Football: Chelsea face Arsenal in London derby, Slot under pressure in Premier League
London, Nov 28 (IANS) Second-placed Chelsea take on leader Arsenal in the big game in the Premier League this weekend, while Manchester City look to recover from a difficult week, and Liverpool will be under the focus as Arne Slot’s side takes its dreadful recent form to a resurgent West Ham United.
Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge after a fantastic week that saw a 4-1 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur, followed by a 3-1 triumph over Bayern Munich in the Champions League, leaving Mikel Arteta’s side six points clear in the Premier League and leading the Champions League qualifying group.
Arteta also have players such as Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, and Gabriel Martinelli available again, with Madueke no doubt keen to face his former club, reports Xinhua.
Chelsea also had a good week, with a 3-0 thrashing of FC Barcelona highlighting the current form of Enzo Maresca’s side, and the game may rest on whether Chelsea will be able to exploit their speed on the break.
A win for Arsenal would put it nine points clear of Chelsea in the standings and mean the lead at the top would be at least seven points, but only if Manchester City win at home to Leeds United.
It’s been a bad week for Pep Guardiola’s side after last weekend’s defeat in Newcastle was followed by a 2-0 setback at home to Bayer Leverkusen in Europe, but Guardiola will have several key players back in his starting 11 after making squad rotations in midweek.
Life back in the top-flight is starting to bite Leeds United, which has slipped into the bottom three after three consecutive defeats, and ahead of a tough run of games that sees them host Chelsea in midweek.
Liverpool are also in the spotlight after a week that has seen Arne Slot’s side concede seven goals at Anfield with a 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest and a 4-1 humiliation against PSV Eindhoven, which had players unable to explain what is happening in a run of nine defeats from 12 games and with some commentators speculating that Slot’s job is starting to be in danger.
A vastly improved West Ham United that has climbed out of the relegation zone under Nuno Espirito Santo won’t make any concessions to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester United was humiliated by 10-man Everton on Monday night, with the result and performance again calling Ruben Amorim’s side into question, and a visit to fifth-place Crystal Palace isn’t going to make Amorim’s life any easier.
This is the kind of game Manchester United need to win to qualify for Europe next season, and another setback will only raise more doubts over Amorim’s suitability for the job.
Aston Villa have climbed to fourth in the Premier League and can rub salt into winless Wolverhampton Wanderers’ wounds with a win in Sunday’s Midlands derby, while Tottenham coach Thomas Frank needs a win when his side is at home to Fulham.
Tottenham’s tame loss to Arsenal and five goals conceded against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in midweek have also seen questions start to be asked about the current Brentford boss.
Elsewhere, Brentford have a good chance to climb the table against a Burnley side reeling from three consecutive defeats, Sunderland are at home to Bournemouth with both sides suffering a recent dip in form, a Nottingham Forest side that has improved drastically since Sean Dyche’s arrival is at home to Brighton, while Everton are at home to Newcastle United in what should be a close game.
–IANS
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