English Premier League: Week 30 Previews and Predictions

This past week was marred by the medical emergency of Bolton Wanderers' young English midfielder, Fabrice Muamba.

Reports from ESPNsoccernet.com claim that the talented former Arsenal player actually died for 78 minutes before being brought back after a total 27 shocks.

The good news is that the English Premier League, English national team and Bolton Wanderers did not lose a key player for the future of the English game.

Muamba faces a long and tough road to recovery, but recovery is a better result that many of us all feared.

Amongst all the scare from Muamba's plight, the league had to press on through round 29 of fixtures.

Swansea City, Newcastle United and Manchester United all took full points from their early weekend matches against Fulham, Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers while Wigan Athletic and West Bromwhich shared the spoils.

The FA Cup ties over the weekend only saw Liverpool and Chelsea progress over Stoke City and Leicester City. Bolton and Tottenham face a replay after abandoning the match due to Muamba's frightening exit and Sunderland drawing with Everton.

The midweek fixtures saw more parody in the League as Rovers continued their winning ways over Sunderland and Everton dropped all points against Arsenal at home.

Chelsea looked set to take down Manchester City until Carlos Tevez made a heroic return to inspire the Citizens to a 2-1 win.

Bolton postponed their match with Aston Villa while Tottenham drew with Stoke City.

The most shocking result had to be an overly dominant Liverpool blowing a 2-0 lead against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in the last 15 minutes of their match and losing 2-3.

Chelsea vs. Tottenham

Both Chelsea and Tottenham dropped points in midweek, but each club equally should rise back up to the occasion of a London Derby.

The Blues lost a heart breaker at Manchester City and will be looking to make amends with three points at home.

Tottenham looked to still be shaken after witnessing the near death of Fabrice Muamba during their FA Cup tie on St. Patrick's Day.

Match Prediction: Chelsea 3 - 2 Tottenham

Players to Watch: Fernando Torres and Emmanuel Adebayor

Arsenal vs. Aston Villa

Arsenal have been firing on all cylinders and should have no excuse for not taking all three points at home.

Aston Villa will be the fresher of the two, however, after getting a full two weeks of rest and could surprise if they take the game to the Gunners.

Thomas Vermaelen was the hero for the Gunners at Goodison in midweek as they topped the Toffees, but I expect Robin Van Persie to be all over the Villains back-line.

Match Prediction: Arsenal 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Players to Watch: Robin Van Persie and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Bolton Wanderers vs Blackburn Rovers

Bolton are believed to be going ahead with their match this weekend after postponing their midweek match with Aston Villa due to the entire organization being in utter shock and despair over the state of Fabrice Muamba.

Blackburn on the other hand have been on fire as they have pushed well towards safety by creating a five point gap between them and 17th place Queens Park Rangers.

Steve Kean could just well save the club from relegation, and as bad as it sounds, he could not have asked for a better time to try and catch Wanderers off guard.

Match Prediction: Bolton 2 - 3 Blackburn

Players to Watch: Ivan Klasnic and Yakubu.

Liverpool vs. Wigan Athletic

Liverpool made it to the final four or the FA Cup with a victory over Stoke City, but once again they failed to capitalize on the momentum from another strong performance when they went to Queens Park Rangers.

In what has to be the Reds lowest point of the season, they allowed the relegation fighting Rangers score three goals in the last 15 minutes of their match at Loftus Road to waste a 2-0 road lead.

A Sebastian Coates goal of the season contender strike started the night and showed the promise of the youngster but right now the club are in desperate needs of more finishing quality.

Wigan on the other hand continue to fight for safety as a draw sees them three points still adrift in 19th.

Liverpool again should dominate, but if they don't put their shots in the onion bag it will be another chance for a relegation team to try and steal points at the death.

Match Prediction: Liverpool 2 - 0 Wigan Athletic

Players to Watch: Steven Gerrard and Victor Moses.

Norwich City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Norwich City have been on downward trend the last few weeks, but their strong first half looks like it should be enough to almost guarantee survival as they rest on 36 points with nine games to go.

