The run-in What's at stake as the top flight returns

After a 16-day break the Premier League is back - here is how things stand in the four key battlegrounds

- Simon Burnton

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Liverpool's 12-point lead means they need a maximum of 16 points from their nine games to put themselves out of Arsenal's reach and secure the title. If Arsenal go on a winning run this could take Liverpool into May even without dropping any points, but if Mikel Arteta's side lose their next three it could all be over as soon as 13 April, when Liverpool play West Ham at home.

In the immediate future a couple of teams in particular could go a long way towards deciding things: Arsenal host Fulham and visit Everton in their fixtures this week, while Liverpool host Everton and visit Fulham. Even beyond those games the sides have comparable fixtures this month - neither will play a current top-half team - but Arsenal also have two Champions League fixtures against Real Madrid to deal with and must close the gap before the start of May.

Champions League

This looks like being a curious month in the race for European qualification, with every one of the 34 fixtures scheduled to be played by teams currently in the Premier League's top seven over the course of April (as well as another two which need to be rearranged after Manchester City and Nottingham Forest qualified for the FA Cup semifinals) pitting them against teams currently outside that group. This is to be followed by an epic, hold-on-to-your-hats month of May in which a third of their 21 games will be against each other, though by then there may be less on the line.