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We enter the final 10 games of the 2018-19 Premier League campaign with both the title race and the race for the top 4 places still truly alive, and likely to go on till the very last day of the season.
Liverpool sit at the top of the table with a slender one point advantage over Manchester City. On the other hand, 5 points separate Tottenham in third and Manchester United in fifth. Chelsea are a further two points adrift in sixth, but crucially have a game in hand.
Let's look at the key matches this week that could have an impact on how the top 4 positions line up at the end of the campaign.
3. Manchester United vs Southampton
With two of their top four rivals – Arsenal and Tottenham – playing each other this weekend, United have a perfect opportunity to put pressure on one or both of them in the race for a top 4 finish. Their caretaker manger Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who is getting ever closer to a permanent appointment, will need to clinch a Champions League spot to make his case for the same undeniable.
However, it is not as easy a fixture for Man United as it looks on paper - especially now that they are facing a player availability crisis caused due to multiple squad injuries. Juan Mata and Ander Herrera are out with hamstring issues suffered against Liverpool last weekend, while Nemanja Matic and Antonio Valencia too are unavailable due to muscle injuries. Anthony Martial is yet to recover from a groin injury and is likely to miss the game.
One welcome piece of news though is that Marcus Rashford is fit to lead the line after recovering from an ankle injury suffered last week.
Southampton are no walkovers themselves. In the reverse fixture in December, they were leading United by two goals within 20 minutes, forcing the Red Devils to summon all their resilience to just about salvage a draw.
Southampton’s record at Old Trafford isn’t bad either. They have lost only once there since 2013, and now with their Premier League survival at stake they have all to play for.
2. Tottenham vs Arsenal
Two consecutive losses have meant that Tottenham, who a week back were one of the title contenders, have now regressed back to the mean - or in other words, the race for a top 4 spot. As the wheels of the Spurs bandwagon start coming off, they sit five points clear of United in 5th place, meaning a top four finish is no certainty. This clearly isn’t the best time to meet their most bitter rivals.
Arsenal have had struggles of their own against top 6 opposition this season. They have already lost to City, Liverpool, United and Chelsea in this league campaign. However, they have done enough in their other matches, to be currently 4th, four points behind Spurs.
Winning this derby will get them to within a point of 3rd place, which is what Unai Emery will be aiming for. Top 3 finish in your first season in such a competitive league is a very good result for any manager - more so when your club had finished outside the top 4 in their last 2 seasons.
As for Pochettino, he can ill-afford to cede ground now, else the hype that surrounds him will cool off a bit. Having made no fresh signings in the last two transfer windows, he can give a justifiable argument for not being able to compete with City or Liverpool. But if Spurs finish outside of the top 4, his contentious reputation of being an exceptional manger and a potential Manchester United target, is likely to take a big hit.
3. Everton vs Liverpool
Liverpool visit Goodison Park on the back of a swashbuckling performance which saw them blow away Watford and emerge victorious with 5 unanswered goals. While that win would have eased off some nerves, by Sunday evening the pressure will be back on them.
That's because Manchester City, who play a day earlier, are likely to be 2 points ahead before the Merseyside derby kicks off.
Jurgen Klopp, who post the win over Watford praised his players saying: “This is how football should be played”, will hope that his team can maintain the momentum they built midweek. He would like nothing more than Liverpool returning home with all 3 points, still having fate in their hands in this tense title race.
On the other hand Everton, who haven’t beaten Liverpool since 2010, will likely still be smarting from the fortuitous 96th minute winner Divok Origi scored when these two sides met in December. While their form since then has taken a turn for the worse - losing 6 of their last 9 matches - they will still give it everything.
Everton will relish nothing more than hurting their neighbor's chances of winning the first ever Premier League title.
