The China Mail - Man City start tough run against Chelsea, Spurs aim to halt slide

Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, both looking to upset the established order by qualifying for next season's Champions League, meet at the Vitality Stadium in an intriguing match-up between two in-form teams.

At the other end of the table, beleaguered Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou badly needs a win against relegation-threatened Leicester as he seeks to keep Spurs clear of danger.

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

City back to the drawing board

City's 6-0 thrashing of Ipswich last weekend suggested they might have recovered their mojo but that optimism was swept away in a four-goal blitz from Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday to leave Pep Guardiola's men on the brink of an embarrassing early exit in Europe.

A five-game unbeaten run in the Premier League has brought City back into the race for a top-four finish after a terrible run of results.

The English champions sit fifth and would leapfrog fourth-placed Chelsea with victory at the Etihad on Saturday.

However, their upturn coincided with a gentle run of fixtures and their collapse from 2-0 up to lose 4-2 at PSG showed the frailties that tougher opposition could expose.

City face Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Tottenham in their following four Premier League games.

The club's slump, exacerbated by injuries, has forced them to be unusually active in the January transfer market.

Forward Omar Marmoush could make his debut on Saturday after sealing a £59 million ($72.6 million) move from Eintracht Frankfurt, while Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis will bolster Guardiola's defensive options.

Champions League 'dreams'

Forest are on course for a stunning return to Europe's elite competition, starting the weekend level on points with second-placed Arsenal and six clear of City and Newcastle.

Qualification for the Champions League would be an astonishing achievement for Forest, who were crowned European champions in 1979 and 1980 under the management of Brian Clough.

However, Nuno Espirito Santo's men face a stern test of their ambitions on Saturday against a Bournemouth side that are unbeaten in a club-record 10 Premier League games.

The Cherries shrugged off a mounting injury list to put Newcastle to the sword in an impressive 4-1 win at St James' Park last weekend, with Justin Kluivert scoring a hat-trick.

Bournemouth have never qualified for European competition but sit seventh, just three points off the top four.

"I like the fans to dream," said captain Lewis Cook. "Why not get excited?"

Leicester lifeline for sorry Spurs

Bournemouth fans' joy might be tempered by links suggesting Tottenham could come calling for their manager Andoni Iraola if Ange Postecoglou fails to save Spurs' sorry season.

Injury-ravaged Tottenham have lost seven of their past nine Premier League games to slide to 15th in the table.

But fears that they will be sucked into a relegation battle have so far been tempered by the terrible form of the bottom three.

Former Premier League champions Leicester, in their first season back in the division, have lost seven in a row under Ruud van Nistelrooy and are 10 points behind Tottenham.

But a win could lift them out of the drop zone as relegation rivals Ipswich and Wolves face tough matches this weekend.

Ipswich travel to runaway leaders Liverpool while Wolves welcome second-placed Arsenal to Molineux.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Saturday

Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, Brighton v Everton, Liverpool v Ipswich, Southampton v Newcastle, Wolves v Arsenal (all 1500), Manchester City v Chelsea (1730)

Sunday

Crystal Palace v Brentford, Tottenham v Leicester (both 1400), Aston Villa v West Ham (1630), Fulham v Manchester United (1900)

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