Barclays Premier League Preview

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea, 12.45pm

In the lunch time kick off Andre Villas-Boas faces the club that sacked him halfway through last season as Spurs entertain Chelsea at White Hart Lane. The visiting side have been in the press frequently in the last two weeks with Ashley Cole raging at the FA on Twitter and John Terry finally being punished for his incident with Anton Ferdinand which was actually over a year ago now. Terry received a four match ban and a £220,000 fine which he has decided not to appeal against. Therefore the former England captain will miss today’s important match with Tottenham and also key fixtures against Manchester United both in the league and the Capital One cup as well as a match with Swansea.  After a slow start to the season, Tottenham have begun to pick up results and performances have improved. They went in to the international break on the back of two excellent victories in the Premier League with a 2-0 win against Aston Villa which followed a remarkable 3-2 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. That win ended a 23 year wait for three points at the home of the Red Devils.

Chelsea have had a fantastic start to the season. After an excellent second half of the season last year with the Blues claiming the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, Roberto Di Matteo and his side have continued this impressive form. So far, they’re unbeaten and have only dropped two points. They had to settle for a goalless draw against QPR at Loftus Road. Chelsea are sitting comfortably at the top of the table four points clear of second place Manchester United.

Spurs could be boosted with the return of Kyle Naughton who has been out for a month and Jake Livermore may be back after a groin injury that has kept him out for six weeks.

Chelsea will have Daniel Sturridge available after he has suffered with a hamstring pull and England pair Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand, who missed the Poland fixture midweek, will be returning to the squad.

It was confirmed this morning by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck that John Terry will remain captain of the team and he has received a heavy fine from the club.

With Spurs being the form team in the league after four consecutive wins and Chelsea on a 5 game winning streak in all competitions, this is a hard one to call. It will certainly be a tight game and Spurs have the home advantage. After their win against Man United, they’ll be feeling extremely confident. However Chelsea are capable of not letting home advantage get in their way. They picked up a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal at the end of September. Also, Spurs have failed to win in the last 5 meetings between the clubs so the history goes in favour of Chelsea but it’s all about today.

Fulham vs. Aston Villa, 3pm

Paul Lambert takes his Aston Villa team to Craven Cottage on the back of three league fixtures without a win. Their most recent success was a 4-2 defeat of Manchester City in the Capital One cup. Fulham, like Villa, go in to this without a win in their last 3 league matches. Fulham’s last win came over a month ago which was a 3-0 win over West Brom. Of course, there has been the international break which makes it longer since they last won.

Dimitar Berbatov and Mladen Petric are hopeful to be back in the squad after hip and calf injuries. Mahamadou Diarra is a possibility to make it back in to the squad after a knee issue but Bryan Ruiz is a doubt to feature after picking up a groin injury whilst on international duty.

Stephen Ireland will be amongst the Villa team after he suffered a broken wrist that kept him out of action for three games. Joe Bennett has recovered from a gashed leg so he is likely to retain his place in the starting 11 but Ciaran Clark a minor doubt because of injury.

Paul Lambert has so far endured a frustrating start to his first campaign in charge after he took over from Alex Mcleish. They are currently in 16^th position, two points above the relegation zone. Reading, who are in 18^th, have a game in hand on them as well. In 22 league matches between these two sides, Fulham have only won three. They have all come at Craven Cottage as well so they’ll hope they can add to that poor total. Despite the unsatisfactory record, the Cottagers will be optimistic because they have started much better than their opponents.

Villa have gained 5 points from a possible 21 in their first seven league games. This is their poorest start to a campaign since the season of 1986-87 when they were actually relegated. They haven’t won in their last 12 away matches in the Premier League.

An interesting fact regarding Fulham is that only Barcelona have a better shooting accuracy than them across the top five divisions in Europe. Barcelona have 66.7% to Fulham’s 63.5%.

Fulham definitely appear to be the favourites for this match.

