Manchester City have been showing some good form lately but the Citizens still have an uphill struggle to close the gap with run-away leaders Manchester United.
Roberto Mancini’s men bagged four successive victories in the league and FA Cup without conceding a goal – home vs Barnsley (cup) 5-0, away vs Aston Villa 1-0, home vs Chelsea 2-0, home vs Leeds 4-0 (cup).
Carlos Tevez, charged last week for driving without a licence, put his personal troubles behind him as he struck a hat-trick in City’s pronounced victory over Barnsley that put his team in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
This afternoon, the Citizens play at Everton who were surprisingly knocked out of the FA Cup by Wigan last weekend. The Toffees have now lost three of their last six matches.
United resume their league duties when they host lowly Reading at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were somewhat lucky to have avoided elimination from the FA Cup as it had to be a last-gasp block from goalkeeper David De Gea that helped the team hold on to a 2-2 draw against Chelsea.
Reading’s 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa saw the team slide to the relegation zone and the club opted to dismiss manager Brian McDermott.
Tottenham, who just made it to the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, missed the chance of closing the gap on City in the Premier League after a 3-2 defeat at Liverpool.
Tomorrow, Spurs play London rivals Fulham at White Hart Lane.
This will be their ninth derby in this season’s Premier League: home vs Arsenal 2-1; away vs West Ham 3-2; away vs QPR 0-0; away vs Fulham 3-0; home vs West Ham 3-1; away vs Arsenal 2-5; home vs Chel-sea 2-4; and home vs QPR 2-1.
Another London derby will be played tomorrow at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea, who joined Tottenham and Newcastle in the last eight of the Europa League on Thursday, play hosts to West Ham.
Meanwhile, this afternoon Liverpool will be looking to maintain their positive streak in the league when they travel to St Mary’s Stadium to play Southampton.
Some TV pundits, including Andy Gray, are of the opinion that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez deserves to be crowned PFA Player of the Year.
Suarez has been in fine form for the Merseysiders and is the leading scorer with 22 goals.
At the Liberty Stadium, League Cup winners Swansea take on Arsenal.
The Welsh side have already beaten the Gunners at the Emi-rates Stadium this season and will be determined to complete a double over Arsene Wenger’s men who played a stunning match in Germany on Wednesday.
However, they were unable to eliminate Bayern Munich who went through on the away goals rule after conceding a 0-2 defeat at the Allianz Arena.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Aston Villa-Qpr X
Everton-Man. City (13:45) 2
Man. United-Reading (18:30) 1
Southampton-Liverpool 2
Stoke City-West Bromwichx
Swansea-Arsenal X
Tomorrow:
Chelsea-West Ham (17:00) 1
Sunderland-Norwich (14:30) 1
Tottenham-Fulham (16:00) 1
Wigan-Newcastle (17:00) 1
Standings: Man. United 71; Man. City 59; Tottenham 54; Chelsea 52; Arsenal 47; Liverpool, Everton 45; West Brom 43; Swansea 40; Fulham, Stoke City, West Ham, Newcastle, Norwich 33; Sun-Derland 30; Southampton 28; Aston Villa 27; Wigan Athletic 24; Reading, Qpr 23.
The Championship
Barnsley-Watford X
Blackpool-Peterborough 1
Charlton-Millwall (13:30) 1
Derby-Leicester (18:20) 2
Hull City-Nottm Forest 1
Ipswich-Bolton X
Leeds-Huddersfield (13:30) 1
Middlesbrough-Birmingham 1
Sheffield Wed.-Cardiff 2
Wolves-Bristol City 1
Tomorrow:
Blackburn-Burnley (13:30) X
Brighton-C. Palace (13:00) X
League One
Brentford-Preston 1
Bury-Colchester X
Coventry-Hartlepool 1
Crewe-Shrewsbury 1
Doncaster-Portsmouth 1
Leyton Orient-Carlisle 1
Mk Dons-Tranmere 1
Notts County-Scunthorpe1
Oldham-Bournemouth X
Stevenage-Sheffield United 2
Walsall-Crawley 1
League Two
Accrington-Barnet X
Aldershot-Afc Wimbledon 1
Bristol Rovers-Rochdale 1
Cheltenham-Rotherham 1
Dagenham-Burton X
Exeter-Bradford City 1
Morecambe-Gillingham X
Oxford-Chesterfield 1
Plymouth-Fleetwood X
Southend-Torquay 1
Wycombe-Northampton X
York City-Port Vale 2
Hot Four
Leeds United, Coventry City, Doncaster, Southend.