Liverpool seeks to end the title fluctuation, and the struggling Hotspur faces the battle of Everton

Premier League leaders Liverpool must end their recent wobble to keep the chasing pack at bay this weekend. Everton and Tottenham meet in a battle of desperate sides, while in-form Newcastle striker Alexander Isak could move closer to a Premier League record. Let’s take a look at three talking points before the weekend:

Aiming to bounce back for much of the season, Liverpool look set to turn the title race into a lavish procession towards their first Premier League title since 2020. But Arne Slott’s side have finally shown some chinks in their armor in recent weeks. They drew against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest and lost to Tottenham in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

The Reds have lost just twice in all competitions this season, but Liverpool’s title rivals will hope their unexpected weaknesses prove they can catch them.

Second-placed Arsenal are four points behind Anfield, who have a match in hand on the team from north London.

Saturday’s trip to Brentford, who drew with Manchester City on Tuesday, will be another test of Liverpool’s title strength as captain Virgil van Dijk called for calm.

Van Dijk said: “Two draws do not look great, but we have another opportunity on Saturday to improve our performance and achieve a win over Brentford and then move on to the next match.”

Spurs rocked by relegation fears After four defeats in their last five league games, Spurs are closer to the relegation zone than the top four as pressure mounts on beleaguered coach Ange Postecoglou.

A 2-1 loss to north London rivals Arsenal on Wednesday was the latest blow for Postecoglou, who faces accusations of tactical naivety from frustrated fans.

Tottenham is only eight points away from the relegation zone, and a loss to lowly Everton on Saturday would ring alarm bells about the team’s status in the first division.

“We were nowhere near the levels we needed to reach,” Postecoglou said.

“The fact that we came out at half-time in such a big game and were so negative was unacceptable. We paid the price for that.”

Everton is equally seeking points after Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa in the first match of David Moyes’ second period as coach.

With Everton sitting just one point away from the relegation zone, Moyes, who replaced the sacked Sean Dyche, knows he needs to find an immediate solution to the team’s goal drought.

Everton have won one of their last 12 league matches and have scored one goal in their last six league matches.

“I’ve only been here two days and I’m almost exhausted when I look at how we can score more goals and how we can get players who can do that,” Moyes said.

Isak’s red-hot record Alexander Isak is in no mood to relax as he attempts to extend his strong run to return Newcastle to the Champions League.

The 25-year-old Swede became the first Newcastle player to score in eight consecutive Premier League matches when he scored twice in a 3-0 win over Wolves on Wednesday.

Newcastle’s ninth successive win in all competitions lifted the team to fourth place, continuing their impressive rise from twelfth place in December.

Isak led Newcastle’s rise with 16 goals in 16 matches in all competitions.

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy holds the Premier League record for scoring a run of goals in 11 consecutive league games, and Isak knows how close he is to that milestone.

“My goal is just to score in every game, so I don’t think too much about the record,” Isak said before facing Bournemouth on Saturday. “But if I get close to that, that would be great, of course.”

Matches:

Saturday (1500 GMT unless noted)

Newcastle vs. Bournemouth (1230), Brentford vs. Liverpool, Leicester vs. Fulham, West Ham vs. Crystal Palace, Arsenal vs. Aston Villa (1730).

Sunday (1400 GMT unless noted)

Everton vs. Tottenham, Nottingham Forest vs. Southampton, Manchester United vs. Brighton, Ipswich vs. Manchester City (1630)

Monday

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton (2000 GMT)

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