The Japan Times - Liverpool bid to end title wobble, troubled Spurs face Everton battle

Everton and Tottenham meet in a battle of two desperate teams, while in-form Newcastle striker Alexander Isak can move closer to a Premier League record.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the weekend's action:

Liverpool aim to bounce back

For much of the season, Liverpool have looked set to turn the title race into a stately procession towards their first Premier League crown since 2020.

But Arne Slot's side have finally shown a few chinks in their armour in recent weeks, drawing against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest and losing to Tottenham in the League Cup semi-final first leg.

The Reds have lost only twice in all competitions this term, but Liverpool's title rivals will hope their unexpected vulnerability proves they can be caught.

Second-placed Arsenal are four points behind the Anfield club, who have a game in hand on the north Londoners.

Saturday's trip to Brentford, who battled back to draw with Manchester City on Tuesday, will be another test of Liverpool's title mettle as captain Virgil van Dijk called for calm.

"Two draws doesn't feel great but we have another opportunity on Saturday to work our socks off and get a win at Brentford and then it's on to the next one," Van Dijk said.

Spurs rocked by relegation fears

Reeling after four defeats in their last five league games, Tottenham are closer to the relegation zone than the top four as the pressure mounts on beleaguered boss Ange Postecoglou.

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

Tottenham are only eight points above the relegation zone and a loss at lowly Everton on Saturday would set alarm bells ringing over their top-flight status.

"We were nowhere near the levels we needed to be at," Postecoglou said.

"The fact we went out in the first half in such a big game and were so passive, it was unacceptable. And we paid a price for it."

Everton are equally desperate for the points after Wednesday's 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa in the first game of David Moyes' second spell as manager.

With Everton sitting just one point above the bottom three, Moyes, who replaced the sacked Sean Dyche, knows he needs to find an immediate solution to the team's goal drought.

Everton have won once in their last 12 league matches and scored one goal in their last six top-flight games.

"I've only been here a couple of days and I'm nearly burnt out looking at how we can score more goals and how we can get players who can do that," Moyes said.

Red-hot Isak eyes record

Alexander Isak is in no mood to relax as he attempts to extend his blistering run of form to fire Newcastle back into the Champions League.

The 25-year-old Swede became the first Newcastle player to score in eight consecutive Premier League games when he struck twice in Wednesday's 3-0 win against Wolves.

Newcastle's ninth successive victory in all competitions lifted them into fourth place, extending their impressive rise from 12th place in December.

Isak has fuelled Newcastle's surge with 16 goals in 16 games in all competitions.

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

"My target is just to score every game, so I'm not thinking too much about the record. But if I was to get close to that, that would be nice, obviously," Isak said ahead of Saturday's clash with Bournemouth.

Fixtures:

Saturday (1500 GMT unless stated)

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

Sunday (1400 GMT unless stated)

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

Monday

Chelsea v Wolves (2000 GMT)

K.Inoue--JT