Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

The biggest change by Big Sam so far today has come in goal - with Ilian Meslier dropped, Joel Robles was out early to warm up for what will be his Premier League debut for Leeds, and only his third game of the season in any competition.

The 32-year-old Spaniard's last Premier League appearance came almost six years ago, for Everton against Arsenal when they lost 3-1 at Emirates.

But he has faced Pep Guardiola's City before, and kept a clean sheet against them too, when he played for Everton in their 4-0 win at Goodison Park in January 2017.

Mike Taylor, BBC Radio WM

Things could be worse.

Ten years ago tomorrow, Wolves lost at Brighton and were relegated to League One. If you had been told then, that Wolves would get to Europe first, you would have guessed that the team bus must have turned the wrong way when they got to the Pier.

But, outside the gilded few, clubs in English football rise and fall, better times come if you hang around long enough. Had Wolves not crash-landed in the third tier that day in 2013, perhaps Kenny Jackett would not have come to straighten things out, perhaps Fosun would not have chosen Wolves, perhaps there would have been no Nuno Espirito Santo, no Ruben Neves, no Europa League and no Julen Lopetegui.

So, some perspective. It is not time to overreact. Last weekend, Bournemouth floored Leeds, Leicester and Everton tripped each other up, and everyone else below Wolves lost. You have to eat quite a lot of cheese before bedtime to imagine Wolves relegated so it will not, in that sense, be such a costly defeat, although the supporters who travelled to watch might disagree.

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For this week's Premier League predictions, Chris Sutton faces Carnival Row star and Everton fan Andrew Gower.

Image source, BBC Sport

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Tuesday's defeat at Arsenal made it 'six of the worst' for Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, who has lost all of his games since being appointed caretaker manager.

The players have to take some responsibility but nothing has gone right for Lampard. He felt his side were better in the second half at Emirates Stadium, but the game was over by then - and now Chelsea just want the season to end.

Things won't get any easier for them against Bournemouth, who are a well-organised team containing several individuals who have really enhanced their reputation over the past few months.

For example, Dominic Solanke got 29 goals in the Championship last season and now he has shown he has got all the attributes he needs to thrive in the Premier League too. He always had decent pace but he leads the line so well now, holding the ball up and linking up with others - he has been first class.

So, I don't think Lampard will get his first win, but I can see him picking up a point. That prediction is based more on the level and experience of the players Chelsea have got, rather than their recent performances. They surely cannot lose seven in a row... or can they?

Gower's prediction: Bournemouth have to be favourites here. What a job Gary O'Neil has done. 2-1

Find out what Sutton and Gower predicted for the rest of the weekend's games and cast your vote

Mark Mitchener
BBC Sport

After a 4-0 hammering by West Ham where they were under scrutiny at both ends of the field, Bournemouth can draw breath after edging Southampton by a single goal and thumping Leeds at home to leave them anticipating another season in the Premier League.

While the champagne corks may not be popping until the Cherries are mathematically safe, survival could be rubber-stamped as early as this weekend as Chelsea visit Vitality Stadium with boss Frank Lampard looking to avoid a seventh successive defeat.

There have been heroes all over the pitch, but one player that epitomises the resurgence which has brought five wins from seven games during April, is the unheralded Ryan Christie.

Signed from Celtic in the summer of 2021, the Scotland international was a regular in last season’s Championship promotion campaign but, while he has been named in every matchday squad this season, he was substituted in all but one of his first 10 starts and only started three league games between the end of October and the beginning of April.

However, Christie has now started the last six games and, despite the busy schedule, he has completed the 90 minutes in three – with his energetic displays from his attacking midfield role absolutely crucial to getting his side over the line.

Boss Gary O’Neil told BBC Radio Solent after the Leeds game: “I was convinced I’d have to take Ryan off today - I was thinking, ‘There’s no way he’s doing that again for 90 minutes’, but every time I looked at him, I thought, ‘I can’t take you off!’”

Reports in Scotland suggest that if Bournemouth stay up, Celtic are due another bonus payment as part of the deal struck to bring Christie south – but the Cherries will consider it money well spent.

