Schedule and Predictions
Saturday 10 a.m. ET
Aston Villa Vs. Chelsea (Live on Fox Soccer Channel) 1-1
Everton Vs. West Brom (Live on FoxSoccer2Go) 2-0
Fulham Vs.Norwich (Live on FoxSoccer2Go) 1-1
Manchester City Vs. Sunderland (Live on ESPN2, ESPN3) 2-1
QPR Vs. Arsenal (Live on FoxSoccer2Go) 1-3
Wigan Vs. Stoke 1-1
Wolves Vs. Bolton (Live on FoxSoccer2Go) 0-2
Sunday 8.30 a.m. ET
Newcastle Vs. Liverpool (Live on FoxSoccer2Go) 3-1
Sunday 11 a.m. ET
Tottenham Vs. Swansea (Live on Fox Soccer Channel) 2-1
Monday 3 p.m. ET
Blackburn Vs. Manchester United (Live on ESPN2, ESPN3) 0-2
Preview
With the title race taking center stage as the closing stretch of the Premier League season approaches, the main focus on Saturday will be on Manchester City's contest with Sunderland.
Currently three points behind leaders Manchester United, City know that they cannot realistically afford to drop any more points if they are to claim the title.
But the three points will be far from a given against a Sunderland side that have been flourishing under the management of Martin O'Neil. Indeed, the Black Cats won 1-0 when the sides met at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season, through Ji Dong-Won's dramatic injury-time strike.
If City can win it will put the pressure on Manchester United when they travel to Ewood Park on Monday night. Like City, United lost to their opponents in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.
Blackburn's win at Old Trafford on New Year's Eve was one of the surprise results of the season and boss Steve Kean would love to repeat the trick as he looks to lead his side to safety.
The weekend could also be integral to the remaining Champions League places up for grabs for next season. Chelsea need to win their contest at Aston Villa to keep pressure on Tottenham and Arsenal above them, though with their involvement in this year's Champions League ongoing, Aston Villa will be hoping that the Blues take their eye off the ball.
Much of the attention before and during the match at Villa Park will be on the sad news that Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosed with acute leukemia.
Sunday's action features a classic Premier League rivalry renewed as Newcastle go up against Liverpool at St. James' Park. You would not have gotten very favorable odds at the start at the season that heading into this match Newcastle would be eight points above Liverpool in the Premier League.
But that is the situation and illustrates the degree to which Newcastle have exceeded expectations this season and how Liverpool have fallen desperately short of what was anticipated of them.
As well as matters toward the top of the Premier League, there is a crucial encounter at the bottom with Wolves taking on Bolton at Molineux. Wolves have not won since Terry Connor took the reigns as manager and their situation is beginning to become desperate.
A win for Bolton on Saturday would earn them a seven-point edge on Wolves and begin to cast the Midlanders adrift at the foot of the table.