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LONDON. — Liverpool visit Norwich City this weekend, determined to maintain focus on the task in hand despite growing national excitement about their bid to be crowned English Premier League soccer champions.
Last weekend’s pulsating 3-2 defeat of title rivals Manchester City left Brendan Rodgers’ side two points above Chelsea at the summit and needing four wins to guarantee a first league title since 1990.

It was Liverpool’s 10th successive win and the thrilling nature of their late-season burst, coupled with the emotion generated by the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, has seen them cast as the neutrals’ favourites.

While a potential title decider at home to Chelsea awaits on April 27, the first obstacle that Steven Gerrard and his team-mates must overcome is tomorrow’s trip to Carrow Road.

Following the win over City, Gerrard was emphatic in his insistence that Liverpool must not underestimate Norwich, but their recent record against Paul Lambert’s men augurs well.

Liverpool have scored 18 times in the last four meetings between the teams, with Luis Suarez helping himself to four goals in a 5-1 win when the teams last met in December.
Norwich are in desperate need of points, however, as they are only two points above the relegation places and play Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in their final three fixtures.

While Suarez is aware of the clamour to see Liverpool return to the summit of the English game after 24 years, he says that his team-mates cannot afford to be distracted by speculation about the destination of the title.

“It’s normal for the supporters to get excited and be discussing our chances,” he told the Liverpool website.

“When I’m out shopping or out with my family, I bump into fans who mention it to me. I’ve told them to stay calm and not to worry. We’ll be trying our best.

“For the players it’s probably best if we don’t get involved in that kind of talk. Winning the title would be very special, but we can’t think about that yet. For us it’s always about the next game.”

Chelsea have an opportunity to emphasise just how far Liverpool still have to go as they can move to the top of the table with victory at home to bottom club Sunderland today.

After two defeats in three games, Chelsea have got back on track with successive wins over Stoke City and Swansea City, but they will be wary of a team who held Manchester City to a shock 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

City, who now trail Liverpool by six points but retain a game in hand, host fifth-bottom West Bromwich Albion in the Monday night game.

Like City, Everton suffered a mid-week setback when they lost 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace, which enabled Arsenal to preserve their hold on fourth place, one point above Roberto Martinez’s side.

Arsenal visit Hull City tomorrow in a dress rehearsal for next month’s FA Cup final, with Everton welcoming Manchester United to Goodison Park later the same day.

United’s own Champions League hopes have been all but extinguished as they lie 10 points below the top four, but manager David Moyes will be desperate to avoid embarrassment on his return to his former club.

“We’ve not lost so many games in the last months, so there is no reason for us to feel deflated,” said Everton left-back Leighton Baines.

“We were on a run of good wins. To lose one game doesn’t take anything away from the way we’ve been playing and we’ve just got to get back on track as quickly as possible.”

At the other end of the table, third-bottom Fulham can provisionally climb out of the relegation zone at Norwich’s expense if they win at Tottenham Hotspur today.

“I think we have very important games at the moment and if it works like the last two, it will be OK,” said Fulham manager Felix Magath, whose side have won their last two matches.

“Everybody has a chance. We can go to Tottenham and try to win.”

Meanwhile, Everton manager Roberto Martinez says David Moyes should expect a warm welcome when he returns to Goodison Park with Manchester United tomorrow.

Moyes was in charge of the Toffees for 11 years before departing to replace Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford last summer, with Martinez succeeding him on Merseyside.

And the extent to which Moyes has endured a difficult first season with the champions is underlined by the fact that his team come into the weekend in seventh place in the Premier League table, while Everton have blossomed under Martinez and are fifth, chasing Champions League qualification.

It is a huge game for the Blues after their top-four ambitions were hit by a 3-2 defeat against Crystal Palace on Wednesday but doing the double over United would be the perfect way to respond.

In December, Everton beat United at Old Trafford for the first time since 1992 and now they are bidding to win both league games against the Red Devils for the first time since 1969 /70.

“Facing the champions is a big enough reason to be excited and to make sure we’ve got the best possible environment at Goodison,” said Martinez at a press conference yesterday.

Fixtures (4pm unless otherwise stated)
Today: Aston Villa v Southampton, Cardiff City v Stoke City, Chelsea v Sunderland (6:30pm), Newcastle United v Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham (1:45pm), West Ham United v Crystal Palace

Tomorrow: Everton v Manchester United (5:10pm), Hull City v Arsenal (3:05pm), Norwich City v Liverpool (1pm)
Monday: Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion (9pm)