One Final Push In The Premier League

After waiting for what felt like an eternity for our beloved teams to return to domestic action following yet another international break we can finally say that the Premier League is upon us once again with non-stop action starting off with a full selection of fixtures to choose from on this fine Easter weekend.


 

Premier League weekend fixtures:

Saturday, March 31^st

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool

West Brom vs Burnley

Man United vs Swansea

Brighton vs Leicester

Newcastle vs Huddersfield

Watford vs Bournemouth

West Ham vs Southampton

Everton vs Man City

Sunday, April 1^st

Arsenal vs Stoke

Chelsea vs Tottenham

 

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool

Selhurst Park, London

The Eagles returned to winning ways last time out against Huddersfield after four defeats in a row prior saw them slip back into the relegation places. That crucial 2-0 victory lifted them up to 16^th on the table and while they will still be looking nervously over their shoulder towards the dreaded drop zone, they will be buoyant ahead of the visit of Liverpool. Reds fans will never live down the fact that they squandered a three goal lead at Selhurst Park in May 2014 to draw 3-3 as the league title slipped out of their grasp with just games to spare. Since that evening, Palace have notched up four wins in seven league matches against the more fancied Merseysiders despite losing the last two at home including a 4-2 defeat in the corresponding fixture last season.

Everton vs Manchester City

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Following consecutive defeats away to Watford and Burnley respectively, Everton bounced back brilliantly with wins over Brighton and Stoke to cement their place in the top ten in the league table. Manchester City could take a major step closer to securing the league title with a win at Goodison Park on Saturday – a result which would mean that Pep Guardiola’s side could seal the deal with one more victory, coincidentally, against their greatest rivals Manchester United the following week. The Toffees though have a solid home record in recent years against City. They have won six of the last nine matches in all competitions against Man City at Goodison Park including a devastating 4-0 rout over their north-east neighbours when the sides clashed there last season.


 

Arsenal vs Stoke City

The Emirates Stadium, London

Stoke City’s search for another victory under Paul Lambert continues. In his first home game in charge of the Potters, they overturned Huddersfield 2-0 but have since gone seven games without a win. They have picked up important points along the way with four draws in that run. Whether it will be enough come the end of the season, only time will tell. Stoke find themselves two places and three points from safety having played a game more than Southampton and West Ham just ahead of them, who go head-to-head at the London Stadium on Saturday. Arsenal will be eager to exact revenge over this weekend’s opponents having suffered a 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign. The Gunners have not lost a league game at home against Stoke in nearly 37 years winning all nine since the Potters earned promotion in 2008.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur

Stamford Bridge, London

With all eyes on London this April Fool’s Day, one fixture that is no joke will see last season’s champions Chelsea welcome Spurs to the Bridge in the second instalment on what is expected to be a ‘Super Sunday’ indeed. A real six-pointer that could go a long way to determining their respective top-four fates, with both already having booked their place in the semi-finals of this season’s FA Cup, a win for the Blues would see them close the gap on Spurs to just two points while a win for Mauricio Pochettino’s men would see them move eight points clear in fourth. The last 14 matches between the pair have served up an astonishing 53 goals at an average of 3.79 goals per game. Dele Alli has notched up three goals and an assist in his four appearances against Chelsea since joining Spurs from MK Dons in 2015.