SM
Man City vs. Spurs: 19 hrs 34 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Midweek Premier League preview with Tony Cascarino

:Headline: Midweek Premier League preview with Tony Cascarino: ID:121716: from db_amp
Sports Mole looks ahead to four of the midweek Premier League fixtures with Tony Cascarino.

The 2013-14 Premier League campaign is now just over a third of the way through and is about to enter a traditionally hectic festive period.

It starts this evening when West Ham United travel to Crystal Palace, before the remaining 18 sides all turn out tomorrow night.

Here, Sports Mole has looked ahead to four of those matches with former Chelsea, Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland international Tony Cascarino, who is now an analyst for The Times.

Crystal Palace vs. West Ham United

"The right man for Palace is someone that is going to find something different because right now, they don't have enough about them. They need players who change football matches if they are to stay up. Tony Pulis is going to find it really difficult to get what is essentially a Championship team together to go out and win Premier League matches. He will need Selhurst Park to be the sort of venue that the Britannia Stadium was when he was at Stoke City. It needs to be very volatile and noisy because that lifts the team and in fairness to the Palace fans, it has been like that for most of the season. I don't see many goals from Palace and if that's the case, a side like West Ham can grind you down and beat you in the end."

Arsenal vs. Hull City

"Arsenal will have too much and should dispatch Hull quite comfortably. Looking at the way that Liverpool defended against Hull, Arsenal won't do that. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny look like a great partnership and Wojciech Szczesny is starting to fulfill the potential that he showed when he first came back from a loan spell at Brentford. Their midfield is extraordinary. If one doesn't step up to the plate, they've got many options like Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla - there is so much talent in there. That midfield is as good, if not better, than anything in Europe, let alone the Premier League. I can only see one result - an Arsenal win."

Sunderland vs. Chelsea

"The big important thing from Chelsea's point of view is that they have been indifferent in recent weeks. Jose Mourinho has shuffled his team around. He brought on Demba Ba at the weekend and played him alongside Fernando Torres. I thought that worked slightly better because for 45 minutes, Southampton were really comfortable. It looked as though they were going to win the game.

"Chelsea have had a couple of games like that. Against West Brom and Southampton they've fallen behind and they've had to come back. It says a lot about their character, but I'm not quite sure where they are as a team. They certainly haven't got the flair of what we've seen from Man City or Arsenal so far.

"Sunderland are a side that are mediocre. I don't see many match-winners in that side - anybody that can really make a difference. Adam Johnson has his moments and Steven Fletcher is a decent finisher when given chances, but as we saw against Aston Villa, Gus Poyet is really trying to tighten things up and not concede goals. If he starts with the basics of Wes Brown and John O'Shea at the heart of the defence, they might nick some games 1-0, but I can't see that happening against Chelsea."

Manchester United vs. Everton

"[Everton] are well capable [of picking up a positive result]. Their full-backs, even though they have lost Leighton Baines to injury, have plenty of pace, particularly Seamus Coleman. They are very solid in midfield - James McCarthy has settled in very well and Romelu Lukaku gives them a real physical presence up front. Then there are the likes of Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas, they have got a number of players that can now change a game in the blink of an eye. It wouldn't be a surprise if they got a big result at Man United.

"The Bayer Leverkusen game was probably the arrival of David Moyes [at United] because of the way that they won it and his team selection. He went for a lot of athleticism in his team to match what Leverkusen had. There was lots of good things and they did it without Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick and Robin van Persie - that's the spine of their team, which is a big plus for Moyes.

"They've got to be careful, though, because when you have got a player playing as well as Wayne Rooney is, it can mask over a few of your other problems. He has been getting them out of jail by scoring goals. The fact is, their midfield is well short of what they need to be challenging."

Watch Tony Cascarino's Monday Inquest on The Times Goals, which brings subscribers Premier League goals and highlights before anyone else on mobile, tablet and online. Visit www.TheTimes.co.uk/football to find out more.

amp_article__121716 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2013-12-03 23:44:52:
html db last update - 2013-12-03 23:44:52 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Tony Cascarino

Click here for more stories about Manchester United

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .