LONDON, April 24 (silubaba) -- A potentially decisive week in the Premier league kicks off on Tuesday night.
Although most attention will be focused on league leaders Arsenal's visit to play Manchester City in the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, Tuesday has three games that will have a lot to say about who plays in Europe next season and who plies their trade in the Championship League.
Aston Villa's five-game winning run ended with a 1-1 draw away to Brentford at the weekend, and allowed Liverpool to close to within just a point of Unai Emery's side.
Villa can get back to winning ways and move above Tottenham into fifth place with a home game against Fulham, who has won their last two matches. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez should have recovered from the stomach bug which saw him forced off at the break in south London.
Wolverhampton's apparent march to safety came to a halt with a 2-1 defeat away to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon, but Julen Lopetegui's side has another chance to all but secure their top-flight future when Crystal Palace is the visitors.
Palace has 10 points from 12 since Roy Hodgson returned as coach and another win would take them to 40 points, all but guaranteeing Premier League football next season. A draw might not be a bad result for either team.
But a draw would be disastrous in Tuesday's third match which sees 16th-placed Leeds United at home to Leicester City, who is a point and a place below them.
Leicester's 2-1 win at home to Wolverhampton on Saturday ended a four-game losing streak and lifted them out of the relegation zone, while Leeds' 2-1 defeat was their third consecutive loss in a run of results that has seen them concede 13 goals.
It's obvious that Leeds needs to tighten up in defense, and with games against Manchester City and Newcastle United just around the corner, failure to win could spell disaster for Javi Gracia's side. ■
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