Arsenal v Fulham
After
Arsenal’s worst start to a season under Arsene Wenger this kind of game is a
must win, but certainly not a guaranteed win, against a Fulham side who are
doing well this season. Martin Jol’s men are on a run that has seen a slight
dip in form have only one win and three draws from the last 5 games and will
especially disappointed with draws against lowly Southampton and Reading.
Arsenal also have 6 points from the last 5 but in that time have played
Manchester United and Chelsea. Arsene Wenger will need to inspire confidence in
a team who played so poorly against Manchester United last weekend and threw
away a 2-0 lead against Schalke in midweek and will need help from in-form Theo
Walcott to provide some much needed firepower. Martin Jol has the opposite
problem of shoring up his leaky defence that has conceded 9 goals in the last 5
games. I’m going to predict a home win, but not an easy one. 1-0
Everton v Sunderland
Everton
find themselves in the fourth Champions League spot and will feel that this is
nothing but deserved having put in some very strong performances, however David
Moyes will be disappointed that the Toffees have drawn all four of their last
games and should really have won all of them apart from the fiery Merseyside
derby a fortnight ago. Moyes will be wanting his team to get back to winning
ways and will be looking to talented midfield duo Fellaini and Pienaar to
provide the quality to see of a Sunderland
side who would consider themselves to be underperforming this season. Martin
O’Neill’s men have drawn a staggering 6 of their 9 games so far and have only
won 1 of the other three. They are seriously lacking attacking threat and as a
result have only scored 6 goals all season, 5 of which have been scored by
Steven Fletcher. Unfortunately for the Black Cats the Scot hasn’t scored since
the end of September and perhaps this is a clear reason for Sunderland’s poor
record of only 2 goals in the last 5 league games, Sunderland
will need Fletcher to be on form if they are to come away with anything from
this match. I can’t see that happening though, home win. 2-0
Reading v Norwich
Reading, still without a win, host Chris
Hughton’s side who find themselves on a mini-roll. With 7 points from the last
3 games the Canaries will be hoping to keep their short unbeaten run going and
perhaps even snatch a win, which would be their first away win in the League since
early April. Hughton will be looking to his defence to help continue this run,
having conceded only 1 goal in the last 3 and will also want Grant Holt to
continue contributing up front, with 3 goals from the last 5 league games.
Brian McDermott will look at this game as an opportunity for some much needed
points. Having thrown away the 1-0 lead at Loftus Road last weekend the Royals
will need to be stronger defensively having conceded an average of two goals a
game so far this season. A close one to call, so close that I’m going to call
it a draw. 1-1
Southampton v Swansea
Southampton
will be looking to sides like Swansea
for tips on how to stay up, as Nigel Adkins’ side are really struggling to find
the secret to success in the top division. Their poor form so far this season
is well publicised and characterises the losing battle against relegation; not
enough goals scored, too many goals conceded. If they look at teams like Norwich and tomorrow’s
opponents Swansea
they will see that what helped them last year was a good start to the season.
At this point last season Swansea had 12 points
and Norwich had 13, Southampton
only have 4. This opportunity now having passed Nigel Adkins’ faces the tough
task of keeping players’ spirits up enough to get some points under their
belts. Swansea have again got 12 points after ten games and see themselves
looking very safe in 11th position, however with only 1 win from the
last 7 league games manager Michael Laudrup will be looking to recapture some
of the form that saw them get 7 points from their first 3 games, although a 1-1
draw with Chelsea last weekend will certainly boost spirits. I think that the good
football that Swansea have been playing so far
this season will be too much for Southampton
tomorrow. 1-2
Stoke v QPR
A third
game between a struggler and a team who have found their niche in “just above
the relegation battle.” Despite usually placing 11th-15th
Tony Pulis will be slightly concerned that at this point his team are far too
close to the relegation zone to be considered ‘comfortable.’ Stoke are only
four points ahead of 18th place and while it is far too early for
alarm bells to be ringing, the Potters will definitely be looking at this game
as three points; there may not be such a thing as an easy game, but there are
certainly easier games and this is one of them. QPR will be buoyed by
the fact that they have made it off the bottom with a draw against Reading last
weekend but will not go into this game with much hope, with only one point away
from home all season the Britannia Stadium is not a place you want to visit.
