Premier League Preview - Easy at the Top?

Looking at the fixture-list, it could be suggested that it will be a straight-forward weekend for the Premier League’s finest clubs.

In what promises to be the most exciting, attacking match of the weekend, Arsenal play host Aston Villa. After Footie Frog wrote them off against Manchester United last week, the Gunners have since produced 2 outstanding displays; defeating the Red Devils 2-1, and scoring 3 without reply in what was essentially a youth team victory over Wigan in the Carling Cup midweek. Confidence should be soaring at the Emirates, and it will be interesting to see whether Arsene Wenger will give any of his impressive young Gunners the chance to take on Villa, or whether they will remain restricted to the cup competition. Arsenal will definitely still be without the suspended Van Persie and injured Eboue, but could welcome back Emmanuel Adebayor, if not to the starting eleven, then to the subs bench.
Villa are likely to be without Carew, who is still struggling with a hip problem, but Petrov and Luke Young could return to a side that has lost both of their last 2 matches. Villa are notoriously average on the road, and have consistently struggled at Arsenal, having not won there in 14 years. Everything points to a Gunners victory tomorrow, with Martin O’Neill’s side looking distinctly poor recently – haphazard, lacking shape or any kind of organisation; the complete opposite to the Arsenal of the last week. The Gunners do seem to enjoy playing against the odds; winning and winning well when their backs are against the wall, but if Arsene Wenger’s team want to be considered serious title challengers, they must win these ‘should-win’ matches of which they often make hard work.

Footie Frog expects a confident, galvanised Arsenal side to take the match to Villa at the weekend, and I think that if they can score in the 1st half, there will be no worries. If the 2nd half kicks-off with Villa level, the Midlands club will fancy themselves. Footie Frog predicts a 2-1 win for Arsenal.

There seems to be relatively simple matches for the other title contenders this weekend; you know, Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea...and, erm, Hull... after most of these sides struggled in the Carling Cup in midweek.

Chelsea seem to have the easiest fixture of the weekend, as they travel to the Hawthorns to take on table-proppers West Brom. Saying that, they seemed to have the easiest tie on the Carling Cup on Wednesday as they played host to Burnley, but were stunned at the Bridge, losing on penalties to the promotion hopefuls. But Scolari’s men (particularly Anelka) are in sterling form in the Premier League, and head to the Midlands looking to retain their lead at the top of the table, and increase their goal difference.

The Blues currently have a +25 difference, having only conceded 4 goals so far, and Footie Frog finds it difficult (even squinting really really hard) to see the league’s lowest scorers West Brom getting any goals, let alone enough to beat top scorers Chelsea. West Brom 0-3 Chelsea.

The team hard on Chelsea’s heels, Liverpool, have also had a rather surprising week. First, Robbie Keane proved that he does know where the net is, after scoring twice against the aforementioned no-hopers West Brom last weekend. Then the Reds lost 4-2 to Tottenham in the Carling Cup in midweek; Redknapp’s men proving to be a stumbling block for Rafa for the 2nd time this season. A trip to the Reebok to play Bolton Wanderers should cheer up the Liverpool supporters, and although the form book is against the Reds, Footie Frog must remind apprehensive fans that Bolton are in fact awful. Megson’s men may have recorded 2 wins in their last 2 matches, but even Trotters fans have been disappointed with the way their side has performed this season, and with a full strength Liverpool side (except the suspended Arbeloa) looking to keep the pressure on Chelsea, things don’t look good for Bolton.

Footie Frog knows how difficult Bolton will be to break down, but with the movement and versatility of Kuyt, Torres and Keane, the sluggish Trotters defence should struggle. Bolton 0 – 2 Liverpool.

Manchester United are lagging behind somewhat in the title race (granted, they have played one less match) and desperately need a good performance and result against Stoke at Old Trafford. It wasn’t an overly weak United side that just scraped through their midweek match against QPR, and though the Red Devils will be expected to win this one comfortably, Tony Pulis’ men will put up a fight.

Whether the Potters have enough up front to cause any problems for the excellent United defence, is something that Footie Frog wonders. Expect long balls into the corners where the short Evra and Rafael will come under heavy pressure. Oh, and though it barely needs to be said, expect a long throw or two from Delap. Both sides should have no new injury worries, but a thoroughly rested United side should be far too tough for Stoke and if they take their chances, a large margin could be on the cards. Man Utd 3 – 0 Stoke.

Finally, with any focus on the top few teams in the Premier League comes a look at Hull City. Sunday will be their first ever live televised Premier League match, as Manchester City make the trip to the KC Stadium. The sides have a couple of things in common – both have been going through a patch of poor form (both have recently been beaten by Bolton) and the star of Hull’s season Geovanni moved to the KC on a free transfer from Mark Hughes’ side. He will be desperate to impress, just as his manager will be desperate to prove that Hull can come out of their first proper bad patch.

With the Tigers’ faithful roaring them on, Footie Frog thinks that they will be too strong for an overly-adventurous City team, who themselves are under pressure to come out of their slump after showing signs of potential. City have only won 4 points from 18 on the road, and are without captain Richard Dunne and midfielder Gelson Fernandes for the trip to Hull, and are sweating on the fitness of Vincent Kompany. The pressure on Hughes has already been heating up (a recent club press release confirmed his job security) and if his players don’t start to come away with good results, the current frying pan could look awfully nice compared to a fire. Hull City 2 – 1 Man City.

Best of the Rest

Everton will welcome back Yakubu to their team, and should remind in-form visitors Middlesbrough that the natural order of things doesn’t involve Boro fans celebrating... Everton 2 – 1 Middlesbrough.

The revitalised Tottenham, yet to taste defeat under Redknapp’s guidance, could become stuck in the mud at Craven Cottage, where Fulham’s players actually try... Fulham 1 – 1 Tottenham.

Blackburn welcome Sunderland (or Ince welcomes Keane, whichever way you want to look at it) to Ewood Park, after beating them 2-1 in the Carling Cup midweek. It will be the same score again.

Kinnear will hope his Newcastle team put in a little bit more effort against Wigan than they did against Fulham last week. At home, they should win – but with difficulty. Newcastle 1-0 Wigan.

Zola has realised he made an error choosing East End inconsistency; but West Ham are better at home. Visiting Portsmouth gel better as a team, but neither will win. West Ham 2 – 2 Portsmouth.