Premier League Notebook Heading into Week 32

Manchester United host Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday in what is undoubtedly the biggest Premier League game of the weekend—just as it invariably is whenever the two sides meet.

This time, however, the game arrives with a slightly different profile. The second Manchester derby is a smaller event this year, one less likely to offer answers to some of the bigger questions of the season. In recent years, this has been a game to either decide or prolong the title race—the two teams have split the last three titles—between two squads at or near the peak of their powers.

Yet right now, both sides seem to be in or arriving at a transitional period and have consequently left the path relatively clear for Chelsea to march toward their first league title in five years. Arsenal, thanks to their surging recent run of form, are now the Blues' nearest challengers. In one sense, the Manchester derby has been reduced to a more straightforward game to decide league position and local bragging rights.

"We can look up in the table," as United boss Louis van Gaal told MUTV (h/t the club's official website) after the win over Aston Villa last time out. "The next match [against Manchester City] is for the second position or the third, I think."

That does not make the game significantly less important, though, especially to supporters of both sides. With United midway through their transitional period and City about to enter one of their own if you believe what is written in the papers, this game might offer some valuable clues about where both clubs are heading over the next few months.

There is something tangible riding on the game, with the loser (especially if it is United) perhaps being dragged back into something of a battle for that all-important fourth position. Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are both still lingering around the top four, and both clubs could move within five points of United (or four of City) if they lose this weekend.

That is still a reasonable cushion, but it would certainly make things a lot more interesting over the final part of the campaign. European qualification remains the priority for both clubs at this point, so being able to inflict a defeat that puts that target within reach will appeal to both teams.

Nevertheless, in all likelihood, this is a derby that will help decide which Manchester club finishes higher in the league and little more. United have the form and the confidence, while City might be bereft of both after failing to pick up a single point against Burnley and Crystal Palace in two of their last three league games. Yet over the course of the entire campaign, you would perhaps still argue that City have been the marginally better side.

As a result, perhaps they deserve to finish third ahead of their local rivals, although with Sergio Aguero and David Silva not quite at their scintillating best right now, you struggle to see how Manuel Pellegrini's side can repeat the form that has seen them win all four of the most recent meetings between the two sides by a combined 10-2 scoreline.

As Ashley Young said this week, per the Manchester Evening News:

"

It’s about that momentum. Especially when you are going into this vital stage of the season now.

United teams always come strong at this stage and we are showing in every game just how strong we can be—and even how we finish the game.

There’s always been balance. In the last few weeks you see how it’s working. We work together as a team—always from the back to the front.

We just want to keep the momentum we have shown, and the good positive play we have shown, especially in the last few games.

We have just got to continue what we have shown and hopefully, fingers crossed, come the end of the season we will be as high as we can.

"

City, burned by recent results, at least have the chance to make a certain amount of amends. Losing this game might be damning for Pellegrini and see some of the senior players linked with a summer exit, but winning the game—showing some of the fluid attacking play we are used to but which has been so sorely lacking in 2015—would give both the manager and his charges something to cling onto as attention starts to turn toward coming back stronger than ever next season.

“A derby is a derby,” City captain Vincent Kompany told the club's official website. “It doesn’t matter what place you are in the league, it’s a derby.

“If anything, it’s a good moment to go into a derby. I guess the momentum is a little bit with our neighbours at the moment, but it’s the perfect place for us to go and try to rectify what we’ve had.”

Dave Thompson/Getty Images

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Week 32 Fixtures

All games 3 p.m. BST (10 a.m. ET) unless otherwise stated.

Saturday

Swansea City vs. Everton (12:45 p.m.)
Southampton vs. Hull City
Sunderland vs. Crystal Palace
Tottenham vs. Aston Villa
West Bromwich Albion vs. Leicester City
West Ham United vs. Stoke City
Burnley vs. Arsenal (5:30 p.m.)

Sunday

Queens Park Rangers vs. Chelsea (1:30 p.m.)

Manchester United vs. Manchester City (4 p.m.)

Monday

Liverpool vs. Newcastle United (8 p.m.)

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1. What to Watch out for This Week

Can Pardew Finally Upset the Black Cats?

Newcastle United's torrid recent record against archrivals Sunderland continued last time out, but at least Alan Pardew has the chance to address his own part in that run of results.

Beaten time and time again in his final Tyne-Wear derbies as Newcastle manager, results that undoubtedly harmed his already low standing with Magpies fans, Pardew will perhaps want a modicum of revenge when he takes Crystal Palace to the Stadium of Light.

“We’re going there in great form. The stadium will be wary of us, the 11 players on the pitch,” Pardew said, per the Shields Gazette. He continued:

"

Irrespective of my reception, it’s about the 11 players on the pitch and Sunderland fans know that we’re in really good form.

It’s fair to say they’ve gone a little bit more direct, a little bit more positive. They have some good players and it’s always a difficult place to go.

I don’t think we’re under any illusions. It’s a team coming off the back of a great victory and they will be buoyed for our game.

"

Pardew's turnaround with Palace has led to talk of him being a leading contender for manager of the year awards, especially considering his cumulative results with Newcastle and Palace would leave "Team Pardew" eighth in the league table.

With safety pretty much guaranteed, Palace can start planning for next season—with a summer takeover widely expected and greater funds being made available to strengthen the squad. The future might be bright at Selhurst Park, but Pardew will be addressing his own agenda on Saturday.

