Manchester City’s Yaya Toure (left) powers clear of Watford’s Adlene Guedioura during their midweek Premier League game.

Manchester City cannot afford to drop points when hosting Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow as they risk falling behind in the race for the Premier League title.

Having lost to Leicester City (away 2-4) and Chelsea (home 1-3) in their previous matches, in midweek Pep Guardiola’s team returned to winning ways after beating Watford 2-0 at home despite taking to the field without a few regulars.

Guardiola had told his players he was looking for answers after the upset to Leicester on Saturday and his players’ response was strong.

City regrouped to defeat Watford and stay fourth in the standings, seven points behind leaders Chelsea.

City’s defence is not at a level that Guardiola wants and the club bosses are set to do something serious about it in the January transfer window, particularly at left-back and centre-half.

After their 2-1 defeat at Everton on Tuesday night, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger pointed his finger at the referee.

The character Arsenal showed in battling back from a goal down to beat Stoke City 3-1 on Saturday was proof of a growing mental strength in the team, Wenger was quoted as saying.

However, at Goodison Park the Londoners failed to deliver and are now six points behind Chelsea and third in the standings as Liverpool have a better goal average.

Chelsea start favourites to retain their advantage at the top of the standings this weekend  when heading to Crystal Palace in a London derby.

Italian coach Antonio Conte believes that Spaniard Diego Costa has learnt to control his aggression on the pitch after the volatile striker completed his 10th game without a booking in the 1-0 away at Sunderland on Wednesday.

Conte appears to have given the likes of Pedro, Eden Hazard and Costa a new lease of life after taking charge of Chelsea last summer.

After dropping five points in two matches, Liverpool came good at Middlesbrough with a 3-0 win.

Goalkeeper Loris Karius, who had come under fire for his erratic performances, was dropped by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

On Monday night, the Reds play the Merseyside derby at Everton who are on a high following their 2-1 comeback win over Arsenal in their last match.

After obtaining three points at Crystal Palace, Manchester United take on West Brom at the Hawthorns in today’s late kick-off as Tottenham, who defeated Hull in midweek, play Burnley at White Hart Lane tomorrow.

Football fixtures in UK...

Premier League
Crystal Palace-Chelsea - 13.30
Middlesbrough-Swansea
Stoke-Leicester City
Sunderland-Watford
West Brom-Man. United - 18.30
West Ham-Hull City

Tomorrow:
Bournemouth-Southampton - 14.30
Man. City-Arsenal - 17.00
Tottenham-Burnley - 17.00

Monday:
Everton-Liverpool - 21.00

Standings: Chelsea 40; Liverpool, Arsenal 34; Man. City 33; Tottenham 30; Man. United 27; West Brom, Everton 23; Southampton, Bournemouth, Watford 21; Stoke City 20; Burnley 17; Leicester, West Ham 16; C. Palace, Middlesbrough 15; Swansea City, Hull City 12; Sunderland 11.

The Championship
Birmingham-Brighton - 18.30
Blackburn-Reading
Bristol City-Preston NE
Burton-Newcastle United
Cardiff-Barnsley
Fulham-Derby County
Leeds-Brentford
Nottm Forest-Wolves
Sheffield Wed.-Rotherham
Wigan-Ipswich Town

Tomorrow:
QPR-Aston Villa - 13.00

League One
AFC Wimbledon-Port Vale
Bury-Oxford
Charlton-Peterborough
Chesterfield-Bolton
Gillingham-MK Dons
Northampton-Rochdale
Oldham-Southend
Scunthorpe-Millwall
Shrewsbury-Bristol Rovers
Swindon-Fleetwood Town
Walsall-Bradford

League Two
Accrington-Plymouth
Barnet-Stevenage
Blackpool-Luton Town
Cambridge-Crewe
Carlisle-Yeovil Town
Colchester-Notts County
Crawley-Newport County
Doncaster-Grimsby Town - 13.30
Exeter-Mansfield Town
Morecambe-Cheltenham
Portsmouth-Hartlepool
Wycombe-Leyton Orient

Scottish Premiership
Celtic-Dundee FC
Hearts-Partick
Kilmarnock-Inverness
Ross County-Aberdeen
St Johnstone-Motherwell
Scottish Championship
Dumbarton-Falkirk
Morton-Hibernian - 18.15
Queen of South-Dunfermline
Raith Rovers-Dundee United
St Mirren-Ayr United

League One
Alloa-Queen’s Park
Brechin City-Stranraer
East Fife-Peterhead
Livingston-Airdrieonians
Stenhousemuir-Albion Rovers

League Two
Arbroath-Elgin City
Berwick Rangers-Montrose
Clyde-Edinburgh City
Cowdenbeath-Forfar
Stirling-Annan Athletic