|
London, April 30 (IANS) Manchester City could seal the Premier League title this weekend if they win their match at Crystal Palace and Manchester United lose at home to long-term rivals Liverpool.
Manchester City lead their neighbours by 10 points with 15 points left to play for this season and have a vastly superior goal difference to United.
Their morale has to be sky high after a spectacular second-half display away to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday saw them take a 2-1 lead in their Champions League semi-finals, reports Xinhua.
With the return leg due to be played on Tuesday and very little recovery time ahead of Saturday's match, City coach Pep Guardiola will probably rest some key players, such as Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden, while Aymeric Laporte or Nathan Ake will start for the suspended John Stones.
Chelsea also took a good result in their Champions League visit away to Real Madrid in the week, but with his team still needing to assure a top-four place for next season, Thomas Tuchel has less leeway to rest players for his south-west London derby at home to third-from-bottom Fulham.
Four defeats in their last five matches have put the brakes on Fulham's recovery and they make the short trip to Stamford Bridge seven points from safety and needing a surprise win to keep alive their slim hopes of avoiding relegation.
Saturday also sees Brighton play at home to Leeds, and if they beat Marcelo Bielsa's men that would leave Fulham nine points from safety before the game against Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Everton face Aston Villa, who could include former Everton hero Ross Barkley in their side, as they look to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for Europe next season alive.
Two wins and two draws look to have lifted Newcastle United from the brink of relegation towards Premier League survival for another season and the return of players such as Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin has clearly been a factor.
Steve Bruce's men could assure they will be in the top-flight next season when they face an Arsenal side that lost the first leg of their Europa League semi-final 2-1 to Villarreal on Thursday and will travel to the north of England with tired legs and one eye on next week's semi-final home tie.
Manchester United against Liverpool is usually one of the grudge games of the season, but with Manchester City running away with the title and Manchester United all but assured of a second place, the main interest in this Sunday's game could be whether or not United can delay their neighbours' title celebrations for another week while putting another nail in the coffin of Liverpool's top-four hopes.
Sunday also sees Tottenham entertain Sheffield United in a game between two clubs with temporary coaches in charge in Ryan Mason and Paul Heckingbottom. Tottenham have to recover from last weekend's Carabao Cup final defeat, while Sheffield showed they still have some fight when they beat Brighton.
Monday's matches see West Brom look for three vital points at home to Wolves, while West Ham travel to Burnley looking for three points in their quest to play in Europe next season.
--IANS
akm/kh
Copyright and Disclaimer: All news and images appearing in our news section, search engines and social media are provided by IANS. If you face any issues related to the content/images, please contact our news service provider directly. We are not liable/responsible for any content/images related to the news service provider.
|
