English Premier League's Sunday Matches Previews: Oct. 24, 2010

Stoke vs. Manchester United

Fuller will probably be sitting on the bench despite barely being considered fit. Stoke have had a reasonably decent start to the season (by their standards) and not too many people at the club will be complaining about sitting in 12th with a game in hand. The only downside is that they are playing host to Manchester United with that game in hand.

Whitehead will be serving his one match ban after he collected his fifth booking of the season last weekend. The "Potters" lost all of their matches against the big four last season and with the side that they have now they aren’t likely to avoid a loss this weekend either.

Man United have not had an inconspicuous week, the Rooney drama seems to have come to a conclusion, but that is by no means the end to their troubles. A win here would put them back level on points with Manchester City in the second spot, but a loss, leaving them in the sixth place, would be a terrible place to be at this point in the season.

They have dropped six points from winning positions so far this season, it seems that their real problem is the back four and actually holding onto the lead so Stoke could cause some problems for them if they aren’t careful.


Liverpool vs. Blackburn

Johnson and Agger could both be available and are likely to step in to bolster the "Reds" back four, which is more than needed, the club have conceded nine goals in their last four Premiership matches, which is an alarmingly high rate for a side which is supposed to be representing one of England’s biggest clubs.

The club are in turmoil, they should not be this low in the table this far into the season, anything short of a win will simply not be enough and whilst their has been some good news in the fact that the clubs financial troubles may be over it will not sit well if the club gets caught up in a relegation battle.

Blackburn are not in a much better position that Liverpool, granted not quite as much is expected of the away side, but they will want to do a little better and avoid another dogfight near the bottom half of the table.

They are also having defensive problems and their goalless draw with Sunderland was their first clean sheet in nine competitive matches. Blackburn have only beaten Liverpool once in their last 23 meetings, but, then again this is probably their best chance in a long time.


Manchester City vs. Arsenal

Balotelli is back to fitness and he may start although it is more likely that he will be warming the bench. Toure will be given a late fitness test before the match and he may face his old team. City are on good form when it comes to scoring, it’s a shame the same thing can’t be said about their defence.

They are winning matches, but sloppy mistakes at the back could cost them dearly if they keep it up. Usually, this match doesn’t go City’s way, in fact they have lost the last seven successive matches hosting Arsenal. City are the only side to not have scored a header in the Premiership so far this season, which is interesting considering their service into the box has been pretty good so far.

The "Gunners" have not kept a clean sheet in their last 15 away matches; this is not great when you’re facing one of the most intimidating strikers in the Premiership. Their away form has been pretty shoddy overall they’ve only managed to win one of their last eight away matches. The way Arsenal have been playing then they are going to struggle to win this match or even manage to get a draw.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores and live sports