Premier League preview

There is a busy weekend in the Premier League as usual.

Eight Premier League games take place today with QPR hosting Aston Villa on Sunday and Sunderland visiting Norwich on Monday. I am going to concentrate on today’s games.

In the early kick-off Manchester City host Everton at the Etihad Stadium.

City got back to winning ways in the Carling Cup with a midweek victory over Birmingham after consecutive draws. City will see this as a chance to get back to winning ways.

Everton however are no pushovers and have won on their last four visits to City. The Toffees have also won three out of their last four games in all competitions. This should be a tight encounter but City should just edge it.

Elsewhere Newcastle play host to Blackburn at St James Park. The two teams have enjoyed very different starts to their seasons. The Magpies are currently fourth in the Premier League after a good start to their campaign.

Whereas Blackburn are 16th after a woeful start. Rovers did gain their first league victory last time out against Arsenal and also defeated Leyton Orient in the Carling Cup. Steve Kean’s side will again look for former-Everton striker Yakubu to score his side’s goals.

Two teams who have made poor starts to the season West Brom and Fulham meet at the Hawthorns. The home side suffered a 3-0 defeat at Swansea in their last Premier League game and are currently rooted to the bottom of the table. Their performance at Everton in the midweek Carling Cup clash will give the Baggies fans cause for optimism though.

Fulham are also in the bottom three after failing to win any of their five Premier League games so far this season. They did however show great spirit to comeback from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Manchester City in their last league outing.

Two teams who have slipped down the table in recent weeks Liverpool and Wolves meet at Anfield. Both sides have lost their last two Premier League games. However the pair did gain midweek Carling cup victories over Championship sides.

Liverpool fans will be expecting their team to win this encounter to get their Champions League berth chances back up and running. Wolves will also be hoping to get their season back on track with an unlikely victory at Anfield.

Arsenal kick-off today’s home encounter with Bolton with the worst goal difference in the Premier League. The Gunners have endured a nightmare start to the season and lost their last Premier League game 4-3 at Blackburn Rovers.

The Gunners did secure passage into the next round of the Carling Cup with a 3-1 victory over Shrewsbury though.  Arsene Wenger’s side will be looking to get only their second league victory of the season at the Emirates Stadium.

Bolton have made an even worse start than Arsenal have to their Premier League campaign. Wanderers are in 19th position in the Premier League and have also won just one of their Premier League games so far.

The Trotters also enjoyed a good midweek though with a 2-0 Carling Cup victory at Aston Villa. And Bolton do have a habit of making life tough for Arsenal. This time around though Gunners fans be expecting maximum points.

Chelsea host Swansea at Stamford Bridge hoping to get their title challenge back on course after losing at rivals Manchester United 3-1 last weekend. The defeat put the Blues five points behind the champions. However Blues fans will be hopeful of a victory in this encounter.

Swansea secured their first ever Premier League victory last weekend beating West Brom 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium. The Swans hadn’t found the net in the league this season until last weekend. However it will far tougher for them to register against the Chelsea defence.

In-form Tottenham visit Wigan’s DW Stadium looking to extend their winning run. Tottenham have won their last two Premier League games against Wolves and Liverpool respectively. New signings Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor have played a key role in those victories. Spurs fans will be hoping for another three points today.

The hosts have enjoyed mixed fortunes this season but lost 3-1 at Everton in their last Premier League game. However they could have easily gained a draw with the home side scoring two late goals. Wigan can be an attractive team to watch and could upset Harry Redknapp’s men today.

The late kick-off sees Stoke host champions Manchester United at the Britannia Stadium. The hosts have made a decent start to their Premier League campaign and are tough to beat on their own turf. They did however suffer their only league lost of the season at Sunderland last weekend.

The Champions have been in superb form and in their last Premier League game defeated Chelsea 3-1 at Old Trafford. The victory was achieved without the team playing to the best of their ability. The Britannia is a hard place to go and this could be United’s toughest test of the season so far.

Who will be the big winners from today’s fixtures?