Can we fast forward to Sunday already? Only eight English Premiership matches this weekend because of the Carabao Cup final, but all eyes are on Manchester United and Liverpool, writes GARY LEMKE.

Manchester City, fresh from their 6-0 drubbing of Chelsea, take on the same opponents in the Carabao Cup (formerly League Cup) final at 6.30pm (SA time) on Sunday, but that will be like tidying the kitchen after all the party guests have gone, given that United host Liverpool at Old Trafford at 4.05pm.

United have turned their entire season around following the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager to replace Jose ‘No Longer the Special One’ Mourinho, and are now in the Champions League places. They have lost only once – to PSG in the Champions League – and Solskjaer has helped the club earn 25 points since he came aboard.

It’s one of the biggest club showdowns in world football – and this weekend there is so much at stake. Liverpool have a game in hand over Man City, but should they lose at Old Trafford, then they will be second on goal difference and having squandered a seven-point lead at the top. The bookies would quickly return City as favourites with 11 games remaining.

And United would put a bit of daylight between themselves and Chelsea as well.

A Liverpool victory would give them three points daylight over City, and in all, United would probably be overtaken by Arsenal in fourth spot, with the Gunners hosting Southampton a day earlier. The draw? Well, that would see Liverpool return to the top by a point, although United would probably be fifth, should Arsenal have picked up all the points against Southampton.

So, to suggest there is all to play for is something of an understatement.

In terms of the other matches, given that there are only eight games that make up this round, Superbru players are going to have to be switched on if they want that bonus point for six correct outcomes. For what it’s worth, I’ve gone for wins for West Ham, Tottenham, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Leicester and Arsenal, while calling the draw at Old Trafford and Cardiff vs Watford.

My upset of the weekend is for Bournemouth to return to form at home and see off high-flying Wolves, while just how tricky the round is can be seen in the fact that of the SportsClub team of five playing Superbru, the only game of the eight where there is consensus among the panel is at The Emirates, where Arsenal host Southampton. I’ve gone for goals in this one, a fairly high-scoring 3-1. The team has also gone for goals at Old Trafford – and even the bookies make the 0-0 draw a 14-1 long shot, but given that we saw two goalless draws in Champions League action during midweek (Liverpool vs Bayern Munich and Lyon vs Barcelona), stranger things have happened. But one would expect both United and Liverpool to find the back of the net.

The most common scorelines so far this season are:

47 times: 2-1
38 times: 2-0
37 times: 1-0
28 times: 3-1
23 times: 1-1
17 times: 0-0
16 times: 3-0
11 times: 2-2
10 times: 3-2
8 times: 4-0
6 times: 4-2
5 times: 4-1
4 times: 5-0, 5-1
2 times: 6-1, 4-3
1 time:  3-3, 6-0, 6-2

Here are the SportsClub team’s predictions for this week’s round of fixtures.

West Ham vs Fulham
Dylan Appolis (152/261): 1-1
Gary Lemke (144/261): 2-0
Wade Pretorius: (144/261): 2-0
Juandre Joubert (142/261): 2-1
Dean Workman (137/261): 3-1

Cardiff vs Watford
Dylan Appolis: 0-1
Gary Lemke: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 1-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Dean Workman: 2-1

Burnley vs Tottenham
Dylan Appolis: 0-2
Gary Lemke: 1-2
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 1-2
Dean Workman: 1-2

Bournemouth vs Wolves
Dylan Appolis: 1-2
Gary Lemke: 2-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-2
Wade Pretorius: 1-1
Dean Workman: 1-1

Newcastle vs Huddersfield
Dylan Appolis: 1-1
Gary Lemke: 2-0
Juandre Joubert: 1-0
Wade Pretorius: 2-0
Dean Workman: 2-1

Leicester vs Crystal Palace
Dylan Appolis: 2-0
Gary Lemke: 2-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 2-1
Dean Workman: 2-0

Arsenal vs Southampton
Dylan Appolis: 2-0
Gary Lemke: 3-1
Juandre Joubert: 2-0
Wade Pretorius: 2-0
Dean Workman: 3-2

Man United vs Liverpool
Dylan Appolis: 1-2
Gary Lemke: 1-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 3-2
Dean Workman: 2-1

Lemke is the 2017/18 EPL Superbru Global champion