Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Prem 10 things — Clockwise: Will Leicester continue their ascent, could the lesser-spotted Joel Campbell make a Premier League appearance for Arsenal and it’s under-fire José Mourinho v fired-up Jürgen Klopp. Photograph: Getty/PA/Reuters

1) Will Campbell finally make his Arsenal debut?

Joel Campbell joined Arsenal in January 2011. This Saturday he could make his first Premier League start for the club as a result of a devastating spate of injuries. Arsène Wenger had other options, including moving Santi Cazorla to the wing, but he has suggested that he would rather not plump for an adjustment that would entail making alterations to a side that has found promising fluency. So Cazorla looks likely to stay in the middle and the Costa Rica international could make his long-awaited full league debut. It might be a good match for him to get, as Swansea have struggled out wide for most of this season, but on the other hand, it could prove to a weakness that the home side will exploit. PD

Arsène Wenger: Arsenal injuries will not hinder performance against Swansea

2) A match made in narrative heaven

In the red corner: a fascinating, extremely likeable and media-friendly manager who is clearly loving life as the manager of a world famous club whose owners have entrusted him with the task of gradually returning their team to its place at football’s top table. In the blue corner: José Mourinho, the current yang to his opposite number Jürgen Klopp’s ying. This is a match made in narrative heaven. Roman Abramovich’s trademark tight-lipped silence means folk can only speculate as to how much gas is left in the metaphorical explosion currently ripping through Chelsea, so that’s exactly what they’ve been doing. Unsurprisingly, many have arrived at the conclusion that Saturday’s encounter could go a long way towards determining whether or not Chelsea’s manager will still be in charge for a run of seven Premier League fixtures up to and including Boxing Day that would, at the beginning of the season, have looked fairly straightforward for the defending champions but, in light of recent riveting events, now seem anything but. While the action will take place on the pitch, expect all eyes to be involuntarily drawn to the two contrasting characters on the touchline. BG

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3) Anything could happen at Selhurst Park

Look at this. Just look at it. Crystal Palace 5-0 Manchester United. And guess which team ended up getting relegated at the end of the season. Palace, that’s who. So there’s little sense trying to predict anything in football really. There’s no telling what could happen at Selhurst Park this weekend. Except that Louis van Gaal will probably persist with Wayne Rooney in his starting lineup and Palace, due mainly to injuries, could be without an effective striker too. Nil-nil looks a decent bet, but a well-controlled nil-nil, in fairness to Van Gaal. PD

4) Is the gaffe-prone Coloccini undroppable?

Newcastle’s six-match losing streak against Sunderland is little short of extraordinary and they emerge from their latest reverse against their local rivals in dire need of a win to boost flagging morale and help drag themselves up the table. Steve McClaren has suffered a couple of setbacks in the build-up to his latest encounter with a team who ply their trade in red and white stripes in Stoke, with midfielder Jack Colback unavailable due to suspension (and likely to miss more games through injury) and haphazard defending’s Fabricio Coloccini available for selection again after having the harsh red card he picked up in the Wear-Tyne derby correctly overturned. A man of few public utterances, Coloccini is not a popular choice as captain with many Newcastle fans believing the armband renders the gaffe-prone Argentinian undroppable, when his performances suggest he should be anything but ever-present in the struggling side. The Newcastle skipper was uncharacteristically vocal this week when railing against the injustice visited upon him by referee Robert Madley and it will be intriguing to see if his very obvious sense of grievance affects his performance for good or ill. BG

5) Spooky coincidence to favour West Ham this Halloween?

It is difficult to imagine two cooler managers than Slaven Bilic and Quique Flores occupying the same touchline at any football match played in world football this weekend, and both have given supporters of their teams every reason to be pleased with life with a little over a quarter of the season behind them. West Ham have helped themselves to bigger scalps than Watford’s on their travels this season, but with Troy Deeney, “the soul of the team” according to his manager, having finally broken his Premier League goalscoring duck in victory against Stoke City last week, Hornets fans will be buzzing with confidence ahead of the weekend. Sadly, it may be ill-founded – those of a superstitious bent will be aware the match takes place on Halloween and is being refereed by Keith Stroud. The Hampshire official refereed three Watford matches last season and by spooky coincidence it was the away team that emerged victorious from all three. Few teams are better away from home than Slaven’s happy Hammers, so it will come as no big surprise if this peculiar little trend carries over into this season. BG

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6) Everton ripe for a beating amid injury woe?

