There’s plenty of Premier League action to look forward to this weekend, with Saturday’s run of five games including a clash between title challengers Manchester United and Europa League chasing Everton.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal 12:30
Aston Villa host Arsenal in the early kick off tomorrow and look set to start the day off in style.
Villa ran out 3-0 winners when they visited the Emirates earlier in the season but after Wednesday night’s disappointing 3-1 defeat to West Ham, this match is a difficult one to call.
Ollie Watkins scored twice against Arsenal back in November and the striker is in red hot form this season with nine goals overall including three in his last four league games.
As for Arsenal (tenth) , they will be looking to leapfrog Villa (ninth) with a win, wanting to bounce to back from Tuesday’s chaotic 2-1 defeat to Wolves in which they finished the game with nine men.
Before the trip to Wolves, Mikel Arteta’s men had won three consecutive away games, with £72 million man Nicolas Pepe finally starting to replicate the form he showed at Lille, scoring in Arsenal’s last two away games and scoring his side’s opener in his last four goalscoring performances.
Alex Runarsson looks set so start for the Gunners, with Matt Ryan out injured and Bernd Leno suspended. Their appeal against David Luiz’s red card was unsuccessful, so Gabriel Magalhaes will most likely deputise.
Burnley vs Brighton 15:00
Burnley are just eight points off the relegation zone after losing back-to-back matches to Manchester City and Chelsea, in which they failed to register a single shot on target.
Saturday’s opponents Brighton have only beaten Burnley once in ten league games, but the visitors pulled off a shock 1-0 win against Liverpool on Wednesday night and are two places ahead of the Clarets in the league standings.
The Seagulls are in impressive form after keeping four consecutive league clean sheets and winning back-to-back league games against Tottenham and Liverpool.
Sean Dyche’s men are unbeaten after scoring the opener at Turf Moor this season but key players such as Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes and Robbie Brady are injury doubts.
Solly March was forced off with an injury at Anfield after deputising at right-back, and with Tariq Lamptey and Joel Veltman both on the sidelines already, Brighton could be in trouble in that position.
While Brighton have seemingly tightened up their defence, scoring goals is still a struggle, and with Burnley conceding just 12 goals at home this season, Saturday afternoon’s clash looks set to be a tight affair.
Newcastle United vs Southampton 15:00
With a return of just one win in 11 league matches , Newcastle United are in relegation trouble, finding themselves just eight points off the relegation zone in 16th place.
In seven of those games, Steve Bruce’s men conceded two goals or more and only three teams have conceded more than their total of 36 goals in the division so far this season.
Jonjo Shelvey scored inside 71 seconds during the week against Crystal Palace and the centre-midfielder scored against Southampton the last time they made the trip to Newcastle.
As for the visitors, Southampton have now been on the losing side in two of the Premier League’s three 9-0 scorelines and have failed to win any of their previous four matches at St James’ Park.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men responded brilliantly to the 9-0 loss to Leicester last campaign and will be looking to do the same starting with a win against a struggling Newcastle.
Danny Ings has been the main man for Southampton this season with seven league goals and the 28-year-old has scored twice in his previous three visits to Newcastle but the rest of the squad has been hit with several injuries.
Against Manchester United, the Saints had to name two goalkeepers on the substitutes bench and to make matters worse Alex Jankewitz was sent off on his full debut after just two minutes, leaving him suspended for three games.
Jan Bednarek’s red card has been succesfully overturned on appeal and Oriol Romeu could return to the lineup after training on Thursday.
Anything over than three points against a Southampton team that just lost 9-0 would be terrible for Bruce and his future at Newcastle, but the Saints will be determined to return to winnings ways also, teeing up an exciting game.
Fulham vs West Ham 17:30
After a 2-0 loss to Leicester on Wednesday extended their winless run to 11 games, Fulham are in deep relegation trouble.
Their disastrous form is emphasised by the fact it’s the first time they’ve lost their opening four home games of a calendar year since they joined the Football League in 1907.
Deadline day signing Josh Maja will hope to make his debut, while Terrence Kongolo and Tom Cairney remain on the sidelines with injuries.
On the other hand, the visitors West Ham are flying high in fifth position and have won five of their last six Premier League matches, with the Hammers also being able to leapfrog Liverpool if victorious at Craven Cottage.
David Moyes’ side are on the verge of winning four consecutive Premier League away games for the first time in 35 years and against Aston Villa Jesse Lingard became just the second player in history to score a brace on their West Ham debut.
It’s hard to look beyond anything other than three points for West Ham on Saturday, with the European-place chasers winners of the last three Premier League meetings between the two sides.
Manchester United vs Everton 20:00
Manchester United welcome Everton to Old Trafford on Saturday evening for what will be the third clash between the two sides this season, with the hosts coming out on top in both the Premier League and Carabao Cup encounters at Goodison Park.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equalled their record Premier League victory earlier in the week with a 9-0 thrashing of Southampton and the hosts have only lost once in their last 16 league matches.
After disappointing results against Sheffield United and Arsenal, the hosts are now full of confidence in their title challenge.
Decisions need to be made in the attacking lineup though, with Cavani rested against Southampton and Martial scoring twice.
Since losing 4-0 to Everton early in Solskjaer’s tenure, United are now unbeaten in their last four meetings with the Toffees.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have won five of their last six outings in all competitions and Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been prolific up front with 12 league goals.
Former Manchester United forward Josh King made his debut for Everton off the bench on Wednesday against Leeds and could get his first start for the club on Saturday, while Jordan Pickford looks set to return in goal for the Toffees after Robin Olsen deputised in the 2-1 win midweek.
United look set for a home win after their victory against Southampton but Everton will certainly be a competitive opponent.
