English (Barclays) Premier League Preview (Powered by Jacob Muggeton)
Saturday
12:45
Manchester City vs Leicester City
The tough fixtures keep coming for Leicester City, but the fairytale continues. Claudio Ranieri’s foxes will look to go an unprecedented six points clear at the top of the Premier League when they travel to second placed Manchester City in Saturday’s early kickoff.
Pep Guardiola will replace current City manager Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the season.
City’s inconsistent showings this season have been steadied in recent weeks, alternating between wins and draws to remain unbeaten in their last seven league games, while progressing in the FA Cup and to the final of the League Cup. Their home form remains formidable and Ranieri will likely alter his side’s approach to the one that beat Liverpool on Tuesday.
Manchester City remain shaky without their captain Vincent Kompany, and Leicester’s combination of direct play with intricate one-touch passing – brilliantly showcased in one particular passage which carved Liverpool open – will be a threat to the home side.
At the other end of the pitch, City will be relying on Sergio Agüero to continue his brilliant goal scoring form which saw him awarded January player of the month to take them ahead of Leicester on goal difference.
15:00
Aston Villa vs Norwich City
This is one of the games that Aston Villa simply cannot afford to lose if they are to complete another one of the Premier League’s ‘great escapes’. Surely that is what Rémi Garde will be telling his players after their 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
Jordan Ayew is sent off after 17 minutes.
Garde was left a frustrated manager after their bright start at the Boleyn Ground was ruined by Jordan Ayew’s ridiculous and spiteful elbow on West Ham’s Cresswell that left his side playing with 10 men for the remaining 73 minutes.
For Norwich, their terrible defensive displays have left them just two points from the relegation zone. The Canaries have conceded at least three goals in their last five games in all competitions, including 11 in their last three games at Carrow Road. What’s most troubling is the way they are literally gifting the opposition these goals.
Both sides are vulnerable at the moment, and neither can afford to lose to the other, which will hopefully produce an exciting game of football at Villa Park.
Liverpool vs Sunderland
Liverpool will face a Sunderland side in the middle of a bulk of difficult games at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
New Sunderland signing Wahbi Khazri made an impressive debut against Manchester City.
There has been no consistency to Liverpool’s results or performances for a long while now, which must be a concern to manager Jurgen Klopp. Meanwhile, despite defeat at home at Manchester City, Sunderland’s second half performance in which they were unlucky not to score will give Sam Allardyce plenty of optimism.
Liverpool struggled to cope with the direct play of Leicester and they may have lost by more were it not for a couple of fine saves by Mignolet to deny Okazaki and Mahrez.
The home side continue to display vulnerabilities when defending set-pieces, and Sunderland’s £9 million signing Wahbi Khazri delivered a number of dangerous corners that directly tested Joe Hart in their defeat to Manchester City – something Mignolet must have been made aware of.
Newcastle vs West Bromwich Albion
Newcastle were the Premier League’s big spenders in the January transfer window and will be hoping their additions can drag them out of the relegation zone when they host West Bromwich Albion.
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren was busy in the January transfer window.
Salomon Rondón’s injury time goal secured a draw at home to Swansea on Tuesday, while two late Barkley penalties confirmed Everton’s 3-0 victory over Newcastle the following evening.
Newcastle have been struggling establish themselves in the opposition’s half to create opportunities, but new signings Shelvey and Townsend should help with that buy supplying chances to loan signing Seydou Doumbia – a proven goal scorer in Russia, to ease the burden on Wijnaldum and Pérez.
Travelling to the North East of England will be West Brom, whose own transfer window was dominated by the story of a £21 million (!) bid by Saturday’s opponents. The bid was rejected and he may feature at St. James’ Park following his introduction from the bench on Tuesday. The Baggies will need their striker to start demonstrating why clubs are bidding that much for him as their form sees them flirting with the lower places in the league.
Stoke City vs Everton
Saturday could see the debut of Stoke City’s record signing Giannelli Imbula who was signed from Porto for £18.3 million.
Could Stoke City’s record signing Imbula could be in line for his debut against Everton?
Imbula was not registered in time to feature in their 3-0 humbling at Old Trafford, but could play against an Everton side who beat Newcastle to win their first game since the last time they played the Magpies at the end of December.
Then, the Toffee’s next game was against Saturday’s hosts which ended in a thrilling 4-3 victory for Stoke at Goodison Park. Hopefully there will be similar entertainment when the two sides meet at 15:00
Everton’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku could recover from an injury suffered in midweek, and they will need his goals to make up for his side’s defence that are conceding too frequently.
Swansea City vs Crystal Palace
Two sides experiencing mixed fortunes will play each other on Saturday afternoon as the Liberty Stadium will host Swansea City versus Crystal Palace.
