Wednesday, March 27

Premier League: 10 things to watch out for this weekend | Premier league


1) Cucurella and Olise, keys to the rivalry duel

Hostilities resume in the unlikely derby in which Brighton seek their first league win against Crystal Palace in six attempts. In the reverse game in September, Brighton needed a goal from Neal Maupay in the fifth minute of added time to salvage a point from a racy match at Selhurst Park. Friday’s game at Amex Stadium could be as much about who is present and who is not, as both teams lack key players in service at the African Cup of Nations. Mali’s Yves Bissouma will be absent from Brighton’s ranks, while Palace will be without Wilfried Zaha, Cheikhou Kouyaté and fit Jordan Ayew. The Ghanaian’s absence will herald another starting opportunity for Michael Olise, who shone in the FA Cup win over Millwall last weekend and in the league loss to West Ham seven days earlier. His battle against Brighton’s impressive Spanish winger Marc Cucurella should be key in deciding the outcome of a potentially fiery match that seems extremely difficult to decide. BG

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2) Arsenal, a familiar nemesis for Conte

At Chelsea, Antonio Conte had a miserable record against Arsenal – just one win in eight games, and at a time when West Londoners were a much stronger team, with Arsène Wenger in the troubled last stretch of his tenure. Defeats to Arsenal marked Conte’s imperial stint at Chelsea. With three goals behind at the Emirates in September 2016, Conte switched to a three-back formation that provided the framework for Chelsea’s dominant victory that season. But the 2017 FA Cup final, a loss to an excellent and motivated Arsenal to lift the last trophy of Wenger’s career, was the beginning of the end for Conte at Chelsea. He arrived before a transfer window where the bridges between him and the club’s hierarchy were burned. He seems too early for that still in his Tottenham reign, but a somewhat submissive side in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea suggested he was sending a message of sincere dissatisfaction. He watches over that space. JB

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Antonio Conte making himself heard in more ways than one on Wednesday.
Antonio Conte making himself heard in more ways than one on Wednesday. Photography: Action Foto Sport / NurPhoto / Rex / Shutterstock

3) Tuchel wants a laser-like approach to Chelsea

Despite Chelsea’s midweek dominance against Tottenham, apart from a brief spell in the second half, Thomas Tuchel seemed extremely displeased with his players even though they had comfortably booked their place in the next’s Carabao Cup final. month. “We were almost punished for our lack of concentration,” he said at the final whistle. “We play 90% and that’s not our style, we shouldn’t do this.” With a Saturday lunchtime rendezvous at Manchester City just around the corner, it was a timely volley through the arches of players who simply must win at the Etihad to maintain any hope of winning back the runaway leaders. Chelsea may not be good enough to beat a City team that is currently shooting at full blast, but if they don’t, it’s probably not due to a lack of focus or application after their coach’s rocket from the rear. collective. BG

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4) How the Burnley deals with their losses

Burnley have more league games left this season than any other team in the top flight, so that’s one thing in their favor. Now all they need to do is find a way, and a player, to score enough goals for them to survive. With Chris Wood sold to Newcastle this week and Max Cornet at the African Cup of Nations, Burnley will host Leicester with an attacking force that boasts a league goal between them this season, and that’s only if Matej Vydra has recovered from Covid. and a persistent groin problem. His attack is most likely led by Jay Rodriguez, who at least scored in last week’s FA Cup home loss to Huddersfield. Leicester are struggling with strikers too: Jamie Vardy is injured, Kelechi Iheanacho is in the Nations Cup and Patson Dakai is a doubt due to injury, but Brendan Rodgers’ team at least has midfielders who can contribute goals. Burnley’s chances of scoring on Saturday may depend on Ben Mee, their league top scorer this season after Wood and Cornet, and a player capable of exploiting Leicester’s ongoing set-ball problems. P.S.

Jay Rodriguez has scored five times for Burnley this season, but has yet to find the net in the league.
Jay Rodriguez has scored five times for Burnley this season, but has yet to find the net in the league. Photograph: MI News / NurPhoto / Shutterstock

5) Villa does not comply with Gerrard’s demands

These are exciting times at Aston Villa. Philippe Coutinho will surely make his debut on Saturday and Lucas Digne is likely to do so as well. Steven Gerrard has clearly made Villa attractive to a group of wealthier footballers, but the results in the last month have been far less impressive than his transfer business. Three defeats have followed victory at Norwich: losses to Chelsea and Manchester United on either side of a more worrying performance at Brentford, where Mads Roerslev’s last goal was perhaps the most indicative. The style of all the action that Gerrard demands of the players from him seems to coincide with decreasing energy levels towards the end of matches. On Monday at Old Trafford, Villa had a slumped and incoherent United on the ropes from the start of the second half, only for the FA Cup third round tie to be closed reasonably comfortably. It may take time, and a preseason, for Villa to meet the physical demands of his coach. JB

6) A bad week for the worse for Everton?

