Champions Man City visit St James’ Park on the back of their
first defeat of the season to city rivals Man United. City will want to bounce
back from the defeat that has left them six points off the pace behind table
topping Man United. This Week City announced a loss of £97.9m, the club has
managed to half the deficit from last year (£197.5m) but are still in danger
regarding UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. Newcastle has failed to build up on
the success of last season, marred by injuries to key players and lack of
confidence. They are on a run of five defeats in six games. This will be a
tough fixture for City because Newcastle will ensure they don’t get beaten.
Liverpool put up a good showing away to West Ham last
weekend without talisman Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan will be back from
suspension and will want to ensure Liverpool continues their good run. Aston
Villa are the visitors to Anfield after a morale boosting win over Norwich in
the Capital One Cup mid week. I expect Villa to be competitive and make this
game worthwhile.
Fulham go to Loftus Road to take on a QPR side still in
search of their first win of the season. Harry is unbeaten in three games as
QPR boss but the win still eludes him. His side have been more competitive than
they were under Mark Hughes with the players knowing they have to fight for
places. Fulham had a good win against Newcastle on Monday night. I reckon this
is the game QPR will break their winless streak.
Man United should have Nemanja Vidic back in defence against
Sunderland which will be another massive boost for them after going six points
ahead in the league with their Derby win.
Sunderland played with a high tempo in their Capital One Cup win over
Reading but they still looked shaky in defence and I don’t see how they can
shut out a potent United attack.
Everton’s comeback to beat Spurs last weekend, was a
fantastic result for them. The Toffees had drawn so many games when they were
in winning positions, so to win that game when they were behind so late on was
massive for them. They will have to work very hard to get three points at the
Britannia Stadium. Stoke hardly concede goals at home, work hard and are
difficult to play against.
Swansea’s last visit to North London ended with joy. A
massive 2-0 victory over Arsenal, a game in which they dominated the
Gunners. They are now through to the
League Cup Semi-Finals for the first time in their history. Spurs collapsed at Everton last week conceding
two goals in extra time. If Gareth Bale is not fit it will be a big loss for
Spurs but this is a game they really should win to prove their top four
credentials.
West Brom has now lost three games in a row but they were
very unlucky in the defeat to Arsenal last week. The Baggies will get a chance
to stop that slide on Sunday because West Ham has really been inconsistent on
the road this season.
On Monday night
Arsenal play host to Reading. I doubt we will get a repeat of the 7-5 score
line in the League Cup between these two sides. It took Arsenal 60-odd minutes
to force Bradford keeper Matt Duke into a save in their League Cup loss. Their
crossing was poor all night and Gervinho looked like he did not want to be
there. Arsenal lacks a leader on the pitch and they are hurting badly from the
sales of Van Persie and Song. Reading will look to cause them more problems as
they have between competitive in all their games this season. Wenger needs a
positive result but it will not come without a fight.
OTHER FIXTURES
Norwich v Wigan
*All Saturday’s fixtures are 3:00pm GMT except Man city
Newcastle which is 12:45GMT.
* Sunday’s fixtures Tottenham v Swansea (13:30 GMT), West
Brom v West Ham (16:00GMT).
It would be most interesting if Arsenal were to somehow lose at home to reading.
ReplyDeleteVidic back? Give the title to ManU already!
ReplyDelete