Arsenal continue top-4 chase on tight schedule
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LONDON • The Premier League title race takes a breather this weekend as the FA Cup takes centre stage, but the scrap for fourth place continues with Arsenal still in the box seat despite the midweek home defeat by Liverpool.
The fourth-placed Gunners travel to Aston Villa, in ninth, today, while tomorrow, London rivals West Ham and Tottenham meet in a derby that has taken on huge significance.
Arsenal's five-match winning run in the league ended on Wednesday, but their form since the turn of the year has given them a good chance of a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2017.
Mikel Arteta's side have 51 points from 27 games, one ahead of Manchester United who have played two games more, while West Ham have 48 points from 29 games and Tottenham have 48 from 28.
A trip to a dangerous Villa side will be a big test of Arsenal's resilience.
"Don't worry on Saturday the players will be there with energy. They will sleep, eat well. But thank you so much to the Premier League for putting the fixtures like this," manager Arteta said sarcastically ahead of the game.
After Villa, Arsenal have a hectic run of fixtures - April 4, 9, 16 and then April 20 and 23 against top-four rivals Chelsea and United.
This weekend could also be pivotal for West Ham, seeking to finish in the top four for the first time since 1986, and Tottenham, who are hoping to end a two-year absence from the Champions League.
Despite their inconsistent form, Spurs are in the mix after four wins in their last six league games and manager Antonio Conte wants his side to step it up going into the business end of the season.
"(West Ham) have the same target and we are talking about a team that in the last season they arrived before us, they are playing Europa League. To get three points on Sunday will be very important."Elsewhere, Brentford can take a massive step towards securing top-flight survival when they travel to Leicester City tomorrow. Victory would put them 11 points clear of the drop zone.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
YESTERDAY
Wolves v Leeds
Late kick-off
TODAY
Villa v Arsenal
Ch102 & Ch227, 8.30pm
TOMORROW
Leicester v Brentford
Ch102 & Ch227, 10pm
Tottenham v West Ham
Ch102 & Ch227, Monday, 12.30am
All on Singtel TV & Starhub
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
1 Man City 29 22 4 3 68 18 70
2 Liverpool 29 21 6 2 75 20 69
3 Chelsea 28 17 8 3 57 19 59
4 Arsenal 27 16 3 8 43 31 51
5 Man Utd 29 14 8 7 48 40 50
6 West Ham 29 14 6 9 48 36 48
7 Tottenham 28 15 3 10 44 35 48
8 Wolves 29 14 4 11 29 23 46
9 Aston Villa 28 11 3 14 41 39 36
10 Southampton 29 8 11 10 36 45 35
11 Crystal Palace 29 7 13 9 39 38 34
12 Leicester 26 9 6 11 40 45 33
13 Brighton 29 7 12 10 26 36 33
14 Newcastle 29 7 10 12 32 49 31
15 Brentford 29 8 6 15 32 45 30
16 Leeds 29 6 8 15 31 65 26
17 Everton 27 7 4 16 29 47 25
18 Watford 29 6 4 19 29 55 22
19 Burnley 27 3 12 12 22 38 21
20 Norwich 29 4 5 20 18 63 17
REUTERS
VILLA V ARSENAL
Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, 8.30pm
TOTTENHAM V WEST HAM
Ch102 & Ch227, Monday, 12.30am
