Chelsea and Manchester City will clash at Stamford Bridge in the match of the weekend. Both sides have had different run of forms, with City on a high after beating PSG 3-2 on aggregate to reach the semi finals of the Champions League for the first time. Kevin De Bruyne continued his goal scoring form by netting the only goal in the second leg and that could be the defining moment for City’s season.
Meanwhile, Chelsea slipped to a 0 – 1 loss against Swansea, ending Guss Hiddink’s unbeaten of 15 games. Hiddink dismissed speculation that the news of Antonio Conte’s appointment as Chelsea boss had to do with the loss, and this will be an ideal way to return to winning ways.
Norwich City and Sunderland will look to bounce back from defeats when they lock horns at Carrow Road. It’s a game which will decide who stays up and who goes down. Norwich will draw a lot of motivation going into the match.
They lie in 17th, four points ahead of Sunderland who are 18th. A win will put them seven points clear of the drop zone with four games to go. The Canaries were beaten at Crystal Palace in their last fixture, while Sunderland were beaten by potential champions Leicester. Sunderland could close the gap to a point with a win, but with how woeful they have been particularly at the back, it could be a long day ahead for the Black Cats.
Newcastle will hope to keep their faltering survival hopes alive when they play Swansea at Upton Park. The Toons displayed everything wrong with their season in a 3-1 loss to Southampton which featured lousy positioning and comical defending. It could be little too late for the Magpies to save their season, but a win here could keep them alive depending on other results.
Swansea all but secured their place in the League next season after beating Chelsea 1-0. They will still be out to win, though, and if form is anything to go by, they will do just that.
Manchester United will be targeting victory when Aston Villa come knocking at the Theatre of Dreams. The Red Devils slumped to a 3-0 loss to Tottenham which leave their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread. They did bounce back in midweek, reaching the FA Cup semi finals with a surprise 2-1 win over West Ham. It’s their only hope of silverware in what has been a hugely disappointing season. Wayne Rooney could be fit to return on the bench after featuring for the club’s under-21s.
Villa’s relegation will be confirmed if they fail to beat United. The club also cancelled their end of the season awards, which makes a lot of sense.
Southampton will continue their push for a Europa League spot when they travel to face Everton at Goodison Park while West Brom will host Watford at the Hawthorns.
On Sunday, a cracker takes place at the King Power Stadium when Leicester City and West Ham face off. Leicester have been in fine form, racking up 72 points from 33 games and pulling seven points clear of second placed Tottenham. They need just nine points to make history, but a tough West Ham side will be lying in wait. Slaven Bilic’s side will be disappointed his side couldn’t make use of their home advantage against Man United in the FA Cup, but they have claimed a lot of scalps away from home, beating the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool comfortably. Jamie Vardy will also look to close in on the golden boot, despite being banned by Claudio Ranieri from taking shooting drills to keep him fresh for the run-in.
Arsenal will entertain Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners will want to get back to winning ways after dropping another two points to fall further behind in the title race. Having taken a two-goal lead against West Ham, Andy Carroll struck a hat trick in eight minutes to give the Hammers the lead before Koscielny struck to rescue a point.
Palace took another step towards officially sealing their place in the League next season, and they will have a chance to do the same here.
Bournemouth will take on a confident Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium. The cherries moved up to 41 points after beating Aston Villa 2-1, all but securing their top flight status. They will however face a stiffer test from a Liverpool side that thrashed Stoke City 4-1 to move up to 8th on the log.
