20/10/2012 Barclays Premier League preview

No matches took place the previous week due to the international break, in which a dominant England defeated a pitiful San Marino 5-0 in a World Cup Qualifier after two goals each from Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck and a first England goal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. This leaves England top of their World Cup qualifying group with seven points from three games, and their next fixture is a tough away game against Poland.

              

 Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea  

The early kick-off this week is a London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at White Hart Lane. Tottenham will be looking to continue their current run of form that has seen them rise up the table into fifth position after victories against Aston Villa and Manchester United. It seems as if Andre Villas-Boas is now settling in at Tottenham after a shaky start, and his celebration after the victory against Manchester United showed just how much this run of form meant to him.

However, if they were looking for the ideal team to come up against next to continue their run of form, that team would not be Chelsea. Top of the league and flying, Chelsea football club are looking dominant this campaign, with the best goal difference in the league, showing that not only do they have a high-scoring formidable attack, they also have strength and depth at the back. New signing Eden Hazard has fallen straight into this Chelsea side that are playing arguably some of the best football in the league, scoring well created, team crafted goals. Chelsea will be looking for all three points come the weekend in order to continue their unbeaten start to this Premier League season and perhaps even extend a points lead, which is very important at this stage in the season.

Prediction: Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea

           

  

              Fulham vs Aston Villa       

Fulham are sitting comfortably in mid-table at the moment after a draw with Southampton and a loss to Manchester City. However form picked up after a win against Wigan Athletic and a comprehensive 3-0 win against West Brom, which leaves them in ninth place.

Aston Villa aren't off to the best of starts as they hover above the drop zone, and even though it has only been seven games, the warning signs may still be there. After 2 losses and a draw leading up to this game, Villa be hoping that they are good enough to get three points, and get themselves away from danger. A loss could see them slip into the bottom three if there are wins for newly promoted sides Reading (who play Liverpool) and Southampton (who play West Ham).

Prediction: Fulham 2-0 Aston Villa

              

 Liverpool vs Reading   

Liverpool have started regaining their form again with 2 successive wins against Norwich and West Brom after a poor run of form that sees them in the bottom half of the table lying in 14th place. Liverpool will be hoping to continue with their winning streak going into next week's Merseyside Derby with high-flying Everton.

3rd from the bottom Reading are going down a slippery slope with only 2 points from their last 3 games, along with being eliminated from the Capital One Cup by QPR. However, with a game in hand they will hope they can start a push up the table towards a more comfortable position, starting with their game against Liverpool.

Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Reading

Manchester United vs Stoke City  

2nd in the league Manchester United are looking for their elusive 20th Premier League championship and after the signings of Shinji Kagawa and Robin Van Persie many pundits were tipping Man Utd for glory this season, but after 7 games they find themselves 4 points behind leaders and next opponents Chelsea who are playing some of the best football seen over the past few seasons. 

Stoke have been coming through the most difficult patch of games they will have all season. Playing Manchester City, Chelsea, Swansea and Liverpool in the past 4 games seems difficult enough, but then an away trip to Manchester United trip to cap it off. From those past 4 games, Stoke managed to pick up a respectable four points. Sitting in 12th place in the league, Stoke City will be hoping that their upcoming games against Sunderland, Norwich and QPR will see them move up the table.

Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Stoke City

Swansea City vs Wigan Athletic

After a superb start to the season, Swansea's momentum has started to slow, after only picking up one point in their last three games. Unfortunately for Swansea City it doesn't look like results will be getting any better in the coming games, as their next three games are against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Swansea will be hoping that 3 points over Wigan can give them a boost going to into their game against champions Manchester City. 

5 points from 7 games is not the ideal start for Roberto Martinez and his side, but after a good performance in their draw against Everton, Martinez will be hoping Wigan can kick start their season properly against Swansea, Wigan and Tottenham in their coming games. New signing Arouna Koné has been putting in a series of good performances since signing for Wigan, adding a goal and an assist last week at Everton.

