Manchester City lead Premier League Saturday programme as Chelsea and Liverpool face testing fixtures

Premier League leaders Manchester City take centre stage on Saturday as the division’s leading sides face a series of demanding fixtures.

Manchester City welcome Ipswich Town to the Etihad Stadium, with the home side expected to maintain complete concentration despite distractions away from the pitch.

City boss Enzo Maresca has called for his players to answer external pressure with their performances and results.

“We need to learn how to deal with the outside noise,” Maresca stated.

“Because of the situation the noise will always be there. At the same time we need to try to make our own noise. That is to win games… This is the way we can make our noise.”

Liverpool face their own challenge when they travel to Brentford for a meeting at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The match comes fewer than 72 hours after Liverpool secured a Champions League victory against LASK in Austria, leaving the squad with little time to recover before another demanding Premier League contest.

With matches arriving every three days, squad management has become an important issue for Liverpool. Head coach Andoni Iraola indicated that changes to his team would be required as the schedule continues to place heavy physical demands on his players.

“In this period especially, when we are basically playing every three days – almost less than three days – you need more players. We will need to change again at the weekend, we will need to change again when we face Villarreal in another three days. We need everyone, we will need everyone in one moment or the other. Everyone has to be ready because we will need him probably.”

Chelsea travel to Merseyside to play Everton, with the fixture set to provide a physically demanding test for the visitors.

The weekend’s other Premier League fixtures include Newcastle United’s home match against Aston Villa at St James’ Park.

Fulham also host Hull City as the top flight’s leading clubs continue a busy run of matches.