English Premier League's Wednesday Matches Previews: Nov. 10, 2010

Wigan vs Liverpool

Wigan’s injury list remains pretty reasonable, with only three players ruled out of contention for a place in the side (Boyce, McCarthy and Pollit). On the other hand, Gohouri will be absent due to a ban, although this is unlikely to have any majorly detrimental effects on the team. Wigan have the worst record going forward in the top flight and have only scored a measly 8 goals.

Wigan have been on terrible form, they have only won one match from the last eight and that was against Wolves, who are themselves on a poor run of form. Liverpool have only won once away this season, but there's little hope of Wigan picking up a few points from this game.

Liverpool’s form has started to pick up, finally. They have broken into the top 10 and with the return of Torres they actually look like a side which could possibly win a few matches. Liverpool have not scored a goal which has not been assisted or scored by Torres or Gerrard since the start of the season, which is something of an embarrassment to the rest of the midfield section. After beating Chelsea this shouldn’t be too much of a difficult game for the away side.

Wolverhampton vs Arsenal

Mick McCarthy has no new injury worries so his side won’t be without anymore players than he was last week, which is more than can be said for Arsenal. Wolves have lost six of their last eight matches, their only win coming against Manchester City.

They are the only team in the Premiership not to have kept a clean sheet so far this season and despite Arsenal being a little shaky in their last few matches they may have some serious problems when Arsenal break through the back four. It’s been 31 years since Wolves beat Arsenal, not a record which will be easily broken.

Arsenal will be without Koscielny for two matches after he picked up a two match ban for his sending off against Newcastle. Denilson may be returning to the side although his fitness is doubtful. The Gunners have been pretty impressive going forward, having managed 100 shots on target already this season, with this sort of play they should decimate the Wolves defence assuming they don’t make the same mistakes which have lost them their last two matches. By all standards this Arsenal side should win, on the other hand their injury crisis may cause them a few problems.

Everton vs Bolton

Moyes is expected to pick the same side which drew 2-2 against Blackpool on the weekend, assuming that Fellaini does not make the surprise return form injury that some people have predicted. Rodwell is likely to sit on the bench again as he is supposedly not quite fit to make a first team start as of yet. Historically speaking, this match has gone in Everton’s favour for the last few meetings at Goodison Park. Everton have won the last four of these matches without even conceding a goal. The Toffees have only lost three of their last 22 Premiership matches and with their performances starting to pick up they have a very good chance of ending this match favourably.

Petrov is pushing for a first team start after coming off the bench to score against Tottenham on the weekend. Bolton have not kept a clean sheet since opening day when they actually managed to prevent Fulham from scoring. Bolton looked spectacular against Tottenham and the fact is if they play like that, then they have every chance of getting a win out of this match as well. But, the most likely favourable outcome for the away side is going to be a draw.

Man City vs Man Utd

The Manchester derby is always interesting, even more so in the last few years seeing as it is actually a competition, not just a walk in the park for United. City will be without Balotelli after he has his appeal against his 3 match ban denied. City may have some problems when it comes to selecting strikers, with Adebayor out injured too. City have won five of their last seven matches and a win here would leave them level on points with their local rivals. If they lose here it will be the first time in two years that they have suffered back to back defeats at home, although it is perfectly possible that they may have to accept the loss.

United have been rather unfortunate when it comes to injuries so far this season: with a total of 9 players ruled out or doubtful they are struggling to find players to fill in the spaces. United are the only unbeaten team in the country and that is in all competitions. Despite being the away side, United have a great opportunity to pick up all three points here even if they are facing some stiff competition from Manchester City.

Newcastle vs Blackburn

Hutton will probably play the same team which beat Arsenal at the weekend. The win may have been more to do with Arsenal’s poor performance as opposed to Newcastle’s brilliant one, but if the side is winning it doesn’t really matter what the circumstances are.

Leon Best has returned to training, but the match is likely to come just a little too soon for the striker to be available for selection. The "Magpies" have won their last 3 matches, (they haven’t managed four wins in a row in the top flight since 2006). Nolan has scored 7 goals from 11 attempts which is the best record in the league and with Blackburn not coping well under pressure then he could make it 8 from 12.

Blackburn have picked up just one point from their last four matches and they don’t look likely to pick up any from this match if they carry on playing the way that they have been. Rovers start well, but they can’t seem to convert their good starts into wins, they have not been down at half time all season. The only way that they are going to get anywhere in this match is if they can manage to play the second half like they usually play the first.

West Ham vs West Brom

The Hammers will be without Noble, despite the player having returned to training after the removal of his appendix. Collinson and Hitzlsperger are also still on the long term injury list leaving West Ham with some major concerns about who to play in midfield. West Ham are sitting rather sullenly in the bottom place in the league, the Hammers have dodged relegation a few times in recent seasons although it looks more likely that they wont quite scrape through this year, after seeing their performances so far. West Ham haven’t won a match in their last five outings, the only good news is that West Brom are on pretty poor form at the moment as well.

West Brom have dropped to 10th after back to back defeats, the "Baggies" were previously in 4th, whilst most fans will have accepted that their side was over achieving it will be disappointing to have dropped so far so quickly. Mulumbu will face a one match ban, other than that the Baggies should have no new selection worries. Since their opening day defeat West Brom have looked pretty good away from home, so it is likely that they should take some points from this match even if they don’t quite manage to win.

Aston Villa vs Blackpool

The Villains injury crisis has got a little bit worse with the news that Sidwell has been sidelined till Christmas. Their injury list has racked up such a high total that 7 key players are all unavailable for selection through various ailments. They have lost 10 points from winning positions, which is the joint worst total in the league. The home side have not won a match in their last 5 games. With only 10 goals so far this season Villa’s attack has been pretty poor and whilst their injury list may be cause to deflect some of the blame, something has to change if the side are going to avoid landing themselves in serious trouble towards the end of the season.

Blackpool are coming off the back of a respectable draw against Everton last weekend, the freshly promoted side look more than likely to maintain their place in the Premiership with the way they have been playing and shockingly they do have a pretty good chance of winning this match. At worst they should expect to come away with a draw.

Chelsea vs Fulham

Carlo Ancelotti will be hopeful that he will see the return of Essien after it seems he has recovered from his toe injury. Anelka however is doubtful, as is the fitness of Alex, who seems unlikely to be fit before next week. Drogba should start despite having recently recovered from malaria - it will be interesting to see whether the Chelsea hit man is up to his usual standard or if he is still feeling some of the effects of the disease.

By all rights this should be Chelsea’s match without too much difficulty, in fact they should walk this with the way that Fulham have been playing. Chelsea have not lost a match where they have opened the scoring this season, and with Fulham’s defence looking a bit twitchy they have a good chance of doing just that.

Fulham have failed to win any of their last 23 away matches with their last win coming over a weak Portsmouth side which was hardly an achievement. And the side has only won four of their last 22 matches, this is a team which simply doesn’t look up to the challenge of facing Chelsea so if Fulham manage a win it will be some sort of miracle.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores