European Soccer Forecast: Projected Odds, Totals for Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and More (Dec. 15-17)

Club soccer is in the middle of the busiest schedule of the season, as Europe's major five leagues are playing three rounds of fixtures over a seven-day period. Here's what we saw last weekend:

• The very top of the Premier League table was unchanged even though Tottenham drew against Crystal Palace and Liverpool tied Fulham.
• Everton beat Chelsea, 1-0, which dropped Frank Lampard's Blues outside the top four.
• The Bundesliga table did get a shake-up as Bayern Munich drew with Union Berlin, while Leverkusen beat Hoffenheim to send them to the top spot.
• Dortmund were routed by Stuttgart at home and as a result manager Lucien Favre was sacked.
• Real Madrid won the Madrid Derby, 2-0, over Atletico, bringing them within three points of the top of the table.
• Lyon upset PSG, 1-0, on the road, and are now tied with Lille for the top spot in Ligue 1.

This week we have 41 games on the slate from Tuesday through Thursday. For most clubs, this midweek fixture will be the second of three matches in a 10-day period, so managers will rotate their squads to rest certain players. Therefore, it may be a good idea to wait until starting lineups come out before heading to the window.

You can use these projections to identify early betting value on the opening lines, and follow me in The Action Network App to see any bets I make throughout the week.

Premier League

Premier League Notes

• Liverpool vs. Tottenham: The top two teams in England square off at Anfield in this week's headliner. Spurs and Liverpool are tied for first in the Premier League the table and a win would see either side take over first place. Liverpool is unbeaten in their last eight matches and Tottenham is unbeaten in their last 11 matches, so something has got to give. Liverpool have won four straight matches over Tottenham in Premier League play.

Premier League Injury News

• Arsenal: Granit Xhaka (CM)and Thomas Partey (CM) are out against Southampton.
• Aston Villa: Ross Barkley (CAM) is questionable to face Burnley. Douglas Luiz (CM) and Matty Cash (RB) are out.
• Burnley: Jack Cork (CM) is out against Aston Villa and Johann Gudmundsson (CM) is questionable.
• Chelsea: Hakim Ziyech (RW) is out against Wolves.
• Everton: Lucas Digne (LB) and Fabian Delph (LB) are out against Leicester. James Rodriguez (RW) is questionable.
• Leicester: Caglar Soyuncu (CB)  and Daniel Armartey (CM) are both out against Everton, and Timothy Castagne (RB) is questionable.
• Liverpool: Diego Jota (CF), Virgil Van Dijk (CB), Joe Gomez (CB), Naby Keita (CM), and Thiago (CM) are out against Tottenham. Joel Matip (CB) is questionable.
• Newcastle: Jamaal Lascellas (CB) and Allen Saint-Maximum (ST) are doubtful to face Leeds.
• Sheffield United:Oliver McBurnie (ST) and Jack O'Connell (CB) are out against Manchester United.
• Wolves: Raul Jimenez (ST) and Joao Moutinho (CM) are out against Chelsea.

Bundesliga 

Bundesliga Notes

• Bayern Munich vs. Wolfsburg: The German champions have surprisingly drawn their last two match in the Bundesliga. They have now relinquished the top spot in the table to Leverkusen and are in desperate need of a victory. Wolfsburg have yet to be defeated so far in league play this season and are in fourth place in the table. Bayern Munich have won nine of their 10 matches against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.

Bundesliga Injury News: 

• Augsburg: Iago (LB) is questionable to face Arminia Bielefeld.
• Bayern Munich: Joshua Kimmich (CM) and Niklas Sule (CB) are out against Wolfsburg.
• Bayer Leverkusen: Charles Aranguiz (CM) and Sven Bender (CB) are out and Karim Bellarbi (RM) is questionable against Koln.
• Borussia Dortmund: Erling Haaland (ST) and Thorgan Hazard (CAM)  are out against Werder Bremen.
• Borussia Monchengladbach: Florian Neuhaus (CM) is out and Jonas Hoffman (RM) is questionable to playagainst Frankfurt.
• Frankfurt: Andre Silva (ST) is questionable to face Gladbach.
• Freiburg: Janik Haberer (CM) is out against Schalke.
• Koln: Florian Kainz (RM) is questionable against Leverkusen.
• Werder Bremen: Davie Selke (ST) is out against Dortmund.
• Wolfsburg: Renato Steffen (LM) is out against Bayern Munich.