Prediction: Swansea City 2-1 Wigan

West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester City

6th place West Brom are off to a flying start to the season after picking up 14 points from 7 games. Steve Clarke will be extremely happy with the football his side are playing, and will be hoping that they can carry on this momentum into the weekend's clash with champions Manchester City. Clarke will be hoping for a strong performance from West Brom, but he must be thinking that 3 Points could see them rise as high as 2nd place dependant on results.

Last year's winners Manchester City are still undefeated so far in this year's campaign, despite sitting in 3rd place on joint points with second place rivals Manchester United. Roberto Mancini and his side will be hoping that they can add on their recent performances and will be wanting to add another win to their collection after victories against Sunderland and Fulham in recent games. Their upcoming games against Swansea and West Ham could be the opportunity that City need to string together a series of wins that could see them catch Chelsea at the summit of the Premier League.

Prediction: West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Manchester City

West Ham United vs Southampton

West Ham are off to a very comfortable start to the Premier League season with 11 points from 7 games. The Hammers will be hoping that they can re-find their previous form in preparation for their game against Southampton after a 3-1 loss to Arsenal last match. New signing Andy Carroll seems to have slotted straight into the West Ham side and will be hoping he can start scoring some goals.

17th place Southampton had one of the hardest starts to a new Premier League season ever, playing Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal in their first five games. However recent results including a win against Aston Villa and a draw with Fulham are starting to show some hope. In their upcoming fixtures against West Ham, Tottenham and West Brom, Nigel Adkins and his side will be hoping to pick up some points to get them away from the bottom three. 

Prediction: West Ham United 1-1 Southampton

Norwich City vs Arsenal

After a series of three losses, two of them quite significant, Norwich and Chris Hughton will be hoping that they can get a win this weekend against tough opposition Arsenal. Conceding ten goals in their last three Premier League games, Norwich City's defence has taken it's fair share of abuse in the past few weeks and it will be an aspect of their game that Chris Hughton will be looking to drastically improve and quickly in order to not open the floodgates against a very attacking Arsenal side.

Arsenal currently sit in 7th place in the Premier League with twelve points from seven games which will be pleasing to manager Arsene Wenger as Arsenal have just come through a tough run of games including matches against Manchester City and Chelsea. Wenger will be hoping for nine points from Arsenal's next three games against the League's bottom three, Norwich, QPR and Reading. New signings Olivier Giroud, Santiago Carzola and Lukas Podolski are slotting into the first team well, all contributing goals to this new look, more experienced Arsenal side.

Prediction: Norwich City 0-3 Arsenal

01/09/12 Premier League week-end round-up

West Ham 3 – 0 Fulham:

The early kick off in saturday's matches was a good chance for West Ham's new loan signing Andy Carroll to display his talents to the home ground, and he did just that, tearing up Fulham's defence and set the Hammers on the way after just 53 seconds when his knock down header allowed Ricardo Vaz Te to tee up Kevin Nolan to slot home with his left foot. Then in then 29^th minute the Irons doubled their lead after defender Winston Reid powered in a header when he found himself free from a corner. West Ham virtually sealed the win in the 41^st minute after Matthew Taylor finished from outside the box into the bottom corner. Carroll left the Upton Park pitch after 68 minutes after concerns over a hamstring injury, but he most certainly played a huge part the West Ham victory that was secured after a rampant first half display.

Swansea 2-2 Sunderland

Sunderland's new £14 million signing Steven Fletcher scored twice on his Sunderland debut to draw Swansea's 100% start to the season to a close. 

Fletcher's first came after Ashley Williams's horrific backpass was miscued and left Fletcher one on one with Vorm, and the Scotsman cooly slotted home. Swansea's response was almost instant when Wayne Routledge fired home from 10 yards out. However the resiliant Sunderland side struck back with Fletcher's second goal of the afternoon, a tap in at the far post just before half time. Sunderland were denied the win however after Michu secured a point for the home side who survived the last 20 minutes with 10 men after Jose Manuel Flores was sent off.

Tottenham 1-1 Norwich

Norwich managed to snatch a point late on at White Hart Lane against 10 man Tottenham, resigning them to their worst start to a Premier League season for four years.

