Seven big questions for this weekend's EPL matches

Can Liverpool win the title in style to silence unfair critics?

The party starts on Sunday.

Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace means Liverpool need only a point to seal the 2024/25 Premier League title – and you would certainly expect them to get it.

Liverpool have only lost once at Anfield all season and have already scored 10 goals against Tottenham Hotspur this season, winning 6-3 in the reverse fixture and 4-0 at home in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg.

In fact, Spurs are 42 points short of Liverpool coming into this match, the second-highest number of points they have ever been behind a side they’re facing in the Premier League and in a strange quirk of history, that match was against Arsenal in 2004 – who secured the title that day.

Surely Arne Slot’s side will get a point, then, but for the sake of posterity – and for the sake of silencing critics misreading Liverpool’s achievement – they will want to do it in style.

Better still if Mohamed Salah, who has scored more goals in all competitions against Spurs, with 15, than any other team except Manchester United (16), can return to form, because a sparkling performance from Salah and Liverpool would be a timely reminder of just how brilliant this team have been.

Liverpool have 79 points from 33 games. Neither Arsenal nor Manchester City had more points at this stage of the season in either 2022/23 or 2023/24.

Slot’s side have lost just two of their 33 matches. Only once have Man City under Pep Guardiola had a record as good as that, back in 2017/18 when they achieved 100 points.

It isn’t Liverpool’s fault their rivals haven’t been up to scratch, nor that the season has petered out.

An emphatic win and a dazzling performance will remind everyone that Liverpool are worthy winners.

Can Palmer and Chelsea build on Fulham victory?

History is in Chelsea’s favour for this one. Everton's winless away run at Chelsea is their second-longest against one team - it stands at 29 matches, a record of 13 draws and 16 losses.

Also, their manager David Moyes has won none of his 19 Premier League away matches against Chelsea, including the games when he was in charge of Manchester United and West Ham United.

Everton won’t be feeling particularly confident at Stamford Bridge, then, especially as the two teams are moving in opposite directions form-wise.

While Pedro Neto’s late winner at rivals Fulham last weekend has galvanised Chelsea, Everton are beginning to fade.

Everton started well under Moyes but have only won one of their last eight league matches. Chelsea are unbeaten in their last four.

This is all good news for Chelsea fans, whose side have arguably the toughest run-in among those clubs chasing a top-five finish.

Everton’s visit is by far their most straightforward game left, meaning there is no room for error – but also that there’s a final chance here to build some momentum.

For that to happen, Chelsea will need Cole Palmer to rediscover some form, and here, too, history brings hope. Palmer scored four goals when they hosted Everton last season.

Will fatigue hurt Newcastle in a must-win match?

Like Chelsea, Newcastle United have a difficult set of fixtures in the run-in, with this weekend’s game being arguably their simplest one left.

It comes at a good time for Newcastle, who looked tired in their 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa last weekend and cannot afford to enter one of their dips: on three separate occasions this season, Eddie Howe's side have gone through a period of notching just one win across a four or five-game sequence.

But Newcastle have won their last four Premier League home games, scoring at least four goals in three of them. Also, Alexander Isak has scored 15 goals in 14 league games against promoted sides – including a hat-trick at Portman Road earlier in the season.

However, Ipswich Town - who will have their relegation confirmed unless they win at St James' Park - are more stubborn than they look.

They drew 2-2 at Chelsea and beat AFC Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium in their last two away games.

Kieran McKenna’s side will be fighting hard for a stay of execution.

Any fatigue from the hosts – anything less than a full-blooded performance – and Newcastle’s Champions League hopes will take a big hit.

Will Bournemouth cut through Man Utd again?

There is a gradual - if a little uneven, and hard to spot – incline in performance levels at Man Utd of late, where the gaps between the lines are getting smaller and the very basics of Ruben Amorim’s tactical instructions are beginning to be heard.

