off that confidence-boosting mid-week away thrashing of Leverkusen.
Though not as significant a result in Europe, it does not hurt that Spurs did well to win 2-0 against Tromso under almost freezing conditions in Norway on Thursday night.
AVB will be hoping his boys redeem themselves (and Villas-Boas himself) while David Moyes is looking to continue creeping up the standings through consistent results.
Biggest worry of the weekend goes to Liverpool as they visit Hull. It looks like a routine win in the cards for Liverpool, sit back and counter-attack should be the game plan but Hull City will raise their game as they need to convince themselves of their own ability.
Tricky is the word and Brendan Rogers will do well to inform his team to not let their guard down.
The weekend English Premier League fixtures
Saturday - Aston Villa vs Sunderland (11pm), Cardiff City vs Arsenal (11pm), Everton vs Stoke City (11pm), Norwich City vs Crystal Palace (11pm), West Ham United vs Fulham (11pm).
Sunday - Newcastle United vs West Bromwich Albion (1.30am), Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United (8pm), Hull City vs Liverpool (10pm), Chelsea vs Southampton (midnight), Manchester City vs Swansea (midnight). – November 29, 2013.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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