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Bournemouth manager Gary O'Neil has heaped praise on midfielder James Tavernier and striker Dominic Solanke after the pair were nominated for Premier League Goal of the Month and Player of the Month respectively.

The Englishman himself has been nominated for Manager of the Month after overseeing five wins from seven games in April that have helped give the Cherries a nine-point cushion above the relegation zone.

“I was more pleased for Tav and Dom really," said O'Neil.

"I think Dom’s put in so much work this year, and some of it has been fairly thankless.

“Earlier in the season, he was working his socks off and wasn’t getting too much reward. I was aware of the good work but maybe from outside, people wouldn’t have been as much.

“So, for Dom to get some recognition for the work he’s put in over the whole season, but for it to come to light in April, is fantastic.”

Tavernier's stunning strike in the 2-1 win against Fulham has been nominated for Goal of the Month and O'Neil believes it is just reward for his recent contributions.

“I’m delighted for Tav because his impact on the points tally has been huge for a guy that’s moved up to the Premier League for the first time," he said.

“He’s still very young and had a real tough season injury-wise, too, but that goal against Fulham was huge, it was a massive goal.

“For Tav and Dom to both be recognised and be up for awards this month is a credit to them and shows the direction the club has moved in recently.”

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• Chelsea have lost their past six games. Their club record of consecutive defeats is seven, which they've had twice - in 1952-53 and 1960-61.
• Bournemouth have won four of their 11 Premier League meetings with Chelsea (D1 L6), though three of those victories have come away from home.
• Cherries forward Dominic Solanke has been involved in six goals in his past seven Premier League games (three goals, three assists), just one fewer than in his first 22 appearances in 2022-23.

Image source, Getty Images

If you'd told Chelsea fans at the start of 2022-23 that with five games of their season remaining they would be facing Bournemouth at home to try and stop the Cherries overtaking them in the table, they would likely have laughed in your face.

Yet here we are.

The Blues remain without a win since Frank Lampard succeeded Graham Potter as manager in an interim capacity. They've lost the last six in all competitions.

Another defeat today and they could drop as low as 14th in the table. They're still not mathematically safe from relegation (although that is highly unlikely to happen). All this despite spending around £600m in recent transfer windows.

It would be fair to say things have not gone to plan.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

To say this completes a shift in style and emphasis is an extreme understatement, but desperate clubs take desperate measures and Leeds are very desperate as they career towards the Championship after a spell which included shipping 11 goals in two home games to Crystal Palace and Liverpool culminated in an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth.

Javi Gracia won only three of his 11 league games in charge and Sam Allardyce's appointment, with Leeds only outside the relegation places on goal difference, is one final throw of the dice to maintain their top-flight status.

Quite how Leeds fans take the leap from Marcelo Bielsa's glorious 'football as entertainment' philosophy, an idealistic but sometimes flawed approach they accepted warts and all, to Allardyce's style based on defensive organisation and fiercely drilled discipline remains to be seen.

The brutal truth, for Leeds and their fans, is that beggars cannot be choosers and even if they dislike the taste of the medicine Allardyce will deliver, they will accept it gratefully if it cures their relegation ills.

For Allardyce, it represented an undoubtedly lucrative 'win-win'.

Keep Leeds up and he will be hailed as a miracle-working hero.

If Leeds go down, he will not be blamed after inheriting a team seemingly in terminal decline with only four games to save them.

Read Phil's full piece over here

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

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The first target for Big Sam today is to do better than when Leeds were last here, in December 2021, and lost 7-0. Marcelo Bielsa was their manager that day and they were 3-0 down after 32 minutes.

He also needs to do improve on the last time he faced City himself, as West Brom boss in January 2021. The Baggies were beaten 5-0 at The Hawthorns, and were 4-0 down at half-time.

Allardyce was on the wrong end of the same 5-0 scoreline the last time he came to Etihad Stadium, with Crystal Palace in May 2017 and he has picked up only one point in his past nine visits here... but he did get lucky in September 2005, when City hit the woodwork a record five times, but still lost to Gary Speed’s stoppage-time penalty for Bolton.

