The midweek preview

Some huge matches are to be played in the final Premier League matches before Christmas day.

On Tuesday it’s the battle of the bottom two as Blackburn Rovers take on Bolton Wanderers. Rovers sit just one point and position above Wanderers and either side have had a poor run of results recently. Blackburn have only won two matches out of 16 but it’s not goals in which they are struggling to get. When striker Yakubu is on fire, he really is on fire as he proved not long ago after scoring four goals. Meanwhile, Bolton have won three matches all season but are yet to get any points since early November. They have constantly been unsettled with injuries and suspensions, but with many players fresh for the match, this is their chance to get a result.

Tuesday other match includes Wolves v Norwich at 7:45pm.

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Wednesday sees Wigan Athletic host Liverpool at the DW Stadium. Wigan battled their way to a 1-1 home draw against Chelsea on Saturday and after winning the weekend before, they are starting to gather points. Hugo Rodallega and Franco Di Santo are back and their inclusions last weekend was what turned the game around. Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in their last two matches and have got the best defensive record in the league at present. Luis Suarez is looking sharp upfront whilst Craig Bellamy is also causing problems. I can’t see the Reds slipping up in this match.

Wednesday’s other matches include: Aston Villa v Arsenal, Man.City v Stoke, Newcastle v West Brom, Everton v Swansea, Fulham v Man.Utd and QPR v Sunderland.

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It’s the battle for third place on Thursday as North Londoners Tottenham Hotspur take on West Londoners Chelsea. The home side scraped past a resilient Sunderland side at White Hart Lane on Sunday, with a nervy performance capitalised by slack finishing the main theme of the game. Other bad news for Spurs is that winger Aaron Lennon is out of the London derby, with Roman Pavlyuchenko or Jermaine Defoe ready to step up. Chelsea will be disappointed not to get all three points away to Wigan, but the draw means they have not lost in four matches in all competitions. I think it’s time for Didier Drogba to make way for Fernando Torres in order to get the Spaniard’s confidence and goalscoring mentality back; after all, you can’t score from the bench.

Aaron Aquilina
@P_D_L_P