Category: Previews

Kicking off this Premier League weekend is Manchester United’s game against Bournemouth. Some big team news for the game is Luke Shaw’s return to the United squad after six games not taking part. A win for United would be very handy in their battle for the top four, but also Bournemouth need a win because they have crept down the table and they’re now four points off the relegation zone.

Also on Saturday, Liverpool take on Arsenal with both teams having had a very good start to the season, but have now dropped down the league a bit and Arsenal find themselves in 4th position while Liverpool are one position behind them in 5th place. A big boost for Arsenal and a disappointment for Liverpool is that both Henderson and Sturridge are out with injuries and Lovren could be missing even though he’s training with Liverpool.

Moving on to the next day, Tottenham clash with Everton at White Hart Lane. Spurs go into the game optimistic after thrashing Stoke last week, with Kane scoring a hat trick, his third treble of 2017 and England international, Dele Alli also getting on the score sheet. It may sound ridiculous from afar but if Everton win here and if you study the table, Everton could finish in the top four this season. But Spurs almost definitely will finish in Champions League places.

The last game of the weekend is Sunderland versus Manchester City. Both teams are separated by thirty three points and seventeen league positions, but all those facts don’t seem to matter in the Premier League; just take Swansea’s win over Liverpool as an example. City’s last game was a convincing victory over Huddersfield, but Sunderland are a better opposition than the Championship side and they’ve pulled off some shock results this season, so City can’t go into the game thinking they’re going to win easily.

A big fixture this weekend is Swansea’s game with Chelsea, where both teams are on good form. If Swansea were to win, it would be a big shock, but don’t discount it because Swansea are doing very well under new manager Paul Clement.

Also, Everton play Sunderland with the Black Cats in a bit of a shock after their 4-0 loss last week because the week before that loss they had won 4-0. But Everton are vulnerable against the so-called smaller teams as showed last week against Boro.

Also on Saturday, Watford play West Ham, and the Hammers have improved a lot in the second part of the season and they have got themselves into 10th position in the league. Getting there after the first few months of the season looked to be a distant dream, but they are on form with their tall striker Andy Carroll playing exceptionally well upfront.

The last Prem fixture of the weekend is Tottenham’s game against Stoke, where Spurs won’t be in the happiest of moods after their Europa League disappointment on Thursday, but Stoke on the other hand will be delighted after their win against Palace the week before last.

This FA Cup weekend, non-league teams Lincoln and Sutton take on Premier League oppositions, Burnley and Arsenal with a big dream: to be the first non-league teams to reach the sixth round ever, but Sutton need to keep a clean sheet against the menacing Arsenal attack, and Lincoln need to keep Burnley’s strikers, Gray and Vokes at bay.

On Saturday at 5.30 the league leaders Chelsea play Wolves, who hope to replicate their perfect performance from the last round in this game, but Chelsea will be hard to beat as top players such as Hazard, Costa and Kante could be playing in the affair.

Also on Saturday Huddersfield take on Manchester City, with Huddersfield improving massively in the league since last time and their current position in the league now (3rd) is sixteen places better than their Championship place last year (19th), so Huddersfield will be harder to beat than City will expect.

One of the last FA Cup fixtures of the weekend is Blackburn Rovers against Manchester United with United just recovering from their game against Saint Etienne where they won 3-0 and Ibrahimovic scored a hat rick. But United surely have to beat Blackburn because of the quality of their players and Blackburn’s awful league run.

To get this fixture-filled Premier League weekend started, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal take on Hull, a game that will be vital for the future of Arsene Wenger because if they lose then it would be Arsenal’s third loss in a row and some fans may turn against their manager.

Soon after Arsenal’s game against Hull, Sunderland play Southampton. Sunderland are definitely on an upbeat after their passionate and disciplined 4-0 win over Palace and they could once again escape being relegated, but if they do stay up then they should be beating Southampton who have found it reasonably hard in the league after Ronald Koeman has left the club.

