Ten things to look out for as Premier League returns in midweek
Tottenham have to go on the attack against wounded Liverpool, Chelsea face big change in the Thomas Tuchel era and Arsenal’s revenge mission: 10 things to look out for as the Premier League returns in midweek
- The Premier League returns in midweek after a weekend of FA Cup action
- Tottenham face off against Liverpool while Everton take on in-form Leicester
- Man United will hope to maintain their form against bottom club Sheffield United
- Sportsmail outlines 10 things to look out for ahead of an excitingrun of games
The games come thick and fast in the world of lockdown football and the Premier League is back again after a weekend of FA Cup action.
The old competition gave us plenty to think about going back into another week of top-flight match-ups – we saw Manchester United assert their dominance over a Liverpool side that continues to falter, we saw Chelsea get back into their groove against Championship outfit Luton before the axe finally fell on Frank Lampard, while resurgent Arsenal fell flat again after being dumped out by the Saints.
There is almost no time to switch gears as we focus our attention on the title race again, and this week offers games with big stakes – Tottenham taking on a wounded Liverpool side, top-four hopefuls Everton welcoming in-form Leicester and two troubled teams in Newcastle and Leeds going head to head.
Sportsmail takes a look through the biggest talking points ahead of the midweek games as the Premier League reaches its crucial halfway point.
There is another exciting batch of midweek action in store as the Premier League returns
How will Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea line up?
News of Lampard’s sacking caught many by surprise – particularly after he got his side back to winning ways in the FA Cup against Luton.
But a look at the bigger picture and it’s clear his time was running out at Stamford Bridge, with the club now hoping to get Tuchel in before Wednesday’s clash with Wolves.
Lampard had been forced to shuffle his pack several times this season with a number of stars failing to impress – not to mention big-money buy Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. But should Tuchel be announced as his successor, will he bring both of his fellow Germans to the forefront?
Frank Lampard’s sacking by Chelsea leaves the likes of Mason Mount in the dark at the club
New boss Thomas Tuchel will be mulling over his first line-up and could make big changes
After splashing out £230million this summer, the club are desperate to see both men succeed, and Tuchel could hold the keys to unlocking their potential having impressed in the Bundesliga. The game at Stamford Bridge might come too soon for Tuchel, but should he find himself in the dugout, what will that mean for Chelsea’s homegrown players? Will the likes of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Reece James still be given a chance to prove their worth?
Lampard had been laying out a very clear path towards youth at Chelsea having introduced a handful of youngsters into the first-team set-up when the transfer ban was in place – but Tuchel could go in the completely opposite direction and head down the continental route. He’s not going to be paid to please the fans – he would need results, and fast.
Will lightning strike twice at St Mary’s?
Just when you think the Gunners have turned a corner, they only go and fall down another trap.
Arsenal have had such a stranglehold over the FA Cup it seemed almost routine that they would find a way past Southampton on Saturday, but were never able to recover from Gabriel Magalhaes’ first-half own goal.
Mikel Arteta didn’t go full strength, so it’s clear where his priorities lie – hauling the club up the league table. Luckily, he’ll have the chance to do that again on Tuesday and have another roll of the dice at St Mary’s. Back-to-back defeats at the same ground in the space of a few days won’t sit too well with the fans, especially after resting his big name players for this one.
A defeat would be damning for the north Londoners, too, considering the Saints are directly above them in the table – two points ahead in 10th. It’s difficult to believe that Arsenal are just seven points off fourth spot, but a win here would really set them on their way to a remarkable comeback.
Arsenal were gunned down by the Saints in the FA Cup but will be hoping to avoid a repeat
Can Newcastle or Leeds end their slumps?
Steve Bruce is a dead man walking at St James’ Park – there hasn’t been this much tension on Tyneside since the days of Alan Pardew. Should he lose to Leeds – another struggling team – his head could be on the block fairly sharpish.
Newcastle have really flirted with relegation of late, losing their last four in a row, and they haven’t won a game since mid-December. The Toon Army are tiring of the directionless football and lack of spark – something Leeds are also suffering from.
Marcelo Bielsa’s high-octane style seems to have taken its toll on his promoted side after some stuttering form – including their miserable FA Cup exit at the hands of League Two Crawley Town. The Whites are still in a relatively healthy position as things stands – sitting in 12th place.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are teetering towards the drop zone, yet a win would put them just a point behind the Yorkshire outfit. Something has surely got to give in this one. It’s the perfect chance for one of these sides to ignite the flames and jumpstart their stumbling seasons.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce (L) and Leeds coach Marcelo Bielsa (R) are enduring torrid spells
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham should attack vulnerable Liverpool
When Liverpool secured a stoppage-time win over Spurs in December, it sent the Reds three points clear of Jose Mourinho’s men at the top of the table. Well now look at them both.
Just over a month later, it’s all come tumbling down for Liverpool, who are on a torrid winless run of five games and are now down in fourth. Tottenham’s loss at Anfield started a blip of their own – they’re just below the Reds, and what was once a title clash is now a top-four battle on Thursday night.
Mourinho came under fire in that last meeting after his Spurs side sat back for most of the game in search for a vital point, but came unstuck as Roberto Firmino eventually found the winner in the dying seconds. Tottenham have looked like real contenders at times this season but have been let down by negative tactics. Now, with Liverpool still enduring an injury crisis and lacking in confidence, is it time for Spurs to take the game to Jurgen Klopp’s men?
