With Manchester City having establish a 15-point lead, the Premier League is for the Citizens to lose while the rest of the teams battle for the Champions League spot; a reason the fixture between Liverpool and Tottenham would be hugely contested for at Anfield tomorrow
The intensifying battle for Champions League places takes centre stage in the Premier League this weekend as Liverpool host Tottenham, while Manchester United and Chelsea seek to recover from damaging defeats.
Just five points now separate United in second from Spurs in fifth, with the riches and prestige of a place in the Champions League for next season fuelling a record £430 million ($611 million, 492 million euros) splurge in the January transfer window.
Arsenal sit a distant sixth, six points behind their north London rivals, provoking an uncharacteristically busy window of comings and goings at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, striker Harry Kane has charged his Tottenham Hotspur teammates to replicate the form they displayed to outclass Manchester United in midweek if they are to get past an in-form Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Tottenham produced a dominant display to beat United 2-0 at Wembley on Wednesday, scoring through midfielder Christian Eriksen on 11 seconds before United defender Phil Jones turned Kieran Trippier’s cross into his own net on the hour mark.
Spurs’ victory over United saw them maintain their top-four push, and they are just two points behind both Liverpool and Chelsea ahead of the weekend’s action.
Kane said the fifth-placed London club cannot let their guard down against Liverpool, after suffering a 2-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture last season.
“We have got to put in the same performance as we did against United,” Tottenham’s top scorer Kane said.
“Liverpool are a strong team, especially at home when they are on the attack. They have some fast players and last season we didn’t cope with that very well. We were poor throughout the whole team, but we can take confidence from the United game. This is the kind of performance we need to produce against the big teams both at home and away.”
Tottenham beat Jurgen Klopp’s side 4-1 when the two teams met earlier this season but third-placed Liverpool are a tougher prospect at home, where they are unbeaten in 14 league matches.
Liverpool were unbeaten since that defeat until losing back-to-back games to Swansea and West Brom in late January.
But they responded with a 3-0 midweek win over Huddersfield, and manager Jurgen Klopp said: “Spurs are in a good moment, but our moment is not too bad as well. It’ll be interesting.”
“We played well against Liverpool at Wembley so we have to go to Anfield full of confidence,” Kane added.
Midfielder Lucas Moura, Tottenham’s new signing from French club Paris St Germain, watched on as the London club beat United and Kane said he was looking forward to seeing what the Brazilian brings to the table.
“Hopefully he can fit right in and when he gets an opportunity, he takes it,” Kane said. “There is no rush and it will keep everyone on their toes. He’s done some amazing stuff for PSG so we are excited to see what can happen.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United Manager, Jose Mourinho effectively conceded the Premier League title to Manchester City on Friday, admitting that his side is competing to be “first of the last” in the table.
United lost in midweek at Tottenham, allowing their local rivals to open up a commanding 15-point lead, with just 13 games remaining.
But Mourinho insisted that there is still plenty for his team to play for in the league this season, with second place and qualification for the Champions League his primary focus.
“It makes me feel that they are doing so, so well that they are not letting the others come close to that, as simple as that,” said Mourinho when asked how City’s dominance made him feel.
“With the number of points and improvement we have in relation to last season, in normal conditions the distance would be a distance that leaves the fight open.
“And, at the moment, the fight is open for second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth but it is practically closed for the first.”
However, the Portuguese insisted that falling short to Pep Guardiola’s rampant City, who have dropped just seven points all season, shouldn’t be classified as a failure.
“If you tell me all six want to be champion and only one will be champion and the other five fail, I think is too pragmatic a way to look at it because you can do positive work and not win the title,” added Mourinho.
“I cannot say that we are doing bad or Tottenham is doing bad or Chelsea is doing bad because the number of points we have are a very reasonable number of points.”
Mourinho was talking ahead of the home Premier League meeting with Huddersfield, where United will mark the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster that falls on Tuesday.
Fixtures
Today
Burnley v Man City  12:30
Bournemouth  v Stoke   15:00
Brighton v West Ham  15:00
Leicester v Swansea  15:00
Man Utd v  Huddersfield  15:00
West Brom v Southampton 15:00
Arsenal v Everton 17:30
Sunday
Crystal Palace v Newcastle  14:15
Liverpool  v Tottenham 16:30
monday
Watford v  Chelsea 20:00
Brighton v West Ham  15:00
wmonday
Swansea City v Liverpool 20:00
Sunday
Bournemouth v  Arsenal  1:30 p.m
Liverpool v Man City   4p.m
MondayÂ
Man Utd v Stoke City 8 p.m
Premiership
Man City 25 55 68
Man Utd 25 31 53
Liverpool 25 28 50
Chelsea 25 26 50
Tottenham 25 27 48
Arsenal 25 12 42
Burnley 25 -2 35
Leicester 25 3 34
Everton 25 -12 31
Bournemouth 25 -8 28
Watford 25 -11 27
West Ham 25 -12 27
Crystal Palace 25 -15 26
Newcastle 25 -12 24
Brighton 25 -16 24
Stoke 25 -25 24
Huddersfield 25 -25 24
Southampton 25 -11 23
Swansea 25 -18 23
West Brom 25 -15 20
Hotshot
Harry Kane Tottenham 21
Mohamed Salah Liverpool 19
Sergio Aguero Man City 17
Raheem Sterling Man City 14
Romelu Lukaku Man Utd 11
Roberto Fermino Liverpool 11
Jamie Verdy Leicester 11
Alvaro Morata Chelsea 10
Wayne Rooney Everton 10
Alex Lacazette Arsenal  9