Liverpool vs. Reading, 3pm

Difficult is probably the most appropriate word to describe Brendan Rodgers’ start as Liverpool manager. It hasn’t been a horrible beginning but they’ve continued to struggle in the league. With the signings of Fabio Borini, Joe Allen and Nuri Sahin there was a positive feeling about Anfield. Unfortunately Borini hasn’t quite reached his potential and expectation and it will be a while before we see it happen because the striker has been ruled out for three months with a broken foot. Their attacking options up front are very limited anyway but the absence of Borini has increased the concern about their lack of goal sources. Raheem Sterling has managed to make several appearances this season. He looks an absolutely brilliant player with good close control and rapid pace. At a tender age of 17, he has a lot of potential and is a huge prospect for Liverpool. There’s no doubt that he will be featuring for the England first team in the future once he has gained sufficient experience.

Reading haven’t had a great start to the Premier League and they’re still in search of their first league win. Anfield isn’t the easiest place to get those first three points. There have been encouraging signs for Brian McDermott but they’re eager to find a win. Realistically, they should have had it by now but they let a 2 goal lead slip away at Swansea City and had to settle for a draw. They were also denied a win by Newcastle at the Madjeski stadium when Demba Ba rescued a point for Alan Pardew’s side equalising in the 83^rd minute. The Royals will be hungry for success against Liverpool. Rodgers and McDermott know each other well. The two worked together at Reading earlier in Rodgers’ career and they have a fond friendship with each other. That will go out of the way when the match kicks off this afternoon.

Anfield is a tough venue to go and get a result but Liverpool’s record at home isn’t great. Last year, many sides took a point from Liverpool so Reading must go out fighting. Stoke City held them to a 0-0 draw before the international break and the Reds haven’t won there this season.

I am predicting that Liverpool will get their second win of the season though.

Manchester United vs. Stoke, 3pm

Manchester United will be looking to maintain their fine record against Stoke City. The Potters have failed to gain a point at Old Trafford since their promotion in 2008 and have only scored one goal which came from Dean Whitehead in a 2-1 defeat two seasons ago. Stoke have only lost one game this season and that came against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Last time out they managed to hold Liverpool to a goalless draw and will take plenty of positives from that result. So far, Stoke have done well against the top sides. Other than the Chelsea defeat, Stoke have drawn 0-0 with Arsenal and held league champions Manchester City to a 1-1 draw both at the Britannia Stadium.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have already lost two games this season. They were defeated 1-0 against Everton in their first game of the season and they also lost 3-2 to Tottenham. Performances haven’t been fantastic but summer signing Robin Van Persie has been in fine form and hasn’t struggled at all to score goals for his new club. United go in to this fixture after a comfortable 3-0 win against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park which is a very difficult place to go even for the likes of Manchester United.

Ashley Young will be back for the home side after missing two months with a knee injury. Chris Smalling is still not ready to make his first appearance of the season as he recovers from a broken foot which he sustained in a pre-season friendly.

Andy Wilkinson is back from suspension for Stoke but Glenn Whelan will face a late fitness test on a problem with his hamstring. Michael Owen will return to his former club who released him last season but after an injury which prevented him from featuring at another one of his former clubs Liverpool, he is likely to be on the bench.

Peter Crouch may make his 300^th Premier League appearance. Stoke haven’t won at Old Trafford since April 1976. Javier Hernandez and Robin Van Persie have good scoring statistics against Stoke. Chicharito, as he is commonly known, has scored four goals in four games against Stoke whilst the Flying Dutchman, Van Persie, has hit the back of the net six times against Stoke in the Premier league which includes a goal in each of the last four meetings.

With United’s reassuring record against Tony Pulis’ side, this should be a routine victory for the 19 times league winners but Stoke will battle and their resilience in defence could be essential to them getting anything this afternoon.

Swansea City vs. Wigan Athletic, 3pm

Swansea City take on Wigan Athletic at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon with the home side looking to regain the form they were in at the very beginning of the season. The Latics are without a win in their last three league games.

Kerry Agustien is in contention for the Swans after a calf injury has kept him out of football. Neil Taylor will most certainly not be featuring and is expected to be out for a long time.

Wigan will be missing Antolin Alcaraz with a groin injury and Albert Crusat, who has a problem with his knee. Maynor Figueroa and Jean Beausejour will be monitored as they went on long trips with their international countries Honduras and Chile respectively.

The last two matches with these teams have ended without any goals. It could be an interesting game with both sides in need of three points. With Swansea at home, they’re likely to get back to winning ways and end their poor run of form.  Swansea are okay in 11^th place but Wigan are lower down in 15^th so this will be an interesting contest.

