An English Premier League title showdown is the pick of the weekend’s EPL fixture list, as the runaway leaders go head-to-head.
Defending champions Manchester City have home advantage on Sunday afternoon, as a full schedule all leads to their humdinger of a clash with Liverpool.
It’s become the kind of high octane, game-of-the-season contender in recent years, with top notch coaches Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp going at each other for domestic glory.
And this one is no different, with City topping the table by a single point from the Reds, who have shrugged of absences of the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in recent months to hunt down the men in blue at the Etihad Stadium.
An altogether more disgruntled affair across the north west contains just as much intrigue in the Saturday lunchtime kick off.
Manchester United’s patchwork campaign takes them to Goodison Park off the back of one win in four, albeit with their top four challenge in stark contrast to Everton, who sit just one point above the relegation zone following their latest crushing loss in midweek.
Four London clubs lie above the Red Devils in the tussle for Champions League qualification places.
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel is fraying at the edges, understandably, as all threatens to collapse around him following the government sanctioning of Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich.
Seven goals shipped in back-to-back home losses, in the EPL and in Europe in the past week, mean a return to winning ways at Southampton is much needed as the nerves jangle around Stamford Bridge.
North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are scrapping it out not only for the top four but to topple the tottering Blues in third.
Both could make inroads this weekend, with the Gunners hosting tumbling Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Spurs, meanwhile, go to Aston Villa for the late kick off, locked on 54 points with Mikel Arteta’s side and now only five points behind third place as the sharp end of the Premier League season comes into view.
Don’t dismiss the chances of West Ham either, although boss David Moyes must juggle his resources as they head across the capital to Brentford on Sunday off the back of their continued Europa League exploits.
It was Burnley who poleaxed drop rivals Everton at Turf Moor in midweek and the Clarets stand a real chance of leap-frogging the Toffees, with bottom club Norwich standing between them and some light relief at Carrow Road.
Win-or-bust territory is fast approaching for Watford, too, with Roy Hodgson’s side fighting to keep Leeds involved in the relegation scramble at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
The push for top half credibility focuses on the King Power Stadium on Sunday, as improving Leicester host Patrick Vieira’s impressive Crystal Palace.
St James’ Park is the venue for the Friday night match, meanwhile, as moneybags Newcastle welcome a Wolves side still very much in with a shout of qualifying for European competition next season.
English Premier League predictions for 8 – 10 April
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team?s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Newcastle | 44 | 44 |
Wolves | 29 | 50 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Everton | 22 | 40 |
Manchester United | 57 | 77 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Arsenal | 62 | 74 |
Brighton | 17 | 1 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Southampton | 25 | 10 |
Chelsea | 52 | 50 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Watford | 37 | 30 |
Leeds | 39 | 31 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Aston Villa | 32 | 42 |
Tottenham | 44 | 50 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Brentford | 37 | 38 |
West Ham | 39 | 67 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Leicester | 43 | 46 |
Crystal Palace | 33 | 44 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Norwich | 35 | 11 |
Burnley | 39 | 73 |
Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
Manchester City | 50 | 42 |
Liverpool | 29 |