There are big games at both ends of the table on Saturday as Manchester City look to continue their march to the Premier League title at battling Fulham.
Chelsea and Everton are both in action in their quest to finish in the top four, while West Brom face Crystal Palace in desperate need of three points.
Leeds vs Chelsea (1:30pm WAT)
Chelsea will travel to Elland Road stadium to face Leeds United in the EPL match on Saturday afternoon kick-off at 1:30pm. According to our statistics on this game, Leeds has 35% of their squad form while Chelsea has 65% due to their current performance under Thomas Tuchel.
Current Leeds United sits in 11 places with 35 points while Chelsea is at 4 with 50 points. Chelsea won all games in the last Head-to-head clashes between these teams in the previous season, 2012 and 2020.
A comfortable 2-0 victory over Everton on Monday saw the Blues cement their place in fourth and make it nine clean sheets in 11 games in all competitions under Tuchel.
The Blues are looking for their first league double against Leeds in more than 30 years and can inflict a third successive league defeat on Marcelo Bielsa for the first time in his tenure.
Previous five games played on EPL, both teams recently, Leeds won 1 game, lost 4 while Chelsea won 3 matches and 2 games ended in a draw.
Our recommendations are Chelsea wins, or the match ends with a draw.
Bielsa is looking for more consistency from his side, who have lost five of their last seven games and failed to beat any team from the top half at home this year.
Tammy Abraham (ankle) remains an absentee for Chelsea. Jamie Shackleton (groin) and Robin Koch (knee) may return for the hosts, who are without Adam Forshaw (groin), Pascal Struijk (unknown) and Pablo Hernandez (unknown).
Crystal Palace vs West Brom (4pm WAT)
West Brom’s lack of firepower appears likely to cost them their Premier League status — not that they will throw in the towel ahead of their trip to Crystal Palace.
The Baggies have lost just one of their past five games but goalless draws against Burnley and Newcastle could easily have turned into crucial victories with a little more cutting edge.
Matheus Pereira is the club’s top scorer with six goals and January signing Mbaye Diagne has netted just once in his eight games, meaning the Baggies remain 19th — eight points adrift of Fulham and Brighton.
Sam Allardyce’s men face a Palace side who put five past them at The Hawthorns earlier this season but have struggled for goals recently, failing to score in their past three home games.
Wilfried Zaha may start after returning from injury but Palace are still without eight first-teamers, while Allardyce has a fully-fit squad to choose from.
Everton vs Burnley (6.30pm)
Victory over Burnley is a necessity for Everton after conceding ground to Chelsea in the top-four race at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side went down 2-0 in that clash and now sit four points behind the fourth-placed Blues and two adrift of West Ham — though they do still have a game in hand over the former.
Everton’s home form has been sticky in recent weeks but a 1-0 victory over Southampton in their last outing at Goodison Park should give them confidence of completing the double over Sean Dyche’s Clarets.
Burnley have not won in five games and sit just four points above Fulham and Brighton, meaning Premier League safety is far from certain.
James Rodriguez (calf), Seamus Coleman (unknown) and Yerry Mina (calf) may return for Everton but Jack Cork (thigh), Charlie Taylor (thigh) and Robbie Brady (calf) face late fitness tests for the visitors.
Fulham vs Manchester City (9pm)
After last week’s derby defeat, Manchester City can put themselves within 14 points of the Premier League title if they beat gutsy Fulham at Craven Cottage.
City quickly put their 2-0 defeat to Manchester United to bed as they saw off Southampton 5-2 on Wednesday, edging ever closer to reclaiming the trophy they lost to Liverpool last term.
They have not lost against Fulham in 13 meetings and their last defeat at Craven Cottage came back in 2005, emphasising the task Scott Parker’s men face if they are to cause an unlikely upset.
But last week’s victory at Liverpool did bring the visitors level on points with Brighton and just one behind Newcastle in their fight for survival, suggesting it will not be a comfortable night for Pep Guardiola and his players.
Tom Cairney (knee) is closing in on a return to the Fulham squad and Nathan Ake’s recovery means City have no problems of their own.
