League leaders Manchester City will have home comfort on Saturday while the four sides immediately below them all face tricky away tests on their quest to close the seemingly insurmountable gap to the top.
Full Premier League weekend fixtures:
Saturday, January 20th
Brighton vs Chelsea
West Ham vs Bournemouth
Everton vs West Brom
Burnley vs Man United
Leicester vs Watford
Stoke vs Huddersfield
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
Man City vs Newcastle
Sunday, January 21st
Southampton vs Tottenham
Monday, January 22nd
Swansea vs Liverpool
Brighton vs Chelsea
Following their M23 derby victory over Crystal Palace in the third round of the FA Cup a fortnight ago, Brighton were brought crashing back to earth with defeat away to West Brom in the league. Chelsea were pushed all the way by a stubborn Norwich City side in their FA Cup replay on Wednesday and have just 48 hours to prepare for their first-ever trip to the Amex Stadium. Their first Premier League meeting ended 2-0 to the Blues at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day courtesy of goals from new-boy Alvaro Morata, who will be unavailable this weekend after his sending-off in midweek and full-back Marcos Alonso who should return after being rested for the game against Norwich.
West Ham United vs Bournemouth
In just five Premier League matches involving West Ham and Bournemouth, we have seen an astonishing 23 goals scored between the pair at an average of 4.6 per game. The teams played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in December, the only time the teams have shared the points in the Premier League with each having recorded two wins apiece over the other. The lead exchanged hands back and forth throughout that encounter while the corresponding fixture at the London Stadium last season ended 1-0 to West Ham, Michail Antonio’s 85
th minute goal sealing a first-ever victory at the Hammers’ new home.
Everton vs West Bromwich Albion
The Toffees will have January signings Cenk Tosun and the latest addition, Theo Walcott from Arsenal, available to face West Brom at Goodison Park on Saturday. The Baggies finally notched up their first win under new manager Alan Pardew, their 2-0 win over Brighton ending a run of 20 games without victory in the league. Albion have won just one of their 10 meetings with Everton. Romelu Lukaku netted against his former side in a 3-0 win in the corresponding fixture last season before the sides played out to a goalless stalemate at the Hawthorns earlier on in the season.
Burnley vs Manchester United
Tom Heaton could return in goal for Burnley against his former club this weekend having not featured for the Clarets since a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in September. Nick Pope has deputised superbly, keeping 9 clean sheets in his 20 appearances thus far and should he continue between the sticks this weekend, Sean Dyche’s men will surely be in safe hands. They are winless in seven however in all competitions heading into this weekend’s clash against the Red Devils who won this fixture last season 2-0 thanks to goals from Anthony Martial and their record goal-scorer Wayne Rooney.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
This weekend’s only London derby takes centre-stage as Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace, managed by former England boss Roy Hodgson, to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening. The Gunners are now winless in their last five matches in all competitions following embarrassing defeats away to Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth in the FA Cup and Premier League respectively. Arsenal’s last victory in fact was over Crystal Palace in December. Alexis Sanchez was on the scoresheet twice that night at Selhurst Park but could be left of the squad once again this weekend as his protracted transfer away from the club draws ever closer.
Southampton vs Tottenham
The Saints are steadily sliding down the table towards the dreaded relegation zone after failing to win any of their last 10 games in the division since beating Everton at the back-end of November. They welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St. Mary’s on Sunday managed by former Saints head-coach Mauricio Pochettino. Since swopping the south coast for Spurs, the Argentinian has masterminded five wins in seven games over his previous employers including a 5-2 demolition of Mauricio Pellegrino’s men at Wembley on Boxing Day as well as the come-from-behind 4-1 win over Southampton in this fixture last season.