Manchester
City (2nd) vs West Bromwich (13th) SingTel TV 102, StarHub TV 227, 845pm
Form
|
|
Manchester
City (17-7-5)
|
West
Bromwich (8-9-12)
|
Last 5 games: WWLWL
Last 5 home games: LDWLW
|
Last 5 games: WDWLW
Last 5 away games: WDDLL
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
Manchester
City
|
West
Bromwich
|
Injuries: Toure (Achilles), Milner
(knee)
|
Injuries: Foster (knee)
Suspended: Brunt, Yacob
|
Left-back Aleksandar Kolarov is doubtful with a muscle problem,
with fellow left-black Gael Clichy being available again after being suspended
for the Champions League defeat at Barcelona while fellow defenders Pablo
Zabaleta and Eliaquim Mangala have recovered from minor injuries.
Chris Brunt is banned after accepting a Football
Association charge for verbally abusing a match official. Claudio Yacob is also
suspended as he serves the final game of a ban following his red card in the FA
Cup defeat at Aston Villa. Brown Ideye and
Saido Berahino continue to carry knocks but Victor Anichebe could return from a
groin injury.
This game would definitely be tricker than it looks on
paper, with a deflated Manchester City squad having to face a West Bromwich
team on the rise under Tony Pulis. However, I feel that City's calibre of
players SHOULD pull them through and make the difference. West Brom has a less than
decent away form, and with Man City wanting to go back to winning ways to close
down the ever increasing gap between themselves and Chelsea, as well as to
steer clear away from the chasing pack that is Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool,
I do expect Man City to win this game comfortably.
Do look out for Sergio
Aguero, who has scored 4 goals in 5 PL appearances against West Brom. As
for West Bromwich, Saido Berahino
would be their go-to guy for goals, and he would have something to prove after
missing out being called up to the England squad for the Euro2016 qualifiers.
Prediction: 2-1 win for City
Key Players: Sergio Aguero, Saido Berhaino
Aston Villa (16th) vs Swansea (9th)
SingTel TV 105, StarHub TV 230, 1053pm
Form
|
|
Aston
Villa (7-7-15)
|
Swansea
(11-7-11)
|
Last 5 games: LLLWW
Last 5 home games: LWLWW
|
Last 5 games: LWWLL
Last 5 away games: LWLWL
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
Aston
Villa
|
Swansea
|
Injuries: Vlaar,
Senderos, Richardson (calf), Baker (knee),
Cissokho (groin)
|
Injuries: Bartley (knee)
|
Alan Hutton will
return after completing a ban. Libor Kozak is
training with the first team after recovering from a broken leg but is not
match fit although Jack Grealish is back from suspension.
Central defender Federico Fernandez is available after
missing Monday night's 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool to return home to Argentina
for what manager Garry Monk described as "family reasons". Garry Monk
has no new injury worries for the Villa Park clash.
What a
turnaround new management can do for a team. Aston Villa sure doesnt look like
the team they have been for most part of the season. 4-0 away victory? That
seemed near impossible a month ago, but Tim Sherwood has shown his managerial
quality with his blend of attacking football, and blooding of youngsters
into the first team setup. Swansea, on the other hand, have been on a bit
of a slide of late, and with PL football virtually a certainty, Garry Monk's
squad might just fall into a bit of a complacent state (having lost 3 of their
past 5 games). I predict Aston Villa to carry on their upward ascent into EPL
safety, and Swansea are the opponents they just need for 3 points.
Christian Benteke has scored in 2 of
his 3 PL appearances against Swansea, and additionally has been a revitalized
striker under Sherwood (3 goals, 1 assist in past 2 games), so do expect him to
have a huge role here. Gylfi Sigurdsson
would provide the attacking threat for the Swans.
Prediction:
Villa to win 2-1
Key Men:
Christian Benteke, Gylfi Sigurdsson
Form
|
|
Newcastle
(9-8-12)
|
Arsenal
(17-6-6)
|
Last 5 games: DLWLL
Last 5 home games: DLDWL
|
Last 5 games: WWWWW
Last 5 away games: LWWWW
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
Newcastle
|
Arsenal
|
Injuries: Taylor (Achilles), Dummett, Haidara,
Tiote (all knee), Abeid (thigh), de Jong (collapsed lung), Aarons (thigh).
