Barclays Premier League - Gameweek #14 - Preview

The Barclays Premier League has an interesting midweek schedule as all twenty teams are involved . Just one match takes place on Tuesday while nine are scheduled to take place on Wednesday evening . Here is a preview for all the matches.

CRYSTAL PALACE VS WEST HAM UNITED

Tony Pulis’ first home game in charge sees a visit from fellow long ball merchant Sam Allardyce. With Sunderland’s point at Aston Villa, the Eagles are rock bottom of the Premier League. The weekend defeat to struggling Norwich was a huge blow leaving them seven points adrift of the Canaries. Teams being bottom by Christmas rarely get saved and thus a home victory against West Ham who provided the Coup De Grace for Martin Jol in the weekend , couldn’t be better timed. In his reign as Stoke manager, Pulis made the Brittania stadium a fortress. And the Selhurst Park faithful have every right to demand the same

Man To Look Out For - Carlton Cole. It’s not often that the big striker scores. But he did find the net against Fulham and is favourite to start ahead of Maiga

ARSENAL VS HULL CITY

Arsenal’s victory at Cardiff was a statement of intent. Just the previous week, Manchester United failed to hold out a lead against the Canaries but Arsenal did (and they even scored a couple of late goals). How good is Aaron Ramsey going to get? Mesut Ozil shrugged off talk of bad form with precise passes for Ramsey. A win here would be one game less to go to the finish line. However, underestimate Hull at your own peril. The Tigers mauled Liverpool with pace and directness. Arsenal, as the old phrase goes, "dont like it up them" either. Hull’s memorable victory at the Emirates stadium in their last Premier League stint stands out in memory. In for a classic here.

Man To Look Out For - Aaron Ramsey. Just when you thought he was in a slump, the Welshman scored again.

LIVERPOOL VS NORWICH CITY

What an abject performance from Liverpool in the weekend. It was almost as if they were sleepwalking without their front man Daniel Sturridge. The free kick from Gerrard aside , they struggled to even threaten the goal. They will have their work cut out on Wednesday with Robert Snodgrass’ accurate crosses into the box likely to trouble the struggling Skrtel. Gary Hooper found some form for Norwich as he has scored two goals in the last three games. Anfield is a tough place to go to but Norwich have nothing to lose. Their bright performances against West Ham and Crystal Palace is reason for optimism. They need to exploit Liverpool’s weak central midfield

Man To Look Out For - Gary Hooper. The former Celtic striker is finally kicking up some form and is starting to edge out Ricky Van Wolfswinkel.

MANCHESTER UNITED VS EVERTON

David Moyes is facing his former club Everton for the first time. Midfield was again a huge cause for concern in the draw at White Hart Lane. They now face a rampant Everton whose strength is central midfield where the likes of McCarthy and Osman tend to dominate possession. Moyes needs Phil Jones or Marouane Fellaini to perform the holding role and Ryan Giggs is likely to come back in place of the ineffective Tom Cleverley. Robin Van Persie, Michael Carrick are both doubts. Everton on the back of a 4-0 victory over Stoke will hope that Oviedo can continue his form in the left back position in the absence of the mercurial Leighton Baines

Man To Look Out For - Romelu Lukaku. When the Belgian last faced Manchester United, he scored a hat trick for West Brom in a 5-5 draw. He is bang on form and will be a huge menace for Evans and Vidic

SOUTHAMPTON VS ASTON VILLA

Southampton got an early goal and pressed well for over an hour against Chelsea. But an injury to Arthur Boruc and subsequent deflation led to their second consecutive defeat in the Premier League. Losses away to Arsenal and Chelsea are no shame though and they are now back in home territory against Aston Villa. The Villains though played out a 0-0 stalemate against Sunderland with the section of ridiculous fans booing Christian Benteke, their brilliant Centre Forward. Villa and Benteke have a point to prove but St. Mary’s is a very hard place to go to.

Man To Look Out For - Christian Benteke. Will the booing by his own fans fire the Big Belgian back into life?

STOKE CITY VS CARDIFF CITY

After a rather fortunate win against Sunderland, Stoke are back in trouble. After a 4-0 drubbing at Everton, Stoke now face the possibility of losing to direct relegation rivals Cardiff if they don’t up their game. It is 16th against 17th in what will prove to be a tie of titanic proportions when looked back from the end of the season. Hughes has failed to convince the Potters faithful and a victory is a must. Cardiff meanwhile need to ease some pressure of their own. It’s a relegation six pointer

Man To Look Out For - Fraser Campbell. He was clinical against United and City and bar a wonder save from Szczesny , he would have bagged one against Arsenal too.

SUNDERLAND VS CHELSEA

0-0 draws away from home are a good result only if you didn’t go winless in your first eight games. Sunderland’s 0-0 against Villa isn’t the end of the world but they need to keep pace with the other relegation rivals and points like one on Saturday do more ham than good. They now face a Chelsea side who produced a stirring comeback as they beat Southampton. Sunderland have already beaten Manchester City at home and another big scalp would get them out of some deep waters. Injury concerns are present for the visitors as Oscar limped off in the weekend. Jose Mourinho mk II needs to grab the league by the scruff .

Man To Look Out For - Juan Mata. The Spaniard was brilliant against Southampton. Now can he do it in successive games?

SWANSEA VS NEWCASTLE UNITED

Swansea’s abject defeat to Manchester City wasn’t exactly a low. Few teams have performed well at the Etihad stadium. However, they are not as safe from the threat of relegation as many seem to think. A couple of defeats from here would see Swansea dragged into the mire. And thus, at this juncture a victory against Newcastle is almost a compulsion. Newcastle for their part have had a rather successful season so far. Yet another win in the weekend propelled them to sixth ahead of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Alan Pardew is beginning to get it right. Two tough away games (here and Old Trafford) follow. Will they start on the right note?

Man To Look Out For - Yohan Gouffran. The Frenchman has been brilliant since replacing Hatem Ben Arfa in the line up.

FULHAM VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

A new era for Fulham as Rene Meulensteen finally gets to make his managerial debut. The Dutchman was sacked two games after starting his job as manager of Anzhi and now takes over a struggling Fulham team who have a losing streak of six games. Can he turn the tide around? Tottenham’s manager is under increasing pressure himself and the 2-2 draw with Manchester United was satisfactory at best. Then there is the issue of Roberto Soldado struggling to find the back of the net . Gareth Bale’s pace down the wings has been sorely missed. AVB’s side must win at Fulham or the vultures will start circling around the manager’s head.

Man To Look Out For - Roberto Soldado. He might be struggling to score but his build up play against Manchester United was great.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION VS MANCHESTER CITY

West Brom’s defeat at Newcastle was a bit deflating but the Baggies have shown the tendency to react well. It has been quite a lukewarm few weeks for them having picked just two points out of the last nine. They face a visit from a rampant Manchester City side who have put nine past their opponents in the last two games. Man City away from home though is a different and weaker team. That’s exactly the reason that the Citizens aren’t top of the Premier League where many fans feel that they belong. A win at the Hawthorns and it would look like City are putting together a few results.

Man To Look Out For - Samir Nasri. The Frenchman is finding rythm of his Arsenal days for the first time in his Man City career