Serie A

Serie A Notes:

• Juventus vs. Atalanta: The defending champions have been nothing short of a disappointment to start the season, as Juve are currently in fourth place and already have five draws on the season, which matches their total from 2019-20 campaign. Atalanta went through a tough stretch in October and November, but seem to have rebounded winning 1-0 against Ajax in the Champions League last weekend and beating Fiorentina 3-0 over the weekend. Juventus is unbeaten against Atalanta in their last 18 meetings in Serie A.
• Inter vs. Napoli: It's second vs. third in Milan this week in a match that could decide who stays inside the top four. Inter Milan are unbeaten in their last seven matches in Serie A and swept both matches against Napoli last season. Napoli have allowed a Serie A low eight goals through their first 10 matches. They are 0-0-3 against the top five teams in the league and are undefeated against the rest of the Serie A table.

Serie A Injury News

• AC Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (ST) is questionable to play against Genoa.
• Bologna: Riccardo Orsolini (RM) is out against Spezia.
• Cagliari: Diego Godin (CB) and Giovanni Simeone (ST) are questionable to face Inter.
• Crotone: Luca Cigarini (CM) is questionable to face Udinese.
• Genoa:Domenico Criscito (LB) and Cristian Zapata (CB) are questionable to face AC Milan.
• Inter: Arturo Vidal (CM) is questionable to face Napoli.
• Juventus:Giorgio Chiellini (CB) is questionable to face Atalanta. Alvaro Morata (ST) is out.
• Napoli: Victor Osimhen (ST) is questionable to face Sampdoria.
• Sampdoria: Keita Balde (RW) is questionable to face Verona.
• Torino: Simone Verdi is questionable to play against Roma.
• Verona: Nikola Kalinic (ST) is questionable to face Sampdoria. Federico Ceccherini (CB) is out.

La Liga

La Liga Notes: 

Barcelona vs. Real Sociedad: Barcelona have been terrible by their standards so far in La Liga, as they currently sit in eighth place and are nine points off the top of table. Real Sociedad on the other hand are in first place and have lost only one of their first 13 matches. They have also won four of their last five matches on the road. Barcelona have won six of their last seven matches against Real Sociedad.

La Liga Injuries: 

• Barcelona: Gerard Pique (CB)  is questionable and Sergi Roberto (RB), Ansu Fati (LW), and Ousmane Dembele (LW) are out against Real Sociedad.
• Real Madrid: Eden Hazard (LW) is questionable to face Athletic Bilbao.
• Real Sociedad: Mikel Oyarzabal (LW) is questionable to play against Barcelona.

Ligue 1

Ligue 1 Notes: 

• Rennes vs. Marseille:Both clubs are on the outside looking in at the top three spots in the table. Marseille has ripped off five straight wins in Ligue 1 play and can move into the top three with a win. Rennes has struggled at home so far this season, losing three of their last four matches at Roazhon Park.

Ligue 1 Injuries:

• Bordeaux: Laurent Koscielny (CB) is out against Saint Etienne.
• Lens: Jonathan Gradit (CB) is out against Monaco.
• Lille: Renato Sanches (CM) and Domagoj Bradaric (LB) are out against Dijon.
• Monaco: Cesc Fabregas (CM) is questionable to face Lens.
• Nice: Youcef Atal (RB) is questionable to play against Nimes.
• PSG: Mauro Icardi (ST) and Julian Draxler (CAM) are questionable to play against Lyon.
• Reims: Xavier Chavalerin (CM) is questionable to face Nantes.
• Rennes: Alfred Gomis (GK), Romain Del Castillo (RW), and Daniele Rugani (CB) are questionable to face Marseille.
• Saint Etienne: Panagiotis Retsos (CB) is questionable to face Bordeaux.
• Strasbourg: Stefan Mitrovic (CB) is out against Angers.