Premier League Sunday: May 1, 2011

Today’s Premier League matches feature two very early kick-offs between Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers as well as Liverpool against Newcastle, followed by Arsenal versus Manchester United and the finished off with Manchester City against West Ham United. Needless to say, there’s a lot on the line in every match today.

In the early kick-off matches, Liverpool have a chance to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into fifth spot, while Birmingham City and Wolves are both trying to crawl their way out of the relegation zone. Arsenal could make the Premier League title race wide open if they beat United at the Emirates, which would mean that the May 8th game between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford would effectively be the title decider. A win for Chelsea there and they’d be tied on points with United. A win for United against Chelsea and they would just need one point against Blackburn to win the title.

But rather than jump ahead, Arsenal still has to win today which is going to be a tall order based on their recent record against Manchester United and their poor performances of late.

Last but not least, Manchester City will need three points to push forward in their race for Champions League qualification while the Hammers will need three points to try to avoid relegation.

It should be an interesting day to say the least.

Before, during or after the matches today, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section below.