Liverpool host struggling Saints, Forest v City in Champions League chase

Liverpool are near certainties to win the Premier League title but behind them the battle for Champions League places is intensifying.

Just six points separate faltering Nottingham Forest in third place from Aston Villa in 10th, with a top-five finish almost certain to secure a place in Europe’s top club competition next season.

Second-placed Arsenal are 13 points behind Liverpool but with a cushion over the chasing pack and will be keen to pile more misery on Manchester United after hammering PSV Eindhoven 7-1 on Tuesday.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the weekend’s action:

Liverpool’s perfect visitors

Arne Slot openly admitted only fortune and the performance of goalkeeper Alisson Becker’s life had saved his side in a smash-and-grab 1-0 Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

With the return leg of the last-16 tie against the French champions to come at Anfield on Tuesday, Slot could not have hand picked a more accommodating fixture this weekend to lighten the load.

Bottom-placed Southampton travel to Merseyside with just nine points from 27 games.

So desperate is Saints’ position that their target is to avoid beating Derby’s unwanted record of 11 points — the lowest tally in Premier League history.

Slot will most likely rotate his side, especially after strong performances off the bench in Paris from Wataru Endo, Darwin Nunez and match-winner Harvey Elliott.

Man City face Forest crunch

Manchester City have been reduced to battling for a place in next season’s Champions League after a dismal campaign, and even that usually routine target is far from assured for Pep Guardiola’s men.

With six titles in the past seven seasons, City have rarely had to worry about their place in the Champions League