MANCHESTER, England, March 19 (Reuters) - With league-leaders Arsenal and second-placed Manchester City occupied by Sunday's League Cup final, this Premier League weekend turns the spotlight onto the relegation scramble and a congested top-four race.
Arsenal sit top on 70 points, followed by Manchester City (61) and Manchester United (54). Chasing the remaining Champions League position are Aston Villa (51), Liverpool (49), Chelsea (48) and Brentford (45).
Lower down, the relegation picture remains volatile. Burnley, with 20 points, and Wolves (17) anchor the table, while Nottingham Forest (29), West Ham United (29), Tottenham Hotspur (30) and Leeds United (32) remain perilously close to the drop.
Manchester United travel south to Bournemouth riding strong momentum after climbing to third while the home side are 13 points behind them in 10th.
Michael Carrick has made a case for removing the "interim" in his Man United managerial title, delivering 22 points from a possible 27 since taking charge after Ruben Amorim's early-January sacking.
"It's a tough game, it is a tough place to go, they're on a really good run of form," Carrick said of Bournemouth, who have not lost since January 3.
"We're obviously going down there, we've had a good run and the boys are in good shape, but it's always a difficult game, always has been and probably always will be."
Reigning champions Liverpool head to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday sitting fifth on 49 points, two points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, and hoping to close in on a Champions League place.
Liverpool will hope they can carry momentum from Wednesday's 4-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray, for a 4-1 aggregate win, into the match.
Leeds, who host Brentford on Saturday, are 15th on 32 points, three above the drop zone, with their poor goal difference (-11) keeping them vulnerable in the relegation battle.
On Sunday, Spurs host Nottingham Forest in a high-stakes encounter.
Tottenham are in 16th place on 30 points, one above the relegation zone. They have endured a lengthy winless run with their last league victory coming on December 28.
Forest, one point behind Spurs on 29 points, are equally imperilled. Defeat for either side could drag them into the bottom three by the end of the weekend.
At the same time on Sunday, West Ham United travel to Aston Villa. The hosts hold fourth place with 51 points, two ahead of Liverpool, but their form has dipped with losses in their last three games and only two wins from their last 10.
West Ham are 18th on 29 points and urgently need results to avoid dropping out of the top flight for the first time since 2011.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing)