West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester City, 3pm

Steve Clarke’s West Brom side take on league winners Manchester City at the Hawthorns with the Baggies proving to be the surprise package of the season so far. They have been playing excellent football and have gained fantastic results. A 3-0 win against Liverpool at the start of the season was no fluke. Their only defeat was a 3-0 loss to Fulham. They held Tottenham at White Hart Lane and have looked like a threatening force.

Manchester City are unbeaten this season but have failed to match the pace of Chelsea. They are third, behind Man United due to an inferior goal difference by 1. They’ll be looking to keep the pressure on Chelsea and continue pushing Manchester United as they fight for second place.

Although Romelu Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, missed Belgium’s 2-0 win over Scotland with an ankle problem, he is set to feature for West Brom. Youssouf Mulumbu is injured after international duty and is doubtful to play today. Jerome Thomas is still not fit after undergoing an operation on his knee.

David Silva injured his hamstring whilst playing for Spain and Jack Rodwell was injured playing on international duty. Maicon and Javi Garcia are also on the sidelines.

Man City have won just one of their last five visits to West Bromwich but Albion have failed to score in their last four games City. Again, this should be an entertaining match and West Brom will fancy their chances of pulling off a great result here. City must approach this game professionally and come away with three points to avoid falling behind the top two in the table.

West Ham vs. Southampton, 3pm

This is a match between two of the promoted sides from the npower Championship. These are the sort of games that, as a promoted side, you look to win because you’re against teams around you. It’s great when you pull off a shock win against a top team but if a side isn’t taking points off clubs in similar positions then relegation is an extreme likelihood. West Ham have started reasonably well. The Hammers have lost two games so far which were against Swansea City and in their last match against Arsenal. With 11 points from 7 games Sam Allardyce’s men are positioned nicely in 8^th. Southampton struggled at the beginning of the season. They came close to beating Manchester City, who recovered from 2-1 down to win 3-2, in their opening fixture. Their only win came in a 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa. At times, there were calls that Nigel Adkins could get sacked which was absolutely ridiculous. When you’re new to this league, you have to be patient and give the manager time so those rumours, if true, were totally unfair and ludicrous.

Winston Reid and Guy  Demel are both facing fitness tests on respective back and thigh injuries. Ricardo Vaz Te is expected to be out for three months after surgery on a dislocated shoulder.

For Southampton, they will be missing Gaston Ramirez for at least a month because of a dead leg issue which came about before the break for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Danny Butterfield, Jack Cork, Tadanari Lee and Frazer Richardson are all out for the Saints but Nathaniel Clyne could make a return for the visitors.

In the Championship, Southampton beat West Ham 1-0 at the St. Mary’s stadium and drew 1-1 at Upton Park. This will be a hugely significant game for both teams and one where I think West Ham will edge it to take the win on home soil.

Norwich vs. Arsenal, 5.30pm 

In the evening kick off Chris Hughton’s Norwich side face Arsenal at Carrow Road. Arsenal headed in to the break with a 3-1 victory against West Ham whilst Norwich conceded 9 goals in their last two games, against Chelsea and Liverpool. Norwich have failed to win so far this season and the chances of it finally coming against Arsenal are slim. Their form has been poor and mistakes have been made regularly. Arsenal have managed to get victories under their belt after a mediocre start to the campaign highlighting the absence of Robin Van Persie. Olivier Giroud has finally got his first goals for the club and Theo Walcott looks dangerous when going forward. Santi Cazorla has proved to be a worthwhile addition to the squad as well.

The great news for Arsenal and England fans is that Jack Wilshere could make his first appearance for Arsenal in 17 months. This will be a huge boost for his club and country but mainly himself. It has been a very long period and he’ll be chuffed to be back in the side. Kieran Gibbs is out with a thigh strain and Laurent Koscielny also misses out along with Theo Walcott who was injured against San Marino in England’s 5-0 win.

Robert Snodgrass could overcome an ankle injury which he picked up playing for Scotland. Steven Whittaker is still not ready to come back from his ankle injury.

This will be a tough game for Norwich and as much as they need a win, it’s hard to see them beating Arsenal. If the crowd give them a loud backing then they may be inspired to go on and win. Arsenal should take the points back to North London though and then look to build on that.