Ten KEY questions for Matchweek 25's fixtures

Can Arsenal seize chance to go nine points clear of Man City?

The very first fears about Arsenal’s staying power in 2025/26 began when Brian Brobbey’s stoppage-time goal gave Sunderland a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light back in November. The reverse fixture on Saturday is a chance for the Gunners to dispel any remaining doubts over their credentials.

Should Arsenal beat the Black Cats and Aston Villa fail to beat AFC Bournemouth, the league leaders would be guaranteed to end Saturday nine points clear at the top of the table, albeit with Manchester City playing their game in hand against Liverpool the following day. That would be the biggest buffer they have had since 2003/04, when Arsenal were "Invincibles".

City’s tough trip to Anfield the following day means that gap could easily remain intact. If it does, then on Sunday evening Guardiola’s side would be left capable of hitting a maximum of 86 points this season, meaning Arsenal would only need 10 wins from their final 13 games to come top.

When you consider how unlikely it is that Man City would suddenly win all 13 of their remaining matches, the situation would look extremely promising for the league leaders.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves here, because even though Sunderland haven’t won away from home since October, Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in their last home match means there could be some tension around Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Should Arsenal’s players rise above it, they can take a commanding lead in the title race.

Will Liverpool and City produce another end-to-end classic?

It might not have quite as much resting on it – for Liverpool, at least – but the latest edition of Liverpool versus Man City at Anfield might evoke the spirit of the classic title battles we used to see when Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola were in opposing dugouts.

Man City desperately need a win to stay in the title race, given that they could be nine points behind leaders Arsenal at kick-off. That should focus minds and ensure they play aggressive front-foot football like we saw in the first half at Tottenham Hotspur, when an attack-minded line-up eased into a 2-0 lead.

However, City have been too passive at times this season, including during the second half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the form of Liverpool’s attackers suggests that there will be goals at the other end, too.

Hugo Ekitike has scored or assisted every 112 minutes in the Premier League this season, while Florian Wirtz has nine goal involvements in his last 11 matches in all competitions. Liverpool’s recovery is being driven by their two summer recruits from the Bundesliga.

Arne Slot’s side have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League matches. They are beginning to look like a serious force again, particularly going forward and will no doubt look to fight fire with fire on Sunday afternoon.

Neither team has been consistent enough to predict the outcome. But that very inconsistency tells us there will be chaotic moments and exciting attacking football at both ends.

Will Spurs' counter-attacking approach blunt Carrick's free-flowing Man Utd?

It was drowned out by the positivity of Benjamin Sesko’s late winner but the way Fulham came back from 2-0 down to level the game at 2-2 last weekend was a sign of the brittle foundations upon which the Michael Carrick era is being built.

They are riding the high of a new-manager bounce for now, but Man Utd’s form is likely to be tested by a counter-attacking Spurs side, who will gift the hosts possession and hope to emulate Fulham's second half display – having done similar to come back from 2-0 down against Man City last weekend.

Thomas Frank will almost certainly return to a back four, the formation he moved to for the second half against City, which should stabilise the visitors. Add to that their preference to play on the back foot, thus blunting the counter-attacking football that defined Man Utd in their first two matches under Carrick, and this becomes a very tough test for the hosts.

However, Spurs remain winless in their last six in the Premier League. If United race out of the blocks and continue to play with the freedom and confidence Carrick has given them, they can make it four wins in a row – and cement their place in the top four.

Can Villa get back on track against expansive Bournemouth?

Villa have lost two of their last three Premier League games, prompting fears that the bubble has burst, and with the teams behind them accelerating, Unai Emery might be worrying about whether his side can finish in the top five.

But the defeats to Brentford and Everton had something in common: Villa struggle when playing against a low block. In fact, Villa have won just one of the five Premier League matches this season in which they had more than 60% possession, losing twice to Brentford, once to Everton and once to a Sunderland side who, like Brentford last weekend, were reduced to 10 in the first half.

Emery’s tactics are built on encouraging the opposition to press onto them, so they tend to get stuck when faced with a low block that stubbornly refuses to do so. The Villa manager will be grateful, then, for a trip to Bournemouth, whose expansive football should create the kind of open game in which the visitors excel.

Bournemouth rank fifth in the Premier League for PPDA (10.9), a measure of pressing intensity and fourth for ‘direct speed’ (1.89); Andoni Iraola will push onto Villa, which could play into their hands.

This presents an opportunity for Villa to get back on track and prove they are still title contenders.

Will West Ham pick themselves up against Burnley after crushing Chelsea defeat?

At half-time at Stamford Bridge, West Ham United were 2-0 up and on course for a third successive Premier League win. It would have been the point at which the Nuno Espirito Santo project truly took off and a moment to strike fear into the clubs hovering just above the dotted line.

The late defeat was crushing, but West Ham cannot afford to wallow. Indeed a trip to Turf Moor is the perfect opportunity to pick themselves back up, make it three wins from four, and prove they have the resilience – as well as the quality – to climb out of the bottom three.

But Burnley will see this as game as an opportunity, too.

