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Premier League Preview. By Demola Aluko

The first major trophy of the English season will be up for grabs at Wembley as Manchester City face Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final as the Premier League gears up for a crucial weekend of action.

There are eight games taking place in the league and there is everything still to play for at both ends of the table in what seems to be one of the most memorable seasons in recent time.

The focus will be on the title race Saturday as current leaders Chelsea travel to bottom club Fulham, while Arsenal renew their rivalry with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium and Liverpool, a side fast becoming a serious contender  visit Southampton.

Also on Saturday, Everton will be looking to keep alive their dream of a top-four finish against a rejuvenated West Ham United, and Hull City take on Newcastle United.

Early afternoon on Sunday belongs to the League Cup final, before the kickoff of three matches that will be vital to the relegation fight as Aston Villa host Norwich City, Swansea City tackle Crystal Palace and Cardiff City make the trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool’s clash with Southampton at St Mary’s will be the centre of attraction this weekend. The Saints stunned Anfield with a 1-0 away win in September and still have an outside chance of qualifying for the Europa League, but a 3-1 defeat at West Ham last weekend dented their hopes and in-form Liverpool will be keen to exact revenge. The goals have been flowing for Brendan Rodgers’ Reds this season and, after a thrilling 4-3 victory over Swansea, they have an opportunity to climb above third-placed Man City and keep the pressure on the top two. If the Reds listen to Kolo Toure’s midweek advice, then Liverpool’s ”never walk alone” fans may smile back home from the trip to Southampton. The Ivorien, 24 hours ago urged his team mates to be calm and focused in order for them to at least pick a Champions League ticket, if not win the tittle. With second place Arsenal visiting their inevitable rivals, Stoke City, Liverpool’s victory certainly will make the tittle race more thrilling this season should the Gunners leave the Britania Stadium with anything less than maximum three points.

Chelsea are one point clear of Arsenal at the summit and will be aiming to strengthen their position this weekend when they meet West London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage. Jose Mourinho has again been making headlines off the pitch with his comments over the past couple of weeks but Chelsea’s form has not suffered, having snatched a last-gasp 1-0 win over Everton in the league and then claimed a 1-1 draw away to Galatasaray in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie. Fulham are bottom of the table and four points adrift of safety after a seven-game winless run, but there were some encouraging signs against West Bromwich Albion last time out as Felix Magath started his reign with a 1-1 draw.

If Chelsea do slip up against Fulham, then they could be dislodged from top spot by Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has described criticism of his decision to give his players a couple of days off this week as ‘unbelievable’, and will hope the rest period is justified by another three points to follow up their impressive 4-1 victory over Sunderland. However,The Gunners do not have a great record away to Stoke City, and the Potters are scrapping for their Premier League lives after a 1-0 defeat by Manchester City left them just three points above the drop zone.

Everton lost further ground on the top four after going down to a second straight defeat last weekend, and are now 11 points off the Champions League pace. They have also slipped behind Manchester United into seventh place and the priority for Roberto Martinez will be to return to winning ways at home to West Ham. It will not be an easy task, however, with Sam Allardyce’s side surging away from trouble and into the top half on the back of four straight victories.

Saturday’s remaining match pits Hull City against Newcastle in a battle between two teams fresh from wins last weekend. The 11th-placed Tigers also managed to follow up their 4-0 drubbing of Cardiff City with a 2-1 triumph against Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday to progress to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Newcastle, meanwhile, ended a goal drought of nearly five games to beat Aston Villa 1-0 and reach the 40-point mark.

Aston Villa will have a chance to bounce back from that disappointment when they host Norwich on Super Sunday. Villa are now without a win in their past four games and hover precariously just four points above the bottom three ahead of their meeting with Paul Lambert’s former club. Norwich have the same number of points after boosting their survival hopes with a 1-0 success at home to Tottenham, which helped to quell speculation about the future of boss Chris Hughton.

Tottenham’s loss left them six points behind the Champions League places, and they must now complete the season without Jermain Defoe after he bid an emotional farewell to the Spurs fans on Thursday night ahead of his move to Toronto FC. Cardif City are the visitors to White Hart Lane this weekend and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are in need of a major boost after their heavy defeat at home to Hull kept them second from bottom, three points from safety.

Swansea and Crystal Palace are both in the bottom half of the table and still have a lot of work to do to guarantee top-flight status for next season. Garry Monk’s Swans have a four-point cushion despite being edged out by Liverpool last weekend, but will have to recover quickly from a trip to Napoli in the Europa League on Thursday if they are to pull further clear of trouble. Palace will be looking to capitalise on any sign of fatigue and get back on track after losing 2-0 to Manchester United in a competitive encounter at Selhurst Park.

By Demola Aluko