English Premier League Saturday Match Previews: Week Two

Joe LazarAug 20, 2010

Arsenal vs Blackpool

Arsenal will see the return of their talismanic captain Cesc Fabregas after he recovered from his chest infection midweek. On the other hand, Nasri has been ruled out for at least another month after surgery. Song will likely make an appearance after Koscienly was suspended for his red card in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

Blackpool have made a fantastic start to the season, absolutely hammering Wigan, which isn’t exactly what most people would’ve expected from the relegation favourites. Although it wouldn’t be all too surprising if that goal difference may prove crucial when it comes to crunch time later in the season.

Generally, Arsenal don’t do to well against promoted sides and have dropped points against at least one every season since 2003, which is great news for the away side as they hope to build on their victory at Wigan. Arsenal have yet to score and they were only relieved by an own goal in their last game. This could quite possibly be the match when the floodgates open if Blackpool aren’t careful.

Birmingham vs Blackburn

Birmingham could give new signing Zidic his first start of the season as he only appeared as a substitute in their draw against Sunderland. Matt Derbyshire is also tipped to make his first appearance for his new club since signing on loan. Rovers will be without David Dunn, whose injury will keep him sidelined for the match.

Most of the attention that is surrounding Blackburn at the moment is about the possible takeover of the club by Ashan Ali Syed—this could be the first time since the passing of their greatest benefactor Jack Walker 10 years ago that the club has a competitive enough budget to contemplate a title push again.

Blackburn are coming off a strong win against Everton whilst Birmingham didn’t look all that impressive against Sunderland in their 2-2 draw. Blackburn are playing like a team which should win this matchup, whether that translates to three points this Saturday on the other hand is a completely different story.

Blackburn have only lost one match in their last 10 league games so when it comes to form they certainly have this one dead to rights.

Everton vs Wolverhampton

Everton are getting a reputation for bad starts. They are trying to challenge for a top-four finish and if that is going to be a realistic goal then they certainly need to win this match. Last season, they lost three of their four opening games and that left them chasing for the rest of the season—not a scenario they will want to repeat. Both Neville and Anechebe will miss the match due to their respective injuries.

Wolves are not a side who are competing for anything more grand than to stay up this season, although beating Stoke was certainly a good start to their campaign. There are more than a few fitness concerns for Wolverhampton in the form of Fletcher, Van Damme, and Mouyokolo. However, last season’s top scorer and talisman of Wolves, Doyle, could make a return to fitness just in time to play.

Last season wolves only racked up four away wins and Everton have not lost back-to-back matches in 26 games. The statistics are mostly pointing to a Toffees victory. Whether that will be the case or if Everton will carry on with their poor beginnings is something which remains to be seen.

Stoke vs Tottenham

Stoke's biggest ever signing (Jones) may actually be fit despite limping off last weekend. Stoke's loss to Wolves last weekend will no doubt have come as something of a disappointment to the side who had a fantastic run last season. It isn’t like they were the only side to get off to a shaky start, although it seems like something was a little bit off about their performance.

Tottenham are already having some serious injury problems with Crouch being their only healthy front man. This could be the start of a goal drought for the club if they’re unlucky. Added to which Tottenham’s most recent away form has been a little short of amicable, with the side losing three of their last four matches away from White Hart Lane.

Tottenham were outclassed midweek by the Young Boys and they could be on for another loss here, Stoke are likely to get a little bit physical and try and muscle Tottenham out of the game if this happens Tottenham could be on for a very bad start to the season.

West Brom vs Sunderland

West Brom haven’t had the best of luck on the training ground with training-related injuries ruling both Miller and Mattock out of their match with Sunderland. Although the away side aren’t doing much better with the absence of captain Cattermole and Turner due to their suspensions.

West Brom were given the worst imaginable welcome back to the Premiership party by Chelsea, who celebrated goal after goal after, well, you guessed it, yet another goal. Their 6-0 licking is bound to have left the side feeling a little worse for wear and looking for a chance to redeem themselves. This is of course probably one of the best sides they could’ve hoped for to get an opportunity for that seeing as the Black Cats aren’t completely out of their league.

Sunderland looked a little travel sick last season, picking up only 10 points on the road. This is, of course, a figure that they will need to improve on if they are going to top last season’s 13th place finish and they have every chance of doing that against the Baggies.

West Ham vs Bolton

It seems increasingly likely that Barrera and Piquionne may get their first starts for the Hammers as their injury list mounts up, whereas Bolton have no new concerns and will likely play an unchanged side from the one who drew with Fulham.

West Ham have not beaten Bolton in three years and with the side that they have it doesn’t look like that is going to change any time soon. Certainly the talent that Bolton have is of a far higher quality than what the hammers have to chose from.

West Ham got thrashed by Aston Villa on opening day and looked thoroughly outmatched for the majority of the match. There is going to need to be some serious changes if they aren’t going to be sucked into yet another relegation battle this season.

Bolton kept a clean sheet for the first time in nine games when they drew against Fulham, so in some ways a goalless draw was a bit of an achievement for the wanderers. If they can build on that and maybe snatch a late goal this match should be theirs for the taking.

Wigan vs Chelsea

Wigan will to be looking forward to this match after getting whopped by Premiership new kids Blackpool. A visit from Chelsea, who walked all over West Brom last week, is not going to be something that any manager looks forward to, never mind when they want to salvage some pride.

Thomas is expected to start in replacement of McCarthy for the Lactics and Caldwell remains both injured and suspended. N’Zogbia who wants out of the club seems the likely choice to replace the injured Mosses for this match with Chelsea.

Lampard and Drogba have both been given the go-ahead to play, which is something that Wigan did not want to here as this match isn’t likely to go their way even without Chelsea being fully fit.

An interesting fact which demonstrates the side's attacking prowess is that Chelsea have already hit two more shots on target than France managed throughout the World Cup, and if that wasn’t enough Drogba could become the first man to score three successive hat tricks in the Premier League if he performs well here. This match is not going to go Wigan’s way.