Premier League Saturday Match Previews: October 16, 2010

Joe LazarOct 16, 2010

Arsenal vs Birmingham

Bendter and Walcott could both return to the Arsenal starting line-up although an appearance from Farbregas still seems unlikely as he has still not quite fully recovered from his hamstring injury. Arsenal’s injury concerns do border on the ridiculous with a total of 10 players seriously injured or just recovering.

That’s not to say that Arsenal haven’t been performing, they may have lost to Chelsea in their last Premiership match up, something which will sting due to the local rivalry, but it is by no means an indication of a team playing poorly.

The main problem that they need to deal with is their defensive crisis, the home team have only kept two clean sheets since the start of the season and it looks quite possible that things aren’t going to change in this match.

Birmingham suffered an upset at the hands of what appeared to be a newly regenerated Everton side that played more like people have been expecting them to since the start of the season.

Birmingham don’t have a particularly great track record when it comes to visiting the Gunners, in fact they have not beaten the home side at their own ground in 25 matches. Granted they may have a few more opportunities to score than normal, but winning will take quite a lot more than scoring a couple of goals.

Bolton vs Stoke

Depending on whether or not Davies is fit to play, it is quite possible that Bolton boss Coyle will play the same starting eleven who drew with West Brom in their last match two weeks ago. Davies picked up a minor injury whilst on England duty and it’s 50/50 whether or not he will get the go ahead for the match.

Bolton seem to do pretty well when it comes to meetings against Stoke, losing only one of their last eight matches, and they have not lost at home since a match between the two sides in 1990, and this was when both teams were stuck in "Division 3" (a league which has since been renamed).

The Wanderers have picked up eight points from seven games, the exact amount they picked up last season, say what you like about them, but they are certainly consistent.

Stoke are once again over achieving, something they seem to be pretty good at. They seem to really come into their own in the second half, in fact they have the best record for second halves in the league as it stands. The opposite can be said for how they play in the first half, if they can keep it tight and not concede too many early goals then they have every chance of breaking the cycle of losing to Bolton.

Fulham vs Tottenham

Dembele is fit and ready to return to Fulham’s first team after recovering from an ankle injury. That is however the only player set to return from Fulham’s extensive injury list. On the other hand they aren’t the only side in this match struggling with injuries so the playing field should be relatively even in that respect.

This match tends to get quite boring with half of Fulham last six matches ending in 0-0 draws. Fulham have had a pretty average start to the season drawing more matches than anything else and this seems to happen a lot with Mark Hughes at the helm.

Tottenham, as previously mentioned, are missing a lot of players, in fact their missing half of their starting lineup, the newest concern being England winger Lennon, a player who Tottenham can’t really afford to be without at the moment.

This match is going to come down to who can cope the best with the limited resourced that they have available and is thus going to become very difficult to call. Historically speaking Tottenham do have the edge winning more of the matches between than Fulham, but whether that statistic will ring true remains to be seen.

Manchester United vs West Brom

Rooney may make a return after he returned to England duty, although he still seems far from his best. Despite the rumours that he will be fit to play Hargreaves will not be featuring according to Sir Alex Ferguson. United are currently below their city rivals Manchester City (seven games in) for the first time in years.

It has been a long time since Manchester has had two clubs which actually have a chance of competing for the title and equally as long since the blue half were ever considered a threat to United’s prospects. A win here is vital as it looks increasingly likely that every single point is going to be vitally important this season.

West Brom have had a good start to the season, at least by their standards, if Baggies fans could end the season now, sat in sixth place it’s almost a certainty that they would. This is actually their best start to the season, although their form is still unlikely to have the team confident of victory at Old Trafford.

A draw here would be very respectable and it is certainly on the cards having watched the Baggies performances recently but on the other hand they will need to overcome their usual away match shortcomings.

Newcastle vs Wigan

Coloccini should be fit to play having overcome the groin strain which threatened to keep him sidelined. Unfortunately Arfa, who has become somewhat indispensable for the Magpies recently, will remain out of action for quite a while following the broken leg which he suffered.

This is a match where the home side have every chance of picking up all three points and they’ll certainly be looking to capitalise on this opportunity, it isn’t all that often that newly promoted teams do this well (although Newcastle are no ordinary case) and they’ll want to keep it that way.

Wigan will see the return of goalkeeper Habsi who has recovered from his illness and Cleverley who is fit again after recovering from his knee problem. The two players will likely make a start and feature largely in Wigan’s game plan.

The bad news for Wigan—who had a healthy win in their last match—is that they are pretty useless when it comes to away games. They have only won one of their last ten away matches and that was in August, not exactly the best record in the world, a draw here would be a more than credible result for both sides.

Wolverhampton vs West Ham

Hunt may be able to finally make his debut for the club following an injury he sustained in February whilst at Hull. Wolves beat the Hammers in their last meeting in London and they’ll be hoping to continue with the precedent they set. On the other hand the home side have lost their last four matches in a row and are winless from six which is not a statistic which bodes well for their chances.

It all boils down to one thing and that is the fact that they aren’t creating the chances, they have had the least shots out of every team in the Premiership so far this season. They’ll have to work up something a little bit special if they are going to win this time.

West Ham have been hit hard with the injury of Hitzlsperger which will keep him out for four months. As far as form is going the Hammers are on something of a good run by their standards, they haven’t lost in their last three matches. Despite this, there is the fact that the Hammers have not won any of their last 21 away matches in the league. This match may very well end up as a stalemate.

Aston Villa vs Chelsea

Emile Heskey will be given a last minute fitness test following his Calf and Shin problems from two weeks ago. Carew is set to start if Heskey doesn’t manage to pass his late check up. Villa have been playing a dirty game this season having conceded more fouls than any other club so far.

Villa fans shouldn’t be holding out much hope of a victory seeing as the only teams who the Villains have happened to beat are all in the bottom four. There is still some hope, after all their home form has been pretty good in recent years and a draw is perfectly possible, to win though they will need to do something really special.

Chelsea will be missing hit man Drogba as he is suffering from a fever while Frank Lampard is still absent due to his groin strain. On a brighter note for Chelsea, John Terry is fit after having missed England’s match with Montenegro.

Chelsea haven’t lost back to back matches since last year and with Man City nipping at their heels they can’t afford to drop any more points. Chelsea have only failed to score in one of their matches so far this season, this match should go their way.