Man City, Liverpool renew EPL race

LONDON, (AP):

The English Premier League (EPL) title race continues today with leaders Manchester City and second-place Liverpool playing what could be tricky away matches.

Liverpool visit mid-table Newcastle in the early game (6:30 a.m. Jamaica time) with the hosts riding a four-match winning streak. Jurgen Klopp’s team trail City by one point with five league games remaining.

City travel to Leeds in the evening to face a team that is unbeaten in their last five games. Jesse Marsch’s Leeds are five points above third-from-bottom Everton. Burnley are just outside the relegation zone and will go for three wins in a row when they visit struggling Watford. Aston Villa host last-place Norwich, Brighton are at Wolverhampton, and Southampton welcome Crystal Palace.

In Spain, Real Madrid can clinch their second La Liga title in three seasons with a home draw against Espanyol at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Madrid need a point from their last five matches to secure a record-extending 35th league title. Thanks to their big lead, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti may rest some regular starters ahead of next week’s second leg against Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals. Madrid lost the first leg 4-3.

Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior are among those expected to miss Madrid’s possible title decider. Villarreal, who lost at Liverpool 2-0 in the first leg of the other Champions League semi-final, visits last-place Alavés to try to stay close to the European qualification places. Fourth-place Atlético Madrid play at Athletic Bilbao.

ITALY

In Italy, Napoli will be hoping to recover their form at home to Sassuolo and salvage something from a season that promised so much. Napoli were battling with the Milan clubs for the Serie A but a run of two defeats and a draw have seen them slip seven points below league leaders AC Milan. Napoli were leading 2-0 in their last game before three goals in the final 10 minutes saw Empoli win 3-2. That result left them just a point ahead of fourth-place Juventus. There is also a relegation battle as Sampdoria host Genoa. Sampdoria are only five points above the drop zone, while Genoa are three points below 17th-place Cagliari, who entertain Hellas Verona. Lazio need a win at lowly Spezia to boost their chances of qualifying for Europe.

Though Bayern Munich have the title again in Germany, the Bundesliga’s relegation scrap and the race for European qualification are still providing excitement with three rounds remaining. Hertha Berlin visit Arminia Bielefeld for a relegation duel, with the home team desperate for a win to avoid joining already relegated Greuther Fürth in the second division. Bielefeld are second to last and already four points behind Hertha, but they could potentially move above Stuttgart into the relegation play-off place, if Stuttgart lose to Wolfsburg at the same time.