Arsenal v
Tottenham
See big
game preview later today.
Liverpool v Wigan
Unbelievably
only one place and one point separate these two, or perhaps it isn’t that
unbelievable; Wigan have, after all, won more games than Liverpool
this season. Despite their recent run of ok form and a solid draw against Chelsea the criticism of Liverpool
is that they don’t win enough games, 6 draws out of 11 in the league is not good
enough for a team who are aiming to qualify for Europa League football. They
will therefore see this home game as a good opportunity to pick up some much
needed points and even possibly, depending on other results, move into the top
half of the table. Wigan are no pushovers though, they beat Tottenham two weeks
ago and managed the same result as Liverpool
against Everton; 2-2. Another thing working against Liverpool is their league
record against Wigan, which is very poor, there have been three draws and two Wigan wins in the last five meetings. Having said all
this the results in Liverpool’s recent run
belie the performances and the Reds should have enough about them to get a win
tomorrow. 3-1
Man City v Aston Villa
Villa are
really starting to struggle, having lost more than half their games so far
things looked to be going better for them last week when they went 2-0 up against
Manchester United only to lose 3-2, but everyone is doing that to United so it
shouldn’t have been that surprising. They can’t have much hope tomorrow either.
City are still yet to lose a game in the league this season, the only team in
the football league to have that record intact, and with a big win against
Tottenham last week will be looking at this game as a good opportunity to build
on that. 3-0
Newcastle v Swansea
Two equally
matched teams this season, neither of them playing particularly well and
consequently see themselves in purgatorial mid-table. While Michael Laudrup’s Swansea might not be too disappointed with that, Alan
Pardew’s Newcastle
certainly will. The Magpies have been unable to replicate their form of last
year and with only 1 win in the last 6 games will be desperate to turn their
fortunes around. Last week’s defeat against West Ham will have been a massive
loss and will not fill them with confidence for a game which ended 2-2 last
season. With Newcastle
missing some big players; Coloccini, Cabaye and Gutierrez all still out, I can
see this one going a similar way. 1-1
QPR Southampton
Almost made
it into ‘Big Match’ of the week, this is a crunch match, even this early in the
season. Despite being a 6-pointer, and points are vital, the points are not the
most important thing about this match. If one team wins the confidence they
will take from this game could be worth enough points to save them from
relegation. QPR are reasonably heavy favourites with most bookies putting them
at around evens and Southampton at about 3/1.
The draw is also a reasonably solid bet but relegation scraps like this are so
choc full of bad defending that a draw is unlikely in my opinion. I have
reviewed both these teams in my ‘team focus’ section and in doing so concluded
that QPR have the far superior squad, and being at home I cannot see
Southampton getting even a point from this game. 2-1
Reading v Everton
Everton did
well last week to break a bad habit of draws, 4 in a row, and David Moyes
will be hoping that tomorrow will not be a relapse. Reading have a track record
this season of frustrating teams into a draw, Newcastle,
Swansea and
Fulham all higher reputation teams who have failed to beat the Royals. Despite
these ominous signs I can’t see Reading,
who have conceded 18 goals already this season - half of them in 5 home games,
stopping the forces of Everton’s attack. Fellaini, Pienaar and Osman, fresh
from his first England
call-up, will look to tear apart the weak defence of Reading and I can see the home side being
powerless to resist. 1-3
West Brom v Chelsea
West Brom
are going from strength to strength since they lost 2 in a row against Newcastle
and Man City but the two wins following those have been against significantly
weaker opposition, namely Wigan and Southampton, so will not want to go into
this game over-confident. Chelsea
have been slipping however, only 2 points from the last 3 games, and will
definitely not be confident, especially Fernando Torres, who has not scored in
his last 4 league games. The Hawthorns has been a fortress for West Brom so far
this season, winning all but one of their games there and will be hoping that
they can come away from this encounter with out-of-form Chelsea with at least a point, and I back
them to do just that. 2-2
Norwich v Man United
I wonder
how many people are going to put a bet on Norwich
to be leading at half time only for Manchester United to take all three points.
Every week I say it won’t happen again and most weeks it does. Norwich are unbeaten in
four however and will be hoping that they can be one of the teams that is able
to resist the late United comeback. They managed a solid scrap of a win against
Arsenal and I’m sure similar tactics will be employed against United tomorrow;
defend stoutly and attack on the counter. However this might not be quite as
effective against a Manchester United team who are top-scorers in the league
and have been showing considerably more firepower than a strangely subdued
Arsenal side. One minor doubt is over Robin Van Persie, who Ferguson may not want to risk following a
minor thigh injury. Norwich
will be looking to Grant Holt to make life difficult for the United defence
which has been far from airtight this season. Unfortunately for Canaries fans I
fancy United to have just about too much about them tomorrow. 1-2
Fulham v Sunderland
Strangely
enough we only have one Sunday game this week and that comes to us from Craven
Cottage. Fulham have been doing well this season under the guidance of Martin
Jol and find themselves positioned nicely in 9th place. Impressive
draws against Everton and Arsenal cancelled out disappointing stalemates
against Reading and Southampton
and Jol will see Sunday as an opportunity to pick a fourth home win of the
season. Sunderland, by contrast, have not been
performing to expectations and Martin O’Neill might have noticed his name
steadily climbing the list of ‘managers who could be sacked first’. Things are
not quite as desperate as all that just yet but another few games without a win
and O’Neill might really start to worry. No wins in 5 games is a poor show for
a team that boasts the talent that the Black Cats have at their disposal and
the away side will be hoping that Steven Fletcher can sneak a goal which would
give them a surprise win. This is, however, reasonably unlikely and I can see
Fulham’s good home form continuing. 2-0
West Ham v Stoke
‘MNF’ this
week is between two teams who had similar pre-season expectations; between 12th
to 14th. Ever-consistent Stoke are of course meeting those expectations
but the Hammers are far-exceeding theirs. They have a good team, no doubt, but
you have to feel their over-performing will end soon. Perhaps not this week
though. Stoke have a relatively poor away form, as is often the case with the Potters,
and have yet to register a win. West Ham have three home wins from 6 games and
recent good results against City and away at Newcastle will only serve to boost
their confidence. Stoke will probably look to close up shop and feed long balls
to the front men and will be buoyed by the fact that West Ham have already
conceded 10 at home this season. Stoke are not famous for bagging loads of
goals though and I can’t see Monday being too different. I fancy West Ham to
continue their decent run. 2-0
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