After watching his team win just one game and drawing three of their last 12 Premier League outings, Everton fans are mutinous. This week’s sale of his talented French left-back Lucas Digne to Aston Villa, in the wake of his fight with Rafa Benitez, is likely to have further enraged a fanbase whose patience with their coach was already wearing thin. “Sometimes it just takes an outside person to destroy a beautiful love story,” Digne wrote in his goodbye message, in what has been perceived as a hint to his former manager. With Benitez’s team heading to Carrow Road to face an abominably bad Norwich City on Saturday, anything short of an overwhelming victory would further damage the already troubled relationship between Everton fans and their coach. BG

Newcomer Nathan Patterson during Everton training this week.
Newcomer Nathan Patterson during Everton training this week. Photograph: Tony McArdle / Everton FC / Getty Images

7) Salah’s shares increase further in his absence

Liverpool’s current streak of matches can also be seen as an extension of Mohamed Salah’s contract negotiations. The team made a solid case for giving Salah everything he wants by playing prosaically 10-man Arsenal in Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Anfield. The hosts lacked sharpness and wit without Salah and Sadio Mané, among others, while Salah’s ostensible substitute Takumi Minamino underscored the importance of the Egyptian, and the superficiality of the Liverpool side, by missing an open goal at the end. A similar performance when they host Brentford to the league on Sunday could result in them falling further behind in the title race. P.S.

8) Wood shows Newcastle’s short-term goals

Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald, Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer … Chris Wood? The New Zealander filling a gap in the form of Callum Wilson in Newcastle’s attack, and the £ 25m paid by a striker with three goals all season, shows the recruiting difficulty in the January transfer window. Wood, a decent, troublesome and disinterested striker, will have to cope for now, as Newcastle looks less like a superclub on hold than Burnley-on-Tyne, with Wood joining former Claret Kieran Tripper in their ranks under a former Turf Moor coach. on Eddie. Howe. Seizing the chances of a less wealthy relegation rival is the limit of Newcastle’s ambitions for now, and until the crash is avoided the club can only operate in such a short term. What fans might have said if Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce had turned to Wood, as the answer is one for birds. A first goal from Wood in seven weeks and a loss from Watford, another relegation rival, is desperately needed. JB

Chris Wood in training with Newcastle on Thursday.
Chris Wood in training with Newcastle on Thursday. Photograph: Serena Taylor / Newcastle United / Getty Images

9) Broja to test Wolves’ renewed bottom line

Bruno Lage was astute enough to stick with a three-back formation after taking over from Wolves last summer, with the emergence of Max Kilman on the right helping the team continue to use the form in which most players they were familiar. But with Romain Saïss in the Nations Cup with Morocco, Lage has to find another player to deploy alongside Kilman and Conor Coady. Marçal did well on the left side of the back three in last weekend’s FA Cup win over Sheffield United until he was forced out with an injury at halftime, after which midfielder Leander Dendoncker competently replaced. But Southampton will pose a tougher test on Saturday, especially with Armando Broja continuing to emerge as an outstanding young offensive talent. Ralph Hassenhüttl hopes to convince Southampton’s new owner to find a way to make Broja’s loan out from Chelsea permanent for the summer. He will rely on the Wolves’ impromptu defense to prevent the 20-year-old from strengthening the argument to do so. P.S.

10) Old school values ​​shooting hammers

While Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United falter in their quest for a place in the top four, West Ham have been busy doing business. The expectation is that a lean squad will eventually run out of power, as happened last season, but David Moyes’s team is currently in fourth place on its own merits. The improvement over the past 18 months of players like Jarrod Bowen, Manuel Lanzini and Declan Rice is a tribute to their coach, a rediscovery of the team-building experience that first made his reputation at Preston and Everton. Rice is a reminder that stars can be made rather than bought, while Bowen, who scored two goals in Wednesday’s win over Norwich, is a reminder that stars can also be bought and made from the lowest levels. . Those old-fashioned values ​​are taking over the elite clubs chasing West Ham’s tail, and a repeat of Leeds’ 2-0 FA Cup loss last week would keep the Hammers ahead. JB


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