Six midweek fixtures in the Premier League could go a long way towards deciding who plays in next season’s Champions League and who is eventually relegated to the Championship.
The standout game on Tuesday sees Chelsea at home to Liverpool, just two days after Chelsea sacked coach Graham Potter seven months into his reign, and named Bruno Saltor as his stand-in replacement.
With talk already turning to interest in former Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann as Potter’s long-term replacement, Bruno has the difficult task of finding the stability that Potter was unable to find, although Potter’s departure in itself could make for an easier atmosphere in Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool travel after a 4-1 humbling away to Manchester City that highlights just how far Jurgen Klopp’s side are from their best form.
Klopp’s side are eight points behind Manchester United, who currently occupy fourth place in the league and have to win to keep any slim top-four hopes alive.
Tuesday’s remaining matches all have plenty to say at the wrong end of the table, with a south-coast derby between Bournemouth and Brighton also affecting the battle for Europe.
Bournemouth showed their spirit as they fought back to beat Fulham on Saturday and climbed out of the bottom three, while Brighton showed their attacking capacity in a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Brentford.
Leeds United’s 4-1 defeat away to Arsenal saw them drop to 17th and depending on Everton’s result against Tottenham on Monday, they could be in the bottom three when they kick off at home to Nottingham Forest in what is very much a ‘six-point’ game.
Forest have not won in their last seven games, with that last win coming against Leeds in February.
Leicester City were another side to sack their coach on Sunday, with Graham Rodgers shown the door after four defeats in five games dragged them into the bottom three and the club are now being linked a move for Graham Potter.
Aston Villa travel to Leicester after four wins from five games, including Saturday’s win at Chelsea, and with striker Ollie Watkins in fine form.
Wednesday’s matches see West Ham at home to Newcastle, who moved up to third after beating Manchester United on Sunday, while Manchester United have a tough game at home to Brentford.
