Ahead of the weekend: City rivals seek redemption, what is wrong with Spurs?

Weekend football preview: Manchester derby, Arsenal's title chase, Wolves' struggles, & Spurs' top-four hopes clash with Southampton's survival fight.

It's probably the best time for Manchester United to play against their city rivals but the uncertainties in the United camp makes them the right opponent for City to engage for confidence restoration. (Photo Credit: ESPN)

The two Manchester clubs continue to flounder in different forms, with Manchester United struggling to overcome Bulgarian side Victoria Plzen on Thursday.

The two sides meet on Sunday at the Etihad, with Manchester City bleeding from yet another defeat—their eighth in eleven games over the past two months. Will Pep Guardiola find joy against his city rivals on Sunday in front of his agitated home crowd?

There’s so much to unpack from this particular game: the Red Devils lost at home to Nottingham Forest last weekend before rallying late to get past Victoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday night. It’s a game of two struggling sides.

Arsenal needs to defeat Everton this weekend to avoid losing the title race too soon. They had the chance to close the gap between them and Liverpool last weekend, but just a bit of margin ruined their script as the offside trap went up against Bukayo Saka late on.

Everton is in a relatively good position; they were in a good mood last weekend and were looking forward to the Merseyside derby, but a fierce wind stepped in and halted proceedings at Goodison Park. Will the momentum be in place when they visit the Gunners?

Another key battle this weekend will be the one at the Molineux. On Monday, Wolves suffered a defeat against West Ham, which was expected to be the final blow for Gary O'Neil. If he fails to defeat Ipswich Town on Saturday, it's likely that he won't make it.

The Tractor Boys' situation has deteriorated, and even though Kieran Mckenna is not under pressure in the dugout, he understands that Ipswich's top-flight status will remain in jeopardy until they begin to string together results.

One final fixture to pay attention to this I weekend is the one at St. Mary’s between Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. These two teams are facing challenges in different areas. Currently, Tottenham is completely out of the title race, and their hopes of finishing in the top four are in jeopardy.

Southampton is largely responsible for their own problems; they consistently play out from the back, handing the ball to opponents who rarely fail to punish them.

Can Ange Postecoglou's players regain their composure and resume their winning ways in the league?