However, a few more weeks of dropping points could prove a problem to their chances.

Wolves face yet another must win match as they are propping up the table in 20th having taken only one point of their last 15 possible.

It does not look good for the Molineux faithful.

Match Prediction: Norwich City 2 - 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Players to Watch: Grant Holt and Steven Fletcher.

Sunderland vs. Queens Park Rangers

Sunderland have struggled with a draw, a win and three losses on the bounce, and will hope that they can find a way to make amends and keep hold of their top 10 position in the league.

The Martin O'Neal boost looks to be wearing off but the continued missing of several key players makes the Black Cats susceptible to dropping points yet again.

Queens Park Rangers however will be on a huge high after some late heroics from Djibril Cisse and Jamie Mackie sealed a dramatic 15 minute and three goal comeback to beat Liverpool at home Wednesday.

Match Prediction: Sunderland 1 - 2 Queens Park Rangers

Players to Watch: Nicklas Bendtner and Djibril Cisse.

Swansea City vs. Everton

Swansea are charging up the table having hit top form at just the right time as the first Welsh club to earn their inclusion in the English Premier League is proving to be more than up to the challenge.

Three straight victories over Wigan, Manchester City and then Fulham see the Swans 10 points adrift from what would be a UEFA Europa League dream for the Swans.

Everton claimed the spoils that last time the two clubs met, but it will be a much tougher test this go around.

The Toffees have lost two straight in the league thanks to Liverpool's emphatic Merseyside Derby victory snapping their nine game unbeaten run.

Match Prediction: Swansea City 2 - 1 Everton

Players to Watch: Joe Allen and Tim Cahill.

Stoke City vs. Manchester City

Stoke City bounced back from an FA Cup defeat to Liverpool with a draw against Tottenham Hotspur to restore some dignity to the side.

Tony Pulis has seen a promising start head down hill with the club trying to fight their way back to the top ten of the league.

Manchester City also have struggled lately with a loss to Swansea and only late heroics from none other than Carlos Tevez to keep them from a home defeat to Chelsea.

Given Stoke's home field reputation and the up and down form of the Citizens I feel they should be on draw or upset alert against the Potters.

Match Prediction: Stoke City 1 - 1 Manchester City

Players to Watch: Matthew Etherington and Sergio Aguero.

West Bromwich Albion vs. Newcastle United

Newcastle United continue to stay at the doorstep of Chelsea in a quest to return the club to Europe in the UEFA Europa League next season.

The sixth place Magpies won their first game in over a month last round and will hope to right their ship and take advantage of any slip up by Chelsea in the coming weeks.

West Bromwich Albion had a three game win streak broken by Manchester United two weeks ago but earned a vital draw over Wigan this past weekend to keep pushing for a top half finish.

Match Prediction: West Bromwich Albion 2 - 3 Newcastle United

Players to Watch: Peter Odemwingie and Demba Cisse.

Manchester United vs. Fulham

Manchester United are hitting the stride with Fulham having been knock straight out of form after several dominating performances.

The Red Devils trounced Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday and will be awaiting the Cottagers with baited breath after Swansea dashed the London club once again last week.

With nothing left but the League as a means to save face for a poor season in domestic and European competitions, Sir Alex Ferguson will take no prisoners as he looks for the clubs 20th title

Fulham had been on great vein of form, but it was ended abruptly two weeks ago by a frustrating loss to Aston Villa. After a second straight loss they travel to one of the toughest venues in all of football and will hope for a good showing.

Match Prediction: Manchester United 3 - 1 Fulham

Players to Watch: Wayne Rooney and Clint Dempsey.

Conclusion

This weekend, again, has some great matchups that allow for multiple upset opportunities to top clubs across the board.

All eyes will be on the two sides from Manchester as the title race continues to be neck and neck.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out more on Bleacher Report and at the links below. You can follow me on Twitter @thedailyatz and Facebook, or visit my website.