Premier League Preview – Gameweek 27
After a couple of weeks punctuated by European and FA Cup action, the Premier League returns to a full programme this weekend, with none of the sides involved in this week’s fixtures needing to be concerned about resting players ahead of European ties. Indeed, most of England’s European representatives have already been either knocked out, or are practically eliminated from European competition. All in all, the European showing from the Premier League has been pretty poor this season, and England’s UEFA co-efficient looks set to fall to third place in the list, meaning that if they were to fall one more place, the Premier League would be granted only three Champions League slots for future season, as is currently the case in Italy. With Juventus certain to proceed in the Champions League, and AC Milan in a very strong position, the eyes of the Premier League’s top club ought to be aimed very squarely at the two Italian giants during the rest of this season’s European fare, as the Premier League’s immediate European future could be dependent on their progression.
Bottom plays top this week, as Manchester United travel to QPR. The destinies of both of these teams looks increasingly set in stone, with QPR needing a vast improvement in form to maintain their Premier League status, while Manchester United are so heavily odds on to win the Premier League that a disastrous run of form would have to result in order for them to throw it away from here. It is hard to bet against the away side in this fixture.
The big game of the weekend is on Sunday, when Manchester City entertain Chelsea. It seems safe to say that if City don’t pick up three points then their Premier League title challenge will be over for this season. In fact, if the Blues manage to win at the Etihad, then they will be just one point behind City. On the other hand, if the home side prevails, Chelsea might start to look over their shoulder somewhat at the chasing pack. With both sides’ form being up and down, this is a difficult game to call, despite City’s exemplary home record.
Arsenal must attempt to recover from the travails of the last seven days by beating Aston Villa at the Emirates. This is certainly a fixture that most would expect the Gunners to win, but the performances of the last week will not instill a great deal of confidence among the Emirates faithful. Nonetheless, despite a couple of recent wins, Villa are a poor side, and I expect Arsenal to pick up three points ahead of their crunch clash with Tottenham next week.
Tottenham themselves have a different London derby to contend with this week, as they travel to Upton Park. West Ham away is never an easy fixture, and with the home side still needing to pick up points in order to secure their Premier League status, this will be a tough assignment for Spurs. The Hammers are well capable of picking up at least a point here.
Two of the Premier League’s bottom three meet at the Madejski Stadium, where Reading entertain Wigan Athletic. A win for either side could see them climb out of the bottom three, on the other hand, were Wigan to lose, they could potentially find themselves six points adrift of safety. So this is an absolutely critical fixture for the Latics in particular. Expect a nervy, cagey, scrappy affair.
Norwich City are another team that are desperately in need of points, as their slide toward the bottom three continues. On Saturday they play host to an Everton team whose challenge for the Champions League places would appear to be stagnating, and are in need of points to stay ahead of rivals Liverpool and within the European places. The Canaries would probably settle for a draw here.
Two sides that are in the bottom portion of the table, but for whom recent results have eased the threat of relegation meet at St. James’ Park on Sunday, when Newcastle entertain Southampton. The home side are beginning to look a formidable outfit again with their new signings in place, while Southampton’s post-Christmas form has suggested that they can look toward the top half of the table come next season. I fancy the home side might win this one, though.
Finally, there are two mid-table clashes being played on Saturday. Fulham host Stoke, with the home side certainly needing the points more than the visitors. And West Brom face Sunderland at the Hawthorns, with the former’s season in danger of peetering out to a mid-table finish after an excellent start, while the away side could still be dragged into a relegation struggle if they don’t pick up some wins in the next few weeks. Nonetheless, this is easily a match that could have an end of season feel to it, with both sides, realistically, having little to play for.
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