All games kick-off at 7.45pm unless stated otherwise.
Chelsea v Fulham
Injured: Chelsea – Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Frank Lampard. Fulham – Alex Kacaniklic, Bryan Ruiz, Kieran Richardson and Simon Davies.
Suspended: Fulham – Brede Hangeland.
Betting: 4/9 (home), 10/3 (draw), 13/2 (away).
Chelsea didn’t exactly light up the stadium against Man City on Sunday, but at least looked relatively solid in Rafael Benitez’s first game in charge.
Fulham, on the other hand, have appeared anything but assured of late.
Martin Jol’s men enjoyed an impressive start to the season, though they appear to have gone off the boil recently, failing to win their past five league games.
Therefore, Chelsea’s greater quality and home advantage, coupled with Fulham’s poor form, means there can only be one winner, barring a miracle.
Verdict: Chelsea
Everton v Arsenal
Injured: Arsenal – Tomas Rosicky, Andre Santos and Abou Diaby.
Doubtful: Everton – Kevin Mirallas and Darron Gibson.
Betting: 6/4 (home), 12/5 (draw), 7/4 (away).
Arsene Wenger complained that his team were tired, following their disappointing 0-0 draw with Villa at the weekend, yet unfortunately for them, there’s no let-up in the fixture list just yet.
They face an Everton side who, despite being in an extremely healthy fifth place in the table, have been criticised for their ostensible inability to finish teams off in recent matches.
Yet despite their recent woes, the home side will be boosted by the return of Marouane Fellaini to their side, while Irish midfielder Darron Gibson could also feature following a lengthy lay-off.
Nonetheless, David Moyes’ men can surely expect no better than a draw tonight, given their failure to beat Arsenal in the sides’ last ten Premier League meetings, while five of their last seven league games have ended all square.
Arsenal’s fans would surely not be pleased with such an outcome, however a point away to a side as formidable as Everton may not seem so bad come the end of the season.
Verdict: draw
Southampton v Norwich
Injured: Southampton – Frazer Richardson and Richard Chaplow. Norwich – Michael Turner.
Doubtful: Norwich – John Ruddy.
Betting: 23/20 (home), 23/10 (draw), 5/2 (away).
Southampton earned an impressive win against an out-of-sorts Newcastle on Sunday, with Gastón Ramírez belatedly showing why the club paid a reported £12m for him at the start of the season.
Meanwhile, Norwich earned a highly credible draw away to Everton, though Chris Hughton’s men have still yet to win on their travels this season.
Having endured a miserable start to the season, the Canaries now look a far more competent side, and are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games.
Southampton, though, showed they have the quality to stay up at the weekend, and have a good record against Norwich, so expect them to earn at least a point tonight.
Verdict: draw
Stoke v Newcastle
Injured: Newcastle – Yohan Cabaye and Steven Taylor.
Doubtful: Stoke – Michael Owen and Andy Wilkinson.
Betting: Evens (home), 12/5 (draw), 11/4 (away).
Stoke earned a welcome win against Fulham at the weekend, and as a result, are now 13 games unbeaten at the Britannia Stadium.
Don’t expect that record to end against a Newcastle team who have, so far, been hugely disappointing in comparison to their laudable efforts last season.
A 2-0 loss to struggling Southampton in their last match emphasised how drastically the Magpies have fallen this campaign, though in Stoke, they at least are up against a side with a similarly direct style to their own.
Newcastle did the double over Stoke last year, but have failed to win even one match away from home this term, so expect the latter trend to continue.
Verdict: draw
Swansea v West Brom
Injured: Swansea – Danny Graham.
Doubtful: Swansea – Jonathan de Guzman. West Brom – Jonas Olsson and Ben Foster.
Betting: 11/8 (home), 23/10 (draw), 2/1 (away).
West Brom have shown remarkable resilience and mental strength to lift themselves to third in the table.
Doubting them has become increasingly difficult as they continually exceed expectations and overcome seemingly superior opponents.
They face tough opposition in the form of Swansea though, who looked highly assured while earning a fully deserved draw with Liverpool recently.
Nonetheless, doubting the Baggies has turned out to be foolish in the past, and they’ve won their past four consecutive matches, so a victory today seems more than achievable.
Verdict: West Brom win.
Tottenham v Liverpool
Injured: Tottenham – Scott Parker, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Younes Kaboul. Liverpool – Lucas Leiva.
Suspended: Tottenham – Emmanuel Adebayor.
Betting: 11/8 (home), 9/4 (draw), 21/10 (away).
These two sides would both undoubtedly feel they’re better than their respective league positions suggest and surely believe they’ve underachieved to an extent so far.
But both have also shown signs of improvement of late.
Liverpool have achieved a series of respectable results to lift them to 11th, while Tottenham returned to form with a win over West Ham at the weekend.
Spurs have won three of the past four meetings between the two, however if the visitors demonstrate the kind of resolve that they applied against Swansea, their opponents will likely have to settle for a point.
Verdict: draw
Man United v West Ham (8pm)
Suspended: Man United – Paul Scholes. West Ham – Mark Noble.
Doubtful: Man United – Antonio Valencia. West Ham – George McCartney.
Injured: West Ham – Yossi Benayoun, Jack Collison and Ricardo Vaz Te.
Betting: 1/4 (home), 9/2 (draw), 12/1 (away).
Man United looked less than convincing at times against QPR on Saturday.
It took the belated introduction of Anderson in midfield to help breathe life into their performance.
West Ham will be more than satisfied with their current standing in 8th place, though they have lost their last seven league games with United, and have an indifferent away record this season.
And while it won’t be easy for Ferguson’s men against a Hammers outfit that has been playing with passion and poise all season, they should have enough to prevail on this occasion.
Verdict: Man United win
Wigan v Man City (8pm)
TV: Sky Sports 2
Injured: Man City – Jack Rodwell, Gael Clichy and Micah Richards.
Doubtful: Wigan – Ivan Ramis, Shaun Maloney and Gary Caldwell.
Betting: 11/2 (home), 3/1 (draw), 8/15 (away).
Man City weren’t at their best at Stamford Bridge last weekend, perhaps partially owing to the after-effects of their premature Champions League exit.
Yet it could be far worse – after all, they only sit one point behind league leaders Man United at the moment.
Wigan, though, are capable of an upset, as their recent win against Tottenham at White Hart Lane demonstrated.
But City haven’t lost in 19 Premier League matches and boast an especially excellent record in games with the Latics, so it would be a huge surprise if Martinez’s men get anything from this game.
Verdict: City win
