Football: 10 things to look out for this weekend Fear etched on the faces of Manchester United fans, Norwich on the attack and the return of the artist formerly known as Oscar. 1) The look of trepidation on the faces of Manchester United supporters These are exciting times to be a Liverpool supporter. Set fair to nab the place in the Champions League that was always likely to be up for grabs with so many managerial changes in the Premier Leagues ascendancy, this is only the second time the Merseyside club have travelled to Old Trafford in a more exalted top-flight position than their bitter rivals since 1991. Manchester United supporters will be painfully aware that if ever there was an excellent window available for Brendan Rodgers side to give their team a good shoeing when theyre on the floor in their own home, then lunchtime on Sunday is almost certainly it. Having visibly aged since the season began, its difficult to imagine David Moyes is approaching this encounter with anything resembling relish, not least when tasked with the prospect of having to overturn a two-goal Champions League deficit against Olympiakos in front of a potentially seething home crowd just a few days later. The Manchester United manager was rightly ridiculed for accusing the Premier League fixture generator of conspiring against him before a ball had been kicked in this campaign, but with this double-whammy of potential home horror-shows, its difficult not to feel a smidgeon of sympathy for him now. BG 2) Absence makes the heart grow fonder Arsenal fans had that familiar sinking feeling on Tuesday night. Not only had they stumbled out at the Champions League in the last 16 again, there was also the sight of another of their attacking midfielders miserably sitting on the bench – Mesut Özil withdrawn with a hamstring injury. He joins Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby (remember him) and Kim Kallstrom in the treatment room. Three of those would expect to be in Arsenals starting lineup, and if Diaby were ever fit hed have a good claim too. Kallstrom, the sole January signing, may finally be fit for a place on the bench. Likewise, Tottenham have an injury crisis revolving around one area of the pitch – with Michael Dawson and Vlad Chiriches out, and Etienne Capoue also unavailable to cover. Dawson may get some stick – his lack of pace easily exposed under the high line that André Villas-Boas employed – but only one fit centre-back will leave Tottenham sorely exposed against an Arsenal in need of a win as their daunting run of fixtures continues. They will be reliant on their only remaining fit midfielders – Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky. Not a bad bunch to be sure, but theres little room for error. Should Arsène Wenger feel the need to reshuffle, or another injury were to strike, theres very little on the bench that youd want to throw in to the bear pit of White Hart Lane. All those cursing Özil in recent weeks may just come to realise what theyre missing. Toby Moses 3) Lots of empty seats at Celtic Park Away from the Premier League, where quite a few of this weekends fixtures provide little to get the juices flowing, the Scottish League Cup final will be played on Sunday afternoon and promises to be quite an occasion as 40,000 Aberdeen fans converge on Celtic Park to watch their team take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle. A comparatively new club, Caley will be considerably less well represented in the stands, having been formed on the back of a merger between bitter Highland rivals Inverness Thistle and Caledonian Thistle just two decades ago. It was a coming-together that angered stalwarts of both clubs, many of whom withdrew their support. Caleys fans have bought up just 7,000 of their allocation for Sundays final, which leaves over 13,000 seats at Celtic HQ unsold. Despite vociferous demand from Aberdeen for more tickets to be released, panjandrums in the Scottish Professional Football League and the local police force have declined to oblige the clubs supporters. In the current climate of Scottish football its disappointing we cant cater for fans desperate to come to a game and see their team play, said Aberdeens manager, Derek McInnes, this week. In the current climate of Scottish football, which seems to be riven with infighting, alleged media conspiracies and self-serving governance, its certainly disappointing, but no great shock. BG 4) A dearth of goals at the Stadium of Light Second from bottom of the table Sunderland are joint lowest Premier League goalscorers at home, with 13 goals. Three places and as many points above them in the table, but having played two games more, Crystal Palace are the lowest Premier League scorers away from home, with six goals. In a match that both sides will be as desperate not to lose as they are to win, youd think the chances of a glut of goals are extremely slender. The best available odds of 11-8 against there being more than two seem extremely stingy and almost certainly worth avoiding, even if both teams end up bucking all the prevailing trends and delivering a seven-goal thriller. Barry Glendenning 5) Another defeat for Cardiff If some of the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League were racehorses running at the Cheltenham Festival this week, youd expect course officials to erect the green screens and throw a blanket over them before summoning the vet to do the decent thing and put them out of their misery. If Cardiff do manage to avoid this metaphorical fate, one gets the feeling it will be because of the disastrous shortcomings of three teams worse than them, rather than any mongrel spirit they can call upon in a bid to extricate themselves from the relegation mire. After Everton away on Saturday and Liverpool at home a week later, Ole Gunnar Solskjaers side look to have a run of eminently winnable matches