Premier League Preview: Match Week 28

Things could become cringeworthy at Anfield on Saturday when Premier League leading Liverpool, fresh off a Champions League win over PSG midweek, will face one of the worst sides in Premier League history, basement dwelling Southampton. Liverpool’s recent run of success has been more efficient than overwhelming as witnessed by the 1-0 victory over PSG and no more than two goals scored by the Reds in their last five league matches which resulted in four wins and a draw. Saturday, however, could unleash an attack which leads the Premier League with 66 goals when it faces a Saints side which has conceded a league high 65 goals. Liverpool is chasing titles. Southampton needs to add three more points to its current total of nine to avoid the ignominy of accumulating the lowest point total in Premier League history.

Arsenal’s hopes, meanwhile, of catching Liverpool are all but extinguished as the Gunners could trail Liverpool by 16 points when they take to the pitch at Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Sunday. The frustration of recent weeks was vented on poor PSV in the Champions League this week when the Gunners exploded for seven goals after being whitewashed in their last two Premier League matches. Martin Odegaard had two of those midweek goals, a productive appearance from the Arsenal captain who has been largely invisible during his club’s recent rough patch. The Gunners will face a Manchester United club which has won but two of its last seven matches as the standing of Manager Ruben Amorim, only appointed in November, is already very much in question.

While Liverpool’s dominance has taken the air out of the title race, the chase for Champions League and other European qualification bids remains heated. Two of the top four contenders face off when Manchester City visits the City Ground to face surprising Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees are clinging to third in the table, just a point ahead of their Saturday visitors and two points ahead of fifth place Chelsea. The last time Nottingham Forest faced a Manchester City team below them in the topflight table was 1995 when Erling Haaland’s father was collecting splinters on the Tricky Trees’ bench. While City has dominated the last three Premier League meetings between the clubs by an aggregate 7-0 scoreline, Forest is unbeaten in its last seven league matches at the City Ground. Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood is enjoying his best topflight season ever at the age of 33. The striker has 18 goals this season and has eight of those goals, along with three assists, in his last nine Premier League matches. Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has searched endlessly for answers this season as his club’s performance has fallen below its lofty standard. The defending champions have made more changes to their starting lineup this campaign than any club but for newly promoted and likely soon to be relegated Ipswich Town.

Chelsea Manager Enzo Maresca will be in the spotlight when the club he managed to a second-tier title last season, Leicester, visits Stamford Bridge. Chelsea has endured some recent adversity under Maresca, dropping three of its last five league matches, but the Italian manager dodged a bullet in escaping what has been a disastrous promotion season for the Foxes. Leicester ownership is under heavy criticism from supporters after a lack of investment left the club ill-prepared to compete in the top tier. Maresca’s replacement, Steve Cooper, was sacked in November after winning just two of the Foxes’ first twelve matches. The club has won just twice since then and has tumbled into the relegation zone under new manager Rudd van Nistelrooy.

Only five points currently separates fourth place Manchester City from 10th place Aston Villa in the tightly congested Premier League table. The Villans, however, risk falling out of the top half after winning just one of their last six Premier League matches. Manager Unai Emery’s side strangely has played much better in Europe, defeating Club Brugge in a Champions League Round of 16 match on Tuesday. Emery will hope for some carryover when his side hosts Brentford in league play on Saturday.

Brighton and Fulham occupy the two places just above Villa in the table as the Cottagers head south to face the Seagulls this weekend. Homestanding Brighton will be looking to defeat Fulham for the first time in what will be their 10th Premier League meeting. Only Liverpool and Arsenal, however, have averaged more points per away match than the road warrior Cottagers this season.

Newcastle and Bournemouth are sixth and seventh in the Premier League table, respectively, despite each side having lost three of its last fourth league matches. Anthony Gordon will miss Newcastle’s match at West Ham after his red card in the Magpies’ FA Cup loss to Brighton last weekend.

Bournemouth’s loss at Brighton two weeks ago was its first road defeat in its last eight league matches away from Vitality Stadium and the Cherries will try to recapture their away magic at Tottenham Hotspur this weekend. Spurs’ horrendous season took another dire turn during the week when an own goal committed by Lucas Bergvall handed AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 win over the Londoners in the Europa League.

Everton’s season looks much different since David Moyes took charge with the Toffees trying to extend a seven match unbeaten Premier League run when they travel to Wolverhampton. Wolves, meanwhile, have moved five points clear of the relegation zone by winning two of their last four matches.

Crystal Palace returns to league play having lost just twice in the Eagles’ last ten league matches. A 4-1 punishing of Aston Villa two weeks ago in the league was followed by an FA Cup win over Millwall last weekend. The win over their south London rival, however, could prove costly for the Eagles due to a head injury suffered by Crystal Place striker JP Mateta on a ghastly challenge by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts. The Eagles’ leading scorer will miss Saturday’s clash versus Ipswich Town after needing 25 stitches to close a gash inflicted by Roberts’ boot.