Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea received a lot of attention from fans before the 13th round of the Premier League.
1. Super classic match between Manchester City and Liverpool
Manchester City and Liverpool will face each other in Saturday’s early kick-off with different ambitions. Both want to win to assert their strength in the race to win the Premier League championship this season.
With home field advantage and also being the defending champions, Pep Guardiola and his team certainly want to show their strength against Liverpool, the team that is gradually coming back strong after a not very successful season. If they win all 3 points, “The Citizens” will widen the gap in points and firmly secure the top spot.
Liverpool marched to Etihad Stadium with certain confidence. Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai or Darwin Nunez have just had impressive performances at the national team training session. If they can defeat the home team, “The Kop” will temporarily take the top spot.
2. Opportunity for Arsenal
With the top two teams facing each other in this round, Arsenal can take advantage of the opportunity to advance. Mikel Arteta and his students need to win against annoying opponent Brentford, thereby affirming their position in the race for the championship this season.
However, going away to Brentford is never an easy match for any team. Coach Thomas Frank’s team this season showed an extremely impressive appearance every time they faced off against the giants in the “Big Six” group. The home ground will help them gain more confidence.
The “Gunners” will have to stay calm and limit mistakes because the home team will likely arrange a low formation, dense defense, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack. Chelsea’s example is still there, Arsenal needs to avoid falling into the footsteps of “The Blues”.
3. Is Chelsea really back?
In less than a week, Chelsea consecutively defeated Tottenham Hotspur on away field, then held a brave draw with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. After the national team gathering, “The Blues” fans surely want their favorite team to continue maintaining this form.
The away trip to St James’ Park will be the answer to the ambitions of Mauricio Pochettino and his team this season. If they win all 3 points, their chances of getting into the top 4 will become clearer. Chelsea needs to quickly close the score gap with the top teams.
As for Newcastle United, they are in a difficult situation when many pillars have long-term injuries. This forces coach Eddie Howe to quickly find a solution if he does not want to be removed from the top 4 race. The representative of the Northeast of England still has to fight in the Champions League mid-next week.