Matchday Preview: 5th March

 Birmingham V West Brom

The Blues will be looking to avoid a ‘cup hangover’ following their first success in 48 years at Wembley last Sunday. On the flip side, the Carling Cup victory could act as a springboard to propel Alex McLeish’s side away from the drop zone. West Brom will look for similar inspiration as they look to avoid a fourth relegation in five Premier League campaigns. Carlos Vela looks an invaluable loan signing from Arsenal with two late equalisers in his short stint at The Hawthorns so far. Both sides desperately need the three points and will be going all out for the win. This midlands derby should be a cracker.

Verdict: 2-1

Arsenal V Sunderland

Arsenal are in sensational form in the league and Arsene Wenger was deservedly named manager of the month on Friday. The Gunners squad is stretched thin at the moment with seven first team players unavailable and with one eye on the date with destiny in the Camp Nou on Tuesday you could be forgiven for thinking this could be a potential banana-skin for Arsenal. However Sunderland don’t seem to be able to win at all at the moment. Arsenal should win easily without over-exerting themselves.

Verdict: 2-0

Bolton V Aston Villa

A thumping win for Villa over Blackburn was followed with a lame defeat to City in the cup on Wednesday. It’s hard to know which Villa side will show up at the Reebok on Saturday. Both sides will be looking to the strikers they aquired in January to fire them to victory and it may well come down to Sturridge versus Bent in front of goal.

Verdict: 2-1

Fulham V Blackburn

Fulham are in excellent home form whilst Blackburn have been shocking on the road. Its hard to see this going any other way than a win for the Cottagers. Hopefully this game will see the return to league action of one Bobby Zamora who has missed the best part of six months with a broken leg. Fulham do need an in-form striker to ease the goal-scoring burden on winger Clint Dempsy.

Verdict: 1-0

Newcastle V Everton

Two seriously inconsistent teams. Both still in with an outside shot of a Europa League spot so now would be a good time to put a run of form together. The loss of Fellani adding to Cahill will affect Everton in a big way but with Beckford finally hitting form and Saha staying relatively injury-free they are in decent shape to push on. Newcastle will be buoyed by the return of Ameobi to the strikeforce as well as the possible return of Joey Barton to the mid-field to give them that extra bit of creativity. I fancy them to get a result to be honest.

Verdict: 2-1



West Ham V Stoke

Fighting back from 3-0 down to snatch a point at the Hawthorns. A comprehensive victory over Liverpool last weekend. West Ham seemed to have finally got their act together. Their squad is better than its league position shows. Stoke are struggling for form recently and conceding a late equaliser to West Brom on Monday will have hurt them and they will be desperate to record a win over one of the other relegation candidates. Something they need to do if they have higher ambitions than mid-table mediocrity.

Verdict: 1-1

Man City V Wigan

City will have been rocked this week after the news that former captain Kolo Toure failed a drugs test. It will be interesting to see how this affects his brother Yaya who has been in good form lately and has become a key part of the team at Eastlands. Wigan took a hammering last week from a Manchester club and they may be in line for a similar fate on Saturday. Now rooted to the bottom of the table, the Latics time at the top table may be coming to an end.

Verdict: 3-0