Defeat to Chelsea after the Wolves disaster could spell the end of Aston Villa\u2019s Champions League hope.<\/p>\n
We also eagerly await Igor Tudor\u2019s next madness after losing to Crystal Palace on Thursday and are very much looking forward to the tiki-taka football we can presumably expect from Arne Slot\u2019s Liverpool after he hit out at the lack of excitement in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Kai Havertz x Viktor Gyokeres could offer Arsenal the attacking boost they need and there\u2019s a promotion six-pointer in the Championship. It\u2019s another Big ol\u2019 Midweek.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Game to watch: Aston Villa v Chelsea<\/p>\n
A 2-0 defeat to Wolves is criminal<\/a><\/strong>; there\u2019s no getting around that. Aston Villa played them at a point in the season in which they are at least a functioning football team \u2013 who had very recently taken points off Arsenal as well as Nottingham Forest \u2013 but a team vying for Champions League football simply cannot be the second team to lose to the rock-bottom side after 28 games. Confidence must be at a record low after that.<\/p>\n Unai Emery and his players have done remarkably well to be where they are now given the well-documented lack of money spent on this squad and the injuries they\u2019ve suffered, which are now very evidently taking their toll. Strip any team of their starting midfield three and they would struggle in a similar manner.<\/p>\n Few would now give Villa much hope of finishing in the top five because of those injuries; lose to Chelsea on Wednesday and it will feel like the nail in the coffin in spite of them currently being six points clear of the Blues.<\/p>\n Villa do though have around a 25 per cent chance of playing against ten men for a healthy portion of the game<\/a><\/strong> to redress the balance and can probably also rely on Robert Sanchez to play his part in setting fire to Chelsea\u2019s Champions League qualification chances.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Premier League winners and losers: Wolves, Tudor, Raya, Pereira, Man City, Newcastle, Manchester United<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Team to watch: Liverpool<\/p>\n We wonder if Arne Slot<\/a><\/strong> would have felt quite so emboldened to question the excitement of the Premier League on the back of his side\u2019s harrowingly awful display in victory over Nottingham Forest rather than after a 5-2 win over West Ham.<\/p>\n Our \u201cfootball hearts\u201d also don\u2019t like the heavy reliance on set-pieces, as displayed to the nth degree in Arsenal\u2019s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday. Like Slot, we see \u201cthe Barcelona team of 10, 15 years ago\u201d as the pinnacle of football.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s a bold move from a manager whose title-winning team frequently took their foot of the gas in games last term and who reverted to a horribly functional and turgid style this season to avoid the sack to insist that \u201cmost of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch\u201d. Have a look in the mirror, mate.<\/p>\n Fortunately for all of us Premier League fans starved of tiki-taka football, Liverpool have a perfect opportunity to showcase their world-class pass-and-move football through a game against Wolves on Tuesday before another game against Wolves in the FA Cup on Friday. The mind boggles at the joy we\u2019re about to experience through Slot\u2019s irrepressible Reds.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Manager to watch: Igor Tudor<\/p>\n Is the institution of Tottenham Hotspur Football Cub\u2019s sole purpose now to provide joy for all but the stakeholders in Tottenham Hotspur football club?<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been doing a fine job of delighting the masses for a while now but for most of that time there was at least something for the Spurs fans to cling to \u2013 they won an actual trophy a little over nine months ago. But in hiring Igor Tudor in the midst of a relegation battle, they\u2019ve arguably taken the bit too far.<\/p>\n In 17 days Tudor\u2019s Tottenham have been battered by an Arsenal side at their lowest ebb, they\u2019ve been entirely outclassed by Fulham and the man himself has questioned the integrity of a Premier League referee<\/a><\/strong>, called a Premier League footballer a \u201ccheat\u201d and insisted his team is \u201clacking\u201d in all areas of the pitch<\/a><\/strong> while wondering if they have the \u201cbrains\u201d to put things right.<\/p>\n He\u2019s \u201camazed\u201d by quite how sh*t Tottenham are, just as we are by his decision to voice that amazement in public before the visit of Crystal Palace on Thursday to the fortress that isn\u2019t the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.<\/p>\n Sacked after three games? Cristian Stellini lasted four and won four points in his first two games.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Player to watch: Kai Havertz<\/p>\n Eberechi Eze was back to his inert self against Chelsea after a second day in the sun this season courtesy of Tottenham and looks more and more like a player for next season if he\u2019s to make a consistent mark for Arsenal at all.<\/p>\n