Old Clubs, New Colours: A Weekend Full of Reunions

Manchester City visit Anfield with Isak and Haaland leading the lines

• Liverpool can call on Wataru Endo, the Japan captain who was crowned the Bundesliga's duel king during his Stuttgart years. His appetite for second balls and his reading of passing lanes make him an awkward counterweight to Nico Gonzalez, who held City's midfield together through Rodri's absence, and to the press-resistant Mateo Kovacic. If he gets on the pitch, the middle of the park becomes the story.
• The centre-forward billing is as good as the Premier League offers. Alexander Isak, signed from Newcastle for a record English fee, carries the ball like a winger despite standing 192cm, while Erling Haaland converts half-chances from any body shape. Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias are each handed a completely different puzzle to solve.
• Two architects of Leverkusen's unbeaten Bundesliga season now wear red. Florian Wirtz finds passing angles that barely exist and Jeremie Frimpong attacks from right-back like an auxiliary forward, which sets up a straight quality contest with Lyon-raised Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku. Arne Slot against Pep Guardiola provides the tactical frame around it.

Sesko, Cunha and Mbeumo face Tudor's Tottenham at Old Trafford

• Michael Carrick's United front line is essentially a list of the club's recent outlays. Benjamin Sesko, a €85m arrival from RB Leipzig, pairs a 195cm frame with accuracy off either foot, and he is flanked by Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Bryan Mbeumo, who hit 20 goals at Brentford. Where Bruno Fernandes chooses to slide his final ball will shape the whole evening.
• Tottenham build around Xavi Simons. Developed at Barcelona and PSG and handed the number 7 shirt once worn by Son Heung-min, the Netherlands international can flip a phase of play with one dribble or one disguised pass. James Maddison supplies the set-piece quality, while Igor Tudor can pair Sandro Tonali and Conor Gallagher behind them.
• The defensive match-ups are just as interesting. Micky van de Ven is among the quickest players in the division, a left-footed centre-back who covers vast ground alongside the physical Kevin Danso. United answer with the aggression of Lisandro Martinez and the mobility of Leny Yoro, who made his Ligue 1 debut at 16 with Lille.

Kamada and Tomiyasu host Forest as Henderson meets his old club

• Crystal Palace have two Japan internationals on the books. Daichi Kamada, a Europa League winner with Eintracht Frankfurt, supplies the decisive pass and the late run from midfield, while Takehiro Tomiyasu brings four seasons of Arsenal experience and the versatility to fill in at right-back, centre-back or in front of the defence.
• For club captain Dean Henderson this is a reunion. The Manchester United academy product spent time at Nottingham Forest earlier in his career and was central to Palace lifting the FA Cup in 2025. His reflexes and command of high crosses set the terms for how Vitor Pereira's side will try to break through.
• Forest's attack is stacked with English talent. Morgan Gibbs-White runs the show from the number ten role, flanked by James McAtee, who spent eleven years in Manchester City's academy, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, a Champions League and Europa League winner at Chelsea. Oliver Glasner's Palace will look to hit back through Ismaila Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Kubo and Kita welcome a returning Deportivo to the Reale Arena

• Real Sociedad field two players who came through FC Tokyo's system. Takefusa Kubo is the right winger who draws defenders in with his left foot before cutting inside or releasing a runner, while Keita Kita, born in 2005, moved straight from FC Tokyo's under-18s to Spain and is pushing for first-team minutes with his pace and right-footed finishing.
• Deportivo are back in the top flight and have recruited for experience. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived from Marseille with the same instinct for running in behind that served him at Dortmund, Arsenal and Barcelona, and he takes the penalties. Behind him stands Jose Maria Gimenez, Uruguay's captain, who spent more than a decade at Atletico Madrid.
• Imanol Alguacil's side revolve around captain Mikel Oyarzabal, whose left foot settled the EURO 2024 final. He offers a neat contrast with Orri Oskarsson, signed from Copenhagen for a club-record fee to hold the ball up through the middle. Carlos Soler, formerly of Valencia and PSG, gives the hosts another route into the final third against Deportivo's La Masia-schooled anchor Marc Casado.

Madrid's Premier League imports take on Marcelino's Villarreal

• Carlo Ancelotti's squad is full of recent arrivals from England. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate both came from Liverpool, one bringing elite right-footed range and the other a huge covering radius, and they are joined by Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Chelsea's Marc Cucurella, each still carving out a role in Spain.
• The attacking firepower is undiminished. Kylian Mbappe's acceleration, Vinicius Junior's cut-ins and the penalty-box strength of Endrick, signed from Palmeiras, are supplemented by Arda Guler's left foot. Villarreal's answer is Logan Costa, who grew into one of Ligue 1's best defenders at Toulouse, alongside Renato Veiga, a club-record signing from Chelsea.
• Marcelino's Villarreal still build around club legend Gerard Moreno, whose left foot and composure in the box remain their reference point. Around him are Georges Mikautadze, a leading scorer at EURO 2024, and Nicolas Pepe, once a club-record arrival at Arsenal. Juan Foyth, a former Tottenham defender who helped Villarreal lift the Europa League in 2021, patrols the right.

