Tom Bryant, Paul Doyle and Gerard Meagher 

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Chelsea are unlikely to go on the offensive at Arsenal, Moyes may be gone but his shadow lives on and QPR must battle to the end of the season
  
  

Talking points
Cesc Fàbregas returns to Arsenal, fans are angry in Newcastle, Burnley will lean on Danny ings and can Tim Sherwood survive on confidence alone? Photograph: Corbis/Getty/PA/Rex

1) Chelsea more likely to batten down the hatches than attack

There is a mysterious Chelsea chant, in which the Shed End profess their love of the club. “We all follow the Chelsea, over land and sea,” they bellow before, for reasons no one really understands, yelling “And Leicester!” A win against Arsenal on Sunday, would mean that Chelsea could clinch the Premier League title at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday evening which, at the very least, might give a nonsensical chant some meaning at last. But somehow it seems unlikely as José Mourinho will be just as happy with a draw at the Emirates. Yes, there is the headline stat that Arsène Wenger has not beaten Mourinho in 12 attempts in the league. There is also the fact that Chelsea have not lost a league match to Manchester United, City, Arsenal or Liverpool since Mourinho returned to the club in 2013, but that does not mean Chelsea have won all those matches, or even come close. Chelsea have issues up front: Diego Costa, Loïc Rémy and Didier Drogba are all in various states of crockedness, while it will be interesting to see how Cesc Fàbregas deals with the abuse he will face on his return to Arsenal. With Wenger’s side playing so well at the moment, Mourinho is likely to adopt a similarly defensive approach to that which he took against Manchester United last Saturday. The results of that could lead to another match like the 0-0 these two sides played out on 23 December 2013. This one may not be quite the thrilling title decider some are billing it. Tom Bryant

Arsène Wenger discusses the return of Cesc Fàbregas to Arsenal with Chelsea.

2) Leicester’s high-octane approach may be too much for Burnley

Humdinger alert! You don’t want to miss this match! This has the makings of a momentous clash between two teams – Leicester and Burnley – with exceptional work rates and urgent requirements for points. Burnley’s need is greater and to win they will need to find a way to supply Danny Ings with enough chances to end his eight-match goal drought, with the suspension of Ashley Barnes unlikely to help. Leicester, on the other hand, have relatively little trouble creating chances, with Esteban Cambiasso, Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, Marc Albrighton and Jeffrey Schlupp all apt to attack from a variety of positions. Mostly their problem this season has been converting their opportunities but in recent matches they have finally shot with more precision, and last week Leonardo Ulloa ended a barren streak even longer than Ings’ current one. If Nigel Pearson sticks with the high-octane direct approach that has brought his team three successive wins, then Leicester could blast their way closer to a sensational escape from the drop zone. But don’t write off a Burnley victory that would add even more intrigue to the relegation battle. Paul Doyle

3) Sherwood will need more than confidence at Manchester City

Tim Sherwood is often praised for speaking his mind, for avoiding cliches and is occasionally called, by those on whom all forms of irony are presumably lost, no-nonsense. Yet even he will find it difficult to avoid such pitfalls this week. The problem he faces is a familiar one. Strugglers spring a surprise in the FA Cup but must revert their gaze to their league travails. There may be plenty of different ways to say “one game at a time” but it will be impossible to keep his players’ minds off Wembley. To make matters worse, they will run into a Manchester City side who rediscovered some of their swagger against an albeit woeful West Ham side last weekend, with Sergio Agüero’s goal a particular highlight. They are not without their own problems – Yaya Touré’s days appear numbered and Manuel Pellegrini’s future is similarly bleak – but Sherwood will need more than his huge levels of self-confidence to conjure anything from the Etihad. Jack Grealish and Charles N’Zogbia will be marked men having had the run of Wembley and Ron Vlaar is in for a busy evening if Agüero is in the mood. Sherwood called City the best team on the planet after they dismantled his Tottenham side 5-1 at White Hart Lane in January 2014, bringing him back down to earth after he had started his tenure with six unbeaten league matches. Few would give City similar acclaim at present but it’s a safe bet they will burst another of Sherwood’s bubbles. Gerard Meagher

4) Moyes may be gone but his shadow lives on

It was following Manchester United’s defeat by Everton just over a year ago that David Moyes’s brief and dour reign at Old Trafford was brought to an end. His shadow still lingers over this fixture. Manchester United’s performance at Goodison Park last year was their worst in the league all season. It was also a display that cast his successor at Everton into a flattering light and Roberto Martínez drew plaudits for being the anti-Moyes – all positivity, attacking intent and verve – plaudits that he has struggled to live up to this season. Both sides arrive at this fixture in form, with each having lost just one of their last six and Everton not having lost at home this year. Manchester United will be happier to use the Moyes era as a reminder of what not to do but Everton could learn a lesson from their former manager’s approach to this fixture. Between 2008 and his departure from Goodison, Moyes lost just once to Manchester United at home. A result like that could be the springboard from which Everton can dominate a reasonably simple run-in. TB

5) Will Swans pile on more misery at Newcastle’s bleak house?

