CRYSTAL PALACE V LIVERPOOL
Klopp's men exacted the perfect revenge against City following their Capital One Cup woe on Sunday against their Mancunian rivals. The win takes them up to 8th on the table and ensured the reds enjoy back to back wins for the first time in a while. Having lost the reverse fixture at Anfield earlier in the season, Klopp would want to avoid another blip at Selhurst Park. The European aspirations of the Reds is firmly back on track. Unfortunately for Pardew and his wards, the team is far from the form and confidence that saw them triumph 2-1 at Anfield. Palace are 14th on the table and winless in over 6 games and were lucky to avoid a defeat against Sunderland on Tuesday. It would be interesting to see whether they can turn a corner in this one. But how many times have we really said this about palace? the good news though is that they have Yannick Bolasie back again from injury and would surely add the much needed pace and invention in attack they have lacked since he left.
Connor Wickham and Wayne Hennessey will undergo late fitness tests before Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew selects his team to face Liverpool on Sunday.
Striker Wickham is suffering with a thigh injury, while goalkeeper Hennessey could be replaced by Julian Speroni if he is not passed fit.
Pape Souare will start after returning from suspension, with Martin Kelly expected to be dropped, leaving only James McArthur and Jason Puncheon - expected to return to training on Monday - as Pardew's other absentees.
Liverpool's Lucas Leiva has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a thigh strain. Striker Daniel Sturridge will return to the starting line-up with Philippe Coutinho also expected back after both were rested for the midweek win over Manchester City.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has to decide whether to stick with the same defence - with right-back Nathaniel Clyne switched to the left to allow Jon Flanagan to play - or restore genuine left-sided player Alberto Moreno despite a poor display at Wembley last weekend.
Crystal Palace squad: Adebayor, Bolasie, Cabaye, Campbell, Chamakh, Dann, Delaney, Gayle, Hangeland, Hennessey, Jedinak, Kelly, Ledley, Lee, Mariappa, McCarthy, Mutch, Sako, Souare, Speroni, Ward, Wickham, Zaha.
Liverpool squad: Mignolet, Flanagan, Toure, Lovren, Clyne, Milner, Henderson, Can, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge, Ward, Skrtel, Moreno, Allen, Ibe, Firmino, Origi, Benteke.
EVERTON V WEST HAM
An intriguing match up for the neutrals. West ham did the unthinkable with an upsetting win over Spurs in midweek . Considering the form of Spurs in recent weeks where they have been blowing teams away, West ham's win over their bitter rivals should be considered no mean feat.firmly rooted in 6th place on the table , the Hammers have their sights on continental qualification and would also face a tricky tie against Everton in Merseyside.
Everton have won three out of their last 6 games and would be keen to avoid another home defeat after they lost in Match week 26 to West brom. If stats are anything to go by though, Everton should be buoyed by the fact that they have not lost against West ham in 18 games in all competitions and would want to keep it that way.
Leighton Baines is to see a specialist about pain in his ankle but is still expected to be available for Everton's Premier League home clash with West Ham on Saturday.
Bryan Oviedo is being assessed after sustaining a knock in Tuesday's 3-1 win at Aston Villa, along with Tom Cleverley, who missed that match due to illness.
Muhamed Besic and Darron Gibson could make their returns to action against the Hammers.
West Ham defender James Collins is set to miss the next three matches with a hamstring problem. He underwent a scan on the injury sustained in the 1-0 victory over Tottenham on Wednesday and while the results have yet to be confirmed, he is unlikely to appear again until after the next international break.
Apart from Collins, all the players present in the squad for Spurs will be travelling to Goodison with Victor Moses, Winston Reid (hamstring), Joey O'Brien (hamstring), James Tomkins (calf), Enner Valencia (ankle) and Sam Bryam (suspended) still out.
Everton squad: Robles, Howard, Jagielka, Funes Mori, Stones, Coleman, Baines, Barry, McCarthy, Barkley, Cleverley, Besic, Lennon, Mirallas, Deulofeu, Kone, Lukaku, Niasse.
West Ham squad: Adrian, Randolph, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Oxford, Henry, Noble, Kouyate, Song, Obiang, Moses, Lanzini, Payet, Antonio, Carroll, Emenike, Sakho, Parfitt-Williams.
