Arsenal face acid test at Chelsea, Son-less Spurs take aim at Liverpool

Arsenal face a stiff test of their Premier League title credentials when they travel to Chelsea on Sunday, while Liverpool desperately need to win at Tottenham to claw back ground on the top four.

With just two league games left before a mid-season shutdown for the World Cup, Arsenal are surprise leaders, two points ahead of defending champions Manchester City.

City will expect to go top on Saturday when they host Fulham at the Etihad, aiming to crank up the pressure on Arsenal for their game at Stamford Bridge the following day.

Chelsea are 10 points off the top after a three-game winless run in the league and cannot afford to drop more points if they are to have any hope of challenging for the title.

Graham Potter suffered his first defeat as Chelsea boss in a 4-1 humbling on his return to Brighton last weekend.

"We've just had an incredibly challenging October," the new manager said after Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.

"We were in a situation where had to get results, we lost key players in terms of Wesley Fofana and Reece James and there's always a little bit of stability that's affected when that happens.

"It's not always straightforward to find the right solutions, but we've had one defeat in 11 games."

There was relief for Arsenal and England when it was revealed that Bukayo Saka has shrugged off an ankle injury he suffered in a 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend, which sparked fears for his World Cup chances.

But Chelsea will be without left-back Ben Chilwell, who pulled up late in Wednesday's match with a hamstring injury that will almost certainly rule him out of the tournament in Qatar.

Spurs shorn of Son

In keeping with their season so far, Tottenham needed a second-half fightback