Sinking feeling for Champions League

It may have taken a while - since just after Christmas to be precise. But parity has at long last been restored in terms of the usual suspects at the top of the English Premier League. Which begs the question, can Aston Villa force their way back into the equation?

Until a few weeks ago, Martin O'Neill's team were winning matches and playing with confidence, secure in the belief that unless they lost their way, a first ever Champions League place would be theirs. They didn't bargain for two things: their thin squad buckling under pressure and Arsenal going on a 15-match unbeaten run.

The fact that finishing fourth is no longer in their hands is not lost on O'Neill, who looked a crestfallen man after Villa, not for first time, fell apart at home, this time against an improving Spurs. His team may have pulled up far more trees when on the road, but a trip to Liverpool this weekend is a daunting prospect a week after the Merseysiders' stunning 4-1 demolition of Manchester United that was televised round the world.

Crucial to Villa's hopes at Anfield tomorrow could be the performance of Gareth Barry, the midfield lynchpin Liverpool coveted last summer but who ultimately decided to remain at Villa Park. Barry admits Arsenal hold the upper hand in the race for fourth spot, but is refusing to concede defeat.

The England international has played an integral role in Villa's pursuit of a Champions League place this season but has been able to do nothing about a seven-game winless streak, last weekend's 2-1 defeat by Tottenham only prolonging their agony.

Villa now have nine games in which to overhaul the Gunners, with Barry well aware that forthcoming fixtures against both Rafa Benitez's team and Manchester United have taken on added importance. "Liverpool is set up for a big game personally and for the team," said Barry. "It is now advantage to Arsenal but if we deliver a performance of the season in either of our next two games, it could catapult us to a good finish."

With Liverpool themselves needing to win virtually every remaining game to stand a chance of overhauling United, Sunday's Anfield fixture is the highlight of the weekend. Although Benitez's team are still four points adrift, one straw the Liverpool boss can clutch at is that in inflicting upon United their first league defeat since November, Liverpool have proved Alex Ferguson's team are human.

"We have shown the way," said Benitez. "United have been playing with so much confidence. At least people will now see that they can lose. The message is there for everyone. In attack they are fantastic. You can see the quality they have. But in defence they have some weaknesses and we tried to exploit them."

Whether mid-table Fulham can expose them too is a very different proposition. United have already thrashed Roy Hodgson's team twice, once in the league and once in the Cup, and the Londoners are in the unenviable position of taking on a wounded team that isn't used to losing and could make Fulham pay as a result.

Everywhere you look, there are intriguing games this weekend, none more than at St. James Park where Newcastle, despite their status as one of the most fanatically followed clubs in the world, still look vulnerable. The Magpies are outside the bottom three merely on goal difference and must pick up something from today's home game with Arsenal. But so must the Gunners for whom failure to reach the Champions League would be unthinkable.

Then there is the small matter of the London derby between Spurs and Chelsea, the latter ahead of Liverpool in second place on goal difference and determined not to give ground. Harry Redknapp's Tottenham, now safely out of trouble and on a seven-game unbeaten run, are bound to have a real go at their aristocratic visitors. Chelsea traditionally have the Indian sign over Spurs but since Redknapp took charge the north London side have not lost to any of the so-called "big four'"which makes for a hugely anticipated occasion.

At the bottom, with West Brom all but gone, Middlesbrough are the team in most danger with visitors Stoke two points better off. It's a must-not-lose game for the pair of them but especially for Boro for whom defeat will surely force a creaking trapdoor to burst open.

-The author is a football expert based in England