SOUTHAMPTON V SUNDERLAND
Suddenly the wind is taken out of the sails of the saints who had been flying before their recent defeats to Chelsea and the painful derby defeat to Bournemouth in mid week. in a period that saw them go unbeaten in 6 games keeping clean sheets in the process , Ronald Koeman's men must have felt some sort of invincibility. Back to back defeats though have not done any justice to team confidence
Southampton will be without strikers Charlie Austin and Shane Long for Saturday's Premier League clash and would be short of attacking options. St MARY'S however provides a testing atmosphere for visiting teams and the fans would raise their voices again to boost their team. The defeats have seen them drop to 9th on the log and another unpleasant result could see them drop even further.
for Sunderland, its the same old story of survival and Big Sam would want a similar performance like the one they had against Crystal Palace which they threw away in the dying minutes..
Both suffered injuries during Tuesday's defeat to Bournemouth and Austin (hamstring) has been ruled out for up to four weeks while Long (knee) is also absent for Sunderland's visit, although he is expected to be available to face Stoke next weekend.
Saints manager Ronald Koeman is still without injured duo Jay Rodriguez (ankle) and Florin Gardos (knee).
John O'Shea is expected to be fit for Sunderland after the 34-year-old limped off during the first half of Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace complaining of a tight calf muscle. Scans have shown the damage is not as bad as was first feared and he should make the squad.
However, Lee Cattermole, who was left with concussion and stitches after a clash of heads with Palace's Jordon Mutch, will not, and nor will fellow midfielder Jeremain Lens as he continues his recovery from hernia surgery, while striker Duncan Watmore will be sidelined for some time by an ankle ligament problem.
Southampton squad: Forster, Stekelenburg, Gazzaniga, K Davis, Martina, Van Dijk, Fonte, Yoshida, Soares, Bertrand, Clasie, Targett, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, S Davis, Tadic, Mane, Juanmi.
Sunderland squad: Mannone, Pickford, Van Aanholt, Yedlin, O'Shea, Jones, Kone, Kaboul, Brown, Kirchhoff, M'Vila, Khazri, Borini, Rodwell, Toivonen, Larsson, Defoe, N'Doye
MAN CITY V ASTON VILLA
The question on every one's lips remains; what happened to City? the coach, players and fans are still reeling from the footballing lesson received at the hands of Liverpool in mid week. it is inconsistent performances like the one on Wednesday that have seen City drop from title favourites to European hopefuls. Manuel Pellegrini seems to have bigger priorities in the Champions league. But its hard to see City with any realistic chances on the continent with the likes of Barca, Bayern , Juve and Psg still around. United are level with their Mancunian rivals on points with an inferior goals difference . This was unthinkable few weeks ago.
They however entertain the weakest and bottom team in the league and are expected to waltz through this one. The reverse fixture in this tie had ended agonizingly goalless . Whether City would heap more misery on Villa in this one remains to be seen however particularly when we remember that both teams ahve lost three games in a row.
Yaya Toure is set to return for Manchester City's Premier League clash with bottom side Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Ivory Coast midfielder missed the midweek defeat at Liverpool with a foot injury sustained in the Capital One Cup final last Sunday.
City have no fresh injury concerns, leaving just long-term absentees Kevin De Bruyne, Samir Nasri and Fabian Delph on the sidelines.
Carlos Sanchez (hamstring), Jack Grealish (ankle), Libor Kozak (ankle), Adama Traore (foot) and Jordan Amavi (knee) are all sidelined for Villa.
Rudy Gestede could start after coming off the bench to score in Tuesday's 3-1 defeat to Everton but Charles N'Zogbia remains out of boss Remi Garde's plans despite being fit.
Man City squad: Hart, Caballero, Zabaleta, Sagna, Kompany, Otamendi, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov, Clichy, Toure, Fernando, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, Navas, M Garcia, Aguero, Iheanacho, Bony.
Aston Villa squad: Guzan, Bunn, Hutton, Richards, Clark, Lescott, Okore, Richardson, Cissokho, Bacuna, Gil, Westwood, Gana, Veretout, Lyden, Agbonlahor, Sinclair, Gestede, Ayew.
