The race for the championship crown sees four teams in the running – Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.

The Gunners, hammered 6-0 by Chelsea and then only managing a 2-2 draw at home to Swansea, could be the first to drop out of contention.

Arsene Wenger must lift his players’ spirits when they take on Manchester City at the Emirates this evening knowing that another defeat would all but end their hopes.

Remaining fixtures of the top four in the Premier League:

Arsenal

Home − Manchester City (today); Away − Everton (April 6); FA Cup semi-final (April 12); Home − West Ham (April 15); Away − Hull (April 19); Home − Newcastle (April 28); Home − West Brom (May 3); Away − Norwich (May 11).

Chelsea

Away − Crystal Palace (today); Champions League − (April 2); Home − Stoke (April 5); Champions League − (April 8); Away − Swansea (April 13); Home − Sunderland (April 20); Away − Liverpool (April 27); Home − Norwich (May 3); Away − Cardiff (May 11)

Liverpool

Home − Tottenham (tomorrow); Away − West Ham (April 6); Home − Manchester City (April 13); Away − Norwich (April 20); Home − Chelsea (April 27); Away − Crystal Palace (May 3); Home − Newcastle (May 11).

Manchester City

Away − Arsenal (today); Home − Southampton (April 5); Away − Liverpool (April 13); Home − Sunderland (April 16); Home − West Brom (April 21); Away − Crystal Palace (April 27); Away − Everton (May 3); Home − Aston Villa (May 7); Home − West Ham (May 11).

Manchester City lie third with 66 points, three behind Chelsea but with two games in hand, and they will look to build on their impressive 3-0 win at bitter local rivals Manchester United on Tuesday.

Pablo Zabaleta claims that City will have no excuse if they fail to recapture the Premier League title this season. Television pundit Alan Hansen remarked that City coach Manuel Pellegrini must deliver the championship or his first season at Etihad Stadium would go down as a failure.

After edging Sunderland at home, Liverpool must collect three more points against Tottenham at Anfield.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes that if his old club can win the title this season it will be an even greater feat than the 2005 Champions League final win he played in.

“I think this Liverpool team is better than the side that won the Champions League in 2005, but you could argue that winning the Premier League this season would be a bigger achievement,” he said.

Chelsea will be involved in a London derby against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Andre Schuerrle expressed his delight that Chelsea were able to execute their gameplan in exploiting the space behind Arsenal’s full-backs last weekend.

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o could be back for Chelsea’s Champions League tie with Paris SG next week.

After their humiliating defeat against City, David Moyes’s United will host Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Despite the derby upset, United midfielder Darren Fletcher said he is surprised at how well he has played since returning from a long lay-off as leading from the front in every sense has improved Wayne Rooney’s chances of becoming United’s captain next season.

Fifth-placed Everton, boosted by their win at Newcastle, are away to Fulham tomorrow. The Toffees are still in search of their first win in London this season.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez is convinced that Everton are capable of securing Champions League football if they can win 16 points from the remaining 27.

Fixtures and forecast

Premier League
Arsenal-Man. City (18.30) X
Crystal Palace-Chelsea 2
Man United-Aston Villa (13.45) 1
Southampton-Newcastle 1
Stoke-Hull City 1
Swansea-Norwich 1
West Brom-Cardiff 1

Tomorrow
Fulham-Everton (14.30) 2
Liverpool-Tottenham (17.00) 1

Monday
Sunderland-West Ham (21.00) X

Standings: Chelsea 69; Liverpool 68; Manchester City 66; Arsenal 63; Everton 57; Tottenham 56; Manchester United 51; Newcastle 46; Southampton 45; Stoke 37; West Ham, Aston Villa 34; Hull 33; Norwich 32; Swansea 30; West Brom, Crystal Palace 28; Sunderland, Cardiff 25; Fulham 24.

The Championship
Birmingham-Bournemouth X
Bolton-Wigan X
Brighton-Middlesbrough 1
Burnley-Leicester (13.15) X
Derby-Charlton 1
Ipswich-Nottm Forest 1
Leeds-Doncaster 1
Millwall-Blackburn X
QPR-Blackpool 1
Reading-Huddersfield 1
Sheffield Wed.-Watford X
Yeovil-Barnsley X

League One
Crewe-Coventry X
Leyton Orient-Bradford 1
MK Dons-Wolves 2
Notts County-Colchester 1
Oldham-Brentford 2
Preston-Crawley 1
Rotherham-Bristol City 1
Stevenage-Port Vale 1
Swindon-Sheffield Utd X
Tranmere-Carlisle 1
Walsall-Shrewsbury 1

League Two
Bristol Rovers-Morecambe 1
Dagenham-Oxford X
Exeter-Accrington 1
Fleetwood-Rochdale X
Hartlepool-Cheltenham 1
Mansfield-AFC Wimbledon 1
Newport-Portsmouth 1
Northampton-Bury 1
Scunthorpe-Wycombe 1
Southend-Torquay 1
York-Burton X

Hot four
Manchester United, Southampton, Stoke, West Brom.