The crunch is coming in the English Premier League this weekend, as reigning champions Manchester City and pretenders Liverpool take their title tussle all the way to the wire.
Both are in sparkling form and kick off the final month of the EPL season separated by a single point at the top of the table.
And it’s the Reds who have the chance to strike first when they play the Saturday night fixture at home to Tottenham.
Spurs arrive at Anfield with plenty to play for, too, as they scramble to seal fourth place and the final berth for next season’s Uefa Champions League under the charge of Antonio Conte.
Pep Guardiola’s men must wait until the final match of the weekend for their opportunity to strike back, when they host Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon after being dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The Toon Army’s magical resurgence following their January spending splurge was brought to a halt last weekend by, you guessed it, Liverpool.
Manchester United returned to winning ways at Old Trafford on Monday night, although their top four hopes are vanishingly small thanks to an otherwise dismal run of form.
The Red Devils go to Brighton on Saturday evening and can expect some bother from the Seagulls, who are finishing the EPL season on a high under impressive coach Graham Potter.
Above United are three London clubs squabbling most likely for third, fourth and fifth in the final standings.
Chelsea have won just once in their last four, leaving them decidedly unsteady in third as uncertainty swirls around the club following the exit of Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich.
Thomas Tuchel’s embattled side take on top half Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with the visitors having lost three on the bounce.
Arsenal are now within striking distance of their capital city rivals, thanks to their own sequence of three successive victories at just the right time.
The Gunners will have to be on their mettle on Sunday afternoon, though, with relegation-haunted Leeds the visitors to the Emirates Stadium.
Kicking off at the same time are Everton, who are two points adrift of the Yorkshire club with a game in hand.
They need it, too, with the dotted line of doom sandwiched between the pair ahead of the Toffees’ trip to Leicester.
Sunday’s Premier League programme is wrapped up at Carrow Road, as relegated Norwich host a West Ham side who are rather limping towards the finish line.
Elsewhere on Saturday there’s a chance for Burnley to continue their amazing rise from the troubled waters of the relegation zone, with Aston Villa the visitors to Turf Moor.
Watford’s relegation is likely to be confirmed, meanwhile, as they head to Crystal Palace with boss Roy Hodgson already confirmed to be leaving the stricken Hornets at the end of the campaign.
Brentford and Southampton are both bobbling about in lower mid-table and seeing out time as they meet in west London on Saturday.
English Premier League predictions for 7 – 8 May
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 | |
| Brentford | 47 | 54 |
| Southampton | 30 | 18 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Burnley | 33 | 40 |
| Aston Villa | 42 | 39 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Chelsea | 75 | 79 |
| Wolves | 10 | |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Crystal Palace | 61 | |
| Watford | 20 | 33 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Brighton | 36 | 38 |
| Manchester United | 41 | 38 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Liverpool | 71 | 65 |
| Tottenham | 17 | |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Arsenal | 69 | 73 |
| Leeds | 17 | |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Leicester | 42 | 41 |
| Everton | 33 | 42 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Norwich | 22 | |
| West Ham | 57 | 43 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Manchester City | 85 | 86 |
| Newcastle | 6 |