Tottenham Hotspur welcome bitter rivals Arsenal to Wembley for the early kick-off on Saturday in what should prove to be a real firecracker in the
English Premier League. There are nine other mouth-watering ties across the country, however, that cannot be ignored.
Premier League weekend fixtures:
Saturday, February 10th Tottenham vs Arsenal Everton vs Crystal Palace Swansea vs Burnley Stoke vs Brighton West Ham vs Watford Man City vs Leicester
Sunday, February 11th Huddersfield vs Bournemouth Newcastle vs Man United Southampton vs Liverpool
Monday, February 12th Chelsea vs West Brom
Everton vs Crystal Palace
‘Big Sam’ Allardyce and his Everton side welcome his previous employers, Crystal Palace, managed by another former England manager in Roy Hodgson to Goodison Park on Saturday. The Toffees have just one win in their last nine in all competitions ahead of their clash against a resurgent Palace outfit who have suffered just two defeats in their last 15 outings in the league, a run which has seen them rise to 14
th on the table. There have been four draws from the last six matches between the pair including a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture last season as well as a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park in September.
West Ham United vs Watford
As seems to be the case most weeks in England’s top-flight, we have another London derby to look forward to and while it may not be of the magnitude of an Arsenal-Spurs encounter, it pits West Ham against Watford in a fixture that has averaged over three goals per game since the Hornets regained promotion to the Premier League in 2015. Michail Antonio scored twice for the Hammers when the sides met at the London Stadium last year but to avail as Watford clawed themselves back from being 2-0 down in the first-half to ultimately win the match 4-2.
Manchester City vs Leicester City
An interesting sub-plot on the cards as Pep Guardiola’s league leaders host Claude Puel’s Leicester City on Saturday, is the future of Foxes winger Riyadh Mahrez, who was denied a deadline day transfer to Man City. He has skipped five days of training since the incident and is not expected to be involved against the prospective champions this weekend. The Algerian was the architect in a 3-1 win for Leicester at the Etihad in February 2016 as they marched on to the most unprecedented title triumphs in recent memory.
Southampton vs Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk became the eighth player to make the switch from the south-coast to Merseyside when he transferred from Southampton to Liverpool for 75 million pounds in January. On Sunday, he will make his return to St Mary’s for the first time along with former Saints Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane. Nathaniel Clyne, however, remains sidelined for the Reds with a long-term injury lay-off. Both games last season ended in goalless stalemates between Liverpool and Southampton before Mohamed Salah bagged a brace for Jurgen Klopp’s men in a 3-0 win at Anfield when the sides met in November.
Chelsea vs West Bromwich Albion
Bottom of the table, West Bromwich Albion, will be hoping to pull off a major upset when they head to Stamford Bridge to take on a Chelsea side in tatters under Antonio Conte in 2018. The Blues have failed to win a single league game this year and the defence of their crown hit a new low following their humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth when they conceded three goals in the final 10 minutes at Vicarage Road on Monday to lose 4-1 to Watford. The Baggies have won just once in their last 10 in the league against Chelsea and have not won at the Bridge since a League Cup tie in November 1983.