London, March 10 (IANS) Liverpool have the chance to move into the top-four of the Premier League on Saturday and pile the pressure on Tottenham in a weekend where league leaders Arsenal and second placed Manchester City both have tricky away games.
Four wins from their last five league matches, culminating in last weekend’s 7-0 humiliation of Manchester United have left Liverpool three points behind Tottenham, with a better goal difference and a game in hand.
The attack of Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah looks to be gelling and Jurgen Klopp’s side will expect to warm up for their visit to play Real Madrid next week, with three points from their visit to Bournemouth.
Bournemouth were unlucky to lose to a last-gasp goal away to Arsenal last weekend, but that result has left them bottom of the table and it will take something special to stop Liverpool, a Xinhua report said.
If Liverpool can win, it will make for a difficult afternoon for Tottenham coach Antonio Conte when his side entertain Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
It has been a dreadful few days for Tottenham, who were knocked out of the FA Cup by Sheffield United and beaten away by Wolverhampton.
Manchester City visit Crystal Palace on Saturday with the home side looking to end a run of nine matches without a win in which they have scored just four goals. City should be favorites to extend Palace’s winless run, but should be wary of the fact the side from South London have drawn five of those nine games.
Relegation haunted Everton are at home to Brentford, who have not lost in the Premier League since October 23rd, while Leeds United have a crucial match at home to Brighton in an encounter that pits the visitors’ hopes of playing in Europe next season, with Leeds’ battle to avoid playing in the Championship.
Three straight defeats have left Leicester City (who this week announced record losses of over 90 million pounds) just two points above the relegation zone and they face a Chelsea side that looks to be experiencing a mood change.
Last weekend’s 1-0 win at home to Leeds was followed by a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and coach Graham Potter looks to finally be finding his best side.
Arsenal’s trip to Fulham comes after Mikel Arteta’s league leaders took a useful 2-2 draw in Lisbon in the Europa League and Arteta will dig deep into his squad for a game against a tough rival, who will miss the suspended Palhinha.
Manchester United recovered from last weekend’s humiliation in Anfield with a 4-1 win at home to Betis on Thursday. Erik Ten Hag’s side now take on second from bottom Southampton, who may have won two of their last three matches, but it is hard to see them end United’s unbeaten run at Old Trafford.
West Ham claimed a comfortable Conference League win in Cyprus on Thursday night, but coach David Moyes is still under pressure after his side’s 4-0 mauling in Brighton last weekend left them dangerously close to the bottom three.
Moyes needs another positive display at home to Aston Villa and his side needs to take advantage of the visitors’ loss of midfielder Boubacar Kamara with an ankle injury.
Newcastle United’s hopes of a top-four finish have been dented by a run without a league win going back to January 15th. Eddie Howe’s men have struggled to score goals and need England forward Callum Wilson to be back to his best for their home match against an improving Wolverhampton.
–IANS
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