Despite having drawn the majority of their league games there are no excuses
for Stoke if they don’t come away from this game with a second win of the
season, and that’s the result I’m plumping for. 2-0
Wigan v West Brom
Once upon a
time this might have been considered quite an even fixture, that was before
Steve Clarke took over at West Brom and led
them to a start to the season which sees them sitting in 5th place,
ahead of the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal. The Baggies got an easy win
against bottom of the league Southampton last weekend following two losses in
which they will feel hard done by; home against Man
City and then away against Newcastle. For all their
good work at the Hawthorns West Brom don’t have an away win yet and will be
looking to get at least a point against a Wigan
team who have only got 1 win at home so far this season. This might not be an
easy feat though; Roberto Martinez’s side proved last weekend that they are no
pushovers and following two impressive wins, against West Ham and Tottenham,
will be looking to make it 3 out of 3. With both teams fairly high on
confidence I can see them cancelling each other out. 2-2
Aston Villa v Manchester United
Aston Villa
have been unable to beat Manchester United at Villa Park
in the league on the last 18 attempts but will be encouraged by the fact that
they have only lost 1 of the last 4. They might also take solace in the fact
that Manchester United’s run of going behind only to come back and win will
have to come to an end eventually. It’s not looking great for Paul Lambert’s
side though, with only one home win all season they will be hard-pressed to
increase that number against a Manchester United side who, despite not playing
very well, are grinding out results and sit atop the league table. Ferguson’s side will want
to change a run in the league which has seen them only 3 times take the lead
first and hold onto it for the rest of the game. Their habit of going behind,
or taking the lead and then losing it again is something that will worry
manager, players and fans alike who are not used to seeing such erratic form. Villa Park is usually a happy hunting ground for the Red
Devils though and I expect it will be the same tomorrow. 1-3
Man City v Tottenham
A strong
contender for game of the week only losing out because this game does not yet
hold quite as much ‘prestige’ as the Chelsea v Liverpool game. Despite 5 wins from the last 7 league
games something is still not quite right at Tottenham. There seems to be a
feeling of unease about manager AVB and the fact that they sold two big players
in the summer and did not satisfactorily replace them. Clint Dempsey, Gylfi
Sigurdsson and Moussa Dembele are all very capable players but seem to lack
that creative spark that van der Vaart and Modric used to bring so freely.
Indeed without those two it is difficult to see Tottenham reaching the dizzy
heights of Champions league football that we saw two seasons ago. Manchester City also appear to be having quite a
tough time of it. They remain unbeaten in the league but their 4 draws see them
sit in 3rd place and while their serial underperforming in Europe does not affect the Premier League table it will
surely affect the atmosphere in the dressing room. With 4 wins in 5 home games
Mancini will definitely be wanting 3 points from this game after disappointing
draws against West Ham and Ajax
and I think that the Citizens will be able put aside their European trauma and
get the win on Sunday. 2-0
Newcastle v West Ham
With both
these teams having earned respectable draws last weekend they will be looking
to build on this and keep themselves in the top half of the table. Alan
Pardew’s men will have the better claim for victory on Sunday, with an
impressive 10 points from their 5 home games and the fact that Sam Allardyce’s
side have only managed one win away from home so far this season. Pardew will
be slightly worried by the fact that the Magpies haven’t managed to keep a
clean sheet in the league since September and will see this home game as an
opportunity to rectify this. Sam Allardyce has seen his team exceed
expectations so far this season and will be vary happy that in 9th
place there is no sign of a relegation battle on the horizon. With a very solid
0-0 against Man City last week he will feel that his
side’s well-organised performances can earn at least point at St. James’s park
on Sunday. Impossible to separate these two sides. 2-2
Chelsea v Liverpool
See ‘Big
Match Preview’ tomorrow.
Comments
Post a Comment