Top-four Euro contenders face derby ordeals
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THE battle for Champions League qualification in the Premier League takes on new intensity this weekend with two high-stakes derby clashes involving teams pursuing a top-four finish.
Arsenal, which trails fourth-place Southampton on goal difference alone, tackles north London rival Tottenham Hotspur in a contest between two sides which have found form in recent weeks. Liverpool, meanwhile, visits Everton, having climbed to within four points of the Champions League places with a haul of 16 points from a possible 18.
The weekend's action begins at White Hart Lane today, where Tottenham will go in search of only a second win over Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in eight encounters. Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs, two points behind their local rivals in sixth place, have been given reason for optimism by the news that Arsenal top scorer Alexis Sanchez will miss the game with a hamstring injury.
But Arsenal scarcely missed the Chilean last weekend, crushing Aston Villa 5-0 to record a third consecutive league win for the first time this season. “This is a massive game and it is all about the bragging rights,” Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, a scorer against Villa, told the London Evening Standard newspaper.
“It is one of the biggest games for both sets of fans and this year it is going to be tight,” he said.
Liverpool’s trip to Goodison Park will be Steven Gerrard’s last Merseyside derby before he leaves Anfield for the Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of the campaign. The Liverpool captain, 34, made his 700th appearance for the club in Wednesday’s 2-1 FA Cup win at Bolton Wanderers and manager Brendan Rodgers has backed him to sign off in style against old foes Everton.
“He’ll want to win, like he does every time,” Rodgers said. “How will he deal with the emotion of it being his last? Like he has all the others — by being focused on the team getting a result.”
Everton, 12 points below seventh-place Liverpool in 12th place, will draw little encouragement from the news that Daniel Sturridge is in line to face them.
The England striker made a scoring return from injury in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over West Ham United last weekend.
Manchester United, a point above Southampton in third place, visits West Ham United, whose own challenge for European qualification has run into trouble after a return of one win from six matches. United’s form dipped around the turn of the year as it won only once in five league games, but successive wins over Leicester City and Cambridge United, in the FA Cup, have given Louis van Gaal’s men a spring in their step.
Southampton’s top-four bid was hit by a 0-1 loss to Swansea City last weekend and today it visits second-bottom Queens Park Rangers, which is without a manager following Harry Redknapp’s resignation. Leader Chelsea visits Villa, which has gone eight games without a win, while champion Manchester City travels to third-bottom Hull City.
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