Premier League: Title, Champions League and relegation battles heat up as run-in begins | Soccer News

It’s a good weekend of Premier League football on Sky Sports, with the run-up well underway.

The Premier League title race is on, with Man City resurgent and Arsenal struggling.

And there is everything to play for at the bottom as Tottenham hope Roberto De Zerbi can steer them away from a shock drop.

Here we explain how this Sunday will shape the narrative across the Premier League as we reach the business end of the season…

Rosenior and Chelsea need a statement result against City

The 7-0 thrashing of League One bottom club Port Vale in the FA Cup was a timely boost for Chelsea and Liam Rosenior, given the four-game losing streak they had played before the tie and the tumultuous international break that saw the club suffer a record loss and Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella made unwanted headlines.

But the pressure and intensity will be right on the Blues and their head coach this Sunday when a rejuvenated Man City come to the Bridge. Rosenior reckons his team “came back stronger” after figuring out what needs to be fixed after their bad run before the international break. He will have to show this weekend that he has the solutions.

Sunday, April 12, 4 p.m

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If not, City – keen to build on their onslaught on Liverpool in the Cup – have the ability to deal a major blow to Chelsea’s top-five Premier League ambitions.

Adding to the difficulty of the challenge is that Chelsea will once again be without Fernandez as he serves the second of his two-match ban handed down by Rosenior and the club after apparently discussing a potential move to Real Madrid this summer. In a midfield battle that will be key, his absence will be felt. But Rosenior – not yet a big win on Chelsea’s home turf – needs to find a way to get a big result without him.
Peter Smith

De Zerbi and Spurs in the spotlight

Elsewhere in the relegation battle… It begins. With the spotlight shining on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium like never before, Roberto De Zerbi has seven games to keep Spurs in the Premier League, and it starts with a test of ability.

All eyes will be on his approach. How immediate will its impact be? The training videos released by the club showed promise, but that’s what those clips were designed for.

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The fast pace of play, De Zerbi’s presence on the training ground and seemingly growing rapport with his players is all well and good, but unfortunately for a club as big as Spurs, smiles, fun and games are not the points they so desperately need right now.

Spurs find themselves in the bottom three before they even kick a ball on Sunday after West Ham’s drubbing of Wolves on Friday night.

Zerbi’s ability to galvanize a side will be tested. He is notorious for his perhaps inflammatory approach at times; However, the troublesome side of De Zerbi’s Maverick will have to be tamed for seven games.

It is a new page for De Zerbi against a Sunderland side who have lost three on the bounce at the Stadium of Light after previously going unbeaten at home. Will Spurs be able to handle the upcoming spotlight that begins in the Northeast?
William Bitibiri

Push back on Howe and Newcastle

By the time Newcastle took to the pitch to face Crystal Palace on Sunday, it would have been exactly three weeks since the humiliating Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland. For a team that has struggled all season to handle their schedule, that’s a lot of time to sit back and dwell on that performance.

Coupled with the 7-2 against Barcelona earlier, the pressure on Eddie Howe is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The ball is very much in his court this weekend.

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The Magpies take on a Crystal Palace side who have had their own problems at times and will surely be more focused on trying to bring home silverware in the Conference League. For Howe, there are no more distractions. In seasons past, this is when his team performed at their best. That should be the case in this run-up.

A win could be enough to see them climb into the top 10 if Spurs beat Sunderland and Burnley pick up vital points for their slim survival hopes against Brighton. It’s not what fans would have hoped to be fighting for at this stage of the campaign, but it’s the reality.

With seven games to go, Howe needs to put together a run and make some progress up the table to leave himself in a less vulnerable position at the end of the season.
Callum Bishop