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Gameweek 28 of the 2017-18 Premier League season could prove pivotal come the end of the campaign as Manchester United host Chelsea after a Saturday packed with relegation battles.
A repeat of last season's 2-0 victory for United at Old Trafford, coupled with Tottenham beating Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, could see the reigning champions end the gameweek outside the top four for the first time since October.
The weekend begins at the King Power Stadium as Stoke City held Leicester on a day where the relegation battle took centre stage as every team bar Crystal Palace from Burnley in seventh down were in action.
Here's the lay of the land ahead of gameweek 28...
EPL Table | Premier League 2017-18 season standings
Pos Team P W D L GD Pts 1 Man City 27 23 3 1 59 72 2 Liverpool 28 16 9 3 33 57 3 Man United 27 17 5 5 32 56 4 Chelsea 27 16 5 6 26 53 5 Tottenham 27 15 7 5 28 52 6 Arsenal 27 13 6 8 15 45 7 Burnley 28 9 10 9 -3 37 8 Leicester 28 9 10 9 -1 36 9 Everton 28 9 7 12 -15 34 10 Watford 28 9 6 13 -9 33 11 Bournemouth 28 8 8 12 -10 32 12 Brighton 28 7 10 11 -10 30 13 West Ham 28 7 9 12 -15 30 14 Huddersfield 28 8 6 14 -23 30 15 Newcastle 28 7 8 12 -11 29 16 Southampton 28 5 12 11 -12 27 17 Crystal Palace 27 6 9 12 -17 27 18 Swansea 28 7 6 15 -20 27 19 Stoke 28 6 8 14 -26 26 20 West Brom 28 3 11 14 -20 20
Gameweek 28 fixtures
Saturday, February 24 Kickoff Coverage TV Leicester City 1 Stoke City 1 12:30pm Sky Sports Bournemouth 2 Newcastle 2 3pm Brighton 4 Swansea City 1 3pm Burnley 1 Southampton 1 3pm Liverpool 4 West Ham 1 3pm LIVE West Brom 1 Huddersfield 2 3pm Watford vs Everton 5.30pm BT Sport Sunday, February 25 Crystal Palace vs Tottenham 12pm LIVE Sky Sports Man United vs Chelsea 2.05pm LIVE Sky Sports Thursday, March 1 Arsenal vs Man City 7.45pm LIVE Sky Sports
Gameweek 27 results
Saturday, February 10 Kickoff Coverage TV Tottenham 1 Arsenal 0 12:30pm Report Everton 3 Crystal Palace 1 3pm Report Stoke 1 Brighton 1 3pm Swansea 1 Burnley 0 3pm West Ham 2 Watford 0 3pm Report Man City 5 Leicester 1 5:30pm Report BT Sport Sunday, February 11 Huddersfield vs Bournemouth 12pm Newcastle 1 Man United 0 2:15pm Report Sky Sports Southampton 0 Liverpool 2 4:30pm Report Sky Sports Monday, February 12 Chelsea 3 West Brom 0 8pm Report Sky Sports
Top scorers
Chelsea Manager, Antonio Conte, has identified 21-year-old Andreas Christensen as future Blues’ captain.
The defender has enjoyed a sensational season for Chelsea, breaking into the side in August and subsequently replacing David Luiz as Conte’s first-choice centre-back.
However, the young center-back was criticised by a number of pundits this week after his mistake cost Chelsea in their Champions League clash with Barcelona.
The Italian manager said he has already put the mistake to the back of his mind, however, and sees a ‘wonderful’ Christensen as an obvious future Chelsea captain.
“Personally I forgot this mistake. When you are a player, you can make a lot of mistakes in your career.
Antonio Conte heaped praises on the Danish defender on Friday, saying, “If I had to talk about all the mistakes I made in my career, we’d have to be here for one day.
“It doesn’t matter. Christensen is having a fantastic season and showing great maturity. For me, apart from the mistake, his performance was great, was wonderful.
“I have a lot of trust in Christensen. This player is a player for the present for Chelsea, and for Chelsea’s future for 10 or 12 years. He can also become the captain of this team in the future.”
Christensen, who joined Chelsea’s academy at the age of 15, will hope to bounce back when the Blues travel to Old Trafford on Sunday.
Manchester United have stepped up their efforts to sign Nice midfielder, Jean Michael Seri, as Paul Pogba has fallen out with manager Jose Mouirnho.
The Mirror reports thats Seri’s box-to-box style is “the type of which Mourinho spoke at length recently when discussing Pogba and what traits the modern-day midfielder must embody.”
Pogba has started from the substitutes’ bench twice in United’s past four matches, as his relationship with Mourinho becomes increasingly strained.
It is understood that if the pair cannot resolve their differences this summer, the 24-year-old could leave Old Trafford for the second time in his career.
Seri, a 26-year-old Ivory Coast international, has a £35million buyout clause and United sent scouts to monitor his play in a Europa League match earlier this month.
On the back of a week they will want to forget and with relegation looming, BBC Sport's Simon Stone asks what has happened at West Brom?
