Game of the midweek: Brighton vs. Bournemouth (Tuesday, 2:30 EST)
Not only does it have the added spice of being a South Coast derby, but both of these teams are in the Champions League picture. Bournemouth are currently 6th, just one point behind fifth, which almost certainly will be the last Champions League spot in the Premier League. Brighton are ninth, but only three points behind Bournemouth. So a win and the Seagulls would be level with the Cherries and right in the middle of this "Saturday night on payday weekend in Muskogee" that the race for the Champions League spots has become.
While Brighton might not have a Mattheus Cunha, who terrorized Bournemouth at the weekend from the left side, they do have a Yankuba Minteh, who tore both Chelsea and Southampton apart recently from that very same flank. Given Milos Kerkez's affinity to getting forward, the whole match could hinge on whether Minteh can pin him back or get behind him, or whether Minteh will be needed to head off Kerkez's forays. Should be a fun one.
To the rest...
Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa (Tuesday, 2:30pm EST)
Palace have found a groove of late, using a 3-4-2-1 formation. There's a true guantlet down the middle with Jean-Phillipe Mateta as the spearhead, and then Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes behind that in midfield, with Maxence Lacroix anchoring the defense behind it all. Lacroix has been great of late, and flanked by Chris Richards and Marc Guehi.
Villa have been pretty loose lastely, with only Ipswich unable to get over 1.5 xG in a match against them in the past month. Chelsea, Liverpool, and Wolves have gotten pretty much whatever they wanted against them, though so did Villa. Letting Sarr, Mateta, and Eze get out on the counter though can be a real issue for them.
Wolves vs. Fulham (Tuesday, 2:30pm EST)
Fulham threw in a true clunker against Palace in their last game, and Wolves have been truly spiky, throwing scares into Arsenal and Liverpool while deservedly beating Villa and Bournemouth. If Wolves continue to play Cunha on the right as they did against Bournemouth it'll put him right up against Antonee Robinson, maybe the league's best left-back this season. Suddenly with Richards's revival at Palace and the Nations League coming up, it's becoming quite the round for the USMNT's defense.
Chelsea vs. Southampton (Tuesday, 3:15pm EST)
That loud beeping you hear is Chelsea back up, as they've lost three of their last four. Playing without a forward and with Reece James as a midfielder worked for about 25 minutes against Villa. But once Villa figured out it wasn't much of a midfield, Marco Asensio and Youri Tielemans went total ya-ha time. Even with all that, they still get the free spot on the bingo card that is a game against Southampton.
Brentford vs. Everton (Wednesday, 2:30pm EST)
Both these teams have flipped their scripts midseason. Brentford now can't be beat away from home but have lost their zest at the Gtech, while Everton couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a banjo for the first half but now can't stop scoring. Seeing as how this is at Brentford, Everton might fancy keeping that going more than Brentford trying to reverse their recent home performances.
Manchester United vs. Ipswich (Wednesday, 2:30pm EST)
Not even United could make a match at home to Ipswich into a mess, could they? Then again, they really have been miracle workers when it comes to looking totally pants every week.
Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal (Wednesday, 2:30pm EST)
This could have qualified for game of the week before Arsenal kept running into West Ham's wall Saturday and mostly surrendered any title chase. They still have a nine-point cushion on the Champions League places, which would be the last piece of drama for their league season to go with their European adventure. Forest got paddled for a half against Newcastle, gave up four goals, and couldn't quite pull it back. They can put Arsenal out of their misery, and considering how Arsenal have looked against defensively stout teams that love to get out on the break, and most Gunners are probably feeling a touch queasy about this one.
Spurs (I got it right!) vs. Man City (Wednesday, 2:30pm EST)
Spurs (stop poking me!) just had a biggest-basketcase match against the other half of Manchester about 10 days ago, and now this might be the second biggest one. Their 4-0 thrashing of City in the reverse game signaled the tumbling for both clubs, as City have continued to be slow and turgid in midfield and wayward in attack, while all of Spurs' (still got it!) players caught dysentery or something after that match. Spurs (leave me alone!) have seemingly started to pull out of their skid and are getting healthy again. City...eh, not so much.
Liverpool vs. Newcastle (Wednesday, 3:15pm EST)
These two had an absolute banger the last time they played, as it ended 3-3. Newcastle were able to be a real pain in the ass for Liverpool by having their midfield just press and harry and annoy Liverpool's all over the field. Whether they can do that away from home, having played just three days prior, and having just done that to Forest, will determine if they can turn a controlled Liverpool into kindergarten recess again or whether they'll just be told to heel by the Reds.
West Ham vs. Leicester (Thursday, 3pm EST)
Both of these teams switched managers in the middle of the season. One is starting to get his ideas installed and turning the team around. One is actively trying to get fired. See if you can guess which is which.