Premier League Title Race Heats Up: Arsenal Host Brighton, Aston Villa Face Chelsea

Aston Villa face a formidable test against Chelsea on Saturday as they continue to assert themselves in the Premier League title race alongside Arsenal and Manchester City. The Gunners, who topped the table at Christmas, will host Brighton, while Pep Guardiola’s in-form City team travels to Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is dealing with a striker crisis after Alexander Isak fractured his leg, and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is also set for a spell on the sidelines.

Here are three key talking points ahead of the festive fixtures:

Rogers Spearheads Aston Villa Charge

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, currently third in the league, remain unlikely contenders for the Premier League title despite being just three points behind leaders

Arsenal. Villa’s 2-1 home victory over Manchester United marked their 10th consecutive win across all competitions – the first time they have achieved such a feat as a top-flight team since 1914.

A significant factor in their recent success is the outstanding form of England midfielder Morgan Rogers, who had no goal involvements in his first seven matches across all competitions. However, in his last 15 appearances, Rogers has recorded 11 goal involvements, with the quality of his goals standing out.

Rogers has scored seven Premier League goals this season from just 2.86 expected goals—a metric indicating the likelihood of converting a chance. Despite this, football analysts Opta give Villa only a five percent chance of becoming English champions for the first time since 1981. Emery’s team has a chance to defy the odds when they face fourth-placed Chelsea, followed by a match against Arsenal shortly after.

Slot’s Goals Headache

Liverpool manager Arne Slot likely envisioned Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak as two of his primary attackers at the season’s outset. Currently, Slot is without both – Salah is participating in the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, while Isak is out for at least two months after fracturing his leg against Tottenham.

Slot has steadied the ship at Anfield after a disastrous run of six defeats in seven Premier League matches, which severely damaged Liverpool’s title defence. A sequence of three wins and two draws in the last five league games has lifted the reigning champions to fifth place, but there are concerns about goal sources ahead of their match against bottom club Wolves.

Isak’s absence places additional pressure on top-scorer Hugo Ekitike, who has scored eight times in the Premier League, double the tallies of Salah and Cody Gakpo.

Fernandes Blow For Manchester United

Bruno Fernandes has been a consistent performer during Manchester United’s challenging recent years. However, manager Ruben Amorim must now plan without his talisman, who suffered a suspected hamstring injury during United’s 2-1 defeat at Villa Park.

Though the extent of Fernandes’ injury remains uncertain, Amorim has already ruled him out of United’s clash against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Friday, adding to a list of absentees. The Portuguese manager has urged the rest of his squad to “step up” in the absence of their “impossible to replace” captain.

Defender Diogo Dalot told Sky Sports, “It’s massive. We don’t know how bad it is, but for him to come off the game, we know how tough he is.” Fernandes has contributed five goals and seven assists in the Premier League this season for an inconsistent United, who are also missing top-scorer Bryan Mbeumo due to Africa Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon.

Full Fixtures

Friday: Manchester United v Newcastle (2000 GMT)

Saturday (1500 GMT unless stated): Nottingham Forest v Manchester City (1230), Arsenal v Brighton, Brentford v Bournemouth, Burnley v Everton, Liverpool v Wolverhampton, West Ham v Fulham, Chelsea v Aston Villa (1730)

Sunday: Sunderland v Leeds (1400), Crystal Palace v Tottenham (1630)

With AFP Inputs