Newcastle Face Chelsea in Top Five Showdown, Alexander-Arnold in Spotlight

Newcastle and Chelsea meet in a crucial clash in the race to qualify for the Champions League on Sunday.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's reception from Liverpool fans will be closely watched after his decision to quit the Premier League champions.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the weekend's action:

Newcastle aims to seize top five chance

Newcastle, sitting fourth, face fifth-placed Chelsea at St James' Park in a match with huge ramifications in the fight for top five places.

Eddie Howe's team are above Chelsea on goals scored and victory on Sunday would be a massive boost in their bid to reach the Champions League for a second time in three seasons.

With two matches left for both teams after this weekend, Newcastle will be within touching distance of qualification if they win, while Chelsea would be left hoping that sixth-placed Nottingham Forest, currently two points behind the Blues, slip up against lowly Leicester.

After the Chelsea showdown, Newcastle travel to second-placed Arsenal and host Everton in their final two games.

"I've said many times, I think that's all you can ask for: that it's in your hands and you're not reliant on other teams and looking elsewhere," Howe said.

"We know what we need to do. We've got three really tough games. They're not going to be easy, but they're games to relish and enjoy."

Alexander-Arnold in Anfield spotlight

Trent Alexander-Arnold could face a mixed reception from Liverpool fans if he features in Sunday's game against Arsenal at Anfield.

It will be the champions' first match since Alexander-Arnold confirmed on Monday that he plans to leave Liverpool when his contract expires in June.

The England right-back had been widely expected to announce his exit after months of speculation over a likely move to Real Madrid.

As a Liverpool-born graduate of the club's youth academy, Alexander-Arnold had been a firm favorite of Reds supporters, who often chanted "the Scouser in our team" about him.

Alexander-Arnold said opting to leave Liverpool was "easily the hardest decision" he had made in his life.

But former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes the move will change how Alexander-Arnold is seen in the eye of the fanbase, with the potential for jeers if he plays in any of the club's three remaining matches this season.

"Players are loved even more when they genuinely mean it when they say they do not want to play for anyone else," Carragher said.

"If that image of the home-grown talent living the dream is an illusion, people feel let down.

"The unconditional support Alexander-Arnold enjoyed from the Kop when he was fully committed to Liverpool has gone."

Saints must go down with 'dignity’

Southampton interim manager Simon Rusk has urged his relegated side to end the season with as much "dignity" as they can muster.

Bottom of the table Southampton have just 11 points and still need one more from their last three matches to avoid matching the worst ever Premier League total, set by Derby in 2007-08.

That could be tricky for Rusk's team, with Manchester City visiting St Mary's on Saturday as they chase a place in the Champions League.

After that, Southampton face Everton in the last competitive fixture at Goodison Park before hosting second-placed Arsenal.

Even if Saints, beaten at second-bottom Leicester last weekend, are unable to avoid an unwanted share of the ignominious record low points total, Rusk wants them to go down with pride.

"It's important we don't move in to fear territory in these games and instead we put our best foot forward," he said.

"We want to finish the season on a high and build momentum. It's a chance to end the season with as much dignity as possible."

Holder Iga Swiatek crashed out of the Italian Open to American Danielle Collins after a 6-1 7-5 third-round loss on Saturday in a major upset that will cost the Pole the world number two ranking as the defense of her French Open title looms.

Swiatek held a commanding 7-1 head-to-head record against Collins before the contest and yet another early defeat does not bode well for the 23-year-old, who has not won a tournament since her fourth triumph at Roland Garros last year.

"I played against Iga so many times ... When you play that many close matches and get this close and also play some of your best tennis and lose, I think you learn a lot," Collins, 31, said. "I feel like I applied that today, to the match."

Five-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek went 5-0 down in the opening set before getting on the board to avoid a bagel.

Collins was lethal from the baseline, mixing it up with forehand and backhand service return winners as she picked apart Swiatek's serve in an opening set that was one-way traffic.

The second was level at 4-4 as Swiatek showed flashes of brilliance, but 31-year-old 2022 Australian Open runner-up Collins showed no mercy, sealing victory in one hour and 44 minutes when a return went wide.

Collins fired 32 winners and converted six of eight break points while Swiatek, who had won the tournament three times in the last four years, made 22 unforced errors.

Swiatek has lost nine matches this year - as many as in all of 2024 - while she has not reached a claycourt final ahead of her bid to retain the French Open title later this month.

Newcastle Face Chelsea in Top Five Showdown, Alexander-Arnold in Spotlight