Prior to a trip to Manchester City on Sunday, Arsenal has a chance to tie Arsenal with the league leaders, but Liverpool’s pursuit of the title has slowed.
If West Ham is defeated at the Emirates, the Gunners can move to within five points of the Reds.
Behind the top two, the race is on for a place in next season’s Champions League.
Nottingham Forest’s rivals will square off at St James’ Park with just six points before they square off against Newcastle in seventh place.
The weekend’s pick of Premier League action looks to be in AFP Sports’ favor:
Liverpool’s title test
Arne Slot’s men appeared to be cruising towards a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
However, two 2-2 draws at Everton and Aston Villa in the past 10 days have brought the title race alive again.
Real Madrid, the dominant force in English football for the past ten years, defeated Manchester City in midweek to fall short of them, leaving them out of the Champions League before the final 16 stages for the first time since 2012/13.
Erling Haaland, who was injured but did not play on the bench at the Santiago Bernabeu, may also be out.
However, Pep Guardiola’s men showed what they are still capable of in last week’s 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle, and they are in need of points themselves in the top four.
“They’ve had maybe one or two months in the seven or eight years he’s (Guardiola) there now that weren’t the best, maybe partly because of injuries as well”, said Slot.
“Injuries come back, they’ve signed three or four players, I can see them coming back already if you look at the result against Newcastle”.
When Arsenal take on West Ham in 24 hours, they have a chance to put more pressure on.
Although Mikel Arteta’s side will not have a recognized striker for the rest of the season, they have already won 23 of the possible 27 points to stay in the race.
“If we look at other teams’ efforts or Arsenal constantly,” Slot added.
We already know how challenging it is to play at the Etihad, so Arsenal shouldn’t be even more involved in that.
[FULL LIST] Teams That Qualified For The UEFA Champions League Final 16Chelsea crisis
Chelsea must respond quickly if they want to keep playing in the Champions League for the foreseeable future.
At the end of 2024, the Blues vowed to challenge for the title, but they lost just twice in their last nine league games and were eliminated from the FA Cup.
Enzo Maresca, manager, expressed concern that Cole Palmer could leave without the lure of the Champions League after his side’s mediocre 3-0 defeat by Brighton last weekend as his team’s worst performance to date.
Chelsea travels to Aston Villa on Saturday, with their own hopes starting to wane.
Unai Emery’s men defeated Liverpool 4-0 in a four-goal thriller on Wednesday, but they now sit ninth, five points off the top four, as a result of a lackluster season.
Nottingham Forest’s acid test
With only 13 games left, Nottingham Forest fans couldn’t have imagined sitting third in the table.
However, for the first time in 45 years, they will be put to the test of their credentials to return to elite competition in European football.
Before hosting Arsenal and Manchester City in their next two home league games, Forest travel to Newcastle on Sunday.
Eddie Howe, the manager of Newcastle, was unhappy with his side’s see-saw form after their League Cup semi-final heroics against Arsenal.
When we’re on it, “I believe we have days where we can look a long way from the team that we are,” said Howe. “It’s a real frustration for us because to be an elite team, you’ve got to be consistent”.
EPL Fixtures (all times 1500 GMT unless stated)
Friday
Leicester v Brentford (2000)
Saturday
Everton v Manchester United (1230), Fulham v Crystal Palace, Ipswich v Tottenham, Southampton v Brighton, Bournemouth v Wolves, Arsenal v West Ham, Aston Villa v Chelsea (1730)
Sunday
Newcastle v Nottingham Forest (1400), Man City v Liverpool (1630)
Source: Channels TV
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