Suarez jumps over a Newscastle defender
After a week break as a result of the World Cup qualifiers across the globe, the European Leagues resume this weekend with some interesting fixtures. one interesting encounter will be Liverpool trip to St. James' Park as the Reds continue their quest for a Champions League spot
Liverpool's terrific start to the season has come as a surprise to most; the Reds were missing Luis Suarez their star player for the first four league games but didn't seem to miss a beat as they beat Manchester United, Stoke and Aston Villa. Since the return of Suarez Liverpool have beaten Sunderland and Crystal Palace both on a scoreline of 3-1. Daniel Sturrudge has lit the league up scoring six goals so far this term and Sturridge and Suarez appear to be linking well and complimenting each other which can only be a positive thing for Liverpool.
Stephen Gerrard the Liverpool and England captain has been in the media saying that the focus for Liverpool is the Champions League and with Brendan Rodgers the Liverpool manager spouting the same sound bites it would appear as if there is a certain amount of harmony in the Liverpool team and their focus is good.
Newcastle have been all over the place since the start of the season. Starting with a poor away loss to Manchester City , Newcastle have since turned things around winning three and drawing one. The team did go down away to Everton and home to Hull as well but the magpies do have some terrific attacking talents.
Papa Cisse has not been firing on all cylinders yet this season but he hasn't really had to as Loic Remy and Hatem Ben Arfa have been terrific since the start of the season. Manager Alan Pardew will be looking for his team to build on the away win against Cardiff last time out.
Newcastle have question marks over a trio of defenders. Captain Fabricio Coloccini is perhaps the biggest doubt with a non specified muscle injury which forced him to miss Argentina's midweek clash with Uruguay. His possible absence is compounded by an ongoing hamstring problem to fellow centre-back Steven Taylor which has kept the 27-year-old out for the past month.
If both are unavailable then Mike Williamson and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa are likely to form a largely untested partnership at the heart of the defence. Massadio Haidara is the other defender potentially missing but with Davide Santon and Mathieu Debuchy the first choice full-backs, his absence would be much less keenly felt.
Elsewhere, talented winger Arfa will be hoping for a recall after being dropped for the 2-1 win at Cardiff City. It will be interesting to see how positive Pardew is up front with Papiss Cisse and Loic Remy a potentially potent partnership if played together, although Cisse is currently on a barren run in front of goal stretching back to April.
For Liverpool, right-back Glen Johnson and midfielder Joe Allen are both back in training following ankle and hamstring problems respectively. Allen is perhaps the more likely to be available but with Lucas Leiva returning from a one-match suspension and Jordan Henderson impressing everyone with his form so far this season, the Welshman is unlikely to get anything more than a place on the bench. The duo's recovery from injury, added to the recent comeback of Aly Cissokho, means only Philippe Coutinho remains sidelined. The creative Brazilian is penciled in for a return from shoulder surgery against West Bromwich Albion next weekend. Given the side has recorded back-to-back 3-1 victories against Sunderland and Crystal Palace, changes other than Lucas' return, probably at the expense of Raheem Sterling, are unlikely unless players have picked up injuries whilst on international duty.
A terrific game on the return of the Premier League from the international break, with the likelihood to produce many goals. The International break maybe might just have come at the right time for Arsenal, a heavy schedule and 10 wins in a row left the Gunners looking a little gased in their last outing against West Bromwich Albion and the Gunners came away with just a draw. But this game represents the perfect post international break game for an Arsenal side trying to maintain their push at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Arsene Wenger will be looking for Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and Mezut Ozil to continue their terrific form thus far and will be hoping to put this game away early as Arsenal have been the masters of the quick start this season. Norwich City may be playing for manager Chris Hughton's job as the Canaries have really struggled of late and have lost three of their last four games. The bigger problem for Hughton though may be that the signings he brought in during the offseason haven't really worked out.
Ricky Van Wolfwinkel has only scored once in seven games and Gary Hooper has only played two games. Norwich in general have been very solid defensively since Hughton took over and the defence is what is going to turn things around for Norwich. Chelsea will look to keep pace with early-season leaders Arsenal and Liverpool this weekend when they welcome Cardiff City to Stamford Bridge. The Blues have won all three of their home fixtures this season, but the Bluebirds have lost just once away from home, and will certainly fancy their chances at adding another high-profile scalp to their growing list of upsets.
