Arsenal face a stern test of their Premier League title credentials against Manchester United this weekend as Liverpool and Chelsea meet in a clash of two clubs desperate to escape mid-table obscurity.

At the bottom, Frank Lampard takes Everton to face David Moyes’ West Ham, with both managers under intense pressure as the relegation trap door looms.

AFP Sport takes a look at some of the key talking points ahead of the action.

ARSENAL’S TITLE CHARGE

Arsenal v Manchester United used to be the match that defined the Premier League, pitting Arsene Wenger against Alex Ferguson in a rivalry for the ages.

In recent years the game has been reduced to a sideshow, but there is a growing sense leaders Arsenal can end a wait of nearly two decades to be crowned English champions, while United are a rising force under Erik ten Hag.

Mikel Arteta’s young team are now clear favourites to claim Arsenal’s first Premier League crown since the 2004 “Invincibles”.

The Gunners have more points at this stage of a league season than ever before and are benefiting from the stumbles of those beneath them, particularly the inconsistency of champions Manchester City.

Aside from the game against United and a match against City in February, Arsenal’s league fixtures over the next two months look kind.

Even so, Arteta believes a successful title tilt will “demand almost perfection”.

Eight points behind Arsenal, Ten Hag’s men travel to the Emirates Stadium without suspended midfielder Casemiro after the Brazilian was booked in the frustrating midweek draw at Crystal Palace.

LIVERPOOL, CHELSEA IN CLASH OF ALSO-RANS

After nearly two decades of sparring for silverware, the startling declines of Liverpool and Chelsea will be laid bare when they meet at Anfield on Saturday.

Just last season, Liverpool came within touching distance of an unprecedented quadruple, while Chelsea were winners of the Fifa Club World Cup.

Liverpool finished second in the Premier League and Chelsea came third, with the Reds beating the Blues in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals.

Those battles will seem like distant memories this weekend as ninth-placed Liverpool host 10th-placed Chelsea.

Both still harbour faint hopes of climbing into the top four but with injuries hurting Jurgen Klopp’s side and Graham Potter’s team, gatecrashing the race to qualify for the Champions League looks a tough ask.

Klopp has achieved enough in his long reign to keep the critics largely at bay, but Chelsea’s Potter is on shaky ground only four months after replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel.

Despite a huge spending spree under the club’s new owners, Chelsea had lost seven of their previous 10 matches in all competitions prior to a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Potter could give a debut to Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk after his £88 million ($108 million) move from Shakhtar Donetsk as he seeks to find the magic formula.

LAMPARD, MOYES ON BORROWED TIME

Everton manager Frank Lampard and West Ham boss David Moyes are fast running out of time heading into their crunch clash.

Either team could end Saturday at the bottom of the Premier League table depending on Southampton’s result against Aston Villa, and neither will approach the game in London with much confidence.

West Ham have taken just a single point from their past seven league games and Everton have one point from a possible 18.

Rumours have swirled this week that Moyes is likely to be dismissed if he loses the game.

But the Hammers finished seventh last season, also reaching the Europa League semifinals, and Moyes has pleaded for loyalty from fans.

“What we’ve given West Ham supporters in the last few years, I hope they can give us back,” he said.

Former Chelsea boss Lampard, for his part, says he will not “cry” at the pressure he is under.

Napoli will be hoping to bounce back from an unlikely midweek Italian Cup exit when they make a short trip on Saturday to Salernitana, who sacked and then brought back their manager within the space of two days.

Runaway league leaders thanks to their whirlwind, five-goal destruction of Juventus on Friday, Napoli were then dumped straight back down to earth by Serie A’s winless bottom team Cremonese on Tuesday.

Their penalty shootout exit under a biblical downpour in Naples looked to be the biggest shock this week would have to offer but Salernitana gazumped their local rivals the very next morning.

Salernitana were searching for a coach after sacking Davide Nicola, the architect of last season’s great escape from relegation, on Monday following their 8-2 drubbing at the hands of Atalanta.

No wins in six, a run which includes four defeats, left the southern Italian outfit in 16th place, albeit nine points from the drop zone thanks to the dismal form of the bottom three.

However in a Facebook post published on Wednesday Nicola said he pleaded with owner Danilo Iervolino to be kept on, the club then confirming to AFP that he had reclaimed his post less than 48 hours after being dismissed.

It remains to be seen if a Nicola’s rapid return will bring a new manager bounce that will threaten Napoli, whose fans won’t be in the away end for a fiery regional derby after being banned from travelling until mid-March as punishment for a mass brawl with Roma fans at a motorway service station a fortnight ago.

Napoli have a nine-point lead over AC Milan that could be extended as the wobbling champions – thumped by Inter Milan in Wednesday’s Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia – take on Lazio in Rome on Tuesday while third-place Juventus host Atalanta on Sunday.

Lazio, who will be missing injured star striker Ciro Immobile until next month, are fifth and one of three sides just outside the Champions League positons alongside local rivals Roma and Atalanta, on a high after their bashing of Salernitana which in the end did not cost Nicola his job.

All three are three points behind Inter and Juve, who are still licking their wounds from Naples and beginning a new era behind the scenes.

On Wednesday Juve named a new board led by Gianluca Ferrero who replaces Andrea Agnelli as chairman and takes control of a club whose most recent accounts were 239.3 million euros ($255 million) in the red.

Ferrero and four others will remain at the helm until June 2025 and have a series off-field battles to fight in the coming months, including a probable trial in which the club will have to defend itself against charges of false accounting alongside the previous leadership.

On Friday, Italy’s football federation will decide whether to reopen an investigation into Juve’s transfer activities after consulting documents from prosecutors in Turin, while Uefa are also probing their finances.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in his first game in Saudi Arabia and Lionel Messi was also on the scoresheet as Paris St-Germain edged a Riyadh All-Star XI 5-4 in a thrilling contest.

The exhibition match in the Saudi capital saw two of the greatest players of all time sharing a pitch together for possibly the final time.

Messi opened the scoring and Ronaldo netted twice for 2-2 at half-time. Both players were substituted off just after the hour mark.

The two PSG center-backs were also on the scoresheet as Sergio Ramos added to Marquinhos’ delightful finish in the opening period. 

But the French side played much of the game with 10 men as Juan Bernat received a straight red card for hauling down Saudi international Salem Al Dawsari and Neymar also missed a penalty in a breathtaking first half.

Jang Hyun-soo’s header drew the All-Star XI level at 3-3, but Kylian Mbappe’s penalty and substitute Hugo Ekitike’s composed effort put PSG out of sight.

Anderson Talisca drilled in a long-range consolation late in injury time but there was no time for a dramatic equalizer.