The English Premier League is back for the final push this weekend, with a full matchweek following a two-week pause in hostilities.
A fortnight off for the final international football break of the season, then the FA Cup quarter-finals, has provided the last chance to regroup for clubs at both ends of the table, with everything at stake between now and the upcoming 2026 Fifa World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Monday night football is also back and it features the classic cross-Pennine rivalry between Manchester United and Leeds.
It’s a much improved Red Devils that go for three points and bragging rights to boot at Old Trafford, while Daniel Farke’s visitors need to arrest their latest winless run to make sure of avoiding an instant drop back to the Championship.
Chelsea and Manchester City meet in the headline EPL fixture on Sunday, with both on a mission in the upper echelons.
City remain the sole challengers to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, but Pep Guardiola and Co know they are heading towards must-win territory as the clock ticks down.
Guardiola’s opposite number Liam Rosenior is feeling the heat at Stamford Bridge – something that’ll only increase if they look like they’re slipping to a third successive top flight defeat, no matter how good the away side.
The Gunners come into the weekend a healthy nine points clear, albeit having played a game more than City and having lost to them in the EFL Cup final at Wembley, as well as being dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship Southampton.
No quadruple for Mikel Arteta’s men, then, but the Emirates Stadium crowd will be expecting a Saturday lunchtime victory when Bournemouth make the trip to London of the back of five straight draws.
Liverpool and Fulham bookend Saturday’s four EPL matches when they meet for the late kick off at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s side have taken a serious buffeting in recent weeks, also being bundled out of the FA Cup as well as collecting a single point from their last three games in the league amid the news of Mohamed Salah’s impending departure.
It sees the Reds come into the final push in fifth place and with work to do to stand any chance of a top four finish, with their visitors only five points and four places further back in the chasing pack and eyeing an upset.
Elsewhere on Sunday, there’s a fascinating tussle in the north east as yet another new Tottenham era dawns at Sunderland.
Roberto de Zerbi finally penned a five-year contract to attempt to erase the memory of Igor Tudor’s miserable spell in north London but, much more pressingly, to avoid the very real prospect of relegation from the Premier League.
A hostile Wearside ‘welcome’ awaits Spurs, who are just a point above the drop zone and with the home team still keeping their outrageous dream of European qualification alive deep into the spring.
Aston Villa are pushing all the way for third place under Unai Emery, with a hop across the Midlands to improving Nottingham Forest their next assignment.
Villa returned to winning ways last time out to end a shaky spell, while Forest have gone three unbeaten to pull a precious three points clear of relegation trouble.
Sunday’s other EPL fixture sees struggling Newcastle head to Crystal Palace.
Toon Army chief Eddie Howe is under increasing pressure with their season falling flat on all fronts, evidenced by the fact the Eagles could go above them on goal difference despite their own problems at Selhurst Park.
Friday night sees the Premier League return and it’s a basement battle between West Ham and Wolves.
The visitors still look set to plummet through the trapdoor despite picking up seven points from the last nine, with the Hammers also a point inside the drop zone and in desperate trouble.
Back at the right end on Saturday there’s a duel between Brentford and Everton in west London.
The pair are split by goal difference alone in seventh and eighth but it’s David Moyes’ Toffees who seem to be striking form at exactly the right time, with continental qualification on the horizon.
Brighton have also perked up after shaking off the woes of their wretched mid-season form.
They go to Turf Moor to take on a Burnley side who could even start the game bottom of the EPL, depending on Friday night’s result.
Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth
| Result prediction | Arsenal to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Arsenal / Arsenal to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) |
Brentford v Everton
| Result prediction | Everton to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Brentford / Everton to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Beto (Everton) |
Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Brighton & Hove Albion / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Zian Flemming (Burnley) Danny Welbeck (Brighton & Hove Albion) |
Liverpool v Fulham
| Result prediction | Liverpool to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Liverpool / Liverpool to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Raul Jimenez (Fulham) |
Sunderland v Tottenham Hotspur
| Result prediction | Sunderland to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Tottenham Hotspur / Sunderland to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) |
Crystal Palace v Newcastle United
| Result prediction | Crystal Palace to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Crystal Palace to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace) Strand Larsen Jorgen (Crystal Palace) Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United) |
Chelsea v Manchester City
| Result prediction | Manchester City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Manchester City / Manchester City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Pedro Joao (Chelsea) Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City) Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City) |
Manchester United v Leeds United
| Result prediction | Manchester United to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Manchester United to win |
| Team to Score prediction | Manchester United |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Benjamin Sesko (Manchester United) |