Premier League preview

Can Steven Fletcher continue his goalscoring streak against Manchester City in this weekends early Premier League kick-off?

This weekend promises to be another exciting one in the Premier League. The weekend of action kicks-off at the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City play host to Sunderland.

The home side have looked unconvincing this season so far but are still unbeaten in the league.

City were lucky to claim a midweek 1-1 Champions League draw with German champions Dortmund, after Joe Hart produced a goalkeeping master class to deny Dortmund.

City will be looking for a better performance when the Black Cats come to town.

The visitors claimed their first Premier League victory last weekend and will be looking to record signing Steven Fletcher to continue his scoring streak. The Scot has scored five goals in just four appearances since his summer move from Wolves. Sunderland are also unbeaten in the top flight.

Chelsea host struggling Norwich at Stamford Bridge looking to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League. The Blues won 2-1 at Arsenal last time out in the Premier League and will be clear favourites against the visitors.

Norwich has yet to taste victory in the Premier League this season and could find it hard going at Stamford Bridge. The Canaries lost 5-2 to Liverpool in their last top flight clash and morale is low at the East Anglian club.

Elsewhere, Everton visit Wigan’s DW Stadium looking to current their good start to the season. The Toffee’s are currently second in the table behind Chelsea and could go top if Chelsea does the unthinkable and slips-up against Norwich.

The home side have lost three in a row and not many would back them to halt that slide with David Moyes in-form outfit heading into town.

West Brom host bottom-of-table QPR at the Hawthorns. The Baggies have made a decent start to the season and have an incredible defensive record at home. Steve Clarke’s side have kept clean sheets in nine out of the last 11 top flight home matches and will be hopeful of a twelfth in this encounter.

QPR find themselves bottom-of-the table after being beaten 2-1 at home by West Ham in their last Premier League match. Hoops boss Mark Hughes now appears to be under-pressure, although the club deny he is and is in desperate need of a victory in the Midlands.

Swansea will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Reading at the Liberty Stadium. The home side have suffered three consecutive defeats and also failed to score in the last three games. Boss Michael Laudrup will be looking for an improvement against the visitors.

Reading have found life back in the top flight a struggle so far. The Royals drew 2-2 at home to Newcastle last time out. The visitors have picked up just two points this season but will see this as a winnable game.

West Ham host Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground looking for a victory to take them into the top four of the Premier League. The Irons kick-off this encounter above their London rivals and will be hoping to extend their two point lead over the Gunners.

Arsenal lost their unbeaten record last time out with a 2-1 home defeat against Chelsea. Prior to that Arsene Wenger’s team were in decent form and they claimed a midweek Champions League victory over Greek side Olympiakos.

Sunday sees a busy schedule of games. The early kick is at St Marys where Southampton hosts Fulham. Both sides suffered losses in their last match, Southampton losing 3-1 at Everton and Fulham going down 2-1 to Manchester City at Craven Cottage.

Fulham have been poor on their travels in recent months, but won 2-1 at Wigan in their last away trip. Southampton will be looking to drag themselves away from the relegation zone. The Saints sit just above the drop zone.

Liverpool claimed their first Premier League victory of the season last weekend with a 5-2 hammering of Norwich. Reds boss Brendan Rodgers will be hoping to build on that victory with another as they host Stoke at Anfield.

The visitors are draw specialists this season having drawn four of their matches in the top flight this season, but defeated Swansea 2-0 last time out. Former-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch has been in top form and he will be hoping to continue his good form against his old club.

Tottenham achieved a 3-2 victory at Manchester united last time out in the Premier League and will be hoping to build on that victory as inconsistent Aston Villa head to White Hart Lane.

Tottenham were superb at Old Trafford and are starting to look like the team that finished fourth last season.

Aston Villa have made a mixed start to the season under new boss Paul Lambert and drew 1-1 with Midlands rivals West Brom in their last league match. This will be a difficult away trip for the Villans and I doubt many Villa will hold much hope of collecting three points.

In arguably the game of the weekend Newcastle hosts Manchester United at the Sports Direct Arena. Both teams have enjoyed mixed starts to the campaign. United have already suffered two defeats in the Premier League this season and look vulnerable at the back.

Newcastle striker Demba Ba will be looking to take advantage of that vulnerability as he looks to continue his goal scoring streak. The Senegal international has scored six goals in his six Premier League appearances so far this season. This could be an explosive encounter to round off an exciting weekend of football.

Who will be the big winners in this weekend’s Premier League games?