Ueda's Lille host a Le Havre side carrying three Japanese players

• This is the most Japanese fixture on the Ligue 1 calendar. Lille's Ayase Ueda arrived in France via Cercle Brugge and Feyenoord and makes his living on movement inside the box and runs beyond the last defender. Le Havre counter with Ayumu Seko, a Cerezo Osaka product who is a centre-back by trade but comfortable screening midfield, with long-range distribution off either foot.
• Seko is not the only Japanese name in the away squad. Sota Nakamura swept the Kanto University League's scoring, assist and MVP awards at Meiji University and compensates for his 168cm frame with the quality of his off-the-ball movement. Kaito Mizuta, who worked his way up through German lower-league football with Straelen and Rot-Weiss Essen, gives Didier Digard another option.
• Lille's appeal lies in the mix of generations. Olivier Giroud, France's all-time leading scorer, is still the 193cm reference point in attack, while Ethan Mbappe, the left-footed younger brother of Kylian, develops in midfield. Captain Benjamin Andre holds the base, and how Bruno Genesio combines them is the question of the afternoon.

Watanabe against Ichihara: Japanese centre-backs on both sides in Rotterdam

• There is a Japanese defender in each back line. Feyenoord's Tsuyoshi Watanabe left FC Tokyo for Kortrijk and then Gent, where he wore the armband, and he organises the line in front of him. AZ's Rion Ichihara, born in 2005 and developed at RB Omiya Ardija, combines aerial strength with the vertical passing that starts his side's attacks.
• AZ also have Seiya Maikuma on the right. A converted forward turned attacking full-back, he was named in the J1 Best Eleven during his Cerezo Osaka years and held his own in Europa League nights against Tottenham. His relentless shuttling up and down the touchline means Feyenoord's left side will have a long evening.
• Several players face former employers. Calvin Stengs came through AZ's academy, played for Feyenoord after spells at Nice and Antwerp, and is now back where he started. Jordy Clasie made 129 appearances for Feyenoord before settling in Alkmaar, and Denso Casius also has Rotterdam on his CV. The hosts lead with Sem Steijn, a former Eredivisie top scorer signed for a club-record fee.

Friday night at Kashima: Shibasaki and Usami share a pitch

• Kashima's midfield still runs through Gaku Shibasaki, who spent seven seasons in Spain and scored twice against Real Madrid in the 2016 Club World Cup final. His vision and passing range remain among the best in the J.League. Ahead of him, Yuma Suzuki offers physical hold-up play and Léo Ceará the finishing, with Yuta Higuchi supplying set pieces.
• Gamba's emblem is Takashi Usami, who was fast-tracked into the first team as a high-school student, played for Bayern Munich and other German clubs, and returned home. Alongside him is Gaku Nawata, the AFC U-17 Asian Cup MVP and top scorer who arrived from Kamimura Gakuen, while Rui Araki, named best goalkeeper at the U-23 Asian Cup, waits behind them.
• Gamba centre-back Shogo Sasaki returns to the club that raised him. A left-footed defender who came through Kashima's academy before building experience at Iwate Grulla Morioka and JEF United Chiba, he starts possession with long diagonals. With Shinnosuke Nakatani and Genta Miura beside him, he faces a Kashima back line marshalled by Naomichi Ueda and Ikuma Sekigawa.

Scholz faces Urawa, the club he left, in a tie full of crossovers

• FC Tokyo have three players with Urawa in their past. The headline name is Alexander Scholz, the 189cm centre-back who was named in the J.League Best Eleven during his Saitama years and still organises the back line with clean, anticipatory defending. Right-back Hirokazu Ishihara and left-sided attacker Shion Homma, who also spent time at Club Brugge, complete the set.
• The traffic runs the other way too. Urawa's Ryoma Watanabe passed through FC Tokyo and Ingolstadt in Germany and describes himself as a utility man, capable of filling in from forward to defence. Veteran Kota Mizunuma is another former FC Tokyo player, delivering from the right, and Mateus Savio supplies the through balls that give Urawa their shape in the final third.
• There is no shortage of experience either. FC Tokyo can call on Yuto Nagatomo, whose running power was forged at Inter and Galatasaray, and Masato Morishige, a five-time J.League Best Eleven defender. Urawa answer with Shusaku Nishikawa, past 600 J1 appearances and still starting moves with his left foot. The winger duel between Kota Tawaratsumida and Takuro Kaneko is worth the admission on its own.

Nadeshiko Japan meet Haiti with a squad drawn from Europe and the States

• The defensive group spans generations. Saki Kumagai, a 2011 World Cup winner with Lyon and Bayern Munich on her CV, lines up alongside Toko Koga, born in 2005, who established herself at Feyenoord before moving to Tottenham and being named player of the match on debut. Ayaka Yamashita, small for a goalkeeper at 170cm, keeps the shirt on the strength of her reflexes and distribution.
• The midfield has deepened considerably. Yui Hasegawa combines close control with genuine ball-winning and is among the WSL's best, while Fuka Nagano sets the tempo from the base and drops between the centre-backs to help build. Momoko Tanikawa has emerged at Bayern Munich and Mashin Matsukubo was named the NWSL's midfielder of the year, giving the coaching staff plenty of combinations.
• There is no shortage of finishing up front. Hinata Miyazawa, the 2023 World Cup Golden Boot winner, has a rare sense for space, and Takako Seike marked her WSL debut with a hat-trick. Maika Hamano, who struck the goal that settled the 2026 Asian Cup final, and the explosive Aoba Fujino make this a competitive squad even for a friendly.