Big Sam was smiling that day, will it be the same today?

Ryan Mason, unsurprisingly, is not interested in the speculation surrounding who the new permanent Tottenham manager will be.

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague told the Euro Leagues podcast this week that Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has been approached by Spurs, but Mason would not be drawn on the rumours.

"Naturally, when there is uncertainty, there are going to be names [mentioned]. That is part of football. But none of my energy or attention is going into outside noise or speculation," he said.

"Within these walls we are together, we are working together and we have got a common goal, which is trying to get as many results as possible until the end of the season.

"I am sure in the summer things will happen, but at the moment that is pretty irrelevant."

Image source, ge

Alex Howell, BBC Sport

Things continue to go perfectly to plan for Roy Hodgson and Crystal Palace.

Their exciting 4-3 win over West Ham at the weekend moved them to 40 points and all but secured them a club record 11th consecutive season in the Premier League.

That means the Eagles can start planning for the long term, but the main question will be whether Roy Hodgson decides to continue.

Palace have been in excellent form since Hodgson’s return and won four of his six games in charge - and the one defeat came when he made a number of changes to the side in a three-game week.

If things carry on in this manner, it will be hard to see him not being involved in some way at Selhurst Park.

The 75-year-old was asked in his news conference before the Everton match at Selhurst Park if he would be at the club past the end of the season, and he said: "I refuse on this occasion to make comments on what will happen with me at the end of May."

That is hardly surprising. As he acknowledges himself, he has been caught out by his past comments and returned to the game twice when it looked unlikely - first with Watford last season and now with Crystal Palace for a second stint.

Hodgson loves being around football and Palace are special to him as he went to watch them as a boy on the terraces.

In their current form, Palace could pick up a number of significant points before the end of the season - and that may make the decision for Hodgson to walk away even harder.

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For this week's Premier League predictions, Chris Sutton faces Carnival Row star and Everton fan Andrew Gower.

Image source, BBC Sport

Sutton's prediction: 3-0

So, new Leeds manager Sam Allardyce says he is up there with any manager in the Premier League, along with Manchester City's Pep Guardiola.

I guess we will find out on Saturday if Sam is right.

City found it harder than I expected to break down West Ham on Wednesday, but eventually found a way through.

I really can't see the Leeds defence putting up the same kind of resistance, and this might be a game where City wrap the result up early before taking their foot off the gas.

Gower's prediction: Even with Big Sam in the Leeds dugout, I think City are going to have a big win. From Everton's point of view, I hope I'm right. 4-1

Find out what Sutton and Gower predicted for the rest of the weekend's games and cast your vote

Sam Allardyce is preparing for the "biggest challenge" of his career to keep Leeds in the Premier League.

"It's probably my biggest challenge because of the shortness of games that are left and the difficulty of those fixtures," he said on his unveiling as Leeds coach, joking, "We start with an easy one on Saturday. It can't get any easier than Manchester City away, can it?

"It's one the players have to take on, that I have to take on, and we'll go to Manchester City and do our best to get a result.

"It has been done, Brentford did it. Shocks happen - whether one happens on Saturday, who knows? If we are to stay in the Premier League, we need to stop conceding goals so easily."

Allardyce, who returns to top-flight management for the first time since experiencing relegation with West Bromwich Albion in 2021, took training with his new side for the first time on Wednesday and was impressed by what he saw.

"Collectively, they seem quite good together," added Allardyce. "I've seen a positive attitude and I would have expected them to be more miserable than what they seem.

"My first impression is that they're desperate to do better. With a bit of support and guidance, and breeding a bit of confidence into them, hopefully they can build themselves up and give more."

Since guiding Bolton Wanderers to the Premier League in 2001, Sam Allardyce has enjoyed a long and impressive career in the top flight.

Here are the numbers behind the man tasked with keeping Leeds in the division with four games remaining.

