Premier League Preview – Week 23
The big game of this weekend sees Manchester United travel to Tottenham, with the Mancunian trophy machine still in its perennial position of challenging for the three majors trophies. With Champions League knockout football on the horizon, and a particularly testing tie against Real Madrid coming up, United will want to squeeze the absolute maximum points total out of their fixtures before the inevitable fixture pile up begins. Thus, while a point may seem a decent result against a Tottenham team that inflicted United’s solitary home league defeat of the season thus far, they are far more likely to go for three. Spurs may have something to say about that, though, particularly if the pace of Lennon and Bale can trouble the inconsistent Rafael and creaking Evra. My money is on a high scoring draw.
Also on Sunday, Arsenal face an absolutely crunch fixture against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Should things go the Gunners way, then they could eliminate the gap between themselves at Tottenham, which is plausible with Spurs facing the league leaders. Perhaps Arsenal will fancy their chances of winning at Chelsea given the Blues recent sloppy performances at Stamford Bridge. However, Chelsea will obviously start as favourites, and should Arsenal lose, they run the risk of falling six points behind Tottenham. Should this be the case, the Gunners would need some good news off the pitch, with the signing of Walcott, and possibly purchase of Cavani and Zaha giving the Gunners a tonic for the rest of the season. This should be an entertaining match between two enterprising teams, though a repeat of last year’s 5-3 scoreline is surely too much to ask for.
Manchester City have the opportunity to put the pressure on their neighbours and rivals by beating Fulham at home on Saturday. There have been some better signs for City in the last few weeks, with the team producing some more clinical football, and steadily improving its best in the Premier League defensive record. Anything less than three points against the Cottagers would be treated as a mini-disaster.
Everton will look to renew their hopes of a top four finish when they face relegation threatened Southampton at St. Mary’s. It looks increasingly unlikely that the Toffees can mount a serious challenge for the Champions League places, but European qualification may not be beyond them. Southampton have given themselves a decent chance of avoiding the drop in recent weeks, and will pose a much sterner test for Everton than they have earlier in the season.
Having been predictably defeated at Old Trafford last week, Liverpool take on Norwich at Anfield, knowing that three points is imperative with away days at Arsenal and Manchester City to come in the next two Premier League fixtures. This match could see Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge partnered together in the Reds’ starting line-up for the first time.
A crucial Black Country derby takes place at The Hawthorns this weekend, at least from Aston Villa’s perspective. Having slid into the bottom four with some disastrous recent results, Paul Lambert’s side will hope to stop the rot in a fixture in which passion may play as big a part as proficiency. West Brom have their own mini-slump to rectify, having blown a two goal lead at Reading in their previous fixture.
Reading themselves travel this week to another club experiencing a dismal run of form, Newcastle United. The St. James’ Park faithful have shown patience with the regime of Alan Pardew, particularly as he achieved so much for the club last season, but with Demba Ba exiting, the club on the verge of the relegation zone, and the supposed signing of Loic Remy having not come to fruition, there is an unmistakably unsettled feeling amongst the denizens of the Gallowgate End at present. Still this fixture represents a good opportunity for Newcastle to ease their relegation worries, and with European football still to look forward to, the season could turn out to be a good one yet.
Swansea meet Stoke at the Liberty Stadium in a match that will inevitably be billed as a clash of styles. The away side’s direct and muscular approach will be up against the slick, composed passing of the Welsh outfit. Stoke have a habit of upsetting such an approach, but Swansea have continually defied expectations over their two season tenure in the Premier League.
Having shown signs of improvement since Harry Redknapp took over, and given themselves a fighting chance of escaping relegation, a London derby between with West Ham offers more promise for QPR than it may have but weeks ago. The home side have turned in some pretty limp performances of late, and Sam Allardyce will be desperate to see his side play with more determination and imagination in this fixture, which must be viewed as a winnable game. Not likely to be one for the purists.
Finally, Sunderland’s relegation worries have eased with the Black Cats picking up several much needed wins in the last few weeks. At last the marquee midfield that looked so good on paper has begun to resemble something approaching a competent unit on the field of play. Sunderland will fancy their chances of picking up another against perennial strugglers Wigan, who once again look like they will be in the relegation shake up down to the frayed nerve endings of May.
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