PREVIEW OF WEEK 8 OF THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

After a ''long'' international break, the most attractive Tv series ''The Barclays Premier League'' returns to our screen this weekend with a total of 8 games to be played today 20/10/2012
With the London derby being the first game to kickoff the weekend.
Soccer4life previews some of the matches for today.
           

12:45 Tottenham H. vs Chelsea     

  15:00 Fulham vs Aston Villa

  15:00 Liverpool vs Reading

  15:00 Manchester U. vs Stoke C.

  15:00 Swansea C. vs Wigan Athletic

 15:00 West Bromwich A. vs Manchester C.

  15:00 West Ham U. vs Southampton

  17:30 Norwich C. vs Arsenal

 

Tottenham Vs Chelsea:

Chelsea will be looking to continue their excellent start to the season at White Hart Lane, but it is a ground they have not won at in the last six Premier League seasons

Chelsea have failed to win on their past six visits to White Hart Lane in the league, losing three, and Spurs have had an impressive unbeaten record in all 20 home London derbies in the last five years. Whether they can maintain that record will largely depend on the three talented Belgians that will be on display this afternoon.

 

Ahead of the clash at White hart Lane tomorrow, Andre Villas-Boas has said that he has no concerns about the fitness of his players returning from the international break. Jermain Defoe was in action for England on Wednesday, and Clint Dempsey had to return from America but the manager believes that this early in the season, fatigue shouldn’t be a factor. Spurs could also be buoyed by Kyle Naughton and Jake Livermore returning from injury.

Predicted line ups:

Spurs: Lloris, Vertonghen, Gallas, Caulker, Walker, Sandro, Demeble, Bale, Dempsey, Lennon, Adebayor.

Chelsea: Cech, Cole, Cahill, Luiz, Ivanovic, Lampard, Mikel, Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Torres.

Liverpool Vs Reading

Spanish midfielder Suso could be asked to play a more advanced attacking role in Liverpool’s Premier League match against Reading. With Fabio Borini injured with a broken foot, Luis Suarez is the only fit striker at the club. Liverpool may also choose to play five men in midfield to cope with only having one striker.Liverpool are sweating over the fitness of goalkeeper Pepe Reina ahead of the match against Reading. Reina was injured in mid-week as he warmed up with the Spanish squad. The club have not confirmed if he will be given a fitness test or will start from the bench which would mean a rare start for Brad Jones.

 

Royals forward Noel Hunt is a doubt because of a heel problem. Midfielder Mikele Leigertwood has been passed fit after recovering from a dead leg. Reading boss Brian McDermott has no further injury concerns as the club seek their first Premier League win of the season.

possible Line - up

Liverpool: Reina, Wisdom, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Sahin, Suso, Suarez, Sterling, Jones, Carragher, Coates, Henderson, Shelvey, Cole, Assaidi, Downing, Morgan, Yesil.l

Reading fc: McCarthy, Taylor, Gunter, Cummings, Gorkss, Pearce, Mariappa, Shorey, Harte, McAnuff, Guthrie, Leigertwood, Tabb, McCleary, Kebe, Pogrebnyak, Le Fondre, Hunt, Robson-Kanu, Church, Roberts

West Brom vs Man city:

The Baggies may be without midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu. The Congo international picked up a niggle on international duty this week and is rated as "60-40" to be fit for the match by head coach Steve Clarke. Striker Romelu Lukaku is expected to be available after a minor ankle problem, but Steven Reid and Chris Brunt (both hamstring), Billy Jones (knee) and Boaz Myhill (thumb) are out, while long-term absentee Jerome Thomas is still not quite ready.

 

The Barclays Premier League champions are without midfielders David Silva and Jack Rodwell after the pair suffered hamstring injuries representing Spain and England Under-21s respectively during the international break.

Another midfielder, Javi Garcia, remains on the sidelines with a thigh problem and defender Maicon (foot) is also still missing.

possible line - up:

West Brom: Foster, Daniels, McAuley, Olsson, Tamas, Dawson, Jara Reyes, Popov, Ridgewell, Mulumbu, Yaakov, Dorrans, Morrison, El Ghanassy, Gera, Fortune, Odemwingie, Lukaku, Long, Rosenberg

Man City : Hart, Pantilimon, Wright, Richards, Zabaleta, Lescott, Kompany, Nastasic, K Toure, Clichy, Kolarov, Nasri, Milner, Y Toure, Barry, Sinclair, Aguero, Dzeko, Balotelli, Tevez

Manchester United Vs Stoke city:

Ashley Young is being tipped for a return to the Manchester United squad for the match against Stoke City this weekend. Young has been injured since the start of the season with United forced into playing narrow formations in recent games due to a lack of available wide players.

