Red-hot battle to be the best of the rest

London

MANCHESTER City's seemingly unassailable 16-point lead atop the English Premier League (EPL) now means the most intriguing battle looks to be who will finish as runners-up, with Manchester United aiming to keep their grip on second place when they host last season's champions Chelsea on Sunday (10pm kickoff, Singapore time).

The Blues (Chelsea's nickname) have bounced back from two successive defeats to comfortably beat West Bromwich Albion in the league and secure an impressive 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Red Devils (Manchester United's nickname), meanwhile, were held to a nervy 0-0 draw against Sevilla in Spain a day later.

Jose Mourinho's team, which lost to Newcastle United a fortnight ago in their last EPL match, could find themselves in third position by the time they welcome his former club to Old Trafford on Sunday.

Liverpool, only two points behind United, take on West Ham United at Anfield on Saturday (11pm), having not lost at home in the league so far this season.

Chelsea can ill-afford another poor result with the threat of missing out on next season's Champions League a real possibility if they end up finishing outside the top four.

United and Chelsea are currently four points and one point respectively above fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who could ramp up the pressure by defeating Crystal Palace on Sunday (8pm).

The stakes will already be high enough without any pre-match trash talking, as Mourinho will be desperate to avoid a fourth defeat in five matches against Chelsea since taking over at United in 2016.

He certainly will not want to hear the chants of "You're not special any more" from Chelsea's visiting fans - the same ones who lauded him for winning seven trophies in two spells as the Blues' manager, including three EPL titles.

Victory, and a first league double over United for eight years, would put Chelsea level on points with Mourinho's side, with 10 games of the season remaining.

A win for United, however, would leave Chelsea glancing anxiously behind them.

"The next game is always the most important because it's where you can get the three points," Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta said earlier this week.

"At the moment, we are getting closer and closer to the end of the season, so we have to get the points."

At the other end of the EPL table, there's another big scrap taking place with a margin of just five points separating 10th from the three relegation places.

Bottom side West Bromwich Albion face Huddersfield Town at the Hawthorns on Saturday (11pm), looking to snap a run of three successive defeats.

It is the first of two games that the British media has said West Brom manager Alan Pardew has to save his job.

The weekend kicks off with Stoke City visiting fellow Midlands club Leicester City on Saturday (8.30pm), with both sides winless in their last three fixtures.

Third-from-bottom Southampton could climb out of the relegation zone on Saturday (11pm) with a victory at Burnley, whose own run without a win stretches back 12 games to the middle of December.

Burnley have picked up only two points in the league since the new year, dampening their early-season surge.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Brighton & Hove Albion face fellow strugglers Swansea City (11pm), while the late kickoff is a mid-table tussle between Watford and Everton at Vicarage Road (Sunday, 1.30am).

Arsenal and Manchester City are not involved in EPL action this weekend as they are due to contest the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Monday (12.30am).

They next play in the league on Thursday, when they, coincidentally, face each other again at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London. REUTERS