Premier League: Five things to look out for

JOE looks ahead to this weekend in the Premier League and considers what matches to watch and avoid, who might surprise and the Irish players to keep an eye on.

By Conor Hogan

Surprise Package: West Ham

Haven't we learned our lesson by now? We backed the Hammers to be a surprise package last week, only for them to go and let us down. And West Ham are 16 places and 14 points behind their opponents Manchester City, therefore this match should be academic, shouldn't it?

The Hammers have shown signs of improvement in recent times, however, and have defeated Tottenham, Stoke City and Manchester United at Upton Park (though, admittedly, only one of those was in the league). City meanwhile, despite their lofty position, have also won only half of their away matches.

They'll also be without their talisman Carlos Tevez, who is suspended and City haven't won in the league without Tevez in the team this season.

Game not to miss: Manchester United v Arsenal

Here's a juicy one: first take on second in a match that could go a long way to deciding where the Premier League trophy will end up. This is the kind of game that the Gunners would find themselves getting hammered in over the last few seasons.

Will it be the same old story, or will Arsene Wenger's men finally emerge as genuine title contenders? Whatever happens it should be exciting. These two teams have scored 69 goals between them already in the league.

The other big match of the weekend is Chelsea's visit to White Hart Lane. Tottenham go into this match in the unusual position as favourites, though the Pensioners' rotten run has to end sometime.

Game to miss: Wolverhampton v Birmingham

Not for the first Birmingham make it into our ‘game to miss’ category and we apologise. They are a good team, we really mean it, they just aren’t particularly easy on the eye. On four occasions this season, their matches have finished scoreless, and this week they’ll be facing a Wolves team who’ve lost five of their last six matches in the league.

Irish interest: Stoke v Blackpool

Tony Pulis' Potters have no less than four Irishmen in their squad, though ironically enough the only one guaranteed to start is also the one least likely to make it into Giovanni Trapattoni's squad. Rory Delap has been one of the primary reasons Stoke have made such a success of their time in the Premier League.

People obsess about his long throws (in reality Stoke don't actually get that many goals from them, though they do often gain 40 or 50 valuable yards) but Delap does a hell of a lot of work off the ball as well, and forms a very steady midfield partnership with Dean Whitehead.

Marc Wilson is very promising, though five of his nine league appearances for Stoke have come from off the bench, while the first name on Trap's team sheet, Glenn Whelan, has only started three league games for the Potters in 2010/2011. Jonathan Walters has generally started ahead of Ricardo Fuller and Tuncay, however, and has found the net three times.

What about the rest:

Draw specialists Fulham are hovering precariously above the bottom three and Mark Hughes will be hoping to pick up a result to ease the pressure on him. They'll be facing Sunderland, who have also drawn a lot of games this year. Although, when they don't draw, they generally win. When the Cottagers don't draw, they generally lose.

It will be interesting to see how the harsh sacking of Chris Hughton will affect the Newcastle players. When Kevin Keegan departed abruptly in 2008, they went and lost at home to Hull and ended up getting relegated. Liverpool, who seem to be on the verge of turning their season around, will be the visitors this time.

One of the season's surprise packages, Bolton, will face Blackburn at the Reebok. Sam Allardyce's team garnered a 3-0 win last week, but generally aren't fond of leaving Ewood Park. Struggling Aston Villa will take on West Brom, who have gone on a bit of a run again after a slight wobble. And the inconsistent Everton will take on the even more inconsistent Wigan in a match that could be described as unpredictable - except that we reckon it will be a Toffees win.

Fixtures:

Saturday, 11 December 2010

Aston Villa v West Brom, 15:00

Everton v Wigan, 15:00

Fulham v Sunderland, 15:00

Stoke v Blackpool, 15:00

West Ham v Man City, 15:00

Newcastle v Liverpool, 17:30

Sunday, 12 December 2010

Bolton v Blackburn, 13:30

Wolverhampton v Birmingham, 13:30

Tottenham v Chelsea, 16:00

Monday, 13 December 2010

Man Utd v Arsenal, 20:00