EPL Preview: Chelsea Set to Oust Arsenal's Run
After a quite a miserable start to the season, Arsenal slowly seems to be inching their way up the table. Arsenal are just six points off a Champions League spot, which seems rather incredible given that Champions League qualification looked extremely difficult after the first few games of the season.
Still, Arsenal have not met any quality opposition – at least on paper – since last tasting defeat at the hands of Tottenham. The match will be refereed by Andre Marriner, who has dished out a total of nine yellow cards in his last two matches.
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It will be of some importance in the match given the refereeing controversies that Chelsea has been suffering this season, according to Andre Villas-Boas. Even with only nine men on the pitch, Chelsea easily looked the best team against QPR.
Villas-Boas will be keen to maintain the same spirit within his side. Fernando Torres will be returning to the starting lineup, and the way he uses his pace against the slow Mertesacker will be an interesting duel. Didier Drogba and José Bosingwa are suspended for the match. Arsenal's 3-1 win last season brought an end to their miserable run against Chelsea, and Wenger will be hoping for a repeat this time around as well.
Manchester United head into the match against Everton knowing that they have won just two of their last five Premier League matches. United do need to get a positive result against Everton in order to stay in touch with Man City, who are up against Wolves at home.
Everton's form table may give the impression that the team is struggling now, but performances in each of their recent defeats would tell a different story. Everton has managed to prevent Man United from winning at Goodison Park on the past three occasions, and they will certainly pose a tough challenge for the champions this time around as well.
A victory is very much the need of the hour for Manchester United, as it would help them go a small way into erasing the memories of the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Man City last weekend. Louis Saha scored in the midweek match against Chelsea, and he will be keen to take advantage of any slopping defending from United.
It remains to be seen if Nemanja Vidic will be recalled or not. The Serbian has been missed in United's central defence, and Rio Ferdinand also has been struggling big time since his return from injury.
After the crushing win over Manchester United last weekend, Man City will be looking to extend the significant advantage that they have over United by winning against Wolverhampton. City managed to beat Wolves in the League Cup by comfortable margin, despite fielding an under strength side.
The outlook does look extremely bleak for Wolves, although they managed to arrest their Premier League slide by drawing against Swansea last weekend. It has been over two months since Wolves last tasted success in the Premier League, and odds certainly do not seem to be in their favour this weekend as well.
After being heavily criticised for the lack of ambition last season, City have unleashed their attacking power for the joy of spectators. The side seems to be on another level when it comes to both attacking and defending. The form shown by Mario Balotelli is also a huge bonus for Roberto Mancini.
However, in their effort to score more goals, Man City do seem to have started becoming lenient at the back, a fact demonstrated by the lack of clean sheets in their last four outings. The only saving grace for Wolverhampton in this encounter has to be the midweek Champions League match for City, although given their squad strength it is unlikely to count for a lot.
Norwich have been quite good in their last few Premier League matches, which was aptly rewarded with the draw against Liverpool, although they were outplayed for most of the match. Norwich have suffered only one defeat, which was against Manchester United, in their last five outings, and they certainly head into the match against Blackburn as the more confident team.
Blackburn manager Steve Kean will undoubtedly be the centre of attraction, although his side did perform well against Newcastle in the midweek League Cup action.
It has been in the Premier League they have been struggling the most – a fact demonstrated by the single win over Arsenal this season. Playing away from home has also not been the strength of Blackburn in recent seasons and this could just play into the hands of Norwich, who have moved into the top half of the table.
Still, Paul Lambert will be aware of slipping into the relegation zone even after enjoying such lofty positions early on in the season. For Blackburn Rovers, it is all about getting as many points as possible in the upcoming five fixtures, in which they face teams in and around them.
Jann - Footybay.Com
