Premier League action resumes this evening, after a break last weekend owing to the FA Cup weekend. Obviously, the marquee fixture of this particular gameweek will take place on Sunday, when Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester United at Wembley.
But there are also some hugely important Premier League matches lined up on Saturday, with significance at both ends of the table.
A West Ham side full of confidence host the Gunners at the London Stadium. Unai Emery’s men have been given a big boost with the return of Hector Bellerin from injury. Shkodran Mustafi, Nacho Monreal and Mesut Ozil are also available for Arsenal. The focus will be on West Ham’s Austrian star Marko Arnautovic, who has made it clear that his future lies in the Chinese Super League.
3:00 pm – Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s men need to set the record straight, after two straight defeats. Their FA Cup exit to Wolves on Monday followed their first league loss of the season to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Klopp will miss three first-team centre-backs, with Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren both ruled out, while Joel Matip has just returned to training. Fabinho is expected to start alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool rearguard, in what will be Sadio Mane’s 100th appearance for the club.
3:00 pm – Burnley v Fulham
3:00 pm – Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town
In another HUGE match at the bottom of the table, rock-bottom Huddersfield visit the Cardiff City Stadium, hoping to finally get some more points on the board in their bid for survival. Cardiff are only two points and a place above the relegation zone, and this has the words “six-pointer” written all over it.
3:00 pm – Crystal Palace v Watford
Watford are scoring freely. They are conceding even more freely. Palace are in a very encouraging run of form, having beaten Manchester City, Leicester and Wolves in the recent past. Javi Gracia has reason to be a worried man, with his side not producing the consistent robust football that we’ve seen through the course of the season.
3:00 pm – Leicester City v Southampton
Leicester need to respond, following the FA Cup embarrassment by lowly Newport. Southampton are 18th, so they need points. Leicester welcome back their star striker, with Jamie Vardy back in the squad. Southampton have a task on their hand to find a striker, with Danny Ings and Michael Obafemi suspended, to add to Charlie Austin’s suspension.
5:30 pm – Chelsea v Newcastle United
Chelsea have been on a run of indifferent form, ever since beating Manchester City at Stamford Bridge last month. They have the ideal opportunity to rack up another Premier League win, as Rafa Benitez struggles to find a combination. Yoshinori Muto is away with Japan at the Asian Cup, Kenedy is ineligible against his parent club, and there are some other niggling injuries as well.
