Chelsea Eye Premier League top spot, Manchester City aim to return to winning ways

Manchester City travel to Aston Villa on Saturday desperate to halt their dramatic slide, while Chelsea have the chance to go top of the Premier League, albeit briefly. Current leaders Liverpool face a difficult trip to Tottenham after a wobble, while Manchester United are looking to win two Premier League games in a row for the first time this season. We pick out some of the key talking points ahead of the weekend’s action.

Pep out to prove himself again

Manchester City lost 1-0 away to Aston Villa last December but it proved to be their last defeat of the season as they romped to a fourth consecutive Premier League title.

That loss for Pep Guardiola’s men came after three straight draws – which was then a letdown by City’s soaring standards.

This time they travel to Birmingham in a deep rut with eight defeats from their last 11 games in all competitions.

City’s chances of winning a fifth consecutive English top-flight title appear to be over, but they must somehow stop their astonishing slide.

Guardiola took the blame after last week’s painful 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester United, saying he was not “good enough”, although Phil Foden said the players still believed in their boss.

Fifth-placed City, nine points behind Liverpool, who have played a game more, have lost five of their last seven Premier League matches, as many as they had in their previous 67 matches combined.

Seventh-placed Villa have been inconsistent, but injury-hit City have lost the habit of winning – suffering an apparent collective crisis of confidence.

Liverpool’s Castle faces a new challenge

Arne Slot has made replacing Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager look easy. But is he about to face his first big challenge?

Earlier this month, the Reds were nine points clear at the top of the Premier League and seemingly on course for a record-like 20th English top-flight title.

But they could kick things off at Tottenham on Sunday behind Chelsea, who are looking for a sixth straight league win at struggling Everton earlier in the day.

Liverpool have drawn their last two league games, against Newcastle and Fulham, but beat Southampton in the League Cup quarter-finals this week to stay on course for Castle’s first trophy.

They are still firm favorites to win the league, but Chelsea are gathering momentum under new manager Enzo Maresca.

It is difficult to predict which Tottenham side will emerge on Sunday after seven wins and seven defeats in their 16 league games so far.

But one thing is for sure – Ange Postecoglou’s side will not sit back – only Chelsea have scored more than their tally of 36 league goals this season.

Wolves are desperate for new manager bounce

Leicester and Wolves have both sacked their managers this season due to poor starts to the Premier League campaign.

The two sides meet at the King Power on Sunday in a must-win game for the visitors, who this week appointed Vitor Pereira as their new coach following the sacking of Gary O’Neil.

Wolves are second from bottom of the Premier League after four straight defeats, with a paltry nine points from 16 games – five points behind Leicester, who are just outside the relegation zone.

Chairman Jeff Shi thanked Pereira, a league winner in Portugal and Greece, for taking on the tough challenge at Molineux.

The reality is that the Midlands club is already running out of time.

After the Leicester game, Wolves enter a daunting run of games against Manchester United, Tottenham and high-flying Nottingham Forest.

Ruud van Nistelrooy started brightly at Leicester, winning his first game and drawing the second, but the Foxes suffered a demoralizing 4-0 defeat at Newcastle last week and if results go their way, they could end the weekend in the drop zone.

(With the exception of the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)