London: The race for the coveted top four places in the Premier League heats up as Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are embroiled in a dogfight.
If Liverpool, Leicester and Manchester City maintain their present pace, only one place will be left for the rest of the Champions League hopefuls to fight over.
Fourth-placed Chelsea hold the advantage at present, but their five-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United looks far from impregnable.
Tottenham, six points behind Chelsea, are in the hunt, while Arsenal, down in 10th but revitalised by new boss Mikel Arteta, still harbour faint hopes of a surge in the second half of the season.
Rocked by the limp manner of their 3-1 defeat against Manchester City in the League Cup semi-final first leg, spluttering United face a must-win clash with rock bottom Norwich at Old Trafford.
“The first half (against City) wasn’t a Man United performance. We’ll learn from it but it’s not going to keep us down,” United striker Marcus Rashford said.
Chelsea host Burnley, seeking to prove they can finally replicate their impressive away form, which includes wins at Tottenham and Arsenal, in front of Stamford Bridge fans who have witnessed shock defeats against Bournemouth, West Ham and Southampton this season.
Tottenham have the toughest task of the contenders when they face Liverpool in north London, with leading scorer Harry Kane sidelined until April due to a hamstring injury and Jose Mourinho’s team on a frustrating run of one win in their past five games in all competitions.
Watford, Southampton rekindle survival hopes
Written off as relegation certainties after a wretched start, Watford have been revitalised by three wins in five league games under new boss Nigel Pearson.
The Hornets were left for dead before the arrival of former Leicester boss Pearson but, with combative forward Troy Deeney back to his best, now they are only two points from safety, with a crunch clash at third-bottom Bournemouth looming on Saturday.
Southampton had spent time in the bottom three with Watford, with the nadir coming in their 9-0 home humiliation against Leicester.
But Ralph Hasenhuettl’s side, who travel to Leicester on Saturday, have climbed five points clear of the relegation zone thanks to five wins in their past eight league games.
“What the team showed after this result (against Leicester) was absolutely outrageous from the mentality, fighting back to a successful way,” Hasenhuettl said.
Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated)
Friday: Sheffield United v West Ham (2000)
Saturday: Crystal Palace v Arsenal (1230), Chelsea v Burnley, Everton v Brighton, Leicester v Southampton, Manchester United v Norwich, Wolves v Newcastle, Tottenham v Liverpool (1730)
Sunday: Bournemouth v Watford (1400), Aston Villa v Manchester City (1630)
AFP
