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Sunderland v QPR
Harry
Redknapp will be pleased that instead of his first game being away to
Manchester United last week, he instead travels to struggling Sunderland, who
were thrashed 4-2 at the weekend at home to West Brom.
The Black Cats have only managed 1 win in the last 7 and the weekend’s performance
was a worrying departure from the one good thing that they could hold onto;
that their home defence has been reasonably good this season. Before the defeat
against West Brom Sunderland had only conceded 3 goals in 4 home games, they
then more than doubled that tally. There is also a possibility that Sunderland will be without captain Lee Cattermole and
John O’Shea, who both picked up knocks at the weekend. At least Martin O’Neill
can look at QPR’s away statistics and take comfort from the fact that The R’s
are conceding an average of 2 goals a game every time they are on the road. However,
a week with Redknapp might make QPR a completely different kettle of fish, we
have no way of telling at the moment. All we can say is that both of these
teams will see this game as an opportunity to get some points on the board,
having both faced top 4 opposition on Saturday, and neither one will be happy
with leaving the Stadium of Light pointless. When it comes down to it we have
to assume that in a week Harry Redknapp will not have had enough time to make a
significant difference to a team struggling for form and confidence so, despite
having their own problems, Sunderland should come out of this game with a win. 3-1
Aston Villa v Reading
The other
game being played tonight comes from Villa Park
and we see two more teams both in desperate need of points to try and get
themselves out of the relegation zone. Reading are still without a win on the
road and have only got 2 points to show from 6 away games, conceding 12 goals
in the process. This will be a worry for Brian McDermott who will recognise
that, while home form is the most important thing for a relegation-battle team,
some of the work has to be done away from the Madejski Stadium. McDermott and Reading will look at
Villa’s home form and see this game as a solid possibility of at least 1 point.
Paul Lambert’s men have only manage 1 win at home from 6 games, although they
have also managed 3 draws, and really need 3 points here to try and keep pace
with the middle of the bottom half rather than finding themselves being dragged
into the relegation battle before we have even reached Christmas. This is a
difficult one to predict, with both teams having put in solid performances over
the weekend; Villa earning a respectable point at home to Arsenal and Reading unlucky to have come away from Wigan
with nothing, and I think that tonight it will take something really special to
separate these two. 1-1
Chelsea v Fulham
Who would
have thought that a month ago Chelsea would be in such a bad position; they
were top of the league, going into a game against Manchester United which they
felt they had a very good chance of winning and they looked like they had a
good chance of retaining their Champions League trophy. 30 days later and the
manager has gone, the Champions League has virtually gone and, unless Rafa
Benitez can pull some serious tricks from up his sleeve, the league title is
looking unlikely too. A local derby is not exactly what they would want at this
point then. Not if Fulham were doing well at least, but fortunately for Benitez
and his Blues, Fulham are having their own mini-nightmare. 3 points from the
last 5 games has seen Martin Jol’s side slip all the way down from 6th
to 10th place, and conceding 12 goals in those 5 fixtures will
seriously worry Jol. Admittedly two of the draws were against Arsenal and
Everton and were very hard-earned, but the more recent losses against
Sunderland and Stoke will have been much harder to take and an away fixture
against Chelsea will not be seen as a good opportunity to get their season back
on track, no matter how bad of a rut their west-London counterparts find
themselves in. As much as Benitez is disliked by the fans he will be getting on
with the job in the professional manner for which he is known and he will not
be satisfied with anything less than a win tomorrow, and nor should he be. I
tip him to get it, just. 2-1
Everton v Arsenal
Everton and Arsenal currently fins themselves in similar positions in the league and no doubt will be two teams, amongst a host of others, fighting for the all-important 4th spot come the end of the season. They are, however, experiencing different transitional periods; with Arsenal looking to be on their way down and Everton on their way up. Arsenal haven't been able to find any kind of consistency in their form this season, with massive wins like 5-2 against Tottenham being followed by disappointing draws like 0-0 against Aston Villa. Everton have been similar of late, getting good results against the 'good' teams and equally bad results against the 'not so good' teams. As a result this is a difficult one to predict, Everton are unbeaten at home this season and so are unlikely to lose, but of their 6 games at Goodison have drawn 3, including a disappointing 1-1 against Norwich at the weekend, which is a higher percentage than you would expect from a team currently in the top 4. I'm going to have to go with form and, seeing as neither of these two are on top form I think they'll come out equal. 1-1
Southampton v Norwich
In this
match we find 2 teams who are both having mini-revivals, Norwich’s might not
even be called mini any more, having got 3 wins and 3 draws from the last 6
games and facing Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton in the process. The
Canaries are performing extremely well and an air-tight defence seems to be the
key to their success. On this great 6-game run they have only conceded 2 goals,
and seeing as they have only scored 5 in the same space of time it is just as well
their defence is performing well. Nonetheless Chris Hughton will not be too
distressed by his team’s lack of firepower as long as they keep playing their
tight, efficient brand of football and keep themselves well away from the
relegation dogfight beneath. Southampton on the other hand still have the worst
defensive record in the league, despite only conceding 2 in their last 3, and Nigel
Adkins will be hoping that his side continue to bag the goals that have guided
them to 7 points from an available 9
in recent matches. If this was a home match for Norwich I would have absolutely no trouble in calling it a
win for the Canaries, but they are still without a win on the road this season and,
facing a resurgent Southampton team, I can’t
see this changing. 1-1
Stoke v Newcastle
Only 2
points separate these two sides but how the two teams are currently playing is
worlds apart. Stoke have 2 wins and a draw from the last 3 games, including a
solid home win against Fulham at the weekend, and will see Britannia Stadium, a
place that has always been a happy hunting ground for The Potters, as a
force-field making them near invincible. Indeed, Tony Pulis’s men have managed
3 wins and 3 draws from 6 home games this season and have only conceded 1 goal
in doing so. Admittedly with only 5 home goals scored their attacking is
definitely something which could do with some work but Stoke have never been
known for their free-scoring attacking play so all in all Pulis will not be too
dissatisfied. Alan Pardew on the other hand will not be enjoying himself as Newcastle manager like he
was last season. As is often the way with mid-table teams who have a season of
over-performing, Newcastle
have been the victim of their own success and their inability to repeat the
form of last season has been a massive dent in their confidence. This will only
be compounded by the fact that they are now without talisman Steven Taylor and Yohan
Cabaye for the next 2 months at least. The Magpies have lost 3 on the trot, a
2-0 defeat at Southampton at the weekend the
most humiliating of them all, and will need to produce a serious attacking
display to break down the wall that is Shawcross and Huth in the Stoke defence.
