This game promises to be entertaining as Chelsea suffered their first defeat against Newcastle in the reverse fixture of this match. Jose Mourinho's men put the defeat to spurs, behind them with a resounding 3-0 defeat of Watford FC last weekend, in the third round of the FA cup.
The magpies travel to west london to face Chelsea, currently joint top at the premier league table, tied on the same goal difference and points with Manchester City FC. And Jose Mourinho has warned his boys to banish any form of complacency and laxity, knowing fully well that a draw or defeat will put a huge dent on their title hope's. The visitors are without Alan Pardew, the man who masterminded the first league defeat of Jose Mourinho's men, but the tyneside club has since thrusted John Carver into the interim manager's role. After Pardew moved to crystal palace.
The magpies head into this contest with just one win from their previous twenty visit to stamford bridge since 1986. But John Carver is not intimidated by the stats, and he plans to cause an upset at stamford bridge. The magpies could only muster three shots, with Papiss Cisse scoring two goals, when they became the first team to beat chelsea in the reverse fixture.
The notable absentees from the newcastle squad, are; Siem de Jong, Rob Elliot and Gabriel Obertan(thigh injuries), Rolando Aarons(hamstring injury), Ryan Taylor(knee injury), Steven Taylor(achilles). While Cheikh Tiote and Papiss Cisse are both away on international duty respectively. On the other hand, the blues are without a major injury concern, heading into the match with fully fit players.
Everton vs Manchester city
This to me is the match of the day or even the week. The tofees welcome the reigning premier league champions to Goodison park, in what proves to be an enthralling encounter between the two teams.
Roberto Martinez's men ended their four games losing streak with a last grasp equaliser from Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian scored an injury time leveller, thereby forcing a replay in the third round of the FA cup. Martinez's men host their opponent, on the back of four consecutive defeats in the league. “We have to take responsibility, we've had a run of poor results lately, and we need to put that right behind us, in order for us to focus on the opposition we're facing.” Roberto Martinez said at the pre-match conference. An herculean task awaits Roberto Martinez's men, as they try to stop city from continuing their recent run of form of 14 games unbeaten, the recent being the upset they avoided at the Etihad, walking away lucky winners when they beat Sheffield wednesday. Pellegrini will be without his commanding, gigantic midfielder; Yaya Toure, who his away on international duty. Toure's only goal proved to be the match winner, as pellegrini's men claimed all three points in the reverse fixture that sawAguero limping off with a strained knee injury. But the talismanic striker is back(you hear that Everton-he's back. So beware!!) with his striking partner Edin Dzeko. City head into this contest with a fine run of form that saw them, win four and lost one of their previous five fixtures. While Everton are without a win in all of their previous five fixtures(L4 D1)... Hopefully, they bounce back in this encounter.Sunderland vs liverpool
The black cats welcome the merseyside outfit to the stadium of light. In the early kick-off game of the barclays premier league. It's going to be an interesting encounter between the two teams. With both teams winning their FA cup matches last weekend and weekday, against leeds united and wimbledon respectively. All eyes would be fixed on sunderland, going into this encounter without a win in their last three matches in the EPL. The black cats are slowly picking up form after suffering a huge 8-0 defeat against southampton. It would be keen to also note that; liverpool are in a recent vein of form, having lost just one of their last eight matches, (W4 D3). While the black cats have also won one of their last ten premier league fixtures(D6 L3). At the pre-match conference, Brendan Rodgers highlighted some of the errors made by his team in recent matches, which has gifted the opposition goal scoring opportunities. He remarked:“There's a lot of work to be done, one of which is; ensuring we don't give away balls so silly the biggest thing for us has been; mistakes, it might not be structurally, but we have a tendency to make mistakes at times, and that has cost us ultimately.” Gus Poyet has build a team that is so hard to breakdown, and they close up space, which means opposition teams will have to work hard to create a open gap to get in. Liverpool were held to a goalless draw in the reverse fixture at anfield last month. Given the recent form of both teams, my prediction would be a victory for the merseyside outfit, going home with the three points.
Burnley vs QPR
It's the battle of survival from the drop zone, as relegation threatened Burnley host QPR to turf moor.
The hosts are without a win in their last five fixtures in all competition, the recent being the 1-1 draw with tottenham hotspur last weekend in the third round of the Fa cup. Sam voakes who grabbed the equaliser with his first goal in nine months after being sidelined by an injury he sustained last march. Meanwhile, the visitors are two points above the drop zone, without a win in their previous five fixtures(L2 D3). The recent of which, was the humiliating 3-0 loss at the weekend in front of their home fans to sheffield united from the third-tier of english football in the FA cup third round.
Harry Redknapp who is keen to shrugged off their heavy defeat over the weekend, and also looks to avoid an embarrassing record of losing ten consecutive away matches in the league. With the record being tied at nine consecutive away loss from the start of the league, with bolton wanderers of 1995-1996 season.“It's a big game for us.” He said, speaking at the press conference.“It's a tough game, a challenge for us, and I'm impressed with the job Sean Dyke has done at burnley, I'm looking forward to a real good game”.Turf moor has seen few goals, with seven goals scored in their last five games of the league, and have managed just six headers on targets this season, fewer than any club in the premier league. Also, Burnley recently made the loan move of manchester united's centre back Michael Keane permanent. And he might also be in contention to start the match
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