English Premier League Sunday Match Previews: Dec 12, 2010

Joe LazarDec 11, 2010

Bolton may see the return of Holden, who will be fit after missing the last two matches due to a thigh problem. Bolton are having a few problems when it comes to midfield players, both Davis and O’Brien are ruled out as long term absentees.

Despite this, the team has racked up some pretty impressive victories, the problem has been in the back, they have only kept one clean sheet all season when they drew to Fulham on the opening day of the Premiership. Bolton have only lost one of their last six matches and have only lost once at home all season, so the statistics would suggest that they have every chance of winning this match.

Blackburn have been pretty impressive recently as well, winning four of their last six matches makes them the second best team in the league in terms of recent form. On the other hand, Blackburn have yet to beat a team in the top half of the table. Still, if they carry on playing the same sort of football that they have been recently they really could make a good match out of this.

Wolverhampton vs Birmingham

Wolves injury crisis just got even worse, Jarvis could be out for a long time after picking up a knee injury. Not the best news to hear when your team is in desperate need of points.

Wolves' poor form has seen them end up in the relegation zone and with the way they have been playing they don’t look all too likely to claw their way out of it. They haven’t even managed to keep a clean sheet all season, which serves to highlight the fact that they have some serious problems defensively.

Birmingham may have a chance to actually get a win in this outing, with the way that Wolves have been playing they should have plenty of opportunities to net a few goals, whilst they have not lost any of their last four league matches they haven’t managed to get many wins so far this season. Still, the away side should be the favourites to win this match, seeing as nobody would put any money on Wolves to win anything at the moment.

Tottenham vs Chelsea

Hutton, Lennon and Modric are all likely to return to the squad after missing the match against FC Twente midweek. Kaboul will face a late fitness test although it remains unlikely that he will be fit to start.

Tottenham have managed to drop six points from winning positions this season which doesn’t bode well for them holding out against a Chelsea onslaught. In their last 11 London derby matches that have taken place at White Hart Lane Tottenham are undefeated, still statistics aren’t always a great indicator of how things are going to go when you’re playing Chelsea.

Chelsea are in the middle of a slump which can only be described as dramatic and catastrophic. At the beginning of the season Chelsea had gone 10 games losing only once and scoring 27 times whilst only conceding three goals. Recently however they have only won one of their last six matches.

Ancelotti has himself said that he is deeply concerned about their form and if they are going to retain their title they need to start playing more than a little bit better. Still this is Chelsea that we are talking about and is there any doubt that once they get back into form they will simply decimate most of their opposition? Maybe this will be the day when it all comes back together.