Chelsea bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League with a 3-1 win as Liverpool suffered a Premier League title hangover at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Premier League having an extra spot in next season's Champions League might ordinarily have given the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea a little more leeway, but the reality is five clubs are chasing three places.
Chelsea climbed back into contention for next season's Champions League with a 1-0 home win over Everton in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a fine first-half strike by Nicolas Jackson.
Chelsea forward Cole Palmer's 16-game goal drought is due to a mental issue rather than a tactical or technical one, manager Enzo Maresca has said.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he would bet on Kai Havertz returning before the end of the season as his recovery from a hamstring injury is ahead of schedule.
Chelsea climbed to fourth place in the Premier League as Enzo Fernandez sealed a 1-0 win that piled pressure on beleaguered Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on Thursday.
Merino scored in the 20th minute when he stooped to flick his looping header over Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal after a Martin Odegaard corner.
Chelsea returned to the top four of the Premier League on Sunday but made heavy weather of their 1-0 victory over struggling Leicester City, squeezing through with a 60th-minute goal from Spain defender Marc Cucurella.
Maresca's side got back on track after three successive defeats with a dominant display at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea's win, which came after two draws, lifts them to 22 points -- one behind City and three clear of fourth-placed Arsenal ahead of the later kick-offs on Saturday.
Five of the 10 top-flight games in England last weekend saw the result change in stoppage time, including Brentford's 4-3 win over Ipswich and West Ham's 2-1 defeat of Manchester United -- Erik ten Hag's last match as boss of the Red Devils.
Faced with feuding owners, a bloated squad and intense pressure to drag Chelsea out of their malaise, Enzo Maresca has defied expectations by restoring order at chaotic Stamford Bridge.
England winger Madueke hauled Chelsea level but the hosts couldn't find a winner despite their numerical advantage in the closing stages.
Rodri's absence could mean a more prominent role for Matheus Nunes and the Portugal international blasted in his first goal since joining City for £53 million a year ago.
Chelsea, who won 1-0 at Bournemouth last Saturday, moved into second place in the Premier League table ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures. West Ham, under new coach Julen Lopetegui, are 14th.
New United States national team coach Mauricio Pochettino says his squad need to set themselves the highest goal possible -- to win the World Cup.
Chelsea's Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson signed a two-year contract extension on Friday that will keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2033.
No sooner had another turbulent transfer window for Chelsea shut than reports emerged of a power struggle between chairman Todd Boehly and majority shareholder Behdad Eghbali.
Enzo Maresca's Chelsea have won only once in the first three league games of the Italian's reign after a chaotic close-season.
