Premier League - Gameweek #12 - Preview

The Barclays Premier League. Seems such a far memory doesn’t it? Amidst Tendulkar’s retirement party , England playing woefully against Germany, Ronaldo vs Ibrahimovic and The Ashes, the Premier League is currently the forgotten commodity.

But worry not, the thrills and spills of the Barclays Premier League are back this week. Two huge clashes - The Merseyside derby and Tottenham and Man City colliding, promises a great weekend. Here is a preview for all the clashes

EVERTON VS LIVERPOOL

The first Merseyside derby of this season is in Goodison Park as Roberto Martinez gets his first taste of the fixture. The Spaniard was among the shortlist to replace Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool until the owners picked Rodgers instead. It is a clash of the two previous Swansea managers , now in Merseyside , looking to impose a passing style on their sides. Which one will prevail?

Everton had a lukewarm outing last time around being held by rock bottom Crystal Palace. Leon Osman and Kevin Mirallas were largely off form. Liverpool meanwhile were rampant, albeit against a terrible Fulham side. Luis Suarez was special last time around. In a clash that means so much more than a football match, will Martinez start in style? The threat of Romelu Lukaku will have to be watched by Liverpool.

Man To Look Out For - Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan has just almost seen his country through to the World Cup and will be in the mood.

ARSENAL VS SOUTHAMPTON

Old Trafford, that place again. The scene of the worst memory of the Wenger era (the 8-2 defeat) haunted Arsenal again as they crashed at Old Trafford last week. However, they still are top of the table and Theo Walcott is returning from injury to provide them the much needed speed that they lacked last time around. Arsenal’s midfield will look to shut out Southampton from getting the likes of Adam Lallana involved.

Southampton meanwhile are on cloud nine. If they beat Arsenal and Liverpool fail to win against Everton, they will be top of the table. Yes, Southampton. Yes, top of the table (and the season will be twelve games old). Pretty incredible for the Saints who will need no further motivation than that. They will go all out at the Emirates.

Man To Look Out For - Adam Lallana. The winger made his debut for England and has the potential to be the match winner

FULHAM VS SWANSEA

Many are surprised that Martin Jol has lasted the international break. Former Manchester United coach, Rene Meulensteen has joined the Fulham coaching staff and it is interesting to see whether his tactical inputs can alter the fortunes of the Cottagers who lie in the relegation zone. Jol will have to start coaxing more out of his defence and the creative talents of Brian Ruiz and Dimitar Berbatov.

Swansea, for their part, have not been as good as many people make them out to be. They lie 13th in the table with the possibility for Fulham to leapfrog them if they lose. The Swans let Stoke get a two goal lead last time before coming back to 3-2 only to concede a shabby penalty and hence a draw. Michael Llaudrup’s men need a victory to assure their midtable status. Is the Europa League taking a toll on the Swans?

Man To Look Out For - Wilfried Bony. The big striker is coming into his own in the last few weeks.

HULL CITY VS CRYSTAL PALACE

The Tigers were put to the sword at St. Mary’s in the last gameweek. They were quite sedate as Southampton ran riot . More days like those and Steve Bruce will have to start worrying. However, their home record has been superb this season. This has ensured that they still lie above the much heralded likes of Swansea. But this phase of the season where they face the likes of Man United , Arsenal, Liverpool(twice) and Chelsea in five of their following ten games will decide the season for Hull. A win against Crystal Palace is a must.

Crystal Palace still have hope after all as last week’s spirited performance against Everton proved. They were tipped to be the worst ever Premier League side but they clawed their way to a point in Selhurst Park last week. Time has far from run out and a sequence of good results could actually see them rescued. A win at Hull would be absolutely brilliant , especially if they look back later in the season

Man To Look Out For - Danny Gabbidon - The former West Ham man controlled Romelu Lukaku’s threat last week and will be looking to have a similar effect on Yannick Sagbo

NEWCASTLE UNITED VS NORWICH CITY

Is Joe Kinnear , the much hated director of football of Newcastle actually a football genius? The man only made a single loan signing this season, Loic Remy from QPR and it has proved an inspirational signing as the Frenchman is proving unplayable. Newcastle went for a more solid approach this transfer market and it is proving to be a wise move as the Magpies are on the rise. Victories against Chelsea and Spurs sees Alan Pardew’s men pretty at ninth and a victory against Norwich will see them draw on level points with Spurs, at least temporarily.

Norwich , by contrast , have spent a lot on Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Gary Hooper . The striking duo were initially highly disappointing in a slow start to the season but last week the Englishman Hooper scored as Norwich grabbed a vital win against West Ham. A win at St. James’ would be a bonus but the suspicion is Hughton will be chuffed with a point.

