Premier League talking points: Ten things to look out for ahead of the weekend’s games
Our writers look ahead to the weekend's Premier League action
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Your support makes all the difference.1) Klopp eyes reinforcements as winter schedule ramps up
Liverpool's long winter has well and truly arrived. Jurgen Klopp's league leaders welcome basement-dwelling Watford to Anfield for Saturday's lunchtime kick-off in what will be their last domestic fixture before the Club World Cup. The last, that is, if you do not count Tuesday night's EFL Cup quarter-final away at Aston Villa, a fixture that will be fulfilled by a team of youngsters. Even with that workaround the squad is being stretched to its limit, so no surprise that Klopp has sought reinforcements in the form of Red Bull Salzburg's Takumi Minamino. MC
2) Newcastle on a roll with Burnley in their sights
Burnley have lost their last three, with the 5-0 hammering at Tottenham last weekend particularly damaging. The Clarets need a result and fast with the gap between them and the bottom three closing by the week. Newcastle are resurgent under Steve Bruce and the boss whose appointment was so poorly received by the Toon faithful back in the summer is slowly but surely turning public opinion in his favour. If he adds a third win on the spin after back-to-back victories over Sheffield United and Southampton then even his most strident of critics will have to concede he’s doing one of the jobs of the season. BB
3) Ake returns as speculation mounts
A meeting of old friends at Stamford Bridge on Saturday then, as Nathan Ake returns to his former home. While he has impressed at Bournemouth, his latest appearance against his former club is more compelling due to the speculation surrounding his future. Chelsea have been linked before, yet the recent news surrounding their ban being halved, means the Dutch defender is a potential signing next month. But it will not just be Chelsea who are keen to bring back one of their own, as Manchester City’s troubles at the back mean they could venture into the market for the Cherries star.
Versatile, quick and approaching his prime, the Blues may see the £40m buy-back clause as value. Ake would ideally play on the left side of a two, yet Fikayo Tomori, currently injured, has revelled in that role so far this season. Competition between the pair to join the fit-again Antonio Rudiger may yet be the masterplan. Chelsea therefore will be focusing on Ake this weekend for multiple reasons. JR
4) Ndidi is Leicester's quiet star
The spotlight will be on Jamie Vardy’s scoring streak and James Maddison facing his former side when Leciester play Norwich on Saturday. Yet it’s Brendan Rodgers’ quiet conductor, Wilfred Ndidi, whose anchoring role has been so pivotal to the team’s success this season. The defensive midfielder has made 69 tackles this season – second only to teammate Ricardo Pereira in the league – and it’s his solo sweeping role which enables Leicester to be so quick in the transition between defence and attack. Norwich have been at their best this season when playing on the counter-attack, just as when they upset Manchester City and recently held Arsenal. But to have any success, they will need to somehow outwit a player who, at just 22, has already established himself as one of English football’s best midfielders. TK
5) Villa and Sheffield United can take step towards safety
Bramall Lane sees two of the Premier League’s most upwardly mobile new boys meet on Saturday afternoon. Sheffield United have impressed everyone with their modern outlook and equally progressive style of play while Villa have been no less impressive with what they’ve achieved so far with Jack Grealish in particular shining as his boyhood team’s beating heart. It says a great deal for both of their progress that both would be heavily favoured to stay up at this stage. A positive result for either this weekend would go a long way to help securing that. BB
6) Pellegrini vulnerable and in need of a win
Manuel Pellegrini insists he has the backing of the West Ham board but his job is thought to be hanging by a thread. "What I really need is to win the game but maybe I'm not in my job on Monday," he said this week. "That's not a problem of the job. The problem is to try to improve what you're doing because we don't have the results." Against fellow strugglers Southampton, Pellegrini surely cannot afford anything but all three points. LO
7) United face Everton at the wrong time
It was around this time last year that a north-west club sacked their underachieving Portuguese manager and replaced with a club legend who quickly revived his old side's form and restored the feel-good factor. This Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United meet Duncan Ferguson's Everton in a reconstruction of that double Spiderman meme. Will Everton be enticed by Ferguson's charms in the same way as United were with Solskjaer? It feels very unlikely, but their set-up against Chelsea last week was exactly the sort of style that troubles United and a win at Old Trafford would do Ferguson's chances no harm. MC
8) Wolves, Spurs, and a race for the top four
They say styles make fights and on that basis there is a real argument to say Tottenham’s visit to Wolves could be the game of the weekend. On the one hand you have Tottenham, improved under Jose Mourinho with Dele Alli born again and Son Heung-min firing. On the other you have Wolves, flying high under Nuno Santo Espirito with Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez in deadly form, and armed with a counter-attacking weapon that could carve through Spurs’ strangely porous defence. What’s more, these two sides are almost neck and neck in the Premier League, Wolves a point ahead, and know that the winner will be well-placed mount a serious top-four challenge. LO
9) Gunners face potential mauling at hands of City
It has the potential to be a bloodbath for Freddie Ljungberg’s side. Of that, there is little doubt. Arsenal may be riding the momentum of their comeback victory against West Ham last weekend, but they are still yet to keep a clean sheet since the start of October and have now lost Kieran Tierney for three months to a dislocated shoulder. There have been incremental improvements under Ljungberg going forwards – the speed in possession and awakening of Nicolas Pepe, in particular – but there’s no sign of any fix to Arsenal’s defensive flaws. That weakness destabilises the entire side and, against Pep Guardiola’s ruthless Man City, it’s hard to imagine it won’t be exposed yet again. TK
10) Palace and Brighton prepare to serve up derby delight
Usually when these two clubs have met in the Premier League, at least one of them has been lingering near the relegation zone. This time however they meet in relative mid-table security, in positive form and looking up. It means this could be the best derby in terms of sheer footballing quality for some time, and one well worth making time to watch on Monday night. Expect Wilfried Zaha to be the focus of much of the night, in what could well be his final game taking the fight to Brighton in Palace colours. LO
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