English Premier League: Sunday Matches Previews: Sept. 19, 2010

Joe LazarSep 18, 2010

It looks likely that Alex Ferguson will play a side very similar if not the same as the one which drew with Everton last weekend; he made 10 changes for his sides clash with Rangers midweek. It is possible that Rio Ferdinand could make his first start of the season after having recovered from injury. Manchester United’s home record is pretty much impeccable as of late, they have won 12 of their last 13 matches which doesn’t say much for Liverpool’s chances of winning considering they haven’t been off to the best start this season. Man Utd’s draw against Everton and the one against Fulham has shown United as not concentrating at the back, they were ahead in both matches and conceded late goals in both, if they can actually hold onto a lead this time they should have no problems winning this match.

Added to United’s good home record, Liverpool has been very poor away from home recently; they have only won one of their last 11 matches, although this quite likely down to Torres not performing away from home. Gerrard and Torres will both be returning to the side after missing out midweek against Steaua. Liverpool will have to play above themselves to do well against Man Utd.

Wigan vs Manchester City

Man City will be giving a last minute fitness check to Adebayor who missed their last match with a dead leg; Boeteng is still injured however Santa Cruz is fit and available for selection. The away side have been looking a little lost recently not quite managing to pick up the points that they are capable of. They have only won two of their last nine matches and the sad thing is that they have had some rather embarrassing draws thrown into the mix. Tevez has scored 23 times in his last 27 matches so it’s not as if their strike force isn’t pulling their weight.

Moses is coming back from his ankle injury, but they will not be seeing Caldwell return after his surgery, he will still be out for a few more weeks while he recovers from hip surgery. Wigan’s strike force, unlike City’s, is pretty poor; they’ve only managed to score one goal since the start of the season. There doesn’t seem to me much chance of them keeping a clean sheet either after seeing their previous performances they’re going to need a miracle to win and will be very lucky if they manage a draw—this game is City’s for the taking.

Chelsea vs Blackpool

Well there is one obvious result that should come from this match, and that is for Chelsea to steamroll Premiership-newbie’s Blackpool, however it might not be too smart to rule Blackpool out. After all, they have been a very unpredictable side. This is a match at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea have only drawn one match and lost one from their last 23. Lampard is still missing as he has not fully recovered from his hernia surgery, although it’s unlikely that he’ll be horribly missed.

Blackpool are probably the most interesting team to follow at the moment, you never know what’s going to happen with them week by week. It will be interesting to see whether they can manage to pull off another miracle result. Keinan will be available to play only by fluke mind as if the match was on Saturday it would’ve fallen on a religious festival, so it seems quite likely that they will go with an unchanged side after beating Newcastle last weekend. One thing is certainly on the cards: this will be a high scoring match if these teams' other games have been anything to go by.