Wednesday Premier League Preview
After their embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of Oldham Athletic, Liverpool have a seemingly much tougher away day in prospect on Wednesday evening, as they travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal. The Gunners have certainly looked a potent attacking force in recent fixtures, with Theo Walcott a constant threat, and Oliver Giroud and Lukas Podolski both settling in to life in England. The midfield would seem to be key in this game, with it essential for the away side to subdue to the powerful Arsenal duo of Wilshere and Cazorla. Liverpool will have to show much better away form that they generally have thus fat this campaign if they are to leave North London with a point.
Manchester United will attempt to cement their gap at the top of the Premier League with a home fixture against Southampton. The home side will obviously be heavily fancied to win this one, despite the Saints having undergone a mini-resurgence in recent weeks. It’s impossible to back anything other than an emphatic home win.
Chelsea nearly had their own cup upset at Brentford, where they narrowly escaped victory, and will be looking to give a far more convincing display against lowly Reading. The Royals have proved in recent weeks, though, that they are not a pushover, and the Blues will need to perform at a much higher level than they did against the League One outfit at the weekend. Chelsea will at least expect to retain their current third position in the table until the end of the season, and given this aim, draws in such fixtures would be considered two points dropped.
Another side that had a chastening FA Cup experience over the weekend was Tottenham Hotspur, who went down to Championship outfit Leeds at Elland Road. With the FA Cup done and dusted for another year, Spurs can turn their attention back to attempting to qualify for the Champions League. Luckily for Tottenham, their opponents Norwich are in abysmal form, and suffered the greatest ignominy of all Premier League teams at the weekend, when they were turned over on their home turf by non-league Luton Town. If the Canaries don’t improve considerably between now and the end of the season, then they will unquestionably find themselves back in the Championship next term.
At Goodison Park, Everton meet West Brom in a fixture between two teams with European ambitions. However, recent results suggest that Everton’s claims are more realistic, and the home side will be favourites to win this one, despite recent struggles to turn pressure into goals. The home side will hope that Fellaini and Jelavic overcome their recent dry patch to fire them to victory.
Finally, Fulham and West Ham meet at Craven Cottage, in a fixture between two teams that are struggling at present. Both clubs have been sliding toward the relegation zone in recent weeks, and will want to put this right as soon as possible before they are sucked into a direct battle against the drop.
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