Burnley are winless in their last 15 Premier League games, last going on a longer such run in the top flight back in 1889/90. That streak has to end eventually and Scott Parker, who described his team’s performance in the 3-0 defeat at Sunderland as “childish”, will demand his players rise to the occasion.

This is Burnley’s only remaining home game against a side in the bottom five, until the final day when Wolves visit. They simply have to take this opportunity for points.

Will relegation six-pointer against Forest define Leeds' season?

Leeds United are in more trouble than they look.

West Ham have won two of their last three Premier League games and will expect to win at Burnley this weekend. Should they do so, it could take them to within three or four points of 17th - after Friday's result at Elland Road - and it is Leeds who currently look most likely to replace them in the bottom three.

That’s because Nottingham Forest, though level on points with Leeds, are actually 12th in the Premier League table since Sean Dyche’s appointment on 21 October. Given that Forest came seventh in 2024/25, and dramatically under-performed during Ange Postecoglou’s brief tenure, their form under Dyche suggests he has restored the club to a level they can expect to maintain for the rest of the campaign.

Leeds have only won three fewer points than Forest since Dyche arrived at the City Ground but with Daniel Farke having been Leeds manager throughout the campaign there is a higher chance his team are only temporarily in good form.

For that reason alone Leeds, more than Forest, need to make sure they get the win; a win that would go some way to disproving the above theory, as well as proving that their Elland Road form can continue for the foreseeable.

Leeds still have Forest, Burnley, Wolves, Sunderland, and Brentford to play at home, five distinctly winnable games. Victories in four of these would take them to 38 points, historically enough to stay up.

Can in-form Brentford continue European charge at Newcastle?

No other Premier League game this weekend has a bigger disparity in form between the two sides.

Brentford’s victory at Villa Park last weekend has put them well and truly in the hunt for European qualification; across the last eight Premier League Matchweeks, only Arsenal (17) have won more points than Brentford (16).

This is a bad time to be facing them, and especially bad for Newcastle United, who after losing in the EFL Cup semi-final in midweek have won just one of their last seven in all competitions, including consecutive Premier League defeats.

If that wasn’t bad enough for Newcastle fans, Brentford also won the reverse fixture 3-1. All signs point to a positive result for the visitors, inflicting further misery on the Magpies.

Will Rosenior go back to basics at Wolves?

Liam Rosenior may well feel the need to go back to basics this weekend.

The comeback win against West Ham, in which a hybrid 3-4-3/4-2-3-1 formation containing seven changes to the starting XI was abandoned at half-time, arguably proved Rosenior had overthought things at kick-off.

The original set up included an inverted full-back and two of his most creative players, Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez, operating in strange wide midfield positions but all it appeared to do was limit their ability to get on the ball in creative positions. Things were considerably better in a traditional 4-3-3 after the break.

Then on Tuesday evening in the EFL Cup, Rosenior started with a back three and two strikers up front, leaving Palmer on the bench, and Chelsea struggled to create chances at Arsenal. Once again, things improved when Rosenior changed formation to put round pegs in round holes.

That kind of tactical tinkering probably isn’t necessary at Molineux.

Chelsea have beaten Wolves in three consecutive Premier League games by an aggregate of score of 12-3, while Rob Edwards' side have now gone three games in the competition without scoring a goal.

Experimentation has been a defining principle in these early weeks of Rosenior. A less radical approach should do the trick this weekend.

Could a derby win provide a welcome reset for Brighton or Palace?

This derby may never have been played with its two clubs at such low ebbs, at least not in the Premier League.

Since the start of December, only Wolves (six) and Burnley (five) have won fewer points in the Premier League than both Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace (nine each).

Crystal Palace are winless in nine Premier League matches, while Brighton have won just one of their last 11 matches in the competition.

That probably means this will be cagey game. Since the start of Palace’s winless run they scored the fewest goals (five) and underperformed their xG by just over eight goals (13.3 xG), the worst differential in the league. The second worst in that time is Brighton (nine goals, 13.5 xG, -4.5).

But it will be absorbing, because victory in the derby could provide a monumental psychological lift to either side, either surging Palace away from relegation danger (and above Brighton in the process), or offering Fabian Hurzeler the reset he needs to spark a challenge for the European places.

Will Everton's defensive record halt Fulham's winning home run?

Fulham’s home form is among the best in the Premier League this season, with Marco Silva’s side winning three of the last four. Furthermore, only the current top-three (Arsenal, Man City and Aston Villa), have more home victories than Fulham’s seven.

If they are to make a shock return to Europe their performances at Craven Cottage need to hold: 68% of their points have been won at home.

Everton are a good litmus test for how far Fulham can go. David Moyes’s side have conceded just 11 goals in 12 away Premier League games this season, with only Arsenal conceding fewer (nine).

Perhaps surprisingly, Everton rank sixth for points won since Moyes’s return to the club last January. In other words they are tough, wily opponents, and their own outside shot at Europe (the Toffees are level on points with Fulham, after all) should not be dismissed.

It's battles like these that will ultimately decide which mid-table club rise unexpectedly into contention.