The second weekend of September brings another important round of domestic action across Europe's major leagues, with the Premier League entering Matchweek 4, La Liga reaching Matchday 5, Serie A moving into Matchday 4, the Bundesliga at Matchday 3 and Ligue 1 at Matchday 4.

The Manchester derby headlines the English programme, while Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon all face potentially difficult tests in the other leagues as early momentum is again on the line.

We take a look at 10 fixtures across the top five European leagues this weekend and how we expected the teams involved to fare based on recent evidence and historical records.

Manchester derby and 10 games to watch 

Bournemouth vs Brentford

Bournemouth have made a difficult start, collecting only two points from their opening three league matches, although they have faced difficult tests, and their 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Lincoln should provide confidence.

Their biggest strength is still their home form, where they have gone 11 matches unbeaten at the Vitality Stadium, but the Cherries have been denied by late goals in all three league games so far, an anomaly Marco Rose will be looking to change.

Brentford are unbeaten in the league with five points and also thrashed Birmingham 6-1 in the cup. The Bees have enjoyed this fixture recently, winning three of their last four visits to Bournemouth, while the last meeting at the Vitality ended 0-0.

Bournemouth's tendency to concede late and Brentford's physical approach could make this tight. Nevertheless, the host will be hungry for their first league win of the season, but Brentford are unbeaten in this fixture since both sides returned to the Premier League, winning five out of eight.

Prediction: Bournemouth 2-2 Brentford.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton

Tottenham Hotspur desperately need a response after collecting just one point from their first three league games and still searching for their first league goal of the campaign.

Roberto De Zerbi's expensive rebuild has yet to produce an attacking solution, while Richarlison's omission from the Premier League squad has further reduced his options up front, even though there were big moves in that department during the summer window.

Everton arrive in much better shape, unbeaten from their opening three matches with five goals scored and three conceded. A late equalizer from debutant Ainsley Maitland-Niles helped preserve their impressive start against Manchester United last time out.

Spurs, however, have dominated this fixture historically, winning six of the last 10 meetings, including the most recent 1-0 victory that helped them avoid relegation on the final weekend of last season at Saturday's venue.

Home advantage could finally produce a breakthrough for De Zerbi, but he needs to be aware that Everton won most of their points away from home last season.

Prediction: Tottenham 1-1 Everton.

Manchester United vs Manchester City

The 199th Manchester derby arrives with City holding the stronger early-season form. Enzo Maresca's side have won all three league matches and also began their Champions League campaign with victory over Porto, with Erling Haaland already looking dangerous. 

United, meanwhile, have mixed a defeat at Hull with a 5-2 comeback against Ipswich and a 2-2 draw at Everton. However, Michael Carrick's side enter the derby after an impressive 4-0 Champions League win over Sabah, with Benjamin Sesko scoring again after returning from a shin injury.

United also beat City 2-0 at Old Trafford in January in Michael Carrick's first taste of the Manchester derby and will be looking to build on that against a City side starting a new project under Maresca.

Manchester United will be aware of the consequences of a potential defeat, which would see them fall eight points behind the league leaders, and deal a detrimental blow to their chances of competing for the Premier League title this season.

Nevertheless, City's greater consistency makes them favourites, but United's home record in this fixture cannot be ignored. An explosive derby awaits us in Old Trafford on Sunday evening.

Prediction: Manchester United 2-2 Manchester City.

Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano 

Real Madrid head into Matchday five of the LaLiga season already three points behind Barcelona after suffering a 1-0 league defeat to Real Betis, although José Mourinho's side responded by beating Inter Milan 2-1 in the Champions League.

The performance against Inter was not entirely convincing, but Los Blancos possess considerably greater attacking quality and home advantage to return to winning ways in the league and keep the chase alive.

Rayo have taken four points from four matches and arrive with several absences. De Frutos and Fran Pérez are suspended, while Isi, Nteka and Vertrouwd are injured. Real Madrid will also be boosted by the return of Aurelien Tchouameni.

Rayo have historically struggled at the Bernabéu, winning there only once, in 1996, although they are a very difficult team to break down. With Madrid needing a convincing league response, the hosts should have too much quality.

Prediction: Real Madrid 3-1 Rayo Vallecano.

Real Sociedad vs Atlético Madrid 

This is one of the weekend's most intriguing fixtures because neither side has been completely convincing. Real Sociedad have seven points from their opening five matches, scoring six and conceding eight, while Atlético also have seven points from four games with seven goals scored.

Sociedad's recent 3-2 win over Elche provided a timely lift, but Atlético arrive under greater pressure after losing to both Athletic Club in La Liga and Liverpool in the Champions League, a run Diego Simeone will be desperate to put behind him.