A trip to Bournemouth is a test of that theory and one a much-changed United team are unlikely to pass.

Andoni Iraola’s side are top of the Premier League charts for shot-ending high turnovers, with 62, and third for direct attacks, with 76, reflecting the speed with which they break after winning the ball back.

That’s exactly the kind of football that has historically pierced through a decompressed and wayward Man Utd team, hence Bournemouth’s record of being unbeaten in their last three meetings.

Man Utd have conceded eight goals in those three matches, which include a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford back in December.

It could happen again, of course. Man Utd are distracted by the Europa League, and Amorim is putting all his eggs in that basket. The head coach decided to make five changes to his Premier League line-up last weekend and gave a debut to 20-year-old Tyler Fredericson.

Bournemouth will face a similar Man Utd side on Sunday. That should disrupt any tactical rhythm Amorim’s men had been building and allow the hosts to transition quickly through the thirds.

Will Brighton get back on track against goal-shy West Ham?

West Ham United are winless in their last six Premier League games and are sinking towards a 17th-placed finish, primarily because goals are so hard to come by.

Since Graham Potter took charge, the Hammers have scored just 13 goals in 13 games. Only Southampton and Leicester City, with 12 and four respectively, have scored fewer in that time.

The answer to that problem should be Niclas Fullkrug, who has been impressive since returning from injury (one goal and one assist in 173 minutes of football), although his angry public assessment of the team’s 1-1 draw with Southampton puts that in doubt.

"The motivation? Sorry, we were (expletive) and I'm very angry," he said after the match.

"It is not the first time where we score a goal and then with the next goal-kick we just send the ball long. We don't try to play football anymore.”

Brighton & Hove Albion aren’t in the best form either, with three defeats in their last four matches - more than in their previous 13 beforehand - and two or more goals conceded in each of their last five Premier League games.

But they are favourites here and must consider this an excellent chance to get back on track as they hunt down an eighth-place finish and possible European football.

Fabian Hurzeler cannot afford for their winless run – six in a row in all competitions – to continue any longer but with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Liverpool, and Newcastle in their next three matches, Brighton won’t get a better chance than this.

Can Fulham take their chance to reverse a recent decline?

Fulham will be devastated by Chelsea’s late winner last weekend and will know they really ought to have won a match they dominated for an hour.

They have now lost three of their last four matches and yet remain only one point behind Bournemouth in eighth. They can qualify for Europe but only if their away form picks up.

Marco Silva’s side have lost three consecutive away Premier League matches, as many as in their previous 16 on the road.

Fulham have just two more matches at Craven Cottage this season and one of those, on the final day, is against Man City; they need to be better on their travels - starting at Southampton.

But unfortunately for Fulham that isn’t quite the banker it used to be. Saints picked up a point at West Ham last weekend thanks to a more outright defensive tactical approach under interim manager Simon Rusk.

If Southampton can achieve the same against Fulham, the damage to the visitors’ hopes of European football is likely to be fatal.

Can Wolves march up to be best of the rest?

Vitor Pereira is getting a lot of love this week for the brilliant job he is doing at Wolves, who have won five consecutive Premier League matches and are sixth in the form table - with the same number of points as Aston Villa - since his appointment in December.

Wolves had just nine points from 16 matches upon Pereira's arrival and looked certain to be in a scrap to stay up. Now, they are 17 points clear of the relegation zone and targeting a 13th-place finish, which would be about par for the club over the last four years.

Right now, they look the most likely to rise to the top of the band of clubs floating in mid-table and unable to challenge for Europe; to become the best of the rest.

Man Utd and Spurs are distracted by Europa League football, Moyes' honeymoon period looks to be over, and West Ham show no signs of improving.

Wolves might move up to 13th as soon as this weekend. They host a Leicester team who have picked up only one point in their last 10 league matches and have just announced their record Premier League goalscorer Jamie Vardy will leave the club at the end of the season.

Anything but a home win would be a big shock.