We only have the eight Premier League fixtures this weekend as a result of the League Cup final between Manchester City and Sunderland, so the Manchester derby has been postponed until later in the month, as has Sunderland vs. West Brom.
Everton vs. West Ham
Well didn’t The Toffees get unlucky at Stamford Bridge last week? As a fan there is nothing worse than conceding a game in the last minute, so for the players it must be shattering. They can take heart with being back at home though, despite the fact they are coming up against a very stubborn West Ham.
The Hammers’ upturn in form continued last week as they came back from a goal down to beat Southampton 3-1, and a win at Goodison Park would make it a staggering five wins in a row. I don’t need to go into the whole ‘see what happens when you back the manager’ thing again do I?
Everton will be without Phil Jagielka, but will have Romelu Lukaku back, while West Ham have Andy Carroll available again after his controversial suspension, so it could be a more physical match than Roberto Martinez would hope to play, and West Ham could just nick it…
Prediction: Everton 1-2 West Ham.
Fulham vs. Chelsea
I’ve found out that my colloquial way of calling this the ‘King’s Road’ derby is incorrect, although I imagine people always got the gist of what I meant…
It has always been Chelsea who had a reputation for hiring and firing, but perhaps it is an area thing with Fulham changing manager twice, whereas Chelsea have made it past October without Roman Abramovich getting the axe out; rightly so given that The Blues, The Ponies, or whatever are top of the table.
A complete contrast to Fulham then who are rock bottom.
David Moyes and England have again kept Chelsea out of the press, despite their ‘tactics’ in the Champions League match with Galatasaray, when Terry picked the ball up on the pitch resulting in a quick Galatasaray throw in that resulted in a goal being disallowed. Rightly so to be honest.
But now back to business for Jose, and what should be three points for his side, which could open them up a gap at the top, temporarily at least, with City not playing and Arsenal facing a testing trip to Stoke (where Chelsea lost 3-2).
Prediction: Fulham 0-3 Chelsea.
Hull vs. Newcastle
Hull have very much been a surprise package this season, and are just 10 points off the magical 40-point mark so all credit to Steve Bruce, which has been Alan Pardew’s angle.
Newcastle looked to be on course for a good season, but then came the bad form and the sale of Yohan Cabaye, and the injury to Loic Remy, and Mike Ashley deciding that £250million would tempt him to sell the club. Basically they find themselves in a bit of turmoil.
Like Chelsea, they won last weekend at the last minute against Aston Villa through Remy, but that could only be temporary celebration as Hull will be a tougher opponent.
Having reached 40 points, The Magpies aren’t going down, but they need to secure their position in the upper reaches of the club before the summer so they can sign the likes of Remy permanently and fill the void left by Cabaye.
Prediction: Hull 3-0 Newcastle.
Stoke vs. Arsenal
The weekend Aaron Ramsey could return from his latest injury could be at the place he suffered that horrific leg break a few years ago. I remember that match, and the hushed tone mutterings after the Arsenal fans had finished booing Shawcross off the pitch. It wasn’t pleasant.
But since before that, there has always been a rivalry between the clubs after Wenger’s comments about Stoke being a rugby team, hence our songs against The Gunners has always been more akin to Twickenham than Wembley with Jerusalem and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot being belted out in place of Delilah..
Quite surprisingly and against the odds Stoke pushed Arsenal at The Emirates earlier in the season, and ironically it was them who scored from three set pieces, while The Potters scored from open play. 3-1 was a very unjust result given the performance, but at The Brit will be a different story…
Prediction: Stoke 2-1 Arsenal.
Southampton vs. Liverpool
Liverpool, for all their attacking prowess, are worrying defensively and I agree that it is their defence that will keep them from winning the title. For Swansea to score 3 at Anfield.. Need I continue?
Southampton will hope to take advantage of that defensive frailty, and do the double over The Reds following their 1-0 win at Anfield in September. It would cap off a good week for the club, during which they have also had four players called up to the England side; Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez and a first call for Luke Shaw, who was pictured in tears of joy. Well deserved too…
This match could be very open and it’s possible there could be a few goals, but I think Saints will pick themselves up after a slight slump recently.
Prediction: Southampton 3-2 Liverpool.
Aston Villa vs. Norwich
If there’s ever a match that can be labelled ‘dull’, I think it’s likely to be this one.. Both can’t seem to score, don’t play particularly attractive football, and are in the weird position of ‘not going down, but not going up either’.
The focus of the match will be Paul Lambert; what abuse is he likely to get from the travelling Canaries support for leaving them nearly two years ago.
Norwich picked up a surprise win against Tottenham last week, and will be hoping that is their kick-start for the rest of the season, while Villa’s last minute loss at Newcastle was more gloom for Lambert.
The teams are locked on points with Villa ahead on goal difference, that is exactly how I expect it to remain…
Prediction: Aston Villa 0-0 Norwich
Swansea vs. Crystal Palace
The Swans bowed out of the Europa League on Thursday in Napoli, so Gary Monk can now concentrate on keeping them up, and that needs to start on Sunday by continuing the threatening, flowing football they played against Liverpool against Palace.
The Eagles lost to United last weekend, and I’m not sure they are going to get anything from Swansea because The Swans have done alright in their games against lower league opposition after Europa League nights.
Pulis has done a good job, but Palace, like Stoke, aren’t particularly impressive on the road in true Pulis style…
Predictions: Swansea 2-0 Crystal Palace.
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Tottenham vs. Cardiff City
Both teams got embarrassed last weekend, Spurs at Norwich and Cardiff at home against Hull, so certainly from the home side we can expect a response; we saw it on Thursday night against Dnipro…
I don’t know what to make of Cardiff. They did well for a while after Solskjaer took over, but the honeymoon period is over and he is now struggling to get a performance out of his team, which is worrying for them with time running out.
I’m intrigued that Michael Dawson and Danny Rose haven’t been called up for England, perhaps Rose more than Dawson although we have plenty of options at left back.. Dawson, at 30, is probably out of Roy Hodgson’s future plans, hence it is Cardiff’s Caulker and Smalling who are being considered.
This will be a first return to White Hart Lane for Caulker since his summer move, but if Cardiff are relegated I can’t see him staying in the Welsh capital, he is too good for The Championship.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Cardiff.
League Cup final: Manchester City vs. Sunderland
Sunderland have done extremely well to reach the final, and have seen a massive turnaround since Gus Poyet took over from Di Canio. It hasn’t got any easier for them in the Cup either with their run including scalps over Chelsea and Manchester United already. They will hope to add City to that list.
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| Stoke vs. Manchester City, FA Cup Final 2011 Can City be victorious at Wembley again? |
The Citizens capitulated in their last Wembley appearance to a late Ben Watson goal, and conceded the FA Cup to Wigan, leading us to the repeated story of Dave Whelan’s personal FA Cup heart break..
This season though they are still strictly speaking in line for a quadruple, but I can’t see them overturning Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League. That leaves the domestic triple in hand though, and a win on Sunday could give them the confidence to go on and do that.
Sunderland had their own capitulation at Arsenal last weekend, but will be up for the fight on Sunday. Ultimately thought I think City will have too much for them.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland.
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