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Matchday 31 of the Premier League is set to begin, and Bournemouth will kick off proceedings against Michael Carrick’s Manchester United. Fans will also get to witness a relegation battle between Tottenham and Nottingham Forest. Both teams are fighting for survival.
As league leaders, Arsenal take on second-placed Manchester City in the League Cup final on Sunday, the focus will be on the race to qualify for the Champions League and also the relegation battle.
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Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest
Tottenham’s upcoming fixture vs Nottingham will feel like a final, with both sides looking to wrestle their way out of this relegation battle. Spurs are only one point above 17th-placed Forest. If they lose to Forest and third-bottom West Ham wins against Aston Villa, Tottenham will fall into the relegation zone. Only eight games are left this season, and they bowed out of the Champions League.
Although they beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 in the second leg, they lost 7-5 on aggregate. Speaking after the match, defender Pedro Porro said, “It gives you confidence for what’s going to be like a final on Sunday. We’ve had some bad matches in the Premier League to be honest, but the last one against Liverpool, we came out with a draw so we’re picking up some good feelings again.”
“It’s tough, it’s not easy because nobody wants to be in this position at this point,” he added.
Liverpool’s campaign revitalised?
Liverpool beat Galatasaray in the Champions League. The Turkish side won the first leg, but the second leg was at Anfield, and the visitors fell to a heavy defeat. Arne Slot’s side travels to Brighton for their upcoming game, and they can’t lose their focus because of European football.
“We have to try to find consistency,” said Slot.
“We have had a lot of setbacks this season, a lot of times where we have created chance after chance without doing justice to how we performed,” he added.
Can Sunderland overtake Newcastle?
Newcastle hosts Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby. Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 10 league games against Newcastle, winning seven of the last eight. Newcastle will be hoping to break it, and the visitors could just make it 11, the longest unbeaten streak by either side in this fixture’s history.
Spotlight on Manchester United
Bournemouth are on a five-match unbeaten run against Manchester United (won 2, drawn 3) in the Premier League. For United, Bruno Fernandes will be key. He has created six or more chances in each of his last three Premier League outings. He has scored or assisted at least once in 15 of his last 21 games for United in all competitions, bagging 22 goals involvements.