Deadline day signing Moussa Dembele had put Spurs in front with a goal on his debut, but with time running out Robert Snodgrass managed to find a pocket of space and let fly with a low left-footed shot that beat the Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel all ends up. Boos echoed around the Lane at the final whistle, leaving Andre Villas-Boas still without a competitive win as Tottenham manager.

West Brom 2-0 Everton

Unbeaten West Bromwich Albion recorded their best start ever to a Premier League season at the cost of Everton's unbeaten streak at The Hawthorns. 

Baggies Irish striker Shane Long tucked in the close-range opener from substitute Peter Odemwingie's low left-wing cross. Defender Gareth McAuley powerful header tied up West Brom's victory as Everton lost for the first time in 12 top flight games. Everton's best chance fell to in form Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini, but he slashed the opportunity wide.

Wigan 2-2 Stoke

Stoke and England striker Peter Crouch managed to rescue Stoke a point at the DW stadium after Franco Di Santo looked to have secured a victory for the home side Wigan. 

Di Santo's fifth goal in eight games had put the Latics 2-1 up in the 49^th minute before Crouch powered home Jon Walters' cross. Stoke's new signing Charlie Adam, who joined on deadline day in a £4m deal from Liverpool, was denied a heroic winner by Ali Al Habsi's stunning save late on.

Man City 3-1 QPR

The day's late kick off saw two big summer spending clubs clash, QPR signing 12 new players through the summer, and the champions Manchester City who made 5 signings on deadline day. 

City managed to maintain their unbeaten start to the new season against QPR at The Etihad. The Premier League champions were watched by Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho ahead of their meetings in the champions league. Yaya Toure gave City the lead in the 16^th minute in a first half that they totally dominated. QPR managed to stun the City crowd after grabbing an equaliser through Bobby Zamora 59 minutes into the game. Just 2 minutes later however City were back in front through Edin Dzeko before Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez secured the win in stoppage time to calm the home crowd's nerves.

This is the Premier League table as it currently stands, with 3 games being played on Sunday.

 Chelsea remain the only team to take full points from their 3 games, but Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City still also remain unbeaten. Everton slip down to 5th after their loss and West Ham are among the teams rising in the league after their comfortable win at Fulham. QPR remain near the bottom with only Aston Villa below them who play Newcastle United tomorrow.

Ten Transfer Targets

Its that time of year again, the transfer window officially opens tomorrow and with Euro 2012 drawing to a close the transfer market is set to take centre stage. Here is a quick run down of who we think will be making headlines for potential moves this summer.

NAME: Hulk (FC Porto)

Information: The quick, powerful and tricky Brazilian right winger Hulk has attracted attention from a number of clubs this transfer window and it is not difficult to see why. Hulk has attracted the attention of many prestigious teams after 21 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions for his club side FC Porto this year, and Hulk could be tempted by the offers he is receiving from clubs with more prestige amongst Europe than Porto.

Position: Right Wing but has been known to drift inwards.

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City.

NAME: Leighton Baines (Everton)

Information: Baines has become one of the cornerstone's of Everton football club from his position of left back and is now attracting the attention of numerous big name clubs. After signing for Everton from Wigan in 2007, Baines has become of of England and the Premier League's most distinguished left backs. Many have been calling for him to replace Ashley Cole in the England national side and these calls are fast becoming hard to ignore. His pace, passing and dead ball skill has made him one of the most talked about players in this transfer window.

Position: Left Back

Clubs interested: Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Napoli.

NAME: Robin Van Persie (Arsenal)

Information: Club captain, goal scorer, talisman. These words are all used to describe Robin Van Persie, Arsenal's premier striker. With 37 goals in 48 games in all competitions Robin Van Persie has solidified himself as the English Premier League's best striker and has thus attracted a plethora of interested parties all battling for his services. With Arsenal's recent signings of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, could this spell the end for Van Persie at Arsenal, or could this be Arsene Wenger's desperate ploy for his talisman to stay?

Position: Striker

Clubs interested: Manchester City, Juventus and Real Madrid.