Chelsea will likely be without star left-back Ashley Cole and lead striker Fernando Torres for this one. Torres' absence will likely provide a starting appearance for Demba Ba, who is yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League this year, while Cole's absence should see Cesar Azpilicueta come into the starting side on the left flank. While summer signing Andreas Cornelius is questionable to make his return from an ankle injury this weekend for the Bluebirds.
Chelsea have suffered just one loss all season -away to Everton and come into this one with a perfect home record courtesy of wins over Hull, Aston Villa and Fulham. Cardiff don't have the same strong form to speak of, winning just one of their last five fixtures. Encouraging performances against Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Newcastle United will give the new boys of the Premier League plenty of confidence heading into this weekend's match.
Head-to-Head 27/04/13 Newcastle . 0 - 6 Liverpool 04 /11/12 Liverpool 1 - 1 Newcastle. 01/04/12 Newcastle. 2 - 0 Liverpool 30/12/11 Liverpool 3 - 1 Newcastle. 01 /05/11 Liverpool 3 - 0 Newcastle. 11/12/10 Newcastle. 3 - 1 Liverpool
Premiership Table Arsenal 7 6 16 Liverpool 7 6 16 Chelsea 7 6 14 Southampton 7 5 14 Man City 7 9 13 Tottenham 7 1 13 Everton 7 1 12 Hull 7 -1 11 Man Utd 7 1 10 Aston Villa 7 1 10 Newcastle 7 -3 10 West Brom 7 1 9 West Ham 7 2 8 Cardiff 7 -2 8 Swansea 7 -3 7 Stoke 7 -3 7 Fulham 7 -4 7 Norwich 7 -4 7 Crystal Palace 7 -8 3 Sunderland 7 -11 1
Premiership League Fixtures Today Newcastle v Liverpool 12:45 Arsenal v Norwich 15:00 Chelsea v Cardiff 15:00 Everton v Hull 15:00 Man Utd v Southampton 15:00 Stoke v West Brom 15:00 Swansea v Sunderland 15:00 West Ham v Man City 17:30
Sunday Aston Villa v Tottenham
HOT SHOTS Daniel Sturridge Liverpool 6 Loïc Rémy Newcastle 5 Sergio Agüero Man City 4 Olivier Giroud Arsenal 4 Yaya Touré Man City 4 Aaron Ramsey Arsenal 4 Romelu Lukaku Everton 4 Christian Benteke Aston Villa 4 Robert Brady Hull City 3 Gylfi Sigurdsson Tottenham 3 Luis Suarez Liverpool 3 Álvaro Negredo Man City 3 Oscar Chelsea 3 Wayne Rooney Man Utd 3 Robin van Persie Man Utd 3
Spanish La Liga Table GD PTS Barcelona 8 22 24 Atl Madrid 8 15 24 Real Madrid 8 8 19 Villarreal 8 8 17 Getafe 8 1 13 Athletic Bilbao 8 0 13 Valencia 8 0 13 Espanyol 8 0 11 Levante 8 -6 10 Malaga 8 4 9 Sevilla 8 -1 9 Elche 8 -3 9 Real Betis 8 -2 8 Granada 8 -3 8 Real Sociedad 8 -3 7 Celta de Vigo 8 -4 6 Valladolid 8 -6 6 Osasuna 8 -7 6 Rayo Vallecano 8 -15 6 Almeria 8 -8 3
Spanish La Liga Fixtures Today Real Madrid v Malaga 15:00 Valencia v Real Sociedad 17:00 Osasuna v Barcelona 19:00 Espanyol v Atletico Madrid 21:00
Sunday Granada v Getafe 11:00 Almeria v Rayo Vallecano 16:00 Real Betis v Elche 18:00 Valladolid v Sevilla 20:00
Seria A Table GD PTS Roma 7 19 21 Napoli 7 14 19 Juventus 7 8 19 Inter Milan 7 10 14 Verona 7 3 13 Fiorentina 7 5 12 Lazio 7 1 11 Udinese 7 1 10 Torino 7 0 9 Parma 7 -1 9 Atalanta 7 -1 9 AC Milan 7 0 8 Livorno 7 -2 8 Cagliari 7 -3 7 Genoa 7 -5 5 Catania 7 -6 5 Chievo 7 -8 4 Sampdoria 7 -7 3 Bologna 7 -12 3 Sassuolo 7 -16 2
Serie A Fixtures Today Cagliari v Catania 17:00 AC Milan v Udinese 19:45
Sunday Atalanta v Lazio 11:30 Fiorentina v Juventus 14:00 Genoa v Chievo 14:00 Livorno v Sampdoria 14:00 Sassuolo v Bologna 14:00 Verona v Parma 14:00
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