Premier League Preview: Matchday twenty-five

In the pick of Tuesday evening’s Premier League fixtures, bottom-of-the-table Swansea City take on Arsenal.

Prior to Saturday’s 1-1 draw with League Two promotion hopefuls Notts County in the fourth round of the FA Cup the Swans took seven points from the last twelve available to them in the league and a point here would lift them off the bottom of the division, while victory will take them out of the relegation zone ahead of Wednesday’s games.

Arsene Wenger’s side thumped Crystal Palace last time out in the league before booking their place in the EFL Cup final and a third straight triumph here would see them move level on points with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur in fifth.

West Ham’s surprise defeat to Wigan Athletic on Saturday was their first loss in eight games and they will hope to bounce back as they take on Crystal Palace at the London Stadium with both sides knowing that victory will see them, if only for twenty-four hours, rise to ninth. Not bad considering they were both in the bottom three just two months ago.

Up and down

Tuesday’s third fixture sees Huddersfield Town take on Liverpool, with both sides having struggled in their respective cup ties over the weekend.

The Terriers were taken to a replay by Championship strugglers Birmingham City while Jurgen Klopp’s side were knocked out by West Bromwich Albion.

In the league the pair have contrasting fortunes with the Yorkshire outfit sliding closer and closer to trouble thanks to a six game winless run while the Reds remain in the top four despite suffering a first defeat in eighteen at Swansea City just over a week ago.

Quadruple

League leaders Manchester City have won three games in three different competitions since losing to Liverpool just over a fortnight ago with hopes of a quadruple still high.

Victory over second-from-bottom West Brom will see them tighten their grip on first place and you can back them to win four trophies at a price of 14/1.

Second place Manchester United travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the pick of the fixtures from matchday twenty-five while champions Chelsea host Bournemouth.

Best of the rest

In what could be termed as ‘the battle for seventh’, Everton face Leicester City at Goodison Park while eighth place Burnley travel to a Newcastle side who sit just one point above the relegation places.

Two other sides dangerously close to danger are Stoke City and Brighton and Hove Albion and they play Watford and Southampton respectively.

In fact, such is the tightness of the bottom half of the division the bottom three could look completely different by Thursday morning with twelfth place Bournemouth themselves just three points above the dotted line.