It’s Super Sunday in the Premier League with leaders Manchester City hosting Arsenal, Chelsea at home to Manchester United and Tottenham playing Crystal Palace. We pick out the team news ahead of a big weekend in the Premier League.
Manchester City vs. Arsenal
City are five points clear at the top of the Premier League table but boss Pep Guardiola says his side are “beatable”.
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Unbeaten after ten games, some fans and pundits have started to compare City with Arsenal’s “Invincibles” - who did not lose any league games in the 2003-2004 season. But Guardiola says that record only belongs to Arsenal and boss Arsene Wenger and it won’t change this season.
“I would like to say to Arsene, this record belongs to him,” said Guardiola, whose side host the fifth-placed Gunners on Sunday. “We are not going to break it. We are beatable. I don’t know when, but someone is going to beat us.”
Meanwhile Wenger has vowed to go to the Etihad and “attack” the league leaders. He told the London Evening Standard: “We will not hide. When we go there, we want to defend well but you cannot go there and only be focused on only defending. We want to play, have the ball and create dangerous situations. The best way to defend sometimes is to attack.”
Chelsea vs. Manchester United
Second-placed Manchester United head to Chelsea on Sunday with boss Jose Mourinho and midfielder Namanja Matic both returning to their former club.
Serbian Matic joined United from the Blues for £40million in July and Mourinho told Sky Sports News: “I was surprised when [Matic’s] agent called me to say ‘do you want him?’. I was surprised, but he’s an agent I know well. Normally he’s very straightforward, so when he told me ‘you can have him if you want’, of course I want.”
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, rumoured to be facing the sack in the summer, admits his side are not playing well. They lost 3-0 at Roma in the Champions League and pressure will be on to get a result against United.
Conte said: “In this season, we are struggling… struggling a lot. We’ll see if you’re a winner or a loser. If a period is positive, it’s easy to have confidence. But in this moment when you’re struggling it’s important to show our character, to face the problem in the right way.”
Despite their poor form, Mourinho still believes his old side can challenge for the title. He said: “Chelsea are the champions and one of the top teams in the country and I consider them and they consider themselves too, a big contender for the title.”
West Ham United vs. Liverpool
Liverpool will be without Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren for tomorrow’s trip to West Ham United but Reds boss Jurgen Klopp could be boosted by the return of Sadio Mane.
Senegal striker Mane has been out since last month with a hamstring injury but could feature against the Hammers.
Klopp told the BBC: “Sadio trained yesterday and looked really, really good. We will see how he reacts [to training]. He could be ready for 20/25 minutes.”
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has called on the club’s fans to be “patient” against Liverpool. The Hammers are 16th in the league and Bilic said in an interview with Sky Sports: “Our fans are very educated. They know what other teams are doing, how they are playing home or away. It doesn’t mean you don’t want to win the game.
“We have to be cautious and the fans will need to be patient as well. They [Liverpool] are a very good team, they play offensive football and it can leave them a little open at the back.”
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Crystal Palace
Still high from their superb Champions League victory over Real Madrid, Spurs will be optimistic ahead of the London derby against bottom-of-the-league Crystal Palace.
But manager Mauricio Pochettino, who will be without goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and defender Toby Alderweireld through injury, says his side must “work hard” to get another good result on Sunday.
“We have to be focused, we must use that result [against Real] to lift us,” he told the BBC. “It’s always difficult because the effort was massive but we must be ready.
“Palace have a very good team, it’s true they struggled at the start but [Roy] Hodgson is a great manager and we had a very good relationship with him when he was national manager.
“Crystal Palace is a final for us, after the defeat at Manchester United. We know very well that in football you must keep your feet on the grass, all the games are difficult and you cannot be relaxed when you compete at this level.”
Former England boss Hodgson is excited to be returning to Wembley with his Palace side to face a Spurs side featuring Harry Kane. He said: “They have an exceptional centre forward in Harry Kane, who scores with nearly every touch of the ball, but they’re no one-man team.
“I think the plaudits Spurs have been getting are very much deserved. They’ve been excellent this year when I’ve seen them.”
Everton vs. Watford
Everton caretaker manager David Unsworth says that Sunday’s home match against Watford is a “cup final” for him and the struggling Merseyside club.
After the 3-0 defeat against Lyon last night, the Toffees have now lost five games in a row and Unsworth - who wants the Goodison job full-time - says that a big result is needed.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “It’s not about me, it’s about getting over this disappointing result [against Lyon], taking the positives and trying to pick a team to go and win a massive game on Sunday, a cup final for me.
“It’s about the club and what is best for the club. We need to start winning games, particularly on Sunday, where I think it’s a huge game for me and a huge game for the club, and I’ve left the players in no uncertain terms that it is a huge game for them as well.
“I’m sure they will respond and the Goodison faithful will get behind us all, because we need them. We need three points on Sunday.”
This weekend’s Premier League fixtures
Tomorrow’s fixtures (all 3pm unless stated)
Sunday’s Premier League fixtures
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