LONDON : Liverpool will likely move a provisional 16 points clear atop the Premier League on Saturday but while the title race looks like a procession the battle below them for European qualifying places is coming to the boil led by Nottingham Forest.
Six points separate third-placed Forest and Aston Villa in 10th, while even the likes of Brentford and Crystal Palace, who are 11th and 12th, have not given up hope of playing in Europe.
With England’s top five almost certainly earning automatic Champions League qualification next season thanks to the Premier League’s favourable UEFA coefficient, the door is wide open.
Forest have not featured in Europe’s elite club competition since 1981 but coach Nuno Espirito Santo has transformed them from relegation battlers into genuine top-four contenders.
They host fourth-placed reigning champions Manchester City in Saturday’s early fixture with one point separating the sides – a scenario beyond the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic Forest fan back in August.
However, with Nuno’s team taking only one point – a hard-fought 0-0 draw with second-placed Arsenal – from their last three league games, some are predicting that Forest, who have 48 points after 27 games, will not sustain their challenge.
A home match against City offers the perfect opportunity to avenge their 3-0 defeat at The Etihad in December and silence the doubters.
Fifth-placed Chelsea on 46 points have struggled to sustain their top-four hopes since the back end of last year, winning only three of their last 11 league games.
A 4-0 home win against bottom club Southampton last time out steadied the ship and Enzo Maresca’s side will seek to gain some momentum as they host struggling Leicester City on Sunday.
NEWCASTLE FALTER
Sixth-placed Newcastle United, with 44 points, have also faltered of late but still have a great chance of returning to the Champions League.
They visit West Ham United in a London derby on Monday and will need to ensure they are not distracted by a looming League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley on March 16.
Below Newcastle are three clubs not used to scrapping for places in Europe but who look more than capable of doing it.
Bournemouth, who have 43 points, have been a revelation this season and it is no surprise that manager Andoni Iraola’s name is being linked with some of the biggest jobs in football.
The south-coast club wasted opportunities to move into the top four with back-to-back defeats against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion and will be looking to return to winning ways at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Brighton start the weekend eighth on 43 points but are in a rich vein of form with three straight league wins as they prepare to host Fulham, who are one point behind them in ninth.
Completing the top half of the table are Villa.
Unai Emery’s side put one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory at Club Brugge on Tuesday but have suffered a slide down the table in recent weeks and sit on 42 points. They face a testing trip to Brentford on Saturday.
As for the title race, Liverpool host seemingly doomed Southampton on Saturday in what will be a far more comfortable outing than they experienced during their smash-and-grab 1-0 win at Paris St Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Second-placed Arsenal, 13 points adrift with a game in hand, visit Manchester United on Sunday hoping for a Liverpool meltdown, though after thrashing PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday their focus is perhaps already on a tilt at Champions League glory.
