Axel looms
What you need to know:
SOCCER. Managers of Newcastle, Sunderland, Tottenham and even Liverpool are under immense pressure as English Premiership action returns this weekend, headlined by Tottenham vs Manchester City.
Four English Premier League managers are living on the edge. Sunderland’s Dutch manager Dick Advocaat, Spurs’ Mauricio Pochettino, Newcastle United’s Steve McLaren and Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers are worried men.
This weekend’s fixtures schedule could make or break their ‘marriages’ at their respective clubs. The undeniable fact is that there is an axe looming for the quartet as they have been unimpressive in the early season.
Advocaat must conjure up a result against a Man Utd side that is riding on the brisk start of French teenager Anthony Martial, who has scored four goals in as many appearances. For McLaren, the defending champions will be in town looking to continue their rebuilding process after they defeated Arsenal 2-0 last weekend. His tactics on the day will be equally vital.
The same applies to Brendan Rodgers whose Liverpool side have looked clueless thus far. They seat in 13th on the 20-team log with just eight points from six outings and victory against Aston Villa at Anfield would do well for their confidence.
Opening encounter
But former African Player of Year Yaya Toure is desperate to return to winning ways when Manchester City travel to Tottenham today after their surprise defeat at the hands of West Ham. City started the league season in perfect fashion with five wins from five matches, but their 100 per cent record came to an end when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Slaven Bilic’s side last Saturday.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men bounced back with a convincing 4-1 League Cup victory at Sunderland on Tuesday and midfielder Toure has now set his sights on taking all three points at White Hart Lane.
“We have a tough game coming against Tottenham and we needed this relief, and confidence coming back,” Toure said after the win at the Stadium of Light. “City or even Chelsea, Arsenal, when they start losing or have a bad spell you get a lot of criticism. “But we have experience in the squad and we try to give the other guys confidence in these situations. “We have big experienced players who hate losing because we have experience at the high level.”
