6) Hull’s attacking intent could be their undoing
Hull City’s 3-5-2 formation continues to be a double-edged sword: in attack their wing backs are a constant menace: no other Premier League player has delivered more crosses from open play than Ahmed Elmohamady since the start of last season. But it is this attacking verve that exposes the three-man defence of Paul McShane, Alex Bruce and Michael Dawson, who are often unable to deal with genuine pace on the counterattack. Hull’s opponents this weekend are Swansea, whose lightning-quick wingers include Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge and Jefferson Montero – all of whom will relish the chance to exploit Hull’s wide areas on the break. Indeed, it was exactly this scenario which led to Swansea’s winner against Aston Villa last time out: Montero breaking into space down the left flank before crossing for the unmarked Bafétimbi Gomis. The Hull manager, Steve Bruce, will need to exercise caution before encouraging Elmohamady and the left wing-back Andrew Robertson to go forward if his side are to earn their eighth clean sheet of the season at the Liberty Stadium.
7) The most curious Tyne-Wear derby of all
This promises to be perhaps the strangest Tyne-Wear derby of recent times, if only because the two managers in question are temporary appointments. John Carver was always going to be a stop-gap, a willing and passionate stand-in for the club he supported as a lad, but unless he did something extraordinary then he would be pushed back into the shadows come the summer. Equally Dick Advocaat, who was brought in as a firefighter after Gus Poyet set the club ablaze and looks absolutely delighted just to be there, but the chances are Sunderlandwill move for either Steve McClaren or Sam Allardyce in the summer, rather than the avuncular Dutchman. Will that make a difference? Will it ramp things up given that both men will perhaps want to make a point? Strange as it might be to say, given Sunderland’s rotten form (they haven’t won in the league since the end of January), they could well be favourites for this. Advocaat has had a couple of weeks to work with his squad and imbue any fancy ideas he has, while Newcastle will be without a number of key men, with Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cissé suspended, and the likes of Steven Taylor and Cheick Tioté injured. Of course, what good a win will do for Advocaat’s long-term employment prospects is debatable, but it would certainly turn some frowns upside down on Wearside.
8) Reid is back, and West Ham are all the stronger for it
Sam Allardyce will be ruddy delighted that Winston Reid has recovered from injury, not least because it will allow the West Ham manager to move Cheikhou Kouyaté back into his favoured midfield role, where he has arguably been the club’s stand-out performer this season. With the east London club suffering a spate of injuries in defence, Kouyaté has recently been used as a makeshift centre-back but his return to the middle of the pitch is long overdue. The 6ft 4in Senegalese has adapted superbly to the Premier League since his £7m move from Anderlecht last summer, and in an age where central midfielders are increasingly assigned specific roles, his all-action, box-to-box mentality has been refreshing to watch.
Having now recovered from his hamstring strain, Reid has been given somewhat of a soft introduction back into Premier League life this weekend, facing a Leicester City attack that haven’t scored in front of their own fans in over five hours, although Allardyce has admitted that the New Zealander is “a little bit rusty on match practice.” This is the first match for Reid since he signed a new six-and-a-half year contract last month and West Ham fans will be eager to see the best of the 26-year-old, now that the rumours of him moving away have died a death.
9) Townsend should, believe it or not, pay attention to Merson
It’s weird being on the same side of an argument as Paul Merson. The former Arsenal man is not, perhaps, the first person to call if you are bringing together a debating team, but he has got a point about Andros Townsend. “I think he should concentrate on playing football, to be honest, and don’t worry about me,” Merson wrote in his Daily Star column, after Townsend, following his goal for England in Italy, had given it the Twitter big one in response to Merson doubting his place in the international side. “I’d also say win some medals first before you call it on. I have got no vendetta against him but I am not going to sit here and say he is top drawer … he’s just got back at Tottenham for the last seven or eight games. Where has he been all season?” Where has he been indeed? Townsend has only been in the Spurs side for the last five league games (six of the last seven in all competitions) and has been doing reasonably well, but Tottenham fans would be forgiven for wondering where all these international goals have been coming from. Townsend now has three in seven England appearances, exactly the same tally as in 44 league games for his club. “As soon as the goal went in, I was just desperate to get that tweet out,” said Townsend. A few more goals and some better performances might be a bigger priority than giving a pundit what-for on Twitter.
10) Southampton set to be the victims of their own success … again
This weekend marks exactly a year since Jay Rodriguez last played professional football. The 25-year-old has returned to first-team training but the only positive to come out of his horrific knee injury, as far as Southampton are concerned, is that he will not be leaving at the end of the season. That will not be the case for many of the club’s stars this season and the manager, Ronald Koeman, is resigned to losing some of his key players. “It’s always good to have some changes in the team,” the Dutchman said on Thursday. “Maybe, we will lose some players. We will do everything to keep everyone at the club, but we know the situation will be difficult. It will not be [as bad as] last season, but, of course, the risk is that we will lose some players. That’s normal. That means we have to be prepared to bring in new players, new focus and we will see what position we are talking.” Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne are the favourites to depart, while Atlético Madrid have already confirmed that they are “counting on” their on-loan defender Toby Alderweireld next season. Who Koeman will have left remains to be seen, and though he has thankfully declined to describe the returning Rodriguez as ‘like a new signing’, it looks as though there will need to be many new faces on the south coast come August.
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