• In succeeding Javi Gracia Allardyce has extended his record of managing the most amount of Premier League clubs - with Leeds being his ninth. Fellow Englishman Roy Hodgson is his closest competition on seven.
• Allardyce has also managed the fifth-most games in Premier League history - overseeing 537 games with the eight Premier League clubs he's managed. Only Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Harry Redknapp have managed more.
• He has won 178 of these 537 matches over his seventeen seasons in the Premier League - a win percentage of 33%.
• Allardyce has taken over at a Premier League club during a season on five previous occasions, with all five teams either improving or maintaining their league position come the end of the campaign.
• He has six Premier League Manager of the Month awards - only eight managers have more in the competition's history.

Former midfielder Michael Brown examines the effect Sam Allardyce can have on his Leeds United players as they prepare for his first game in charge at Manchester City on Saturday...

Mike Taylor, BBC Radio WM

That is the problem with a long unbeaten run - it stings all the more when it finally ends. And there was no denying on Sunday that Villa had been outplayed by a Manchester United side which has clearly improved under Erik ten Hag.

Such has been the transformation of Villa, that Sunday’s first half came as something of a cold shower. Even the best teams do not play well every time though, and there is clearly still a good deal more growing to do to reach the ambitions of the club and the coach.

But all is not lost in the race for Europe, even if their rivals are formidable. Liverpool have regained momentum, and Brighton showed they have got over the FA Cup semi-final by dismantling Wolves. And then there’s Tottenham.

As luck would have it, those four clubs happen to be the teams left on Villa’s fixture list. Wolves are up first and, although strong defensively at Molineux recently, last weekend they looked like a team who could not wait for the season to end. The other three games give Villa the bonus chance to take points away from their direct rivals for European qualification.

Aston Villa have been flying under Unai Emery but their 10-game unbeaten run, featuring eight victories, came to an end at Manchester United last weekend.

They remain well in contention for a European place however as they begin the day just a point behind sixth-placed Brighton.

Reflecting on the defeat at Old Trafford, Emery said: “My ambition and obsession is to improve and to analyse each match with the players. It’s another match to use to improve and to analyse.”

“We knew that this was the most difficult step. Of course, Brighton won [v Manchester United on Thursday], Liverpool are winning a lot of matches.

“We are going to fight against Brighton, against Tottenham, against Brentford. I like to play a lot of matches, if we are in more competitions, it is better.”

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Manchester City

Man City boss Pep Guardiola speaking to Sky Sports after making seven changes to his side: “We are coming from a lot of games. We needed fresh minds and legs to go for it. It is important to have everyone ready, including Kevin [de Bruyne]. The way [Rico Lewis] played since arriving in the team was massive. He played at Leeds; of course the shape Jesse Marsch used could be different to today.

“We need a lot of rhythm, we believe he can bring that. We know Sam Allardyce is a competitor and he is a master at set pieces. When you play against teams battling for survival in the Premier League it is always so difficult. After the Fulham game I said every game will be similar. How we perform will be the difference. It is how we approach it; after this game there are only four left.”

Nurudeen: Big Sam's defensive masterclass coming up at the Etihad.

Leeds United fan and comedian Micky Kerr says the appointment of Sam Allardyce is "the right call" but believes his task to keep the club in the Premier League "is a big ask".

The Whites are 17th in the table, only above Nottingham Forest on goal difference, with four games remaining.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Kerr said: "We have gone from having Marcelo Bielsa to Sam Allardyce. It is like going from Michelangelo to graffiti. It is a big fall from grace but, in all fairness, we have to have a change for the run-in.

"It is just about putting out this last fire. This is the last roll of the dice A new manager is the right call, but we will see how it goes.

"We’ve got Manchester City next, so there are three games left really. Newcastle at home - you never know. There is Southampton, who are down. Forest look like they are going to get another four points - maybe even six. Everton look like they are doing well.

"I feel like we need two wins minimum and we have got West Ham away and Tottenham at home on the last day of the season. I reckon he has to win those two. It is a big ask.

"If we have a sniff on the last day of the season you never know - and we got out of it last season and beat Burnley to 36 points."

Listen to the full interview at 1'46