Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

 

  

1) Hull and Newcastle both battling doom and gloom

Unless Thergothon, the pioneers of Finnish funeral metal, are about to head out on a resurrection tour, you’ll be hard pressed to find a gloomier band of brooders in England this weekend than the fans of the team who fail to win Saturday’s early kick-off. Hull City are in the grip of an ominous despondency, with the regime unpopular, the injury list cruel and the manager losing faith in key players if Steve Bruce’s public scolding of Allen McGregor and Curtis Davies after the 3-0 defeat at West Ham is anything to go by. One of the few sources of hope for Hull at the moment is a relatively benign run of fixtures (apart from an imminent trip to Manchester City). Five of their next seven matches are against teams who could conceivably finish below them, starting with the game against Newcastle, one of the few clubs as woebegone as the Tigers. Bruce looks likely to deploy Sone Aluko up front and the striker has the speed to trouble Newcastle’s plodding defence provided he is given adequate service – this weekend, then, would be a good time for Tom Huddlestone to rediscover the form that had some people suggesting he was worthy of a place in England’s squad for the last World Cup, or for Robbie Brady or Gastón Ramírez to show they can be relied upon to shoulder creative duties consistently. Victory for the home side would inject much-needed confidence into Hull – and increase the disillusionment of Newcastle fans who claim John Carver is not the head coach to prevent their season from petering – or should that be Ashleying? – out again.

2) Funky Palace can upset Everton’s mojo

Tony Pulis got lucky when he kept Palace up last season and Alan Pardew got lucky when he lost Yannick Bolasie and Mile Jedinak to international duty just after taking charge this season because it enabled him to get Dwight Gayle into the team. That, ladies and gentlemen, is some whopping great cobblers brought to you in association with Neil Warnock, who may not have twigged that the reason Pulis and Pardew got better performances out of the same group of players that struggled under him is that they are better managers than him. If Palace were the reflection of their old manager’s limitations in the first half of the season, they now exude their new boss’ confidence. Pardew has funked them up like a suited Bootsy Collins and suddenly Palace ooze goals and Selhurst Park is a groovy place to be again.

Palace are now on the same number of points as Everton, who could do with relocating their own mojo pronto, otherwise doubts over Roberto Martínez’s methods will grow. The brittle Everton defence is likely to be given a serious stress test, and Everton will need James McCarthy to slip straight back into his pre-injury form if they are to claim a win.

3) Liverpool have defensive questions to answer. And attacking ones

Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
6	Tottenham Hotspur	22	2	37
7	West Ham	22	10	36
8	Liverpool	22	4	35
9	Swansea	22	-4	30

There are few more infuriating players in the Premier League than Glen Johnson, who has both exceptional speed and a bizarre instinct to slow everything to a standstill when he runs on to the ball. He is a player with oodles of ability but nowhere near as much time as he seems to think when in possession, and he is often caught out by more sprightly opponents. So it said a lot when Brendan Rodgers called on Johnson after Mamadou Sakho got injured against Chelsea on Tuesday. What it said was that Dejan Lovren is still in the dog house. Sakho has been quietly excellent since replacing the injured Croat at Bournemouth in mid-December but now the Frenchman looks set to miss this weekend’s clash with West Ham, who, like Liverpool, are jostling for a top-four finish. It will be interesting to see whether Rodgers picks Johnson ahead of Lovren again. Johnson’s superior mobility suggests he may be more comfortable than Lovren in a back three and also better able to cope with the pace of Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, though Lovren should be better equipped to help Martin Skrtel contain Andy Carroll. But those are options that will probably encourage Sam Allardyce more than Liverpool fans. Whichever Rodgers plumps for, he is going to need his forwards to improve their chance-conversion rate if Liverpool are to take three points that would send them above West Ham in the table. Might this be the match that Daniel Sturridge makes a triumphant return?

4) Are Manchester United going backwards again?

Manchester United’s 5-3 defeat at Leicester back in September turned out to be pretty misleading. Firstly it suggested that Leicester would steer clear of relegation trouble this season, yet immediately after that victory they slipped into a 13-match winless streak. Now they are bottom of the table, though they have perked up in recent weeks and the early signs are that Andrej Kramaric could help keep them scoring regularly, though Nigel Pearson knows that he needs to sign another creative midfielder as soon as possible, especially with Riyad Mahrez still away with Algeria. United are not what the September match suggested they would be: they remain sloppy, of course, and there are mounting concerns that Louis van Gaal is cramping their style. Some of the Dutchman’s decisions seem perverse – the removal of Ángel Di María from a position where he had been so influential, for instance, or Phil Jones taking corners – and he could do with them being vindicated this weekend. They may be fourth in the table at the moment but their performances so far do not suggest they will stay there, as others below them are improving more clearly.