They sit just one point behind Liverpool with a game in hand, and a win would put them right back in the title conversation. If Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are given the support, they have the power to inflict a lot of damage on Liverpool’s weary defence.
Jose Mourinho was criticised for sitting back against Liverpool in Tottenham’s 2-1 loss against the Reds in December
Salah double shows signs of life in Liverpool’s attack
For all the negativity around Liverpool, including an FA Cup exit at the hands of their bitter rivals, there was a silver lining as Mohamed Salah was back among the goals at Old Trafford.
With Liverpool missing the collossal Virgil van Dijk as well as Joe Gomez and Joel Matip in recent weeks, you would hope that Salah, Firmino and Sadio Mane would at least be banging them in at the other end to soften the blow.
But their famous trio have been enduring their worst stint under Klopp so far. Post-Christmas, only five goals have been scored by Liverpool, with four of these coming against Aston Villa’s youth team in the FA Cup third round, and the other against West Brom in the Premier League.
Liverpool’s forwards have struggled during their slump but Mo Salah netted a brace v United
Salah, who scored 19 times en route to Liverpool’s title success last season, hasn’t found the net in the league since a 7-0 win over Palace in mid December. But his double against United brought back hope that he could resurrect his best form, and what a time to do it in such a big game against Spurs.
The Egyptian has a decent record against the Lilywhites too – netting six times.
Are Burnley finding form at the right time?
You should never count Burnley out with Sean Dyche at the helm, and now we’re finding out why. The Clarets looked like dead-certs for relegation this season after making just one signing last summer – Dale Stephens from Brighton – and made a pretty poor start to the season.
But gradually they’ve been pulling away from the bottom three and their stunning win at Liverpool last week – the Reds’ first at Anfield since 2017 – would have given the team all the confidence in the world that they can avoid the drop. That coupled with a 3-0 win over fellow Premier League outfit Fulham in the FA Cup has got the wheels turning at Turf Moor.
They’re up against Villa side who have impressed this season and are pushing for a spot in the top six, but Burnley will hope to put in the same solid displays that saw them nick wins at Arsenal and Liverpool.
Burnley are turning a corner at the half way point after securing a huge win away at Liverpool
Time for leaders United to show their teeth
The rise of the Red Devils to the Premier League summit has taken most people by surprise, and their ability to sneak results and win ugly has been key to an impressive consistency from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
As well as grinding out a 0-0 draw against rivals Liverpool, United have clinched narrow wins over Fulham, Burnley, Villa and Wolves in their last five games. We’re seeing a mentality that brought so much success to the club during the Sir Alex Ferguson era – with the belief that the three points are inevitable.
But take a look at United’s front line and you wonder why they haven’t beaten teams more convincingly in recent games. Midfielder Bruno Fernandes is currently outscoring forwards Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani. Now that United are in full swing at the league summit, it’s time for Solskjaer to unleash the shackles and give his forwards the licence to express themselves.
Their 3-2 FA Cup win over Liverpool saw Rashford and Greenwood on the scoresheet, and they’ll both be hungry for more when they take on basement boys Sheffield United.
United are sitting pretty at the top but it’s time to see the Red Devils win with a flourish
Calvert-Lewin back in the goals ahead of crucial Leicester game
At the start of the season Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the name on everyone’s lips as he blitzed his way to six goals from his first four games and even netted on his England debut against Wales. His contributions remained steady throughout the season – but lately they’ve dried up, with his last league goal coming in early December.
The 23-year-old was back on the scoresheet in Everton’s 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday after sitting out the last three games with a hamstring injury. Not a bad time to have him back and in a scoring mood as the Toffees face a pivotal game in their bid to claim a place in the top four.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have shown they are by no means reliant on Calvert-Lewin – winning four of their last five – but it can do no harm to have him back in the side when they take on the Foxes, who are six points above them in the table.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin ended his mini goal drought in the FA Cup ahead of big Leicester clash
Foxes are no longer Jamie Vardy FC
Another team getting by without their star striker is Leicester, who briefly went top of the league last week by beating Chelsea 2-0, and pulled it off again without goals from Vardy.
The forward will be absent against Everton as he continues to recover from a hernia operation, but Rodgers won’t be too concerned given the output from other areas of the pitch. James Maddison is enjoying a purple patch and Harvey Barnes impressing too.
Vardy has long been the Foxes talisman and has chipped in with 11 league goals this season – the last of which came against Tottenham in late December. The England man has still been vital in stretching defences and making dangerous runs for his team-mates, but the team are pulling together and producing results whether Vardy is on the scoresheet or not.
Vardy will miss the Everton game through injury but the Foxes are rampant without his goals
Man City continue to be silent assassins
All this talk of United topping the table has seemingly helped their noisy neighbours turn into quiet operators after six successive league wins. It wasn’t the best of starts to a season from Pep Guardiola’s men but here they are just two points off their Manchester rivals and with a game in hand.
Victory over West Brom will put further pressure on United after staying afloat with a string of solid results. Pep has been one season without the league crown and looks in no mood to make it two. Having all the limelight on the Red Devils will suit City perfectly as they go strong in the league and cups in the background.
And all this without much firepower from their frontmen. Sergio Aguero has been out injured for most of the season and then tested positive for Covid to compound his woes, while Gabriel Jesus has only managed five in all competitions.
In fact, City’s top scorers are all midfielders (Foden 9, Sterling 9, Torres 8). Should Jesus and Aguero return to top form in the near future, City could prove too powerful for United in the title race.
Manchester City are quietly going about their business and have their midfielders to thank
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