EPL Week 6 Fixtures: Top-Half Teams in Danger of an Upset

In what's shaping up to be the most balanced Premier League season ever, the 2013/14 campaign has already shown us that nobody is safe from defeat.

Former league leaders Liverpool are the latest side to be stunned by "weaker" opposition, a result that came on the back of previous shocks for the likes of Manchester City at Cardiff and Arsenal at home to Aston Villa.

Read on to find out which Premier League big guns may hit a snag in this weekend’s action.

Manchester City

Opponent: Aston Villa (A)

Having both triumphed in their most recent league outings, Aston Villa and Manchester City will be in good spirits heading into this Saturday’s clash at Villa Park.

Paul Lambert's team managed to stem the Norwich City tide over the weekend, largely thanks to the work of Brad Guzan, and it will once again need his defence to be in top working order against the Citizens.

Villa have been unfortunate at times this season and were unlucky not to earn points against Chelsea and Liverpool earlier in the campaign, as well as being the only club to have taken points from Arsenal in over a month.

With Christian Benteke in fine form, the Birmingham club has as reliable an attacking outlet as any other but will face a different task altogether in restraining the Premier League’s highest scorers.

That being said, if, like Stoke City, Lambert’s men can find some way of isolating City’s key assets, there’s a good chance Manuel Pellegrini’s side can be caught complacent following its 4-1 derby thrashing of Manchester United.

Arsenal

Opponent: Swansea City (A)

Current league leaders Arsenal are riding on the back of a seven-match winning streak and look the side to beat in the English top flight.

On current form, there's arguably no team in the division that looks as comfortable with the ball at its feet.

However, the Gunners’ work off the ball has been entirely more sloppy, and Swansea City are another possession-based outfit just waiting to take advantage of that.

At times this season, teams have found it simply too easy in moving between Arsenal’s midfield and defence, with the North Londoners having kept only the one clean sheet domestically.

Swansea are a side in fine attacking form of their own and have netted nine goals in their last four outings across all competitions.

With Michu and Wilfried Bony operating like a well-oiled machine in attack, manager Michael Laudrup looks to be forming something spectacular in South Wales. Arsenal would be fortunate to emerge from the Liberty Stadium unscathed.

Stoke City

Opponent: Norwich City (H)

Although seven places separate the two, there really isn’t much to be said about the difference in quality between Stoke City and Norwich City.

The Potters have had the misfortune of playing Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal in three of their five opening fixtures, so a weekend visit of the Canaries should be a welcome change of pace.

However, Norwich have had a rough start of their own and have had some disappointing results in their opening five fixtures despite playing good football all the while, the latest of which was an unfortunate loss to Aston Villa.

Chris Hughton’s side is evolving into a more expansive, experimental entity, while Mark Hughes’ Stoke are also a body in transition.

The Mirror's John Cross emphasised exactly this over the weekend:

This encounter is a meeting of two teams looking to transform in the coming campaign. Sunday will give us a strong indication of who is succeeding more in that pursuit.