The statistics for Newcastle are dire – six straight defeats; one win in 10; five goals scored and 19 conceded in those last 10 games. Fans boycotted the match against Spurs and are planning to boycott this weekend’s game against Swansea as well. There have been record profits of £18.7m but nothing spent to reinforce a team that was left with only 13 fit outfield players last month. A makeshift manager has been hung out to dry. This is not what Newcastle used to be. This is not what people once swarmed up to Gallowgate for, breathing names like Keegan, Beardsley, Gascoigne and Sir Bobby, or Supermac, Waddle, Milburn and Moncur. They lie 14th in the table with five to play, but three of those below them with a game in hand. There is a chance that Newcastle could go down – this current side, on current form, may well deserve it too. There are fans who, despite themselves, might welcome it. Blood the youth in the Championship, learn to compete again, try to win, and hope against hope the owner loses interest and abandons them. When did supporting Newcastle turn into this? TB

6) Southampton fans should show Pochettino respect

Mauricio Pochettino thrives on grudge matches and recalls the derbies he relished playing in back in Argentina when his Newell’s Old Boys side took on Rosario Central in clashes so bitter that the players had to lie down on the floor of their coach on the way into the stadium for fear of being pelted by opposing fans. So any hostility shown to him by Southampton fans on Saturday on his first return to St Mary’s since defecting to Spurs is unlikely to bother Pochettino. Far better to greet him warmly for doing well for the club for a season or, if that doesn’t mesh with your concept of fandom, shun him until the final whistle, whereupon, if Southampton have won and thus gone a good way towards finishing above Spurs, the home crowd could point in unison at their former manager and give a Nelson-from-the-Simpsons style “haha”, repeatedly. Whether Southampton will depends to a large degree on how well Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane do against the home side’s defence, which has been the biggest area of improvement under Ronald Koeman this season. If Toby Alderweireld is fit, that would be an obvious boon. And if Roy Hodgson is in attendance, he might like to compare and contrast the performances of the teams’ left-backs and ask himself what he was thinking last month when he seemingly ranked Danny Rose above Ryan Bertrand in the England pecking order. PD

7) Rodgers must raise Liverpool spirits to avoid clear-out

Perhaps Brendan Rodgers should tell his Liverpool players that this is a meaningless mid-table clash, just in case the pressure of chasing an important win makes them freeze. A dud performance against West Bromwich Albion and a drippy end to the Premier League campaign would, following last week’s anaemic FA Cup semi-final defeat and the chastening league losses to Manchester United and Arsenal, certainly accentuate the sense that the club is not progressing as it should. So if Rodgers wants to make sure that he is not cleared out along with the litter of players who must be discarded in the summer, then he could do with getting his team to produce a strong finish to the season and clinch fifth in the table, which would be a par league performance for Liverpool in their current state. PD

8) Will Sunderland fans regret their hubris?

It takes a special kind of hubris to fly a jeering banner over the ground of your nearest rivals when you sit six points below them in the table. When you have lost four of your last six, have replaced your manager with another who does not stand much chance of keeping the job for long, there are times when it is best to keep your counsel. It’s why most Sunderland fans were appalled by last weekend’s stunt and have urged focus at Stoke, a side pushing for their highest ever Premier League finish. Stoke’s striker Mame Biram Diouf has scored in each of his last three home games but the team have stuttered somewhat as they near the end of their campaign. Three defeats and two wins in their last six means Stoke could be there for the taking but are Sunderland the team to take them? TB

9) QPR must battle right to the end

QPR are staring down the barrel of relegation and if the league began in January, West Ham would be in similar strife. This does not have the hallmarks of a classic, rather another feisty London derby for Rangers, who have not played since their late defeat to Chelsea two weeks ago. West Ham’s problems are manifold, not least off the pitch where the Olympic Stadium saga rumbles on and their owners continue to court managers who are not Sam Allardyce. QPR’s troubles meanwhile, are easier to pinpoint, as their former manager Harry Redknapp has done this week – they cannot stop conceding in the latter stages of matches. Since the start of February, late goals against Southampton, Hull, Aston Villa and Chelsea have been costly. Without them, Chris Ramsey’s side would be 16th. A timely boost arrives this weekend however, in the shape of Leroy Fer, who returns to the side after two months out with a knee injury and will add steel to the midfield as well as a goalscoring threat to ease the burden on Charlie Austin. All four of the Dutchman’s league goals this season have directly contributed to points for QPR and having found the net in his most recent outing against Sunderland in February, Ramsey will be desperate his key midfielder picks up from where he left off. GM

Sam Allardyce says West Ham must improve as the season draws towards its finale.

10) Have Hull made use of their fortnight off?

Hull City have not won in six matches and their current form is the second worst in the Premier League. Their manager, Steve Bruce, dropped the goalkeeper Allan McGregor when his side visited Southampton, citing a lack of confidence, and replaced him with a 40-year-old, Steve Harper. Afterwards he bemoaned a bluntness in attack, fretting that the side had created chances but had failed to convert them. So, problems at the back, problems up front, issues with confidence and a side out of rhythm. It doesn’t look good for Hull, who sit outside the relegation zone by dint of a single goal. A win against resurgent Crystal Palace is nothing less than essential as Hull’s run-in is particularly tough. They face Liverpool and Arsenal after Palace, before a crucial match against Burnley is followed by Tottenham and Manchester United. Hull have had two weeks without a match so should return for the last leg of their campaign refreshed. But they will also need to show the same sort of hunger their manager is presumably suffering since his recent promise to go on a crash diet if they are to get out of this mess. TB

 

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