It’s not every weekend that Sunderland come up against a side more hapless than themselves – in fact, they only play Newcastle twice a season – but this weekend they face an Everton team who could be vulnerable at the back owing to Phil Jagielka’s injury and Tim Howard’s loss of form. Will that be enough to convince Sam Allardyce to restore Jermain Defoe to the starting lineup and go with two up front? Unlikely, as solidity remains the key for the manager who has seen the previously porous Sunderland concede just one goal in his two matches in charge. But Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku are a class above what Allardyce’s Sunderland have faced so far so at some point the visitors are likely going to have to start chasing a goal and that is when the home defence will be tested. There looks to be goals in this game. PD

7) If Spurs can’t see off Villa right now …

Tim Sherwood’s sacking means Tottenham fans are deprived of the chance to welcome back the most successful manager in their Premier League history, as the man himself might style it, but the home faithful should have plenty to cheer, all the same. Spurs could hardly have a more benign fixture before a trio of London derbies in the league, with injury-ravaged and managerless Villa looking toothless up front and meek throughout. To be frank, if Spurs can’t win this, they should probably bin all the talk of them finishing in the top four. PD

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8) Pace the key for Leicester to pierce the Pulis portcullis

It will be interesting to see how self-confessed tinkerman Claudio Ranieri sets out his stall against West Brom, an uncompromising and often maligned Tony Pulis team who have kept six clean sheets in 10 Premier League outings so far this season. Although they beat Crystal Palace thanks to a splendid piece of skill and improvisation from the unstoppable Jamie Vardy, the south London side’s hulking defenders had an otherwise comfortable afternoon clearing any crosses that came their way from the foot of Leicester winger Marc Albrighton. One suspects such deliveries will cause West Brom’s back four similarly few problems in the air. West Brom have rarely looked more uncomfortable than they did in the face of a relentless onslaught from the scampering whippets of Crystal Palace just before the international break and if Leicester are to breach the Pulis portcullis, one suspects it is at pace and on the deck they will do so. On loan from Swansea City and having already impressed with his appearances off the bench, zippy winger Nathan Dyer looks better suited to this “swarm of bees” approach than Albrighton and could make his first start for Leicester, while the return to fitness of Leonardo Ulloa after three weeks out with a thigh strain gives Ranieri another option up front. BG

9) Goals ahoy as a potent attack and a leaky defence meet

Goals and plenty of them would seem to be the thing to look out for in this particular fixture, with Manchester City having scored two or more in 11 of their past 12 league matches at the Etihad and Norwich being one of just three teams – Bournemouth and Newcastle, since you’re asking – to have conceded over 20 goals already this season. Following a decent start to the season, the Canaries have taken just one point from the past 12 available and could do without a visit to the league leaders as they attempt to arrest a worrying slide towards the foot of the table. Manager Alex Neill has been publicly critical of his players, stating that the reason for personnel changes in recent games “is because they haven’t performed well enough, we have conceded too many goals and it is unfair I persevere with the same players if they are not doing their jobs correctly”. Even in the absence of Sergio Agüero, those tasked with doing their jobs correctly on Saturday are in for a torrid afternoon against a team that has scored five or more goals in three of their past five matches. It will be intriguing and possibly a little grisly to see how they fare. BG

10) Arter return boosts bruised Cherries

Typical. Bournemouth wait 125 years to face their south-coast neighbours in a top-flight derby and when it finally comes around, they’re savaged by injuries. But there’s no point moaning about that and, besides, in the honourable midweek defeat to Liverpool Harry Arter made an encouraging return from a long lay-off so could be in line to feature this weekend, adding precious steel to Bournemouth’s midfield. But Southampton’s defence looks too strong to be pierced by an attack that seems ominously blunt without Callum Wilson, and the visitors’ rearguard could be vulnerable if Artur Boruc is in one of his scatterbrained moods against his old club. PD

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