EPL Gameweek #28 Preview – Will United Come Unstuck Against the Toffees?
With just ten weeks of the English Premier League season after this weekend, some clubs are seeing the home straight in sight. That means a race for the Champions League places, or alternatively, a battle against the drop.
Who makes their football dreams come true and who suffers a bitter reality check is going to come down to fine margins, so we’ve looked at this weekend’s fixtures and picked three games which could have a big effect on the final few weeks of the season.
Norwich City vs. Leicester City (Friday, 8pm GMT kick-off)
Carrow Road will be packed to the rafters for some Friday Night Football as Norwich city enter the last chance saloon on their Premier League season. If things go for The Canaries this weekend, they could be within four points of safety. If they go against the East Coast side, however, the gap could be a seemingly insurmountable 10 points. It’s crunch time in Norfolk.
While most football fans might expect Leicester to be the last side that Norwich would want to face at present, it might not be the case Norwich got a creditable draw at the King Power in the reverse fixture, more than holding their own against Brendan Rodgers’ side and sowing the first seeds of doubt into the Midlands side’s title ambitions.
Those hopes were snuffed out with the 4-0 home defeat on Boxing Day by Liverpool of course, but Daniel Farke’s Norwich did some damage then and could well do some now to the Foxes’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. After last week’s home defeat by Manchester city, Leicester will be looking over their shoulders at sides like Chelsea, Spurs and Manchester United, Leicester’s final opponents of the season, don’t forget.
If Norwich can stop Leicester getting an early lead, we foresee an upset, but if Leicester score first, it could be another 9-0 like The Foxes got on the South Coast. It’s first goal wins.
West Ham United vs. Southampton (Saturday, 3pm GMT kick-off)
The Hammers, who have looked completely doomed for weeks, actually put in a decent showing at Anfield on Monday night, scoring twice before being downed late to lose 3-2.
While David Moyes won’t have expected any points out of two trips to the sides who have rewritten the Premier League history books in Liverpool and Manchester City, he will be expecting his side to triumph at home to Southampton – which is precisely why it won’t happen.
Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side have proved all the doubters wrong this season, coming back from a bad start to look like a comfortable top half side. They’re unlikely to be afraid of West Ham at what could be a toxic atmosphere inside and outside the London Stadium. Back Ings to score and Southampton to win. If West Ham didn’t have Declan Rice, they might already have been condemned to Championship football.
Everton vs. Manchester United (Sunday, 2pm GMT kick-off)
While Manchester United were fantastic in their 5-0 thrashing of Club Brugge on Thursday, leading to former United legend Paul Scholes comparing new United signing Bruno Fernandes with Kevin De Bruyne, away at Everton has always been a testing fixture for the Red Devils.
Everton have always stepped it up against United, with a 4-0 win for The Toffees in this fixture not the only recent confirmation that this is one of United’s toughest remaining fixtures. They’ll rely on the form of Fernandes to create chances, but if Odion Ighalo gets among the chances, expect United to prosper.
If Everton can utilize the physical strength of players like Sidibe and Richarlison to push united back, then they can capitalize on United’s mistakes to win. It will all be about how many players take their chances and when. Fine margins.
Full Gameweek #28 Fixtures:
Friday 28th February
Norwich vs. Leicester (8pm GMT kick-off)
Saturday 29th February
Brighton vs. Crystal Palace (12.30pm GMT kick-off)
Bournemouth vs. Chelsea (3pm GMT kick-off)
Newcastle vs. Burnley (3pm GMT kick-off)
West Ham vs. Southampton (3pm GMT kick-off)
Watford vs. Liverpool (5.30pm GMT kick-off)
Sunday 1st March
Everton vs. Manchester United (2pm GMT kick-off)
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wolves (2pm GMT kick-off)