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is being tipped to join brother, Anton, in a boycott against anti-racism campaign ‘Kick it Out’. A number of high profile black players are thought to be about to boycott wearing shirts with the campaign’s logo after scenes during the week after England’s Under-21 match against Serbia. However, Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that all of his players will wear the shirts.

Coming into one of their most challenging matches of the season, Stoke have almost a full squad to pick from with very few players unavailable for Tony Pulis.

Michael Owen had been struggling with a knock recently but is expected to be available for selection, while Glenn Whelan (hamstring) is a little more doubtful and his fitness was yesterday determined being Friday.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

 Manchester United have managed to save nine points from losing positions so far this season, more than any other team in the Premier League.

With five goals, the Red Devils have scored more from corners than any other side.

Robin van Persie has a good record against Stoke with six goals in his five league matches against them.

Stoke have not won any of the last 12 meetings with United at Old Trafford in all competitions, losing 11 and drawing once.

Michael Owen could make his first appearance against United since leaving them on a free transfer in the summer.

Sixty-seven per cent of Stoke’s league goals this season have come from set-pieces.

The 2-0 win over Swansea in late September remains Stoke’s only win in all competitions this season.

pulis’ men have not won any of their last 13 league matches away from home, with their six points all coming in draws.

Possible Line -up

Manchester Utd : De Gela, Lindegaard, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Buttner, Valencia, Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Scholes, Carrick, Cleverley, Giggs, Kagawa, Rooney, Van Persie, Hernandez, Welbeck.

Stoke : Begovic, Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Cameron, Upson, Shotton, Wilson, Whelan, Etherington, Delap, Palacios, Jones, Jerome, Crouch, Walters, Kightly, Whitehead, Adam, Edu, Nzonzi, Owen, Ness, Wilkinson

 Norwich Vs Arsenal:

Arsenal entered the international break with spirits revived after a demoralising defeat to Chelsea, with twinned 3-1 defeats of Olympiakos and West Ham United. Norwich City, by contrast, have had a fortnight to digest the bitter pill of two canings at the hands of big clubs - 5-2 by Liverpool, 4-1 by Chelsea. The visit of Arsenal suggests that the fixture list has not been kind to the Canaries of late. Then again, they have hardly helped themselves all season.

Arsenal have included Jack Wilshere in their squad for the game with Norwich City at Carrow Road this weekend. Arsene Wenger’s men go head to head with Chris Hughton’s Canaries with a number of new injury concerns at their door from the international break. Laurent Koscielny is unavailable while Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott are also out of action for the game. Vito Mannone will continue in goal however Abou Diaby remains sidelined alone with Emmanuel Frimpong, Tomas Rosicky and Bacary Sagna.

Norwich a club desperate for its first league win of 2012-13 will not be keen on having to entertain an Arsenal team who have played some of the best football of the Premier League season.

Norwich are many people's idea of a relegation favourite, including among a section of their own fans, but they will hope that they can catch Arsenal cold after a fortnight away from

Norwich City player to watch: Wes Hoolahan. The Irishman is yet to fully look a part of Hughton's long-term plans, just as he has been largely ignored by Giovanni Trapattoni for his national team. But amid some harrowing recent results, he has been a beacon of hope for a group of supporters who clearly admire him. What good play was supplied against Chelsea was supplied by him, on only his third start of the season. Creativity has been lacking, and Hoolahan can provide it.

 

possible line - up

Norwich: Ruddy, Barnett, Garrido, Martin, Bassong, Tettey, Johnson, Hoolahan, Howson, E Bennett, Holt, Bunn, R Bennett, Morison, Pilkington, Jackson, Turner, Snodgrass, Surman.

Arsenal: Mannone, Santos, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey, Gervinho, Podolski, Giroud, Martinez, Coquelin, Djourou, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Chamakh, Frimpong