Man To Look Out For - Loic Remy. He is in form and it is wise to bet on him scoring a goal

STOKE CITY VS SUNDERLAND

Oh dear, Stoke City really need to start looking below them. The Potters are sinking fast in the post Pulis era. The fans who booed the midtable comfort of Pulis are now feeling nervous. The inability to keep a 2 goal lead against Swansea was really worrying . But many fans argued that they would never have scored 3 goals away from home under Pulis. Ultimately , football is a results game and Pulis and Stoke cannot afford to lose against Sunderland who will draw level on points with them

Meanwhile, a celebratory mood is prevailing in Wearside where Gus Poyet looks to have had a great effect. The now traditional 1-0 win against Man City with Wes Brown in super form meant Sunderland went joyously into the international break. A win here and the fight for survival, which looked lost under Di Canio, is well and truly on .

Man To Look Out For - Wes Brown. The former Manchester United man along with Poyet has transformed Sunderland’s fortunes

WEST HAM UNITED VS CHELSEA

West Ham have not had a proper striker all season. The strikerless 4-6-0 worked wonders against Spurs but has been misfiring since as the Hammers are dangerously flirting with relegation. The return of Andy Carroll is not anywhere close and so Ricardo Vaz Te and Carlton Cole are their major hopes. There have been only ten goals so far but Ravel Morrison’s rise has surely been an immense positive. The Hammers lost in demoralising fashion against Norwich and it is not the best time to face Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

Chelsea meanwhile are far from the title certainties that they were billed to be. A last minute Ramires dive saved them the blushes last time and November has always been a month of struggle for the Blues. They need to break this trend and though Big Sam’s West Ham lack the edge, they need to weary of their own weak defence. A routine win is expected but it is hard to predict things for the new Chelsea

Man To Look Out For - Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroonian is gathering some momentum and smart money is on him finding the back of the net.

MANCHESTER CITY VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

In the big clash on Sunday, Manuel Pellegrini’s struggling Manchester City take on Andre Villas Boas’ misfiring Tottenham Hotspur. Quite what owners can do beyond shelling out over £100 Million on new talent remains unclear but both sides have looked so toothless. Manchester City , at home though, are a force. They have demolished Manchester United and Norwich here and despite their defeat at Sunderland, they start as the favourites. Sergio Aguero has to fire though as Silva is injured.

Tottenham have been lacking the flairs and goals of the Gareth Bale days. Andros Townsend is being found inadequate and Aaron Lennon is having minimal effect from the left hand side. Roberto Soldado looks isolated. Tottenham need a huge performance to fire up their season or if results go badly on the weekend, they could end up in midtable.

Man To Look Out For - Sergio Aguero - The little Argentinian has a knack of stepping up to the big moments, especially at the Etihad stadium

CARDIFF CITY VS MANCHESTER UNITED

Amidst all the boardroom chaos at Cardiff, their home form has been brilliant with victories against Manchester City and the Welsh derby against Swansea standing out. They were well beaten at Villa Park last time around though. They have only twelve points and it would become a worrying situation if Sunderland and Fulham grab victories on Saturday. They have the forces of Craig Bellamy, though. The Welshman , a former Manchester City and Liverpool player, loves to hurt Man United.

David Moyes is quietly building up momentum. The Red devils won against Arsenal by parking the bus in the last few minutes but nevertheless they sit above neighbours Manchester City and it doesn’t seem so bad a start, given the fixture list. Moyes , if he gets a victory here, is finally in the kind of form that one associates with Manchester United. Midfield remains a concern with Michael Carrick’s injury. Anderson might play after a long break.

Man To Look Out For - Adnan Januzaj. The kid was left on the bench against Arsenal but will be looking to further his reputation

WEST BROMWICH ALBION VS ASTON VILLA

The Baggies were robbed last time against Chelsea with the injury time penalty but the signs are encouraging for them. After a bad start, they have risen to tenth with Berahino displaying good form. They can be the team that throws up a surprise challenge to one of the Europa League spots if they continue in this vein. The midlands derby is always a fiesty affair and West Brom fans expect a win , especially at home . Can Steve Clarke’s men step up?

Villa ended their goal drought against Cardiff and Paul Lambert’s young side is still Jerkyll and Hyde. Which Villa will turn up is anyone’s guess. Will it be the bright one that battered Cardiff or the toothless one we saw in the previous week? They do have a good record away from home than at home in the last few weeks. A draw is a good result for Villa .

Man To Look Out For - Berahino. The exciting prospect is tipped to be a wildcard for Roy Hodgson’s World Cup team.