Francesco Guidolin is so far unbeaten in charge of Swansea.
Crystal Palace’s home defeat to Bournemouth made it five league losses on the bounce, while Francesco Guidolin’s appointment at the Welsh club has seen two wins and a draw – albeit the 1-0 win over Watford featured their new manager watching from the stands.
Former Swans manager Garry Monk offered his ‘expert’ insight on Tuesday’s Match of the Day when he said that Swansea “will be disappointed” with the late equaliser conceded to West Brom.
Crystal Palace’s recent run of defeats seems to have coincided with Yannick Bolasie’s absence, being sidelined since December. Without their best player this season, it has been left to Wilfried Zaha to attack and take-on defences. This is exactly what he did in midweek, assisting Scott Dann for the opener against Bournemouth in the defeat. New signing Emmanuel Adebayor could prove crucial in converting the chances that Crystal Palace create.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Watford
So often ridiculed and laughed off as top-four contenders, Spurs are not only likely to be in next season’s Champions League, but a title challenge is now very possible as they look to continue their charge at home to Watford.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli will be crucial to Spurs’s title push.
Much will rely on not just the goals of Harry Kane, but his all round ability to link up with his teammates. He has developed into a striker that is displaying very few weaknesses. Deli Alli is proving to be an effective foil for Kane, and may be available for the game after being substituted against Norwich because of dizziness.
Watford face a difficult trip to White Heart Lane, but will be optimistic following a good performance against a resurgent Chelsea. There was a period in the first half when Watford took the game to Chelsea and created a number of openings, but the away side’s domination of possession in the second half meant the Hornets were content with a 0-0 draw.
17:30
Southampton vs West Ham United
Fraser Forster’s wonderful goalkeeping display at the Emirates ensured a 0-0 draw for Southampton who have crept up the table to seventh place – five points behind West Ham United who they will host on Saturday evening.
What was becoming a disappointing season for Southampton has seen Forster return from a long-term injury to keep four clean sheets in as many games, winning three of those in the process.
West Ham were already having a fantastic season under Slaven Bilić which was momentarily halted over the festive period with five consecutive draws has regained momentum, with only one loss in their last 10 games in all competitions.
The Hammers produced a mature performance against a 10-man Aston Villa in which they had to be patient for the breakthrough. The Saints must be wary not to concede any silly free kicks, otherwise Forster will have to continue producing brilliant saves to deny dead-ball specialists Payet and Valencia.
Sunday
13:30
AFC Bournemouth vs Arsenal
Sunday’s early game will see Benick Afobe face his former club Arsenal who are looking to reignite their title challenge at the Vitality Stadium.
Afobe will face his former club on the back of three goals in his first four Premier League games.
So far, so good for Bournemouth’s new striker, who spent 14 years at Sunday’s visitors before joining the Cherries via a two successful seasons at Wolves, where he scored 23 goals in 48 games in all competitions.
On Tuesday the 22 year-old scored his third goal in four games since his £10 million transfer to the South coast, as his side secured a valuable victory away at Crystal Palace.
Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Manchester City in December and a 1-0 win over Newcastle at the beginning of January saw the Gunners at the top of the league and being tipped as favourites for the title. However, no wins in the last four league games, with no goals in the last three have seen them slip down to the slightly familiar position of fourth, behind North London rivals Spurs on goal difference and five points adrift the mighty Leicester at the top.
Arsène Wenger’s side have been especially wasteful in front of goal and will need a combination of Özil’s creativity and clinical finishing to overcome a talented Bournemouth side.
16:00
Chelsea vs Manchester United
Guus Hiddink will hope to maintain his unbeaten second spell as interim manager against a Manchester United side much improved in their 3-0 win over Stoke.
Eden Hazard continued his return from injury against Watford.
This fixture doesn’t quite carry the same significance of those in years gone by, with both sides some way off the top of the table, but both sides are somewhat on the up. This can definitely be said of Chelsea, though it truly is a crazy season when a 13th placed Chelsea is identified as a team that has improved in recent weeks.
Much of this improvement has been down to Diego Costa’s return to goal scoring form. Manchester United will have to be wary of playing a high line because Costa is so dangerous when spinning in behind to latch onto long passes.
Manchester United returned to winning ways in the League while displaying some exciting football, the highlight being Anthony Martial’s goal to make it 2-0 which involved a great move reminiscent of United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Sunday’s visitors moved the ball an awful lot quicker to what we’re used to seeing this season, and if they do so again at Stamford Bridge it could cause problems for Cheslea. Despite their defensive midfield partnership of Mikel and Matic, Watford were able to bypass them a number of times with one-touch passing that showed some of the vulnerabilities