The last game on Saturday is probably the biggest game of the day as Liverpool take on Spurs. Liverpool have dropped in the league after their electric start to the season. However, a win at Anfield would make them climb up the table. Spurs, unlike Liverpool, had a mediocre start to the season but have gone further up in the table and they’re now in second position.

The last game of the weekend is Leicester vs. Swansea. Both clubs are in a relegation battle so both teams must treat this game as a must-win. At the start of the season, no one expected Leicester to be in this position but awful form has put them in a relegation scrap.

I apologise for there being no podcast this week, we decided due to illness not to do it but we’ll return next Wednesday for another podcast.

This Friday, starting the FA Cup fourth round, we’ve got a tasty fixture of Derby vs Leicester. Derby are a much improved side since the managerial appointment of Steve McClaren. But will his main priority be the FA Cup as his club sit two points off the play-offs, so he may need to rest his star players – because any injuries would be fatal to their promotion challenge.

On Saturday, there’s a late FA Cup fixture as Southampton play Arsenal. The big news for Arsenal is that Arsene Wenger will be facing a touchline ban. There’s bad news for Southampton too as Jay Rodriguez, James Ward-Prowse and Virgil van Dijk will be missing the game due to injuries.

Also on Saturday, Manchester City take on Crystal Palace. The fixture is the only one where both teams are playing against each other and are in the  Premier League. Manchester City’s form isn’t the greatest as they’ve only won five of their past eleven games.

The big game on Sunday is Manchester United play Wigan Athletic. With Wigan struggling in the Championship and are only not in the relegation zone because of goal difference.

We’ve got another entertaining weekend of the Premier League coming up, and starting it off Paul Clement’s Swansea team take on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Swansea are hoping to bounce back from their defeat at Arsenal last week, but it may be hard as they’re playing Liverpool- who are third in the league.

There’s an exciting game on Saturday, where Spurs play Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. Pep Guardiola has been very negative in his comments saying that City are not in the title race anymore. City fans, do you agree with your manager or not, comment either way.

There’s triple fixtures on Sunday as Southampton play Leicester, Arsenal play Burnley and Chelsea take on Hull. Chelsea have got a boost coming into the game as Costa will almost definitely be returning.

This weekend the Premier League returns with some really exciting fixtures coming up.

The first one is on Saturday, where the former champions, Leicester take on the team at the top Chelsea. Where Chelsea hope to bounce back from their last league game as they lost Spurs 2-0.

The second one is on Sunday when Manchester City take on Everton, with Everton already splashing the cash this market as they’ve signed Schneiderlin and Lookman, and have targetted many more.

However, definitely the biggest game of the weekend is on Sunday. Where two of the biggest rivals play each other. Yes, it’s Manchester United vs Liverpool at Old Trafford. Where Klopp will be looking do forget their loss against the Saints by beating Manchester United. The huge team news for both team is that Coutinho is hoping to start his first league game for about six weeks, with Manchester United big news is Ibrahimovic is being assessed after he didn’t play against Hull due to illness.

Other Fixtures

Tottenham vs West Brom

Burnley vs Southampton

Hull vs Bournemouth

Sunderland vs Stoke

Swansea vs Arsenal

Watford vs Middlesbrough

West Ham vs Palace

 

Kicking off the festive week of football at 12:30, it’s Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of Palace, and a mighty important one too, as a loss and a win for Sunderland could put critics on his back, as it would move Palace into the relegation zone.

At 3:00 on Monday, teams play such Arsenal- who are needing a win after two losses in a row. Manchester United- who are looking to continue their good run of form against an optimistic to stay up Sunderland, and finally Everton play Leicester, with both teams having under performed this season.

Later on in the day it’s Hull vs Manchester City.

In the period of the week you have fixtures such as Liverpool vs Stoke- which is must win game for Liverpool if their title rivals win, Southampton vs Tottenham- with the latter not looking like being anything near a title challenge, and lastly Everton play against each other, with Hull showing no signs in why they’re staying up.

Hope you had a nice Christmas.