Arsenal gun for Chelsea as EPL action turns hot

London, Jan. 18: Chelsea and Arsenal clash in the Premier League this weekend, with both managers looking nervously over their shoulders at a charging Manchester United as Tottenham adjust to life without the injured Harry Kane.

Arsenal have lost three of their past six Premier League matches to fall six points behind Chelsea in the race for a top-four finish.

Unai Emery’s side are now level on points with sixth-placed Manchester United, who have won all five league matches under the temporary leadership of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Elsewhere, Premier League leaders Liverpool host Crystal Palace, who are 14th on the table.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is gunning for his seventh straight win since he took over as interim manager from the sacked Jose Mourinho and has a clutch of winnable fixtures to look forward to, starting with Brighton on Saturday. Barcelona: Barcelona overturned a first leg defeat to beat Levante in the Copa del Rey on Thursday but could yet be thrown out of the competition after being accused of fielding an ineligible player.

Barca won 3-0 at the Camp Nou, with Lionel Messi setting up two Ousmane Dembele goals and then scoring himself to seal a 4-2 victory on aggregate.

Their place in the quarterfinals, however, is under threat after Levante president Francisco Javier Catalan confirmed shortly before kick-off that the club would lodge a complaint to the Spanish Football Federation on Friday.

Levante claim Barcelona defender Juan Brandariz ‘Chumi’ played illegally in the first leg as he should have been serving a suspension.

Chumi was banned after he received a yellow card playing for Barcelona’s ‘B’ team in the Segunda ‘B’ division.

Barcelona, however, insist a change in the rules in November means the suspension does not carry over into the Copa del Rey.

“There were never any doubts about Chumi, none,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said, adding, “We did everything right. Tomorrow we will be in the draw.” —

Barca back

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