LONDON: If Sunday’s clash does indeed turn out to be the last north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur’s historic White Hart Lane stadium, the stakes could hardly be higher for the protagonists.

Tottenham, who are expected to announce this week that they will definitely move to Wembley next season while their new stadium is completed, will finish above Arsenal for the first time in 22 years with victory over Arsene Wenger’s Gunners.

Mauricio Pochettino’s vibrant young side have grander ambitions though, and first and foremost in their minds will be keeping alive their hopes of a first English league title since the club’s glory days in 1961.

Should Chelsea fail to win at Everton in Sunday’s earlier match, Tottenham could conceivably be top of the table before Chelsea play again if they beat Arsenal and follow that with victory at West Ham United next Friday.

While Arsenal would dearly love to scupper Tottenham’s title bid, they too have more pressing concerns, as they are in a scrap to make the top four and qualify for the Champions League after sinking to sixth place, 14 points behind second-placed Tottenham, five behind fourth-placed Manchester City and four behind Manchester United.

Liverpool, currently third, could find the table much changed by the time they kick off at Watford on Monday.

RELEGATION FIGHT

Sunderland are clinging onto their Premier League status going into Saturday’s game against Bournemouth. They are 12 points adrift with five games remaining.

Middlesbrough beat their northeast rivals on Wednesday and are six points better off but on Sunday they host a Manchester City side trying to lock down a top-four finish.

Swansea City’s collapse in recent weeks has sent the south Wales side back into the bottom three. They travel to Manchester United on Sunday two points from safety.

Hull City, just above the relegation zone, have earned 19 points out of 21 at home since manager Marco Silva was hired but they now face a potentially awkward trip to Southampton.

Reigning champions Leicester City have stumbled lately under Craig Shakespeare but a win at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday would all but guarantee their Premier League future following a 1-0 loss to Arsenal in midweek.

Fixtures (1400 GMT unless stated):

Saturday: Crystal Palace v Burnley (1630), Southampton v Hull City, Stoke City v West Ham United, Sunderland v Bournemouth, West Bromwich Albion v Leicester City.

Sunday: Everton v Chelsea (1305), Manchester United v Swansea City (1100), Middlesbrough v Manchester City (1305), Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal (1530).

Monday: Watford v Liverpool (1900).

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017