After starting the week with a loss to relegation-threatened Wigan,
Liverpool will be looking to rebound against last-place Portsmouth
on Monday in the Premier League.
Liverpool, which also lost 1-0 to Lille in the first leg of
the Europa League's last 16, is sixth in the league and its hopes
of qualifying for the Champions League by finishing in the top four
are fading.
"For every top side, especially when you are not having a
good season, every game is important," Liverpool manager Rafa
Benitez said. "We have to be ready for Monday's Premier League
match against Portsmouth and to win and then be ready for 90
minutes in the Europa League (on Thursday)."
While financially stricken Portsmouth is at the bottom of the
standings, Liverpool will be wary after having lost at Fratton Park
in December.
And Portsmouth's players aren't accepting that they are
doomed to relegation, despite facing a nine-point deduction for
entering financial administration - a form of bankruptcy
protection. Had the Premier League board already validated the
penalty, Portsmouth would have been 14 points adrift of Hull.
"Out of the four teams that are down there, we're probably
playing the best football and looking the most threatening,"
Portsmouth midfielder Jamie O'Hara said.
In the title race, Manchester United is two points ahead of
Chelsea but has played an extra game.
Confidence is high at United, which beat AC Milan 4-0 on
Wednesday, and the defending champions host a Fulham side Sunday
that has won only one of its last 14 games on the road. United
manager Alex Ferguson is still worried, however.
"Fulham has been a remarkable story. Roy (Hodgson) has
brought his experience and authority to the club," Ferguson said of
his counterpart. "He has formed a team that no one likes to play
against. They are very well organized and they play with great
discipline. That is down to the manager.
"Two years ago when Roy went there, they were third bottom of
the league. Now they are playing European football. He has turned
the whole club round."
Also in the relegation zone, Hull is hosting third-place
Arsenal and Burnley is playing Wolverhampton, which is only out of
the bottom-three thanks to its superior goal difference. Bolton and
Wigan are also trying to avoid the drop.
Arsenal remains a threat to United's hopes of fourth straight
title, having bounced back from successive losses to Man U and
Chelsea by putting together a run of four successive league
victories to go within two points of the top.
Even without captain Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal went one better
than United in the Champions League this week by routing FC Porto
5-0 as the Gunners reached the quarterfinals.
"The most important thing, that we keep our humility, work
hard for each other and then we have a chance," Arsenal manager
Arsene Wenger said. "In the Premier League every game is as
dangerous. We have to make sure we prepare well for Hull.
"We are where we are because we have shown a strong mental
attitude and a good solidarity within our squad. Let's take care of
that because that is very fragile and goes very quickly."
When second-place Chelsea hosts West Ham, it will be hard for
the Blues not to be distracted by the second leg of its Champions
League meeting with Inter Milan on Tuesday, when it must overturn a
2-1 deficit.
Tottenham is in fourth place going into Saturday's match
against Blackburn, and Manchester City is level on 49 points having
played a game less. City, which has had a two-week break since
claiming a morale-boosting win against Chelsea, is at Sunderland on
Sunday.
"We're right in there and have got a great chance," Spurs
manager Harry Redknapp said. "But Manchester City are the team to
watch out for."
One of them, though, could have to settle with a spot in the
Europa League. Birmingham and Everton are also chasing spots in
Europe's second-tier competition and meet at St. Andrew's on
Saturday, when Aston Villa - the team above them in seventh - plays
at Stoke.
