Man City eyes on Premier League prize as Leeds face the drop
Manchester City can put one hand on the Premier League
trophy on Sunday should they beat West Ham to extend their three-point lead
over Liverpool at the top of the table.
The Reds are in FA Cup action as they face Chelsea at
Wembley at Saturday, offering City the chance to stretch their advantage to six
points and further boost a seven-goal lead on goal difference.
City have been in scintillating form since a 2-2 draw with
Liverpool last month left the title race on a knife edge.
Pep Guardiola's men have struck 22 goals in five games since
to close in on a fourth title in five seasons.
Another convincing win at the London Stadium and the title
will be realistically won given City's better goal difference.
"Everybody knows with winning at West Ham and it will
be almost, almost done, with the goal difference," said Guardiola on Friday.
"It's absolutely a final."
However, there are concerns for Guardiola in cobbling
together a defence.
Ruben Dias, John Stones and Kyle Walker have been ruled out
for the season, while Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho and Nathan Ake are fitness
doubts.
West Ham are also in need of the points in their bid to pip
Manchester United to Europa League football next season.
David Moyes' men trail sixth-placed United by three points
but have a game in hand over the Red Devils.
Tottenham turn the
screw on Arsenal
The battle to join City, Liverpool and almost certainly
Chelsea in next season's Champions League is alive after Tottenham thrashed
north London rivals Arsenal 3-0 on Thursday.
Spurs are now just one point behind the Gunners and can
leapfrog them with victory over Burnley on Sunday lunchtime.
Arsenal are not in action until Monday when they travel to
Newcastle.
"It was important to win, of course. We play before
them on Sunday, they play Monday night, so I feel like if we can win that, we
obviously put a bit more pressure on them," said Spurs striker Harry Kane.
"I think I'd rather be going first than second, of
course. But we still need to go out there and win. Otherwise it makes their job
a lot easier."
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was furious with the officiating
at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as his side conceded a penalty and had Rob
Holding sent off before half-time.
But there is little time for Arteta to lick his wounds if
Arsenal are to avoid missing out on Champions League football for a sixth
consecutive season.
The result between Spurs and Burnley also has huge
ramifications at the bottom of the table.
Leeds sit in the bottom three due to their much-inferior
goal difference compared to Burnley with both sides two points behind Everton.
Should Leeds fail to halt a losing run at home to in-form
Brighton, they could be virtually relegated this weekend.
"Our preparation as such is that we feel like we have
to win the match," said Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, who has been unable to
kickstart a faltering season since the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa in February.
Everton's form at Goodison Park has been the key to edging
towards survival.
The Toffees have taken 10 points from the last 12 available
at home, including victories over Manchester United and Chelsea.
Four points from home games against Brentford and Crystal
Palace on Thursday would stave off the financial disaster of dropping into the
Championship.
"We're not done, we're not over the line," said
Everton boss Frank Lampard.
"The minute you switch off or you stop doing the good
things you were doing this game can punish you, so we have to make sure we
approach the games with the exact same attitude and try to pick up the results
that we need."
Sunday
Tottenham v Burnley (1100), Leeds v Brighton, Wolves v
Norwich, West Ham v Man City, Watford v Leicester, Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
(all 1300), Everton v Brentford (1530)
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