Saturday 12 / April / 2025
LONDON: Manchester City opens this weekend's round of Premier League matches desperately needing to find its best form or run the risk of missing out on next season's Champions League.
Although Arsenal's win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday means the Premier League will have five Champions League spots next season, City's 0-0 bore draw in the Manchester derby last weekend allowed Newcastle United to leapfrog it into fifth place.
Pep Guardiola's side now faces a Crystal Palace side in excellent form after seven wins from eight games in all competitions.
Arsenal is at home to a Brentford side that has been strong away from home in 2025, and with his side 11 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race, Mikel Arteta has to consider whether to rest some regular starters ahead of Wednesday's Champions League return leg in Madrid.
Gabriel Magalhaes remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, and Arteta won't want to see any more problems in defense before facing Kylian Mbappe and company for the second time in eight days.
Nottingham Forest is at home to Everton in what could be a close game, as third-placed Forest looks to recover from last weekend's 2-1 defeat away to Aston Villa.
Everton hasn't won in six matches, but have five draws in that time and are very hard to beat under David Moyes.
Aston Villa travels to face a Southampton side already relegated back to the Championship after last weekend's defeat to Tottenham.
Ivan Juric was sacked by Southampton after relegation was confirmed and the club is still searching for his replacement ahead of the match. Villa has won its last three matches in the Premier League, but has to make up a 3-1 Champions League deficit to Paris Saint-Germain next Tuesday, and coach Unai Emery will be tempted to rest players such as Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio for the trip to the south coast.
Brighton is at home to a Leicester City side that has now lost its last nine games and looks like joining Southampton in the Championship sooner rather than later.
Liverpool needs to bounce back from last weekend's defeat to Fulham at home to West Ham, and a week's rest will have done the players good, while the news of Mohamed Salah's new contract should give everyone a morale boost.
Chelsea should take three points from struggling Ipswich, where a lot of attention could be on striker Liam Delap, who looks likely to move on from Portman Road after his team's return to the Championship is confirmed.
Wolverhampton Wanderers looks safe from relegation, but three points against a Tottenham side in Europa League action on Thursday would bring the end of season celebrations a bit closer.
Manchester United also plays on Thursday, but has a difficult visit to Newcastle United, whose fans are hoping for a fourth consecutive league win.
The round of matches ends on Monday with Bournemouth at home to a Fulham side whose ambitions of European football improved after last weekend's win at home to Liverpool.