The visitors nevertheless possess the stronger squad and defensive structure, while the head-to-head history traditionally favours Atlético. Sociedad's home advantage could make the difference, but Atlético should avoid defeat.

Prediction: Real Sociedad 1-1 Atlético Madrid.

Villarreal vs Real Betis 

Villarreal will return home after a disappointing 3-2 Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund, despite twice getting back into the contest. Serhou Guirassy's brace ended up being costly even though the striker scored a late own goal.

Real Betis, in contrast, have started impressively in Europe, beating Lille in an impressive 3-2 comeback in their Champions League return after 21 years away from Europe's premier competition thanks to Marc Bartra's double.

Betis also defeated Real Madrid in their last league outing, showing they can trouble elite opposition and have momentum on their side.

While Villarreal will be banking on home advantage, their defensive problems were exposed in Dortmund as well as last weekend against newly promoted Deportivo La Coruna. Betis are also gradually getting new arrivals such as Dani Ceballos and Giovani Lo Celso up to speed.

Prediction: Villarreal 1-2 Real Betis

Lazio vs AC Milan

Lazio have made a perfect start to the Serie A campaign, winning their first three matches and coming from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 last time out to remain as one of the leaders on the súmmit alongside Roma and Inter.

Davide Frattesi has scored in each of those three victories, while Albert Gudmundsson delivered the late winner against Udinese. The margins of victory have been narrow for a team that also started the season with a 2-0 home loss to second-division Mantova in the Coppa Italia.

AC Milan are also unbeaten and arrive in Rome with seven points, making this an early test of whether Lazio can maintain their flawless run, especially as Ruben Amorim's side will leapfrog them with a win.

Milan's perfect start suffered a late upset in Turin last weekend, when Federico Gatti scored an injury-time header to cancel out Alphadjo Cisse's second-half opener in a 1-1 draw with Juventus, but the Rossoneri will be desperate to get back on track.

The historical head-to-head strongly favours Milan, although Lazio have won three and lost just one in their last five meetings across all competitions, including the most recent meeting 1-0 at the Olimpico in March.

With Lazio full of confidence and Milan difficult to beat away having won the second most points on the road in the last Serie A season, another close encounter looks likely.

Prediction: Lazio 1-1 AC Milan.

Augsburg vs Bayer Leverkusen

Augsburg have emerged as the surprise early leaders of the Bundesliga, winning their first two matches and moving to the top of the table for the first time in their history, with a better goal difference than three other sides.

Their latest 4-1 victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt underlined their confidence and made them the team to beat earlier on, having also blown away newly promoted Schalker 04 by three goals to nothing on opening weekend.

Bayer Leverkusen have also shown signs of improvement, particularly in their 4-0 win over Union, but they sit below Augsburg after losing their opening match against newly promoted Elversberg.

The historical numbers heavily favour Leverkusen, who have won 19 of the 30 recorded meetings compared with four Augsburg victories. However, Augsburg have beaten Leverkusen in their last two league meetings, including a 2-1 victory at the BayArena in April.

Prediction: Augsburg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen.

Hoffenheim vs Stuttgart

Hoffenheim and Stuttgart have both shown attacking potential, but their early results reveal contrasting problems. Hoffenheim have lost their opening two Bundesliga matches, including a 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund, while Stuttgart recovered from a heavy 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich by beating Cologne 4-1. 

Stuttgart therefore arrive with the stronger league momentum despite a lengthy injury list that includes Tiago Tomás, Dennis Seimen, Dan-Axel Zagadou and several others. Hoffenheim are also missing Fisnik Asllani and Alexander Prass.

The overall head-to-head is close, with Stuttgart holding 10 wins to Hoffenheim's eight and 10 draws, including each of their last four meetings.

Prediction: Hoffenheim 1-2 Stuttgart.

Paris FC vs Olympique Lyon 

Paris FC and Lyon head into Matchday four of the Ligue 1 season unbeaten and level on seven points, making this one of the most evenly matched games of the weekend in the French topflight.

After being held in a scoreless draw at Troyes on opening weekend, Liam Rosenior's Paris have won their last two league matches, scoring six goals across those games, while Lyon beat Auxerre 3-1 and have averaged two goals per game.

Paris have also won six of their last seven home matches since March and conceded only once during that sequence, and head into the match on the back of an impressive 3-2 win over Marseille inspired by a Lassine Sinayoko's hat-trick in the Velondrome.

Lyon, however, have the stronger squad on paper, although Paris' home form and attacking confidence make them difficult to dismiss. Team news gives Paris some concerns, with Sangui and Ikoné unavailable, while Lyon are missing Duranville and Ouédraogo.

Prediction: Paris FC 1-1 Lyon.