What to watch out for on crucial Premier League weekend

There may only be six games in the top flight over the long weekend, but they could yet play a seismic role in who earns a spot in next season’s Champions League and who feels the heat, writes Lawrence Ostlere

Is Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho, centre, a changed man? (Getty)

The Premier League long weekend has six games in store, with crucial meetings at the bottom and for the top-four race in particular. Tottenham, Arsenal, Wolves and Leicester are all in action before Manchester United’s Monday night trip to Chelsea which could play a huge role in shaping the outcome of the hunt for Champions League football.

But we start at Villa Park, where Jose Mourinho is in town aiming to show he’s a new man with a new plan...

1) Mourinho faces test of his reinvention

Ever the egotist, Jose Mourinho is the subject of several TV programmes at the moment. He has become the central character in Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary about Tottenham Hotspur’s 2019-20 season, and is part of a new Netflix mini-series interviewing eight coaches from eight different sports. “The Amazon guys, they cannot know!” he joked. But perhaps most revealing is the documentary to be shown on French TV station RMC Sport this week. It charts his career and interviews his players past and present: in it Anthony Martial criticises Mourinho’s man-management skills in an indication of the kind some of the rifts the Portuguese has created, particularly later in his career. So has he changed? Also in the film, Spurs right-back Serge Aurier says: “If you are intelligent you take [his criticism] well ... Here I see a different man. He did not work for a little while. I think it has allowed him to reflect, to take a step back. He has the same mentality but I think he is calmer.” Sunday’s game at Aston Villa is the start of a period both at home and in the Champions League that will come to define Mourinho’s success or otherwise in his first season at Spurs, with the opportunity to move within a point of fourth-placed Chelsea. We will find out much more about whether this Jose is someone altogether different to the one who went before.

2) Lampard and Solskjaer put it all on the line

It is hard to overstate the significance of this one. Chelsea can deliver a near-fatal blow to Manchester United’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with a win, while United can blow the top-four race wide open. It is not just the financial implications that loom large but the impact on attracting potential new recruits this summer, and ultimately the pressure that will fall on any manager who misses the cut. Frank Lampard has made a positive start to life in the Stamford Bridge dugout but blowing their top-four spot, which seemed so secure a couple of months ago, would go down as a major failure. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position seems more precarious, and the voices of doom will surely grow. United haven’t won a league game since 11 January, and Solskjaer must find a way to prevent their recent downturn from becoming a full-scale collapse.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is without a league win since 11 January (Getty)

3) Now or never for Wolves’ Champions League dream

Wolves may be ninth in the Premier League, but don’t be fooled – they are still very much in the hunt for a top-four place. They have been on a tough run of late but have now played Liverpool and Manchester City twice each, as well as Manchester United, with third-placed Leicester City to be chalked off the fixture list on Friday night too. If Nuno Espirito Santo’s side (currently on 35 points) can beat the Foxes they will gain ground in the race for the Champions League on at least one of their rivals, given fourth and fifth meet on Monday when Chelsea (41 points) host Manchester United (39). Much will depend of just how much of a distraction the Europa League becomes, with the first leg of Wolves’ round-of-32 tie with Espanyol next week, but win here and Wolves will be in serious contention, with a reasonable run of games to come ahead of a potential season-definer at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the campaign.

4) Arteta’s Ozil problem is coming to a head

Not many would have predicted that these two sides would have the same points tally after two thirds of the season. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have slowly begun to find their feet but they are baby steps at a time when the top-four race is getting away, and find themselves 10th and out of the Champions League picture. Things can change quickly, of course, but winning this kind of a game against a team in Newcastle who are proving infamously difficult to break down is non-negotiable. Perhaps the biggest challenge for Arteta right now is what to do with Mesut Ozil. The manager said on taking the job that it was his responsibility to get the best out of the German and Arsenal fans are still waiting to see him flourish, with reports suggesting Arteta will show him the door this summer. Then again, this is exactly the sort of game – at home, with plenty of possession, against a deep defence – in which you would expect him to shine. He may have to, if these are not to be his final months at the Emirates.

5) Can Norwich catch Liverpool cold?

Bottom of the league Norwich take on champions-in-waiting Liverpool at Carrow Road, and in what is becoming an increasingly desperate situation for the Canaries they cannot afford to let any opportunity for points pass lightly, even an assignment as difficult as this one. If there is any optimism to be had for any Norwich believers, perhaps it is that this game comes immediately after the mid-season break when Liverpool’s rhythm has been broken a little, and in the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s might have half an eye on Tuesday’s Champions League first leg against at Atletico Madrid. Sadio Mane could be rested given his recent muscle injury, while Klopp may be tempted to give some of his other stars reduced minutes here ahead of a busy schedule. Daniel Farke will be going full throttle, of course: seven points adrift, Norwich must start digging out wins from somewhere very soon, and what better place than against the European champions.

Daniel Farke needs a miracle escape, fast (Getty) (Getty Images)

6) Mid-table matters for Saints and Burnley

Two teams meet at St Mary’s on Saturday having taken very different routes to their current position of mid-table serenity. After the first 13 games, Southampton were 19th and without a win in eight, a run which included that 9-0 thrashing by Leicester, while Burnley were flying high in seventh, having just recorded back-to-back 3-0 wins over West Ham and Watford. This will be the 13th game since that moment in time, during which the two clubs have gradually come back together to be level on 31 points, along side Arsenal and Newcastle. Where do they each go from here? They both have 13 games to play, and if the season has taught these two clubs anything it is that that is plenty of time to climb or slide.