Manchester United, Arsenal to turn tide

PREMIERSHIP KICK-OFF. With destinations such as Old Trafford, White Hart Lane, Goodison Park, the Stadium Of Light for their rivals, Man City should ideally be happy that it is Villa Park that beckons, as the hosts have not won there for months now.

I have always placed the line that there are no easy games in the English Premiership in the ‘lazy clichés’ category, but I am obliged to move it to the ‘truth be told’ column this once; testament to the competitiveness of that league this season, each of the top seven teams has its work cut out at the weekend.

Man United and Tottenham have tough home fixtures, Arsenal visit inform opponents and Chelsea make one of the more dreaded trips in the league, leaving Manchester City with the easiest of the tops games, albeit only strictly in relative terms.

In lieu of that, here comes one for the punters intent of raiding the gaming houses and making a kill. Don’t pay me if you hit the jackpot, but don’t kill me if you don’t either, so here goes.

Man United vs Liverpool
Luis Suarez is right when he says he will be buoyed by the boo boys, not deterred. Many will forget that Patrice Evra had had a very good game at Anfield in the FA Cup even as the abuse rained down from the Kop, until Dirk Kuyt got in behind him for the winner.

It is hard for goalkeepers and defenders to win in that situation because they are judged on the ones that get away, but being a striker Suarez can miss a host of chances including a penalty and still be the hero if he bangs in the equaliser or winner.
Because he was not injured, he has had a good rest and showed against Spurs on Monday that he is still the menace in the box that he was before the suspension.

Rather than preoccupy themselves with stopping the sneaky Uruguayan however, United would be better advised to concentrate on controlling the game as they did for an hour at Anfield. Instead of having a second winger (the Ashley Young ploy did not even work at Chelsea on Sunday), Alex Ferguson ought to draft in Tom Cleverly to join Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes.

With Valencia doing it right on the right, Rooney, Wellbeck and Cleverly can take turns drifting left but otherwise allow Evra freedom and space to get forward and get his revenge in a more telling way than if he was to stay back and help out with his nemesis.
Kenny Dalglish has to choose between retaining Andy Carroll and either losing the numbers battle in the middle or missing out on the pace of Craig Bellamy/industry of Kuyt. For Ferguson, the reminders that Wellbeck doesn’t have to last entire games when Chicarito and Dimitar Berbatov are options have become too many to ignore.
Verdict: United win

Villa vs City
With destinations such as Old Trafford, White Hart Lane, Goodison Park, the Stadium Of Light for their rivals, Man City should ideally be happy that it is Villa Park that beckons, as the hosts have not won there for months now.

But wait a minute, this could turn out to be the most slippery of banana skins.
Villa’s defence is creaking and the midfield is grossly over-matched, but there are other causes for hope. There are goals in Darren Bent, Robbie Keane and Gabriel Agbonlahor; Charles Nzogbia is finally hitting his stride; Shay Given will be inspired as will other former City players like Richard Dunne and the resurgent Stephen Ireland; more importantly will be the siege mentality created by press reports of a player-revolt and plans by the fans to demonstrate against the manager prior to kickoff. Remember Blackburn felling Arsenal and United under similar circumstances? Still though …
Verdict: City win

Spurs vs Newcastle
The Magpies do not have the tactical nous and discipline to shackle Gareth Bale the way Liverpool did it on Monday, when Dalglish switched Glen Johnson to the left to allow for the more defensively solid Kelly to come in at right back and get help from Kuyt on the wing, Jay Spearing in the middle and Martin Skrtel at the back.

With home comforts and Bale getting more freedom, Spurs will be back in full flow and the defensive approach adopted by Joe Jordan and co at Anfield will go out the window.

However, on the pitch the two Dembas might not allow Harry Redknapp the perfect celebration for winning in court. The Senegalese ‘twins’ are bound to exert untold pressure on Ledley King’s knees and Michael Dawson’s back after the injury-prone pair put in a great shift to keep Carroll, Bellamy, Kuyt and Suarez at bay on Monday. In Johan Cabaye’s absence and without natural width though, Ba and Cisse will need for Frenchmen Ben Arfa and Gabriel Obertan to be at their assisting best.
Verdict: Draw

Sunderland vs Arsenal
Sunderland are the form team of the Premiership, collecting points like they are going out of fashion. In typical Martin O’Neill style, they are playing work-till-you-drop football and are much stronger than the sum of their parts.

Stephane Sessegnon is in fine fettle, Frazier Campbell is plugging the hole left by first Asamaoh Gyan and then Nicklas Bendtner, Sebastian Larsson loves to play against Arsenal and the absence of superstars makes it difficult for tacticians to plot against them.

Still though, it will not be enough against Arsenal’s midfield mastery and pace in the wide areas, which will all culminate in the most inevitable outcome of this season’s Premiership – a Robin van Persie goal, perhaps a couple or even a treble.
Verdict: Arsenal win