Liverpool will seek to bounce back after a rare defeat while the leaders of Premier League on the run welcome West Ham on Sunday. Meanwhile, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are involved in a tense battle to qualify for the Champions League. Let’s take a look at three discussion points before the action of this weekend:
Liverpool not “complacent”
Having sucking any drama of the title race for weeks ago, Liverpool underwent a rare defeat against Fulham last weekend which sparked charges that leaders become complacents.
Arne Slot’s team has lost its undefeated league race of 26 games in a 3-2 defeat widespread by errors in Craven Cottage which had little resemblance to the team that had worked tirelessly towards their first title since 2020.
But despite their second championship defeat this season, Liverpool had an 11 -point lead on Arsenal, second place with only seven games.
It would take an astonishing collapse so that the Reds do not claim a 20th English crown and equal to a record is convinced that its players remain firmly concentrated on the realization of the work as soon as possible.
“I think there is no reason why we are complacent,” Slot told West Ham visit to Anfield.
“I think everyone who saw our games know that it takes us so much effort, so much hard work to win.
“The team that won the league in the last four seasons was already 3-0 at halftime almost all the matches they have played. This is not the way for us.”
Top Five Race Hots Up
With five places in the Champions League next season, now available for English clubs, the race for these lucrative places should go down throughout.
Nottingham Forest, third, who welcomes Everton on Saturday, hope to reach the Europe Elite Club competition for the first time since 1980-1981 and have a five-point lead on Manchester City.
Chelsea, in fourth place, is ahead of the fifth place in Newcastle only on the difference in goals, the winners of the League Cup holding a match in hand which could prove to be crucial.
This weekend, Chelsea faces Ipswich in difficulty, while the host of Newcastle Manchester United and the seventh Villa Aston – two points at the top five – Visit Southampton relegated.
City, which entertains Crystal Palace on Saturday, is a point behind Chelsea and Newcastle and probably has the most to lose when they have submitted to a miserable season with a qualification in the Champions League.
The Pep Guardiola team, which has won the Premier League six times in the last seven seasons, has failed to appear in the Champions League in 2010-11.
Leicester at the edge
The lamentable Leicester campaign seems to end with relegation and a defeat in Brighton on Saturday would push them to the second level after a season.
Beaten 3-0 by Newcastle on Monday, the Foxes are the first side of the best divisions of English football to lose eight successive games at the League at home without scoring.
The second team of Ruud Van Nistelrooy has not succeeded in King Power Stadium since December 8 against Brighton and had seven home championship games without scoring.
Van Nistelrooy is only the second manager in the history of the Premier League to lose eight successive home games in the competition, after Daniel Farke with Norwich in 2021.
Bogged in a series of nine consecutive defeats in all competitions, Leicester will have 18 points at the security drift with only six games to play if they lose Brighton and the wolves of the fourth basin beat Tottenham on Sunday.
Van Nistelrooy has no answers to the fate of Leicester, saying: “Trying different things, different structures, different players in different positions and the results are not there. This is the disturbing thing.”
Lighting
Saturday (1400 GMT unless otherwise indicated)
Manchester City against Crystal Palace (1130), Brighton V Leicester, Nottingham Forest against Everton, Southampton V Aston Villa, Arsenal against Brentford (1630)
Sunday (1300 GMT unless otherwise indicated)
Chelsea against Ipswich, Liverpool V West Ham, Wolves V Tottenham, Newcastle against Manchester United (1530)
Monday
Bournemouth against Fulham (1900 GMT)
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
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