EPL: Sunday Matches Previews: Jan. 16, 2011
January 15, 2011
Birmingham should be giving a first start to Bentley, after joining the side from Tottenham.
The home side should have something of an edge over their rivals, especially when you consider the fact that they have actually been on pretty decent form recently, granted Villa are one of the league's pushovers this season.
But, as previously stated, we shouldn’t belittle the achievements of the home team. There is some bad news for the Blues in the fact that Dann will be out after having damaged his hamstring in their match against West Ham.
In recent years, this has not been Birmingham’s game, although it has been a long time since Aston Villa have been this low at this point in the season.
Aston Villa will be without Young, who will be serving a one match ban and will join Emile Heskey, who is still serving part of his ban. On loan Walker should be given a start in right back.
Villa are in desperate need of points if they are going to claw their way out of the relegation zone and having not lost to Birmingham in the Premiership in six years, so it seems like they may well see this as an opportunity.
Sunderland should be welcoming back Onuoha, who has been absent due to a hamstring problem. Cattermole and Welbeck should also rejoin the side from injury.
Sunderland have not lost two matches in a season to Newcastle in five years, although with Newcastle playing like a completely rejuvenated side, it might just be that Sunderland slip up at home again.
They have lost two of their last three matches at the Stadium of Light in all competitions. Still, when it comes to the league they’ve been pretty mean in defence holding on to five clean sheets in their last seven matches.
Newcastle are having a brilliant season when you consider the fact that they have only just been promoted and are now looking like a side which should certainly be in the Premiership and will have no problems keeping things that way.
On the other hand they will be without Carroll, who is still out due to injury, however they will at least have the Ameobi, who has overcome his ankle injury.
This derby should be quite fiercely competed, as Newcastle look likely to do the double over their opponents.
Liverpool vs. Everton
Since Daglish’s return, this is Liverpool’s first home match without their captain Steven Gerrard. Joe Cole, on the other hand, has recovered from his injury and they should also see the return of Aurelio.
Liverpool will be hoping that Everton don’t do the double over them for the first time since the 1984/85 season, although with the way that the Red half of Merseyside has been playing, that does seem like a very reasonable possibility.
Liverpool have lost four of their last five Premier League matches and without Gerrard, they aren’t likely to put in a brilliant performance, considering how they rely on their influential captain.
Everton will still be without Cahill, who is out on international duty and Jagielka, who has picked up an injury.
This could leave Everton struggling a little bit going forward, although they didn’t do too badly against Tottenham with Cahill absent, even if he has been the sides top goal scorer so far this season.
Everton’s away record has been pretty good, only three teams have lost fewer away matches this season although they also have the highest amount of draws of any Premiership club this season.
So, in terms of form they aren’t exactly perfect, still it seems quite likely that they will manage to take some points away from Anfield.
Tottenham will be seeing the return of Gareth Bale, although he did miss training during the week due to a back complaint. Woodgate and King are still absent, leaving Spurs weak at the back.
Following their home loss to Everton, it is clear that the home side are having some problems in defence and unfortunately, United are far more likely to take advantage of that fact than their last game's opposition.
Tottenham will more than likely struggle with this match, especially when you consider the fact that Spurs have not been able to beat them in any of their last 23 meetings.
Tottenham would be smart to play for a draw in this match, although with their shaky defence they will be lucky to manage that.
Man Utd will be expecting this to be a relatively routine match, their unbeaten run of 25 league matches is more than likely to be extended with them playing Spurs, who simply don’t look quite right at the moment.
United should see the return of Rooney and Vidic, who sat out in their FA Cup win against Liverpool. On the other hand, Van de Sar will not quite be ready to take over for Kuszczak.
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