24. pL round: Will Emery bury a dying Arsenal and confirm Liverpool’s win at Newcastle?

The twenty-fourth round of the Premier League will kick off with Manchester City on top for the first time in a long time. While the Citizens await duty on Nottingham soil, Arsenal travel to the ground of the unpleasant Aston Villa. Which other games are worth watching?

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal

A very important game from Arsenal’s point of view. Three losses in a row, one point from three rounds took it from the first place to the second and the title is in the hands of Manchester. The Gunners can’t afford to lose anymore.

In any case, Aston Villa is led by the great strategist Unai Emery, who also worked at Arsenal. Under his leadership, the team went up, although it lost the last two rounds. But they can do it at home, beating Tottenham, for example.

Arsenal will have to change something. Mikel Arteta’s controversial behaviour against Manchester didn’t pay off, the situation calls for Leandro Trossard and possibly Kieran Tierney to start.

Newcastle vs. Liverpool

Like Arsenal, Newcastle’s second surprise of the season is starting to ease up. While three draws in a row is a point, more could have been extracted from the confrontations with Bournemouth, West Ham and Crystal Palace.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are smarting from their triumph in the Liverpool derby and need points like salt. They are nine points behind the Top 4 with a game to spare and a loss to their arch rival would be a major setback.

Manchester United vs. Leicester

Leicester have strengthened interestingly in the winter and have gone up a lot since the valuable draw with Brighton. They outscored Aston Villa 4-2 in the shootout, then taunted Tottenham with a 4-1 debacle at home. Both Kelechi Iheanacho and James Maddison are on the scoresheet.

But even Manchester United have picked themselves up under Erik ten Hague and are back in the title race after Wednesday’s result. At least in theory. But if they want to think about the winner’s trophy, they need to give Leicester at least a three-peat. A home loss is unforgivable.

Source: Premier League