On current form, however, I can’t see that happening and, unfortunately for the
Geordies, I think they will have to wait a bit longer for another point. 1-0
Swansea v West Brom
Despite being
on a four-game unbeaten run The Swans will not be going into this game with a
great deal of confidence, their home form has been less than fantastic,
managing only 2 wins from 7, and they face a West Brom side whose current form
is matched only by that of top-of-the-table Manchester United. Swansea will
take solace from the fact that, while West Brom are flying, their away form has
not been the staple of their fantastic form; with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2
defeats, and the last time the Baggies played a top-half team away from home
they went down 2-1 to Newcastle (who were in 10th position at the
time). Swansea manager Michael Laudrup will be happy that his side are currently
in 9th position, but will be slightly wary that at the same time
they are only 3 points ahead of 15th-placed Wigan, owing to a very
congested mid-table, and a few more poor results could see them quickly slip
down and join those hanging on for dear life just above the relegation zone. This
is a tough game to call as there is a small part of me who keeps shouting every
week that this fantastic West Brom run just has to come to an end sooner or
later, but with Swansea’s
poor home form and The Baggies sky-high confidence at the moment I can’t see
that being tomorrow. 1-3
Tottenham v Liverpool
Close
contender for game of the week, this match only misses out due to the fact that
it is the first time in a long time that both of these teams have been out of
the top 6. They are both playing very inconsistently, which is something that
we have come to expect from them this season and as a result it’s very
difficult to call this game as we don’t really know which incarnation of either
team will turn up tomorrow. We might see the Liverpool that thrashed Norwich away (something that neither United or Arsenal
could do), almost beat Everton and got a good draw against Chelsea. On the other hand we might see the
version that struggled to draws against Swansea,
Newcastle and
Stoke, only scoring 1 goal in the process. This inconsistency will be
frustrating no one more than manager Brendan Rodgers, who will feel that, just as
they have taken a step in the right direction, they do a 180 and march straight
back where they came from. Equally unpredictable are Spurs who, after losing
three in a row, got back to winning ways with a comprehensive victory against
over-performing West Ham. Villas-Boas will point to the fact that one of their
defeats was against City and another was when they had to play against Arsenal
with 10 men for over 7 minutes, but this does not change the fact that they
find themselves in 7th position having finished in the top 4 twice
in the last 3 years. With the home crowd behind them and their belief back
Spurs will feel that they have a good chance tomorrow but against a Liverpool side who are now unbeaten in 8 they will find it
hard to break through, I can see this being a draw. 2-2
Man United v West Ham
Will
Manchester United go behind for the 4th league game in a row? There’s
a good chance of that, but there is also a good chance that, with the
incredible array of firepower at Alex Ferguson’s disposal, his team will come
out of this home match with all 3 points. Aside from the blip away at Norwich last week United have been on a very good run, and
probably just about deserve their top spot at the moment, with City drawing too
often and Chelsea’s
push for top spot derailed. On current form however The Red Devils can by no
means take their top spot for granted as, while City have drawn quite a few
games, they are unbeaten and one slip up from Ferguson’s men will most likely see
them straight down into 2nd. West Ham have not been playing superbly
of late but because of the indifferent form of everyone below them find
themselves in 8th place. Sam Allardyce will not be looking too
harshly upon his team’s form however, a draw against Man
City and a win against Newcastle is nothing to
be sniffed at, and at the weekend they found themselves on the receiving end of
a thoroughly professional performance from Tottenham about which they could
have done very little. Nonetheless coming away from Old Trafford tomorrow with
even a point is a very tall ask and I can’t see The Hammers managing it. 4-1
Wigan v Man City
As always
Roberto Martinez’s Wigan have been a bit of a
mixed bag this season but their recent form has done much to suggest that their
situation come the end of the season might not be so desperate as it has been
in recent campaigns. 3 solid wins and defeats against Liverpool and West Brom
from their last 5 games is far from disgraceful and, despite being in 15th
position, they are only 3 points off 9th, and with a couple of good
results could really see themselves propelled up the league. On the other hand it
is going to be extremely difficult indeed to get a good result tomorrow; facing
a Manchester City team who, after being unceremoniously dumped out of the
Champions League, have very little else to focus their anger on other than their
Premiership opponents. Mancini will be slightly worried that of their 6 away
games this season City have only managed to win 2, something that is going to
have to change if they want to retain the Premier League title. Their most
recent away draw, 0-0 against Chelsea, was seen
as “2 points lost” by Mancini and he was absolutely right; Chelsea were vulnerable, without any
confidence and there for the taking and City failed to do that. Tomorrow’s
opposition are far less formidable than Chelsea but this has been a great
season for lowly opposition springing traps on the big teams and City will be
very wary of this, even if they are unbeaten. Despite all of City’s away draws
and Wigan’s decent form I can only see this
going one way, away win. 0-3
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