With Manchester City preoccupied with the FA Cup and the race to avoid the dropped heating up this weekend, Arsenal has a fantastic opportunity to increase their advantage in the Premier League.
If Tottenham defeats struggling Southampton, they will pass third-placed Manchester United, and if Newcastle dominates Nottingham Forest, they will improve their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
On the opposite side of the standings, Southampton and 12th-placed Crystal Palace are separated by just five points.
Here are some significant talking themes before the English top-flight action this weekend.
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The 100th victory of the Arteta era, which began in 2019, came last weekend at Fulham with a score of 3-0.
The Spaniard's overall victory percentage of 59.5 is the greatest of any Arsenal manager in history, and it occurred in his 168th game in command.
Eddie Nketiah, who is out with an ankle injury, has been a loss for Arteta, but Gabriel Jesus, who underwent knee surgery last week, has added extra firepower.
Leandro Trossard, a January acquisition, has had a significant effect in the final third; the Belgian provided all three of Fulham's assists.
Champions League Battle
The battle is also on for the final two spots in the Champions League for the upcoming season, which are behind Arsenal and City.
Manchester United thought to have a firm hold on a third place going into this weekend's FA Cup quarterfinal match, but that has since loosened with their 7-0 thrashing by Liverpool and a disappointing goalless draw against Southampton.
Even though they would have played two more games, a victory at Southampton on Saturday would move Antonio Conte's Spurs one point ahead of United.
Draw experts. After a stretch in which they won only one of eight league games, Newcastle defeated Wolves 2-1 last week to resurrect their top-four challenge.
The Newcastle manager Eddie Howe remarked, "We'd gone a few weeks without that feeling. We wanted to get to our best, and I did. "Maybe we can expand on it."
Brentford would move up to sixth if they defeated Leicester in all competitions for the fifth time in a row because Liverpool and Brighton are not in action this weekend.
Relegation Battle
No team below Aston Villa in 11th place will feel secure because the relegation fight is too close to call.
West Ham and Leicester are accustomed to competing in European football, but they are both only separated from the bottom three based on goal differential.
Brendan Rodgers, the manager of Leicester, is adamant that his team can recapture its mojo after showing "resilience" to bounce back from a disappointing stretch earlier in the season.
The bottom three might finish the weekend outside the relegation zone if West Ham does not play.
Bournemouth will try to build on their 1-0 triumph over Liverpool last weekend when they visit Villa, while Leeds, who have only won once in their previous 13 league games, will go to Wolves to face another struggling team.
Because of Sean Dyche's improved play, Everton is one point out of the relegation zone, but they still have to travel to a revitalized Chelsea.
Palace hasn't had a winning season and has gone four games without even scoring.
"Our front players need to adopt a new mentality. We have to be more aggressive moving forward," he stated Before his return to Arsenal, where he served as captain the last time the Gunners won the Premier League in 2003–04, Palace manager Patrick Vieira.
Fixtures\s
Friday
Leicester Forest versus Newcastle (11 pm)
Saturday (6 pm unless noted) (6 pm unless stated)
Bournemouth vs Aston Villa, Brentford vs Leicester, Southampton vs Tottenham, Wolves vs Leeds, and Chelsea vs Everton are among the matches (8:30 pm)
Sunday
Crystal Palace at Arsenal (5 pm)
