Premier League preview: Manchester United meet Liverpool and Tottenham face Arsenal

Liverpool's trip to Manchester United and the north London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal dominate what promises to be another pivotal weekend in the Premier League title race, with both games live on Sky Sports 1HD.

Manchester City followed Arsenal in exiting the Champions League this week, with the title hopefuls suffering a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday night. A Saturday lunchtime meeting with Hull City at the KC Stadium offers little recovery time to Pellegrini's squad, who are facing up to another spell without talismanic striker Sergio Aguero after his latest injury setback. City's title prospects remain in their own hands, as they have nine points to make up on leaders Chelsea with three games in hand and a superior goal difference, but the advantage is surely with Jose Mourinho's men. Hull have a Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United on the horizon, but must focus for now on guaranteeing their top-flight status for another season, as Steve Bruce's men sit five points above the bottom three. Chelsea take on Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports 1HD, later on Saturday with the Blues having the distinct advantage of knowing how their key title rivals have fared. The Blues' imperious Premier League form - 11 wins and three draws from their last 14 games - suggests that Mourinho's self-styled 'little horse' would be equally comfortable running in the Cheltenham Festival. The Portuguese coach must juggle domestic demands with their impending Champions League clash with Galatasaray, with the Turkish club to be tackled at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening. Villa climbed to 11th on the back of their 4-1 success over Norwich last time out, but the packed nature of the bottom half of the table means they are closer to Fulham in 20th than they are to ninth-placed Southampton. Sunderland and Crystal Palace are two of the teams battling to preserve their Premier League status ahead of Saturday's pivotal Stadium of Light meeting. The Black Cats, who earned huge praise for the manner of their defeat by Manchester City in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley, demonstrated their inconsistency just seven days later with a limp FA Cup exit against Hull City when a trip to the iconic stadium was once again within touching distance. Gus Poyet's side find themselves back in the bottom three after cup distractions, one point from safety but with two or three games in hand on their relegation rivals. Palace have a two-point cushion on the bottom three but have been in miserable form on the road this term, with 10 defeats suffered in their 13 fixtures away from Selhurst Park and only six goals scored. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew's seven-game suspension, of which the first three see him banned from the stadium, commences at Craven Cottage in Saturday's clash against struggling Fulham. One positive for Pardew is that the Magpies are comfortably in the top half of the Premier League heading into the final 10 matches, with assistant John Carver tasked with guiding the side in his absence. Opposite number Felix Magath has significantly greater concerns, with Fulham four points from safety with only nine games remaining. The Cottagers' last Premier League win came on January 1 against West Ham, with the following nine games seeing them suffer a demoralising seven defeats, and leading to Magath's appointment in place of Rene Meulensteen last month. Cardiff's hopes of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship were given a significant lift by their home win against Fulham last time out. They head to Everton