leading up to their season finale at home to Chelsea. On paper, matches against teams such as West Brom (a), Crystal Palace (h), Southampton (a), Stoke (h), Sunderland (a) and Newcastle (a) dont look especially daunting, but it is on grass such contests are fought and on such a surface under Solskjaer they have quite consistently been found wanting. BG 6) Adventurous Norwich. Or not … Norwichs 2-0 defeat at West Ham last month was unforgivable. They outplayed West Ham for long periods, comfortable in defence and occasionally inspired in attack, and were denied four times by excellent saves by Adrián. But then Chris Hughton settled for a point. He took off Gary Hooper after 76 minutes and Nathan Redmond after 81 minutes; they had been the best players on the pitch. Removing them handed the initiative to West Ham, who had been atrocious, and Norwich promptly conceded two scrappy goals in the final six minutes. It was a defeat that summed up Hughtons tenure. His natural caution has made him deeply unpopular with Norwichs fans, who would be glad to see the back of him even if their side stays up. Yet with Norwich four points above the bottom three and facing an arduous run-in, now would be a good time for Hughton to embrace a more adventurous approach. A trip to Southampton is not easy but Mauricio Pochettinos side have only won once at home since November and have little to play for now that they are safe in mid-table. There is no excuse for Norwich not to exploit the situation and attack. They have the players to score goals, if only they were let off the leash. Jacob Steinberg 7) Can Mitroglou save Fulham? The good news for Fulham is that they are only four points away from West Brom in 17th place. The bad news is that they are bottom, rubbish and time is running out. They have not won in the league since New Years Day (against a West Ham side without any centre-backs) and while the visit of Newcastle may look like a good opportunity to end their winless run, it is worth remembering that Alan Pardews side won 4-1 at Hull City in their last match, despite their managers touchline shenanigans. Fulham, meanwhile, were busy losing 3-1 at their fellow strugglers, Cardiff City, last weekend. The defeat was notable for Kostas Mitroglou making his first start for the club since his £12m move from Olympiakos, a week after he was left out of the squad for the game against Chelsea, despite not being injured. Felix Magath claimed that he was not ready to play in a team that is fighting for its life, not even off the bench. Fulham, apparently, did not need a player who has scored a Champions League hat-trick this season. A week later, he was in from the start. The sense of chaos at Fulham means that there is no point predicting whether Mitroglou will keep his place against Newcastle. All the same, and this is probably clutching at straws, he is a finisher and one of the few players who may be capable of dragging them out of this mess. JS 8) Manchester City benefiting from Barcelona defeat With Champions League distractions out of the way, Manchester City have narrowed their focus from an historic quadruple to a Premier League/League Cup double in the space of a week. It may not have been what Manuel Pellegrini wanted – but it will help them in the league. Saturdays visit to the KC will be the last time they have to recover from a European jaunt to face the stylistically different challenge of a hectic English encounter. Their run-in certainly isnt straightforward – trips to Anfield, Old Trafford and the Emirates will determine their Premier League fate – but if they can secure a morale-boosting win against Hull then Pellegrinis side will be well-placed for the tricky fixtures to come. TM 9) Can José Mourinho bring Oscar back to his best? José Mourinho always likes to make a statement when he arrives at a club, and although his decision to declare war on Juan Mata was somewhat strange, his suggestion that he would build the team around Oscar was more understandable. The Brazilian had taken the Premier League by storm in his first season at Chelsea, scoring some brilliant goals and creating plenty more with his instinctive link-up play, but it is Eden Hazard who has now become indispensable to the side. André Schürrles recent goalscoring exploits have edged him up the pecking order in Chelseas attacking triumvirate behind the striker, while Willians industry, positional nous and dead-ball delivery have made him a Mourinho favourite. The manager also likes to move Ramires to the right to bolster Chelseas midfield in the big games, so Oscar has increasingly found himself on the fringes. He did score a fine goal in Brazils rout of South Africa last week but he has not netted for his club since January and with the Premier League race hotting up and the World Cup less than 100 days away, Saturday evenings visit to Aston Villa would be an opportune moment to remind the world of his talents. Rob Bleaney 10) Monk and Mel in meltdown Its fair to say Pepe Mels arrival at West Brom has not had the impact the clubs owners wished, but Swansea Citys recent slump under Garry Monk has gone a little more under the radar. The bare facts are that neither side have won any of their last five matches in all competitions and both are in serious relegation danger. Defeat for West Brom would most likely see them drop into the bottom three and pile further pressure on their Spanish manager, but for Monk the effects of a loss would be just as damaging, if a little more subtle. His own position may be far more secure than his counterpart, but surrendering at home to a West Brom side in abject form could do irreparable damage to the confidence of his players, who have become so reliant on Wilfried Bonys goals it is almost embarrassing. RB
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 06:40:04 +0000
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