Swansea Should Be Careful What They Wish For

After a certain amount of panic at Everton earlier in the season, they arrive for their game against Swansea City with less pressure on their shoulders, reasonably safe in the knowledge they will not now be dragged into a relegation battle over the final weeks of the season.

They have joined the Welsh club in mid-table security, a status that comes with its own sense of inertia. Garry Monk's side cannot go down, cannot qualify for Europe and, as such, enter the final throes of the campaign with only constructed targets to work toward—such as securing the club's record Premier League points haul, something they will achieve with a win over Everton.

"It's what we're fighting for. It's what our focus is," Monk said, per Sky Sports. "A lot of people have questioned what we've got to fight for in recent weeks.

"We're not in a relegation battle and we're not fighting for Europe but that's what it is. It's one of the targets that we set at the start of the season and if we could achieve it at some point during the season—we've got a great chance now."

In March, Monk was talking about the Swans trying to force their way into the European battle, but perhaps missing out on that race is something of a blessing in disguise—just look at Everton. The Toffees are currently 12th in the table after finishing fifth last term, a demise that can, in part, be blamed on their involvement in continental competition.

Monk is right to target a return to Europe in the near future, but perhaps one further season to consolidate and fashion a squad capable of dealing with its vast demands might benefit the club in the long term.

Bouncing Back Essential for the Reds

Brendan Rodgers may have essentially ruled out Liverpool's Champions League qualification hopes following the disastrous defeat to Arsenal, but perhaps he was always going to say that—a mixture of devastation at what had just unravelled at the Emirates Stadium and a desire to remove any remaining expectation from his and his players' shoulders.

The Reds undoubtedly now have only marginal hopes of getting back into Europe's elite club competition next season, but they do still have a chance. The fixture list offers them a lifeline—with the two Manchester clubs facing one another on Sunday, Liverpool could move to within five points of the loser of that game if they do the business against Newcastle.

That does not exactly bring them right back into thick of things, but it does at least give them hope. With Chelsea the only big gun they have left to play this season, Liverpool's run-in is reasonably kind. They still have a glimmer of hope, but they will need to rediscover their form very, very quickly.

2. Video of the Week

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

3. Player to Watch

Tim Sherwood

We break from tradition here to focus on a manager—and justifiably so, as Tim Sherwood returns to White Hart Lane with his new team, Aston Villa. How will Sherwood be received? Will he be applauded for his efforts as manager last season, or derided as he continues to make certain amusing statements?

Will there—as has been mooted—really be a round of applause in the 59th minute to commemorate Sherwood's win percentage in the league during his time with Spurs?

We can only hope, but for Villa, there are far more pressing matters at hand.

"Pochettino took over a really good situation there. We finished on par with where we should have finished," said Sherwood, per the BBC.

"To be able to inherit a group of players of that quality and then have the benefit to strengthen—it was the dream job."

When asked about Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, he was on similarly classic form.

"I've communicated with Daniel Levy," he added. "I've got a lot of respect for him. He makes decisions as chairman that he thinks are in the best interests of his club.

"Tottenham are in a much better position now than before Daniel Levy came in—because I was there the day he walked into the club."

Sherwood clearly does not need a self-confidence boost, but he and Villa still need points if they are to remain in the Premier League. If he really is as good a manager as he claims to be—and is as responsible for Spurs' success as he feels he is—then he should surely find a tactical plan to undo them.

Villa will have to be better than they were against Manchester United, however, when their plan to welly the ball up to Christian Benteke and hope he and Gabriel Agbonlahor could create something was easily dealt with.

If they don't, Villa could be in the bottom three by the end of the weekend—then the pressure will really be on Sherwood to deliver more than humourous soundbites.

4. Game of the Weekend

Burnley vs. Arsenal

So we all know the real game of the weekend takes place at Old Trafford, but we've already covered that elsewhere. This weekend, two big games take place with significant implications at both ends of the table—games that could help define the remainder of the campaign.

The first of those sees Burnley host Arsenal at Turf Moor, with the Gunners hoping to continue their brilliant recent run of form and apply a bit more pressure on leaders Chelsea, who play almost 24 hours later against Queens Park Rangers. That short away trip could nevertheless pose a considerable challenge, considering how Chris Ramsay's side are scrambling for their lives.

The tenor of that game at Loftus Road will be set by what happens at Burnley (and to a lesser extent, at White Hart Lane and St Mary's). If Arsenal win, Chelsea will arrive with a slightly smaller margin for error, while QPR will be buoyed by knowing they have essentially a free shot at gaining some ground on their rivals—especially if both Hull City and Villa lose their difficult away trips.

If the game goes the other way—or even if it is a draw—it will be Chelsea with the greater freedom to express themselves, whereas QPR will suddenly need to get something to avoid a worsening of their own situation.

Much of QPR's season has been shaped by their home form. They started brilliantly, even taking points off Manchester City, but they have fallen short against the rest of the so-called big teams. It is now Burnley who have turned their ground into a fortress, keeping clean sheets against both Manchester City (a 1-0 win) and Spurs (a 0-0 draw) in recent weeks.

Arsenal arrive in better form than either of those teams, but victory is still by no means guaranteed.

“We have to understand the opposition and counter that with how we work,” Burnley boss Sean Dyche said, per the Daily Express. “Certainly against Tottenham we made it difficult against them.

“We edged the game against Manchester City and it’s not often you do that against one of the superpowers. I’m happy with how the team is operating this season.”