Suspended:
Coloccini, Cisse
|
Injuries: Arteta
(ankle), Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Wilshere (ankle) Debuchy (ankle)
|
Newcastle skipper Fabricio
Coloccini is suspended for three games, joining striker Papiss Cisse on the
sidelines as he serves the second game of his seven-match ban. Newcastle has
also a lengthy injury list depriving them of many first team regulars.
Rosicky is expected to be back
after illness. The Gunners have reported no fresh injury concerns following the
midweek Champions League tie in Monaco, but manager Arsene Wenger will assess
the fatigue levels of his players before deciding on any changes.
This fixture has somehow been a
high scoring fixture regularly, with both teams having great attacking verve
and suicidal defending all at the same time. Given Newcastle's pathetic form of
late and that Arsenal having won their past 5 league games, this (sadly) should
be a given - Arsenal to win convincingly. I really do hope Newcastle will put
up a greater fight and make something out of this fixture, as we somehow always
fail to nullify the threat coming from Arsenal's midfield, but the most I can
hope for is a draw (but that would really be a long shot)
Newcastle will once again have
to rely on Moussa SIssoko to drive
the team forward with his runs from midfield. Olivier Giroud has scored SIX goals in 5 PL appearances against
Newcastle (he somehow loves to play against us..)
Prediction: 3-1 win for Arsenal :(
Key Men: Moussa Sissoko, Olivier Giroud
Southampton (6th) vs Burnley (18th)
SingTel TV 103, StarHub TV 228, 1055pm
Form
|
|
Southampton
(15-5-9)
|
Burnley
(5-10-14)
|
Last 5 games: DLLWD
Last 5 home games: LLDLW
|
Last 5 games: LDLLW
Last 5 away games: LLLDL
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
Southampton
|
Burnley
|
Injuries: Rodriguez
(knee), Mayuka (groin)
|
Injuries: Marney,
Long (both cruciate ligament injuries)
|
Southampton are able to welcome
back Eljero Elia now he has recovered from the ankle injury which saw him miss
last weekend's 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Graziano Pelle started that match from the
bench and will be vying for a start.
Defender Stephen Ward is
expected to be fit after missing training with a niggle this week. Midfielder
Matt Taylor requires another run out with the under-21s before he is deemed fit
enough to return after an Achilless operation.
Southampton needs an uplift in
form to stay in the fight for the Champions League spot, after only winning 1 of
their past 5 games. They face a Burnley side that is brimming with confidence
after their surprise 1-0 win against 2nd place Manchester CIty, and would seek
to carry on from that win with another victory against a top10 side. Both teams
have a below average home and away form respectively, but with Ronald Koeman
having the better squad in terms of talent, do expect Southampton to pull through
with the victory, but this would be a tight game.
Sadio Mane was the
main reason why Southampton has been performing well of late given the
"absence" of Graziano Pelle, so do expect him to figure prominently
here. Similarly to Saido Berahino, Danny
Ings would be raring to go to prove to Roy Hodgson that he deserves to be
called up to the England.
Prediction: 1-0 victory to Saints
Key Men: Sadio Mane, Danny Ings
Stoke (8th) vs Crystal Palace (12th)
SingTel TV 106, StarHub TV 231, 1055pm
Form
|
|
Stoke
(12-6-11)
|
Crystal
Palace (8-9-12)
|
Last 5 games: LWWWL
Last 5 home games: WWLWW
|
Last 5 games: DLWLW
Last 5 away games: WWWWL
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
Stoke
|
Crystal
Palace
|
Injuries: Krkic, Odemwingie (ACL)
|
Injuries: Chamakh (hamstring), Thomas
(muscular injury), Williams (groin/pelvis) Mutch (hip/thigh)
Suspended: Jedinak
|
Stoke
striker Jon Walters could feature in Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash
against Crystal Palace despite suffering a fractured cheekbone last weekend.
Walters had a routine operation to repair the damage and could play wearing a
protective mask but he will be assessed first. Forward Victor Moses (leg) is
unlikely to face his former club while defenders Erik Pieters (thigh) and
Philipp Wollscheid (groin) will undergo fitness tests.
Crystal
Palace will hand late fitness checks to wingers Jason Puncheon and Wilfried
Zaha. Puncheon (dead leg) and Zaha (hip) both suffered knocks during last
weekend's 3-1 win over QPR.