SPURS V ARSENAL
Arsene Wenger's men visit White Hart Lane for the first time in a long while with their tails firmly behind their legs knowing full well that the balance of power in North London is no longer in their favour. Both teams were expected to win their mid week games to take advantage of Leicester's slip against west Brom but they woefully failed in this bid. Arsenal's case is worse considering they had failed to beat a United cadet team few days earlier and watch agonizingly as the title slips from their grasp. Spurs would surely know that a win would give them some breathing space from their North London rivals. A win for Arsenal would give them the needed boost to rekindle a fading title hope while a draw would extend Leicester's lead atop the table especially if they win.
Tottenham could be handed a double boost in midfield ahead of Saturday's pivotal north London derby at home to Arsenal.
Dele Alli is expected to return from an ankle injury after he came off the bench against West Ham on Wednesday, while Mousa Dembele may also feature at White Hart Lane, having overcome a groin strain.
Clinton Njie and Jan Vertonghen, however, will both miss the match. The duo are still out with knee injuries.
Arsenal will be without Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny, who are both sidelined with calf injuries.
Boss Arsene Wenger is hopeful defender Koscielny will be back in a week but he is still without definite absentees Jack Wilshere (leg), Tomas Rosicky (thigh), Santi Cazorla (knee) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee).
Spurs squad: Lloris, Vorm, Walker, Rose, Trippier, Davies, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Carter-Vickers, Winks, Dier, Dembele, Mason, Carroll, Bentaleb, Alli, Eriksen, Onomah, Lamela, Son, Chadli, Kane.
Arsenal squad: Ospina, Macey, Monreal, Gibbs, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Bellerin, Chambers, Ramsey, Elneny, Coquelin, Flamini, Ozil, Reine-Adelaide, Iwobi, Sanchez, Campbell, Walcott, Welbeck, Giroud.
WEST BROM V MAN UNITED
Suddenly, the Van Gaal Out banners have made a retreat. Four wins out of four games in all competitions is hardly the expectation of any united fan but such has been the story of the season so far. The return to fitness of key players is a welcome boost with a huge fixture pile up. Martial and Darmian both played a part in the win against Watford. While Smalling is also fit again and should return ditto for Michael Carrick who was rested in midweek. Fellainin& Valencia are not far away either. The reverse of this fixture at Old trafford ended in a 2-0 win for the reds. However, Tony Pulis' men provide a testing opposition to any team at the Hawthorns
- West Brom are unbeaten in three after picking up impressive results against Everton, Crystal Palace and league leaders Leicester. They are 12 points clear of the bottom three and recent fears of being relegated seem to have passed.
- Manchester United come into the weekend level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City and with momentum on their side. They were very lucky to beat Watford in midweek, but the result is all that is important at this stage.
- These two teams have shared 17 goals in the last three meetings at the Hawthorns and there could be more on offer, particularly if United defend like they did against Watford in midweek. This is a must win game for United, otherwise all of their good work in recent weeks would have been for nothing.
WATFORD V LEICESTER
Watford rued their missed chances against United in a game they clearly dominated after Juan Mata's sublime free kick earned the Red Devils an undeserved win and would want to quickly bounce back from the set back.
Leicester on the other hand must have felt relieved with the chasing pack in the title race all failing to take advantage of their draw with West Brom in mid week. Three points clear at tthe summit, the King Power out fit must understand they need nothing other than a result to keep title rivals at bay especially with the possibility of shared points at White Hart Lane.
- Jurado and Tommie Hoban remain sidelined for Watford, while Joel Ekstrand is still some way from fitness coming into the welcome of Leicester.
- Nathan Ake and Craig Cathcart could come back into the starting XI having missed the 1-0 defeat at Manchester United, with Sebastian Prodl and Jose Holebas the players to drop out.
- Nordin Amrabat could also start on the left wing, while Mario Suarez is pushing for a start.
- Claudio Ranieri is again without injured pair N'Golo Kante and Matthew James for the trip to Watford, though the Italian has no further injury concerns.
- He could, therefore, name the same XI that started the 2-2 draw with West Brom on Tuesday night.
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