Friday 17 October 2014 17:27, UK
Chelsea go to Crystal Palace on Saturday looking to extend their Premier League lead, while QPR host Liverpool on Super Sunday.
Manchester City could temporarily shorten the gap on Chelsea when they host Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime, with Jose Mourinho’s side in action in south London two hours later.
Also on Saturday, Newcastle’s under-fire boss Alan Pardew will be looking to secure his first league win of the season at home to Leicester City.
Arsenal host Hull City, Burnley welcome West Ham to Turf Moor, Aston Villa travel to Everton and Ronald Koeman’s Southampton will look to maintain their unbeaten home form this season when Sunderland make the long trip down to the South Coast.
After the Loftus Road encounter, Stoke City’s clash with Swansea completes a double-bill of Super Sunday football,
QPR boss Harry Redknapp and Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling will meet for Sunday's game at Loftus Road, with both men dominating this week’s headlines. Redknapp's position at the R's has come under scrutiny of late, with his side currently bottom of the Premier League table having picked up four points from the opening seven games. Sterling has been subject to much conversation after England manager Roy Hodgson claimed the Reds youngster had complained of 'tiredness', causing Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers to fiercely deny that a club v country row was brewing. With off-field matters dominating the lead up to Sunday’s game, both sides will be keen to impress on the pitch in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Despite winning three of their last four Premier League games, Manchester United still await their first away win of the season ahead of Monday’s trip to West Brom live on Sky Sports 1. After back-to-back 2-1 wins over West Ham and Everton, Louis van Gaal’s side will be in confident mood for the clash at the Hawthorns, while West Brom will be comforted by the result of their last home game - a 4-0 thrashing of Burnley. With United conceding 10 goals in their opening seven league games, one more than the Baggies, pundit Paul Merson is expecting a goal-fest in the Midlands.
Man City welcome Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, a ground which has been far less of a fortress for the champions. So far this season, Manuel Pellegrini’s team have dropped as many points at home as they did during the entirety of last year’s title-winning campaign, which is something they will be looking to overturn if they want to keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea. Tottenham will head to the North West in confident mood, having secured four points in their last two league games prior to the international break, although history is rather unkind on Spurs with City thrashing them 6-0 and 5-1 last season.
Chelsea could extend their lead at the top of the table when they visit Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Blues are in blistering form this season, dropping just two points while scoring a mammoth 21 goals in their opening seven games. Mourinho will be aiming to avoid another defeat at Selhurst Park, with Chelsea’s title aspirations taking a blow last season when they fell to a 1-0 defeat in March. Palace have had a mixed start to their campaign, with their two wins, two draws and three defeats leaving them in 15th place ahead of the London derby.
Swansea travel to Stoke on Sunday looking to grab their first win in five games. Despite currently occupying fifth place, Garry Monk’s side have struggled to reflect their early season form recently with defeats to Chelsea and Southampton followed by draws with Sunderland and Newcastle. After winning their first three games of the season, the Swans face a Stoke side who have struggled to show any form of consistency this term, winning just one of their home games despite an impressive 1-0 win at Manchester City in August. An entertaining game awaits as both teams aim to secure an important result on Sunday afternoon, live on Sky Sports 1.
Newcastle are still seeking their first league win of the season ahead of Saturday’s game at Leicester, with the pressure still firmly on manager Alan Pardew. The Magpies remain in the bottom three following a poor start to the season, with the St James’ Park faithful set to stage another protest towards the under-fire Pardew. Despite an impressive start to their top-flight return, Leicester have struggled recently after their home draw with Burnley followed their disappointing 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, leaving them in 12th place. History suggests that it could be a long afternoon for the Foxes, with Newcastle unbeaten in their last eight league meetings with Leicester (W4 D4).
Injury-hit Arsenal will be aiming to get their title challenge back on track when they welcome Hull City to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. In a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final, the Gunners will be without a number of key players after playmaker Mesut Ozil was ruled out for six weeks, joining Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey among others on the sidelines. Boss Arsene Wenger has warned his side to avoid complacency against Hull, despite Steve Bruce's side winning just one of their last six league games. Mo Diame could be out for the Tigers, with the Senegalese midfielder feeling the effects of his long journey back from international duty.
Burnley entertain West Ham on Saturday at Turf Moor, with Sean Dyche looking to grab his first Premier League win as boss of the Clarets. Despite sitting in the relegation zone, the Lancashire side will be in buoyant mood after their last-minute draw at Leicester a fortnight ago secured a well-earned point. They’ll be facing a rejuvenated West Ham side, who’ve amassed 10 points from seven games to leave them seventh in the table, while scoring an impressive 12 goals in the process. A win for the Hammers could put them into the top four, while Burnley could move out of the bottom three with victory over Sam Allardyce’s side.
Struggling Everton will play host to Aston Villa on Saturday, with the Toffees just two points above the relegation zone. It’s been an uncharacteristically poor start to the season for Roberto Martinez’s side, who’ve failed to win any of their three home games in the Premier League this season while conceding the most goals (16). Despite an impressive start to Villa’s campaign, Paul Lambert’s side have lost three successive league matches without scoring - pushing them down into 10th place. With both sides seeking a much-needed win, this weekend’s clash at Goodison Park promises to be fascinating.
Southampton will be keen to build on their superb start to the season when they host Sunderland on Saturday. After winning four on the trot, Koeman’s side fell to a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham before the international break and the Saints will be hoping the result is a minor bump in their journey towards the Premier League’s summit. Gus Poyet’s Sunderland picked up their first win of the campaign with a 3-1 home win over Stoke two weeks ago, and will be aiming to secure their first away win of this term (D2 L1) when they head to St Mary's, with Republic of Ireland's midweek hero John O'Shea set to start. The Saints have failed to beat Sunderland at home since 2002, having lost their last three competitive matches against the Black Cats
