It doesn’t matter what you may have planned for Friday night, it’s worth waking up early on Saturday when Premier League leaders Arsenal visit Manchester City.
Manuel Pellegrini didn’t even need Vincent “Kaptain” Kompany or top scorer Sergio Aguero to win away to Bayern Munich midweek in the Champions League, but both the Belgian and the Argentine are expected to feature Saturday.
With six points between the Gunners and Blues, there should be a real intensity to this one as Manchester City can’t afford to see that gap grow, even with 22 games still to play in the season.
And how’s this for a stat? The Citizens are scoring with 20.6 per cent of their shots. The Gunners have scored on 18.9 per cent of theirs—the two best rates in the Premier League. Having said that, don’t expect goals. In their last six contests, just seven goals have been scored between them.
Saturday programming alert: Watch Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace (Sportsnet, 9:30am ET) and Everton vs. Fulham (Sportsnet World, 9:30am ET). Also, watch Cardiff City vs. West Bromwich exclusively on Sportsnet World Online at 9:30am ET. | TV schedule
History doesn’t give you any reason to think Fulham have a chance against Everton at Goodison on Saturday. The Cottagers have lost their last 10 visits to the blue half of Merseyside.
But Fulham have found new life with manager Rene Meulensteen calling the shots and each player feels the need to prove his worth now—a key ingredient they was missing with the scary Dutchman Martin Jol at the helm.
Is Southampton for real? We’ll have a better idea after Saturday when the Saints make the longest trip in the Premier League, the lovely trek up to Tyneside to take on Newcastle United.
Newcastle have won nine and lost NONE of their last 10 at home to the Saints. But under Mauricio Pochettino, Southampton are a team capable of scoring from anywhere and are rarely vulnerable at the back.
Things are finally going according to plan for Alan Pardew, and you have to think he’d relish the opportunity to stick to his former team and widen the current three-point gap.
Unlike last season, Aston Villa are the only Premier League team not to have dropped any points from a match they were leading.
In the past a visit from Manchester United brought a wave of depression over Villa Park. And while Villa have lost 25 of their last 35 against the Red Devils, with just one win, like every team that goes up against David Moyes’ side now they have to feel like they have a chance, especially with Robin van Persie ruled out for a month due to a thigh injury. Also, Villa have defeated three teams that sit ahead of United in the table: Arsenal, Manchester City and Southampton.
Sunday programming alert: Watch Norwich City vs. Swansea City (Sportsnet World, 8am ET) and Tottenham vs. Liverpool (Sportsnet World, 10:30am ET). | Sportsnet World Online at 9:30am ET. | TV schedule
And last but certainly not least, Sunday’s late kickoff should be a cracker. Tottenham have had Liverpool’s number recently, winning the last six games between the sides at White Hart Lane, but this is not last year’s Reds.
Plus, Luis Suarez is a man possessed right now, and not in his usual crazy way. The Uruguayan has scored 16 goals in his last 11 Premier League outings, and he’d be a safe bet to score again on Sunday.
Roberto Soldado proved this week in the Europa League he can score in a Spurs shirt, so maybe going up against one of the best front-men in the game will inspire him to do so in the Premier League for a change.