Game of the weekend: Aston Villa v. Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 12:30 EST)
As the main turmoil left for the last two months of the season is who will round out spots three, four, and five when the final table is set, a game between two of the main contenders acts as the main attraction of the weekend. Forest settled a little more deeply into third spot with their win over United on Tuesday. Villa came up with a big-boy win away to Brighton on Wednesday, leaving them just two points behind Chelsea in fifth and three points behind City in fourth. Both these teams are on a heater at the moment, with Villa having won six in a row in all competitions and Forest not having lost in their last six. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE (actually, it doesn't. They could totally draw).
The rest of the slate...
Everton vs. Arsenal (Saturday, 7:30 a.m. EST)
Arsenal's injury crisis has now spread to their backline, with Gabriel the latest to be down for the rest of the season. Seeing as how Beto just gave Konate and van Dijk some heartburn, the Gooners won't be chomping at the bit to watch him crash and careen into Jakub Kiwior. Arsenal did get Bukayo Saka back on Tuesday, though he may not be ready to start a match quite yet. They may need his intervention from the bench if that's all they can get, as Everton have been quite obstinate of late. They've only surrrendered more than 1.5 xG in a match twice since the new year.
Crystal Palace vs. Brighton (Saturday, 10 a.m. EST)
Rough week for Brighton, who bit it on penalties to Forest in the FA Cup and then saw Villa get pretty ruthless in taking all their chances against them on Wednesday. Their Champions League chase is still very much on, and this is their derby, so should be pretty spicy. Palace are in the FA Cup semis, but also just drew with Southampton. Their eggs may just be in a different basket. Games between these two are always loud, even if it seems the most random derby to everyone else.
Ipswich vs. Wolves (Saturday, 10 a.m. EST)
Ipswich's last stand? They actually managed a long lost win on Wednesday over a stepping-on-their-tongue Bournemouth, but that still leaves them nine points adrift. Even a win over Wolves would leave them six points back and still needing water-into-wine level of events to save themselves. But they can't even bring that into the conversation without a win here.
West Ham vs. Bournemouth (Saturday, 10 a.m. EST)
If Bournemouth need a get-well game, there are few better than an afternoon with the Hammers. They just lost to Wolves, their last home game saw them sleepwalk through a 1-0 loss to a Newcastle team that was focused on the next game (the League Cup final), and just generally adrift. West Ham are safe, they got their moment of the season by beating Arsenal at The Emirates, and seem to be running out the clock. That's if Bournemouth have any fumes left to run on, that is.
Brentford vs Chelsea (Sunday, 9 a.m. EST)
Another London derby for Chelsea after dealing with Spurs on Thursday, this time a West London version of it. Chelsea have only been able to beat up on the remedial class since Christmas, and Brentford seem exactly like the type of team they'd have a lot aimless possession against and then give up a stupid goal on the counter to. But the Bees have been weird in that they couldn't be beat at home to start, now can't be beat on the road, and this one is at home.
Fulham vs. Liverpool (Sunday, 9 a.m. EST)
It had been three weeks since Liverpool had won a match before their relief against Everton on Wednesday. That's party due to the international break, and partly due to a bad week before it. Whether that kickstarts a stylish finish as they parade to the title or a blip as they kind of wheeze there, we'll just see. Fulham's ambitions on the season have taken a real hit too after getting dumped out of the FA Cup at home by Palace and then losing to Arsenal, but six points back to fifth isn't an unmanageable chasm. They drew 2-2 at Anfield and Fulham probably should have won. Liverpool generally don't like visits to Craven Cottage.
Tottenham vs. Southampton (Sunday, 9 a.m. EST)
Spurs have lost to Leicester and Ipswich at home. Couldn't complete the set, could they? This is Spurs, mate. They could do anything.
Manchester United vs. Manchester City (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. EST)
Their first match was one of the dumber ones in recent memory, as City bumbled away with the ball for most of the match, looking like the Simpsons version of soccer, before United hit two of the most stupid goals to win that you'll ever see. We were all worse off for having watched it. Sunday probably won't be much better.