5) Crouch could be key for Stoke in absence of Krkic

The loss of Bojan Krkic for the season to knee ligament damage is a sad blow to Stoke and to all neutrals, but it gives QPR additional hope of ending their ridiculous away record. Harry Redknapp might be tempted to try once again to see if he can coax a little Bojan-esque magic out of Adel Taarabt but this is a match that is likely to be played mostly on the wings or in the air, both sides now being short of central creativity. Peter Crouch has not started a home match for Stoke since New Year’s Day but he is still a valuable weapon,which is why he was given a new contract this week, and Mark Hughes may unleash him on Saturday bearing in mind how Rangers defenders failed to deal with him when the sides met earlier this season – although Richard Dunne, or indeed almost anyone, might be expected to cope with Crouch better than Rio Ferdinand did that day.

6) Defoe must start repaying Poyet’s faith

Gus Poyet’s gamble has to start paying off quickly. After splashing out on Jermain Defoe, the manager has revamped his whole formation in a bid to play to the striker’s strengths but all he has got by way of early dividend are brief flashes of sharpness and many offside calls. The probable return of Adam Johnson after missing the FA Cup draw against Fulham should help increase supply to Defoe, who needs to begin taking his chances, particularly if Burnley exploit the uncertainty in Sunderland’s new three-man backline.

7) Injury, suspension and form concerns give Chelsea pause for thought

Defender

Gary Cahill

Appearances

21

Shots blocked

16

Clearances

119

In these times of large versatile squads and tactical tinkering, the notion that a manager has to have a fixed idea of his ‘best XI’ seems as outmoded as black boots. But José Mourinho has been upholding it this term and there is little doubt which one he would like to be able to field against Manchester Citythis weekend – except, that is, for one position.

Gary Cahill’s recent dip in form, and the continued blossoming of Kurt Zouma, means Mourinho must be in two minds when it comes to deciding who should partner John Terry in central defence. It’s not a decision he can afford to get wrong with Sergio Agüero lurking. Factor in the injury concern over Cesc Fàbregas and the possible suspension of Diego Costa and Chelsea’s spine could look very different to their manager’s ideal lineup. If Manchester City, though shorn of Yaya Touré, cannot take advantage, then their chances of retaining their title will seem scrawny.

8) Swansea have a tough Sunday afternoon ahead of them

Swansea look set to sign Jack Cork but that nifty player is likely to be all they get from Southampton this week. With Wilfried Bony sold and Gylfii Sigurdsson suspended, Garry Monk has plenty to meditate on. It is difficult to see how the Welsh side can pierce the Premier League’s best defence, especially as Maya Yoshida has returned from international duty and could start instead of Florin Gardos, who was found wanting against Crystal Palace as he tried to replace Toby Alderweireld. Sadio Mané is also back, but, despite his fine form prior to departing for the Africa Cup of Nations, he may not be cast straight back into the starting line-up given Eljero Elia’s impressive displays in his absence. But he’ll probably be ready to spring from the bench if Saints need a goal.

9) Could the new free-scoring (ish) Villa trouble Arsenal?

For most of this season it has seemed like Aston Villa’s plan to avoid relegation has consisted of being so boring that people will block them out of their minds and not even notice them when they look at the table. But then the club went and signed Carles Gil from Valencia and the new recruit immediately flashed his creative potential by ramming in a spectacular opener as Villa went completely goal-crazy against Bournemouth last week, hitting two (TWO!) in one game. Then Fabian Delph banished all rumours of a January departure by signing a bumper new contract at the club and suddenly Villa look interesting again. A couple of weeks ago even the most gloomy Arsenal fans would have had this fixture down as a big home win but now, well, the chances of that win could be narrower.

10) Eriksen the key to unlocking West Brom

Midfielder

Christian Eriksen

Appearances

22

Goals

8

Shots

63

Shots on target

27%

Offsides

0

Stifling Cristian Eriksen is tantamount to neutering Tottenham Hotspur. Pulis surely knows this and will probably entrust the operation to Claudio Yacob, the Argentine dynamo whom he has rehabilitated since taking over at the Hawthorns. After being overlooked by Alan Irvine, Yacob has found the form that he showed in his first season at the club and, under Pulis, re-affirmed his ability to knit together his own team’s play while tearing up the opposition’s. He could become what Jedinak was to Pulis’ Crystal Palace. So, to win this game, Spurs will have to display authentic top-four credentials.