This game sees 2 potential candidates for Manager of
the Season face-off (yes, I'm saying Alan Pardew could well be a viable
candidate for Manager of the season). Stoke continues to punch above its
weight, and this is partly down to the good work that Mark Hughes has put into
place in Stoke. With both teams having only lost once at home and on their
travels respectively, they could well cancel each other out in this tie. Both
teams are relatively safe from the relegation battle, but Palace are not well out
of it yet, so this could be one of those good games that is under the shadows
of a bigger game (tomorrow's Pool-Utd game). I am going for a 1-1 draw here. Peter Crouch will be the target man for
the team, whereas for Crystal Palace Glenn
Murray has been hitting the right notes, and goals could be coming from
him.
Key Men: Peter
Crouch, Glenn Murray
Predcition: 1-1
draw
Tottenham (7th) vs Leicester City (20th)
SingTel TV 104, StarHub TV 229, 1053pm
Form
|
|
Tottenham
(15-5-9)
|
Leicester
(4-7-17)
|
Last 5 games: LDWWL
Last 5 home games: LWDDW
|
Last 5 games: LLDLD
Last 5 away games: LLLDL
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
Tottenham
|
Leicester
City
|
Injuries: Soldado (knee)
|
Injuries: Hammond (calf), Knockaert
(personal reasons)
|
Soldado's
absence means Emmanuel Adebayor is expected to be named among the substitutes
and Pochettino may yet ring the changes after last weekend's 3-0 defeat at
Manchester United.
Dean
Hammond (calf) and Anthony Knockaert (personal reasons) are the only players
out for boss Nigel Pearson. Hammond is back in training but not yet match fit
and Knockaert is in France to be with his ill father while Mark Schwarzer could
keep fit-again Kasper Schmeichel on the bench.
Spurs was sadly
disappointing against Man Utd in a game I thought they would have done much
better in, whereas Leicester would have felt that they should have gotten 3
points in their must win game against fellow strugglers Hull City. From this
point on Leicester would have to win as many games as possible, but it is
unlikely going to come in this game where Spurs would want to get 3 points, and
perhaps rack up the goals in a bid to boost its unimpressive goal difference
(+4). To be honest, I am a little surprised that Leicester has not changed its
management yet, and that Nigel Pearson is still in charge. I predict that Spurs
will win this comfortably, perhaps hitting the final nail in the coffin for
Pearson's Leicester managerial reign (sadly too little too late for Leicester).
Harry Kane would look to celebrate
his first England call-up by coming up with the goals. Mark Schwarzer, if he manages to keep his place, would seek to
prevent Spurs from getting anything out of it.
Prediction: 3-0 win
for Spurs
Key Men: Harry
Kane, Mark Schawarzer
West Ham (10th) vs Sunderland (17th),
SingTel TV Ch 102, SingTel channel 227, 0200am
Form
|
|
West
Ham (10-9-10)
|
Sunderland
(4-14-11)
|
Last 5 games: DDLLL
Last 5 home games: DWDLL
|
Last 5 games: LDLDL
Last 5 away games: WDLLD
|
Injuries/Suspensions
|
|
West
Ham
|
Sunderland
|
Injuries: Tomkins (shoulder), Carroll (knee), Valencia (toe)
|
Injuries: Buckley
(knee), Giaccherini (ankle)
|
West Ham are likely to once
again be limited on defensive options. James Tomkins will miss the remainder of
the season after undergoing shoulder surgery whilst Winston Reid (hamstring) is
a major doubt. Carl Jenkinson is back in contention having been ineligible
against parent club Arsenal last weekend.
New Sunderland head coach Dick
Advocaat has revealed winger Adam Johnson is available "in
principle". The 27-year-old midfielder returned to training earlier this
week after a club suspension was lifted, although Advocaat was not planning to
make a decision on his inclusion or otherwise until after his final session. Defender
John O'Shea (knock) and Sebastian Larsson (ankle) are doubts, while fellow
midfielder Lee Cattermole completes a two-match ban
This game will see Dick Advocaat
take charge after Sunderland had sacked Gus Poyet, which in all honesty was
coming for him. Both teams come into this fixture having not win any of their
past 5 games, but Sunderland being in a more perilous position, being just 1
place above the relegation dropzone. The teams will want to see a turnaround in
form, thus do expect plenty of fireworks in this fixture. I do slightly favour
Sam Allardyce's Hammers to emerge victorious here, but only just.
Diafra Sakho will
lead the attack for the beleaguered Hammers, whereas if Adam Johnson does get to play a part, I do expect him to inject
some creative spark into the game.
Prediction: 2-1 win for West Ham
Key Men: Diafra Sakho, Adam Johnson
