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Premier League preview - Week 5 - 18/19 September
Saturday 18 September 2010
Four weeks into the Premier League season and all 20 Premier League clubs are beginning to find their stride. Recent seasons have seen Chelsea set a blistering early pace and this term has been no different with maximum points from their opening four games. In contrast fellow Londoners West Ham United could not have made a worse start to the campaign, suffering four defeats and conceding 12 goals in the process.
Their search for that vital first point of the season continues on Saturday lunchtime when they face Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. Their opponents recorded their first three points of the season on Monday night, coming from a goal down to defeat Aston Villa. Stoke manager Tony Pulis missed the first half due to a family bereavement and his appearance on the touchline for the second clearly inspired his side to a winning performance.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Aston Villa return to Villa Park hoping to get their quest for a top four finish back on track with three points against Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers. Gerard Houllier was confirmed as the man to take over the reigns at Villa Park earlier this week, yet he will not be in charge of the team once again. Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald will guide Villa against Wanderers before the Frenchman assumes control for Wednesday’s League Cup tie with Blackburn Rovers.
Everton produced a remarkable comeback to snatch a point from the grasp of Manchester United last weekend. They will be keen to build on that this weekend when they welcome Newcastle United to Goodison Park. Newcastle suffered a somewhat surprising defeat at home to Blackpool last Saturday and boss Chris Hughton knows the tough task that is ahead of them on Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur made a satisfactory Champions League debut on Tuesday night and will be looking to fend off the dreaded Champions League hangover when they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to White Hart Lane. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp suffered a double blow during the international break with the news that captain Michael Dawson would be sidelined for up to six weeks and Jermaine Defoe may not return from a serious ankle injury until the New Year. There is no doubting the strength in depth that Redknapp has at his disposal, but the loss of two of their most influential players could hit them hard in the coming weeks.
There are three fascinating fixtures on Sunday afternoon. The first sees Manchester United face Liverpool in one of the country’s fiercest sporting rivalries. Manchester United’s target for the season is simply to win back the title while Liverpool who, for all their history and prestige are yet to win the Premier League, have reassessed their goals under Roy Hodgson after finishing a disappointing seventh last season.
Defending champions Chelsea will look to continue their free-scoring start to the season against Iain Holloway’s Blackpool, whose fans could only have dreamt of Stamford Bridge for a Premier League fixture 12 months ago.
Finally, after two thumping defeats at the DW stadium, Wigan Athletic boss Roberto Martinez came under a lot of scrutiny. Three points away at Tottenham and a home draw with Sunderland have steadied the ship however and they will be hoping for further progress in the right direction when they take on a Manchester City side who have made a good start in their quest to break into the top four.
Game of the weekend: Manchester United vs. Liverpool
The two most successful sides in the history of English football lock horns on Sunday afternoon in a game that never fails to set the pulses racing. Manchester United may have dropped points on the road in recent weeks but their form at Old Trafford remains as intimidating as ever. Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is probably yet to experience a game of this magnitude in his English managerial career and while the Red Devils start as favourites, Liverpool have tasted victory plenty of times in the past to be hopeful of causing another upset.
Blast from the past: 14th March 2009 – Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool
Liverpool closed the gap to just four points at the top of the Premier League after coming from a goal down to comprehensively beat Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford with a ruthless display infront of goal. The sending off of Nemanja Vidic proved to be the turning point as Fabio Aurelio curled the resulting free kick past van der Sar to give the visitors a two goal advantage, before Andrea Dossena capped a superb performance with a fourth in injury time.
On this day : 10 years ago – 2000/2001
Leicester City and Manchester United both maintained their unbeaten starts to the season, Leicester narrowly seeing off Southampton while Manchester United won in more convincing style with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sunderland.
Five years ago - 2005/06
Marlon Harewood scored a hat-trick within 50 minutes as West Ham United demolished Aston Villa 4-0 at Upton Park, while Sunderland remained the only side yet to secure a single point five games into the season, losing 2-0 away at pacesetters Chelsea.
One year ago - 2009/2010
Three goals in 10 minutes helped Manchester City to a 4-2 victory over Arsenal with striker Emanuel Adebayor netting against his former club. Elsewhere, Bolton claimed their first points of the season with a 3-2 win away at Portsmouth, who suffered their fifth straight defeat after a torrid start to the season.
Week 4 fixtures
Saturday 11th September
Stoke vs. West Ham Utd - 12.45 - Live on Sky Sports
Aston Villa vs. Bolton - 15.00
Blackburn vs. Fulham - 15.00
Everton vs. Newcastle - 15.00
Tottenham vs. Wolves – 15.00
West Brom vs. Birmingham - 15.00
Sunderland vs. Arsenal - 17.30 - Live on ESPN
Sunday 12th September
Manchester Utd vs. Liverpool - 13.30 - Live on Sky Sports
Wigan vs. Manchester City - 15.00
Chelsea vs. Blackpool - 16.00 - Live on Sky Sports
See the full list of OLBG's free Football Tips here.
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