Chelsea will look to firm their grip at the top as the English Premier League rolls into round 25. From a six-horse race, it has quickly turned into a one-horse battle, with the remaining five now seemingly fighting it out for the remaining three Champions League places.
Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea in the summer?
While Chelsea just keep winning matches and punishing opponents below the top six, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United have struggled for consistency.
At the moment, Spurs seem the most likely team to give Chelsea any kind of sustained title challenge, even if, in second place, Tottenham are still nine points behind the leaders.
With another round of crucial fixtures to be played this weekend, here is a look at all ten of them, with the time, date and venue.
Saturday, February 11:
Arsenal vs Hull City (6pm IST, 12.30pm GMT, 7.30am ET) at the Emirates Stadium:
The Arsenal in crisis articles are in full flow now, the fans are unhappy, Arsene Wenger is on the defensive and the players have forgotten how to defend and again look incapable of mounting a sustained title challenge. After a week which saw the Gunners lose to Watford and Chelsea in the Premier League, Arsenal will hope to get back to winning ways. They must, or else the atmosphere at the Emirates will turn toxic.
However, it will be far from an easy game, with Hull a much-improved team under Marco Silva. They beat Liverpool last weekend and you wouldn't bet against them taking advantage of a brittle-looking Arsenal team.
Middlesbrough vs Everton (8.30pm IST, 3pm GMT, 10am ET) at the Riverside Stadium:
Without a win in six Premier League games, Boro need a lift from somewhere. Goals have been hard to come by under Aitor Karanka, but it will be required if they are to stop an Everton team in prime form and one that hit six past Bournemouth last weekend.
Stoke City vs Crystal Palace (8.30pm IST, 3pm GMT, 10am ET) at the bet365 Stadium:
Stoke are in the "don't really have much to play for" situation at the moment, with their best hope being a top ten finish this season. Crystal Palace, however, are in desperate mode, with results not quite changing as expected since Sam Allardyce took over. Palace need the three points desperately, but with their leaky defence, the Stoke forwards will fancy getting a few goals to their name.
Manchester United vs Watford (8.30pm IST, 3pm GMT, 10am ET) at Old Trafford:
Jose Mourinho's team put in an impressive performance against champions Leicester City in the last round and if they manage a similar show, Watford will struggle to get any kind of positive result.
Having beaten Arsenal recently, though, and followed that up with a 2-1 result over Burnley, the London club are a team with confidence on their side, so Manchester United will need to play really well to pick up the three points.
Sunderland vs Southampton (8.30pm IST, 3pm GMT, 10am ET) at the Stadium of Light:
Sunderland picked up a morale-boosting 4-0 win over fellow relegation rivals Crystal Palace last time out. A similar result against the Saints and David Moyes' team might just believe they can stave off relegation this season.
West Ham United vs West Bromwich Albion (8.30pm IST, 3pm GMT, 10am ET) at the London Stadium:
In a clash of ninth vs eighth, it will be West Ham who will fancy getting three points, banking on the home support to take them past Tony Pulis' West Brom.
Liverpool vs Tottenham (11pm IST, 5.30pm GMT, 12.30pm ET) at Anfield:
From a fortress, Anfield has turned into a bit of a nightmare stadium for Liverpool in 2017. Having lost to Hull City away from home last weekend as well, nothing but three points will do against Spurs, who, apart from Chelsea, are the form team in the top six.
With Mauricio Pochettino's team doing exceedingly well at the back, Jurgen Klopp cannot have another sub-par attacking performance from his team. The defence needs to stay strong through the 90 minutes, while Klopp must induce that flowing, attacking, breathless football that had everyone purring in delight in the early part of the season.
Sunday, February 12:
Burnley vs Chelsea (7pm IST, 1.30pm GMT, 8.30am ET) at Turf Moor:
After suffering more away day blues, Burnley will be glad to be back at home. However, if there is any team capable of taking the wind out of the Burnley home sails, it is the champions-in-waiting. Chelsea have been ridiculously good against the teams outside the top six, and they will want to turn on the style again.
Swansea City vs Leicester City (9.30pm IST, 4pm GMT, 11am ET) at the Liberty Stadium:
This is a relegation battle for the defending Premier League champions Leicester. With Claudio Ranieri failing to find solutions to stop Leicester's dismal run and Swansea playing some impressive football under Paul Clement, the Foxes are in danger of suffering another debilitating defeat.
Monday, February 13:
Bournemouth vs Manchester City (8pm GMT, 3pm ET, 1.30am IST Tuesday) at the Vitality Stadium:
City have the advantage of knowing what the rest of the top six have done over the weekend. But with that also comes pressure and while Bournemouth have fallen away a little of late, they are always a handful at home.
