EPL Preview: Man Utd Ready for the Final Push

West Ham vs Man Utd

The 'squeaky bum' time has definitely begun and Sir Alex Ferguson would have to count himself lucky with the international break that turned out to be highly beneficial for his side. Man Utd have been struggling with a number of injuries, and the two-week break has probably given the squad enough time to recover from those.

It is definitely good news for Sir Alex's men, but it is definitely not for Avram Grant, who will have been hoping to take advantage of United's current injury crisis. Also, West Ham have been a good run of form lately, winning recently games against Liverpool and Stoke.

However, the last two matches have not been so good for Grant, with his team failing to live up to the huge expectations caused by the three consecutive victories. Man Utd will be coming to this match with exactly three consecutive victories to their name and should they continue it against West Ham, then they will be the favourites for the title going into the final few rounds.

Frederic Piquionne and Robbie Keane are both available for West Ham, which should come at a vital time for Grant. For Manchester United, Nemanja Vidic is set to return.

Birmingham vs Bolton

The small revival in form that Birmingham managed to bring about in the last few weeks seems to have disappeared totally, as they have fallen into a bad run of form yet again. It has been a month since Birmingham last tasted success, against Arsenal, and if they are going to get out of the relegation zone, then they need to start picking up points fast.

The match against Bolton might not be the best chance to do that, but it represents the final few opportunities that Alex McLeish has in order to rescue his side.

This match is one of the very few ones that Birmingham have at the St Andrews Stadium, which has been giving decent enough returns for the Midlanders. Bolton's impressive run of managing to avoid defeat was finally brought to an end by Man Utd at Old Trafford a fortnight ago.

It remains to be seen if they will recover from this loss, especially given that it is going to be yet another away match to deal with. The injury to Stuart Holden is one of the major problems for Owen Coyle. He will be missing for another six months.

Everton vs Aston Villa

Aston Villa's poor run of form continued against Wolverhampton in the last round, and it only increased the pressure on Gerard Houllier to leave the club. However, the Frenchman is expected to make some significant changes to his Villa side in order to boost their chances of a difficult away victory over Everton.

Everton have been resurgent in the last few weeks, but their away form is one of the main reasons why. The home form remains poor as ever, with only three victories in their last six.

It will be an area where David Moyes will be targeting for improvement and it could finally happen against Aston Villa, who do not have an away victory for over two months now. Even worse news comes for Houllier in the form of the Premier League table, which sees Villa just one point away from the relegation zone.

The prospect of relegation, which did not seem to be a major threat a few weeks ago, now seems to be a distinct possibility for the Midlanders.

Everton's injury situation regarding Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini has not improved, while Richard Dunne will be missing for Villa.

Newcastle vs Wolverhampton

Newcastle's form has really dried up, and so has their ability to defend goals. Even though scoring does not seem to have been a major problem for Alan Pardew's men (despite the departure of Andy Carroll), it is defending that is providing headaches for him at the moment. Newcastle have failed to keep a clean sheet since the 5-0 drubbing of West Ham United in early January.

Since then, they have conceded in every single match, which does not make for good reading if the team is trying to avoid relegation. Newcastle officials said a few days ago that the team is challenging for the European places, but looking at their form, they seem to be heading down the other way.

Wolverhampton, however, boosted their chances of survival with a gutsy win over Villa in their last game, but it does not seem to have made any great changes to their position in the table. They are now in the 18th position, just one point off West Ham.

It could prove to be the motivational factor when they face Newcastle, who do not have the best of home records. Wolverhampton will be definitely missing the services of Kevin Doyle, who was injured on international duty.

Stoke vs Chelsea

Chelsea will be hoping to take advantage Man Utd's tough match against West Ham by gunning for the win over Stoke at their home ground. However, most of the attention will be shifted towards the midweek Champions League quarter-final match against Man Utd, which seems to be of far more importance (given their current league position) for Chelsea.

Even though there are many suggestions that Chelsea are back in the title race, Carlo Ancelotti will be quick to admit the fact that Man Utd are difficult to catch at the moment, despite the fact that the nine-point lead that could shrink to six points if Chelsea win their game in hand.

Stoke come into the match in the best possible run of form that sees them with back-to-back victories. The last match against Newcastle, in which they won by four goals, might be a slight exaggeration in terms of their real ability, but they are a good side nonetheless.

They could be confident of the match, given that there is a possibility that Chelsea could rest a number of stars for the match in view of the quarter-final against Man Utd. Yossi Benayoun could finally feature for Chelsea after a long time on the shelf.

West Brom vs Liverpool

Liverpool have been suffering from alarming inconsistency, which has seen them get all sorts of results in their recent matches. However, Kenny Dalglish will be hoping to repeat their performance against Sunderland, which was impressive, despite winning in controversial fashion.

They will be facing a West Brom side that is lead by ex-Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson.. He will definitely have one or two things to say about his old club, which should provide some interesting mind games prior to the match.

West Brom are undefeated under their new manager, despite the fact that they have just one victory in that time. They will be hoping to continue the undefeated streak against Liverpool in the friendly confines of the Hawthorns.

Liverpool usually struggle away from home, and this could be their cause of undoing against West Brom. Steven Gerrard returned to full training this week, but it remains to be seen if he will be playing any part in the game. Carlos Vela could be rested after international duty for West Brom.

Wigan vs Tottenham

Tottenham are chasing an elusive victory that has evaded them in the last few matches. They are yet to win a game following the incredible win over AC Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League. Wigan, on the other hand, snapped a winless streak in their least match.

They will be extremely confident following this result that keeps them in touching distance with the other relegation strugglers. Even though it might not have improved their position in the table, it would be something that would have definitely had an effect on the team.

Roberto Martinez will be hoping for the same against Tottenham, but he will know that it will be incredibly tough to get a positive result. However they are aided by the absence of Spurs super-winger Gareth Bale.

Bale, however, is not the only injury worry for Tottenham, as they will also be missing the likes of William Gallas and Tom Huddlestone. The international break seems to have affected Wigan more, because 12 players saw action during internationals. It remains to be seen if they will be fresh in order to take part in this one.

Arsenal vs Blackburn

Although Arsenals injury list continues to mount, the return of Cesc Fabregas for the match against Blackburn is a major plus.

It could prove to be the best possible news for Arsene Wenger at the moment, who has been facing trouble after trouble. As a result, they have been eliminated from both the Champions League and the FA Cup, after losing in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham. All Arsenal can focus on at the moment is the Premier League title.

Wenger will be taking no chances against Blackburn however, so Fabregas may start on the bench.  This may not matter, as Blackburn are in a terrible run of form at the moment. January 23rd was the last time Blackburn won a match, which should give Arsenal the confidence to pick up the three points in an attempt to close the gap at the top of the table.

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