NAME: Fernando Torres (Chelsea)

Information: Often dubbed the “£50 million flop”, Fernando Torres has struggled to justify his price tag whilst at Chelsea, and many now believe that it is time for Chelsea to cut their losses and show him the door after a poor 11 goals in 49 appearances this year . But with the recent departure of Didier Drogba, many other now think that this could be Torres's chance to become Chelsea's main goal-getter, and prove that he was worth the substantial sum paid for him.

Postion: Striker

Clubs interested: Juventus, Athletico Madrid, Fc Anzhi Makhachkala and AS Roma

NAME: Clint Dempsey (Fulham) 

Information: The 29 year old American Clint Dempsey has caught the eye of a number of clubs after the 2011/2012 Premier League season, scoring an impressive 23 goals in 43 appearances for his club side Fulham, and was even voted the Fulham 'Player of the Season' by fans for the second straight season, edging out the likes of Moussa Dembele and Brede Hangelend. All of this has attracted attention from other Premier League sides as well as teams abroad. Dempsey could be tempted with the promise of Champions League football, something that his current side Fulham cannot offer him.

Position: Winger/ Attacking Midfielder/ Forward

Clubs interested: Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and AS Roma.

NAME: Luka Modric (Tottenham) 

Information: The Croatian playmaker has established himself as one of the most potent creative midfielders in the premier league, he was the driving force behind Tottenham’s early season form where for a time they threatened to mount a serious title challenge. The diminutive midfielder possesses superb vision and exceptionally quick feet, he is also blessed with a very powerful shot and is capable of scoring some outstanding goals from outside the penalty area. However with Tottenham’s season stuttering to a halt and missing out on champion’s league qualification, Modric will be looking for the exit door with rumours of a potential transfer request pointing to a swift exit from White Hart Lane

Position: Centre midfield but is able to play out wide on the left.

Clubs interested: Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid

NAME: Joao Mountinho (Porto) 

Information: The Portuguese midfielder impressed in Euro 2012 as Portugal went on a fine run into the semi-finals. With a good range of passing he excelled as Portugal’s main playmaker ahead of the less technical due of Veloso and Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles. He played a key role as part of Porto’s treble under Andre Villas Boas and a potential link up at Tottenham could be appealing, especially as the Premier League is a more prestigious league for Moutinho to showcase his talents.

Position: Central Midfield

Clubs interested: Chelsea had shown and interest but Tottenham may step up interest if AVB becomes manager.

NAME: Victor Moses (Wigan) 

Information: A tricksy winger who is well known for his dribbling skills and according to OptaSports he made the most dribbles in the Premier League last season. Wigan will be desperate not to let go of their prize asset after losing Charles N’Zogbia to Aston Villa last season. Moses does not lack confidence but can be wasteful in front of goal however at his best he can be scintillating as Arsenal found late last season. Moses may look to a bigger club to further his career in the near future and so a move may be on the cards.

Position: Left Winger

Clubs interested: Chelsea, Liverpool

NAME: Jan Vertonghen (Ajax) 

Information: A versatile defender who impressed as Ajax won the Eredivisie. Vertonghen has a real eye for goal and scored many for Ajax in their title winning campaign. He may be another off the Ajax production line who leave the Netherlands for a bigger challenge with many clubs vying for his signature. A move to Tottenham had seemed a certainty however a clause in his contract at Ajax may be a stumbling block for a potential move.

Position: Can play at centre back, left back or be deployed in a holding midfield role.

Clubs interested: Tottenham, Arsenal

NAME: Grant Holt (Norwich City) 

Information: A powerful striker who impressed for Norwich as they returned to the Premier league, he scored 17 goals for the canaries and was unlucky not to make it into Roy Hodgson’s England squad for Euro 2012. He has played for many English clubs in the lower leagues and has finished Norwich’s top scorer for three seasons running. He is usually deployed as a central striker with superb aerial presence who makes life difficult for opposition centre halves. His age (31) may be a factor in any move but going on last season’s performance Holt is more than capable of scoring goals in England’s top flight.

Position: Striker

Clubs interested: Aston Villa