London (AFP)

If it is difficult to imagine Liverpool derail on the way to the title, the race for the top 4 is restarted by the defeats of Manchester City and Chelsea who should not miss during the 17th day of the Premier League.

There is hardly any more than Leicester, 2nd at 8 points to represent a vague threat for the Reds who fly to their first title in 30 years, as we approach the halfway point.

A victory on Saturday at the start of the day would ensure Liverpool take the lead at the halfway point since they could no longer be joined by the Foxes on the evening of the 19th day scheduled for Boxing Day.

This success is all the more likely since this match will be a shock of extremes between the leader who has won all but one so far, while Watford, last with 37 points less than the Reds, has won since the start of the season.

Liverpool will then send their team bis Aston Villa to Birmingham on Tuesday since, due to the busy schedule, Jürgen Klopp's men will compete from Wednesday onwards at the Club World Cup in Doha (Qatar) where they will aim for a first world title after three lost finals .

Leicester, for its part, will receive the penultimate, Norwich, with a good chance of not seeing its delay on Liverpool increase and, who knows, perhaps even to see its lead over its pursuers further swelling.

Manchester City, relegated 14 points from Liverpool after their loss in the derby against United (2-1), last Saturday, almost said goodbye to the title with 14 points behind.

But Pep Guardiola's men cannot afford to dawdle, with Chelsea still 4th 3 points behind them and a group of seven teams with 8-10 points behind.

Among these teams is Arsenal, which will host the Citizens on Sunday. The Gunners finally returned to West Ham on Monday (3-2) after 9 matches of scarcity in all competitions but still it is necessary that this jump also materializes against the top national level.

The Blues, who qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League on Tuesday, will receive the 15th Bournemouth which remains on 5 defeats in a row.

Among other matches to follow, Manchester United-Everton will see if the Red Devils finally manage to show the same determination and the same quality against the teams in the second half of the table as against the "big guys".

After having beaten Tottenham of Mourinho and City of Pep Guardiola, falling to the Everton of interim Duncan Ferguson would not be very serious.

The Wolverhampton-Tottenham match, the 7th who receives the 6th, also promises a nice style opposition between the 4-2-3-1 of Mourinho and the 3-4-3 of Nuno Espirito Santo, the last darling among Portuguese trainers across the Channel.

Premier League Day 17 Schedule (French Hours)

Saturday:

(1:30 p.m.) Liverpool - Watford

(4:00 p.m.) Chelsea - Bournemouth

Sheffield United - Aston Villa

Leicester - Norwich

Burnley - Newcastle

(6.30 p.m.) Southampton - West Ham

Sunday:

(4:00 p.m.) Manchester United - Everton

Wolverhampton - Tottenham

(6.30 p.m.) Arsenal - Manchester City

On Monday:

(8:45 p.m.) Crystal Palace-Brighton

© 2019 AFP