(Football news) Having reached the finals of the Carabao Cup, Liverpool will now turn their attention to the Premier League and hope to reduce the gap between them and Manchester City by getting three points over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The hosts will miss Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew and Cheikhou Kouyate due to their involvement in the African Cup of Nations which means Michael Olise will partner Christian Benteke while James Tomkins and James McArthur remain sidelined due to injuries.

For Liverpool, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are currently on AFCON duty but  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might feature after recovering from an ankle injury. Thiago Alcantara, Nat Phillips, Divock Origi and Harvey Elliott remain sidelined due to injuries but Jurgen Klopp is expected to select Takumi Minamino and Ibrahima Konate in the starting XI. In-form Diogo Jota is expected to partner Roberto Firmino and Minamino in a front three. Anything but a win would be considered a disappointing result for the Reds who desperately need to close the gap on first place Manchester City.

Arsenal will be looking for a reaction after being eliminated from the Carabao Cup when they welcome Burnley to the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners are currently sixth in the Premier League, two points behind West Ham and desperately need the points to make it into the top 4. Mikel Arteta would not be able to select Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka due to suspension while Mohamed Elneny and Nicholas Pepe are currently on AFCON duty. The likes of Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares and Bernd Leno are also unlikely to feature due to injuries. Martin Odegaard is expected to play a deeper role alongside Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Burnley have a number of players currently isolating due to COVID-19 and they will have Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Nathan Collins, Dwight McNeil, Charlie Taylor, Erik Pieters and Matej Vydra unavailable for selection. Connor Roberts and Ashley Barnes are currently injured while Maxwel Cornet is participating in the AFCON. Jay Rodriguez and Aaron Lennon could partner in the final third and share the goalscoring burden.

Also read: Man Utd get a chance to close top four gap while City could extend lead

One of the biggest fixtures of the weekend will be the London derby where Chelsea will welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge. The Blues are currently third in the table while Tottenham are fifth but have four games in hand after a number of their matches were postponed due to COVID–19. Thomas Tuchel will be glad to see Trevor Chalobah and Reece James return to training while Ben Chilwell is out for the season after a knee surgery.  Andreas Christensen (COVID-19) and Edouard Mendy (international duty) will also not feature in the clash. However, it’s likely that Tuchel could opt for Malang Sarr, Timo Werner and Mateo Kovacic in the starting XI given the circumstances he finds his team in.

For Tottenham, Eric Dier has recovered from injury but Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero remain unavailable. There could be a few more absentees as Conte has said that his squad have “fresh injuries” but he has not specified which players. Lucas Moura is expected to partner Harry Kane in the final third while both Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp could be selected in midfield. Considering Chelsea’s poor form and Tottenham’s resurgence under Antonio Conte, a draw seems like the most realistic result in this fixture.