Manchester City face the stiffest test of their recent revival when they travel to Arsenal this weekend, as AFC Bournemouth seek to take down English Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Third-placed Nottingham Forest host Brighton & Hove Albion hoping to banish memories of last week’s 5-0 hammering at Bournemouth, while slumping Tottenham Hotspur aim to stop the rot at Brentford.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have won four of their past five Premier League games to climb back into the top four after a miserable run of results.
Photo: AP
In midweek they survived a huge scare against Club Brugge to scrape into the UEFA Champions League playoffs, further evidence that they might have turned a corner at last.
So is it back to business as usual for the four-time defending Premier League champions?
The fixture list has been relatively kind in recent weeks, but they now have a daunting run, with a trip to Arsenal followed by games against Newcastle United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are unbeaten in 14 league games at home since a 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa in April last year and they cannot afford to drop points as they hunt down Liverpool.
Second-placed Arsenal have been pipped to the title by City in each of the past two seasons, but will kick off six points above their old rivals, determined to state their credentials as serious challengers for the title.
Despite Tottenham’s plunge down the table, relegation talk has appeared fanciful, with an eight-point buffer between themselves and the bottom three, but when will Ange Postecoglou’s injury-hit team turn their form around?
Fellow strugglers Everton and Leicester City both closed the gap on Spurs last weekend.
The slide has been dramatic for Postecoglou’s men. In late November last year, Tottenham were sixth and just four points off second place. Since then, they have slumped to 15th, 23 points off second.
They have taken just four points from their past 10 games — only Southampton (one) have taken fewer.
It is still difficult to imagine that enough of the teams below Tottenham have the quality to reel them in, but they are alarmingly fragile.
Tomorrow, they travel across London to face mid-table Brentford, who boast an impressive home record and significant firepower.
If they do not start winning again soon, fans will start to think the unthinkable.
At the start of the season, a trip to Bournemouth’s modest Vitality Stadium would not have given Liverpool head coach Arne Slot sleepless nights, but it is a different story now.
Andoni Iraola’s team are unbeaten in their past 11 Premier League games, their longest run without defeat in the competition. The Spaniard, in his second season at the club, has done a remarkable job despite missing a host of players through injury, including Marcos Senesi, Marcus Tavernier, Luis Sinisterra, Evanilson and Enes Unal.
Iraola’s free-scoring side are seventh in the table, but are just a single point behind fourth-placed Manchester City as their fans dream of European competition next season.
Justin Kluivert, on 11 Premier League goals, is emerging from the shadow of his father, Netherlands star Patrick Kluivert, while Dango Ouattara scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Bournemouth have already beaten Arsenal and Manchester City this season, but Liverpool, who have lost just once in the league, would be their biggest scalp so far.
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