Wayne Rooney returns to Goodison Park as Manchester United meet Everton while the battle for a top-four finish intensifies when Manchester City lock horns with Liverpool.
Elsewhere, Sunderland aim for a second win over Arsenal this season and their first since November, league leaders Chelsea make the trip to Molineux, bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth entertain Stoke City while Wigan Athletic hope to avoid a repeat of their 9-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur earlier this campaign.
Everton will be wary of Manchester United striker Rooney, who is arguably in the form of his life. The striker, who left Merseyside for United in 2004, scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season in the UEFA Champions League win over AC Milan during midweek as he surpassed his personal strike record for a term. The lunchtime encounter, which can be seen live on Sky Sports HD1 & 1, offers the Red Devils the chance to leapfrog the pace-setters, Chelsea, who play at 3pm. Victory for the Toffees would only lift them one place to eighth, but it would extend a run that has seen them lose just once in their last 11 games.
Arsenal go head-to-head with out-of-form Sunderland. Perhaps the main quandary for manager Arsene Wenger, whose side remain just about in the title race, is his decision of choosing which goalkeeper. Lukasz Fabianski dropped the ball on Wednesday, literally. It was a chance for the Pole to shine in the absence of Manuel Almunia, who too has had a shocker of a campaign.
Now Wenger is faced with the arguable plight that is deciding on the lesser of two evils. For Sunderland, there is some hope. Whilst they have not won in 12 matches, their last victory was against Arsenal. Their increasing woe is that just three points separate them from the drop zone.
West Ham United face a relegation six-pointer with Hull City at Upton Park. Both sides are level on points in the table, with the Hammers' better goal difference keeping them two places apart in 15th and 17th. West Ham earned their first league triumph in six attempts last time out, and Zola will be eager to record the club's first back-to-back wins of the current campaign. Away from the KC Stadium, where Hull have impressed of late, the Tigers have been very poor. Indeed, Phil Brown's charges have not yet won on their travels in the 2009/10 term, with a lack of firepower at the root of their problems.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are in action against Chelsea, with all eyes on Mick McCarthy's team sheet. McCarthy's rotation at Old Trafford has since led to intrigue into which side is named for clashes against the so-called bigger clubs. But perhaps his mind will have been made up from now on, after Wolves were handed a suspended fine of £25,000 for the aforementioned incident on Thursday by the Premier League.
While Wolves received a good hiding when they met Chelsea earlier this season, surely McCarthy has some optimism, especially after his team beat Spurs in their last match. Furthermore, Chelsea have not travelled at all well this term. Indeed, the Blues have won only one of their last six top-flight away games.
Portsmouth's season of drama took its latest twist this week after they handed over their financial statement of affairs to the High Court before requesting they be allowed to sell players outside of the transfer window in a bid to raise cash. Focus now returns to matters on the field, where they play Stoke at Fratton Park on Saturday evening.
It has now got to the point whereby every match is a must-win scenario for Pompey, who sit at the foot of the table and eight points adrift of safety. The Potters have been ropey on the road, and Portsmouth may take heart from this. Stoke head into the match having found the net only once in their last six Premier League away matches, although they have yet to lose this decade.
Blackburn Rovers versus Bolton Wanderers sees Sam Allardyce lock horns with his former club. It is quite the turnaround for the Trotters in terms of leadership and ethos, with Allardyce's long-ball style ousted in the hope that new boss Owen Coyle will bring a more footballing ethos to the club. Nonetheless, Blackburn, having won three of their last five, are positioned 12th in the standings, compared to 18th-placed Bolton, who drew with Wigan on Wednesday. Coyle's main concern is likely to be the lack of attacking threat his side are currently posing.
The Trotters have failed to score in their last four Premier League matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment