General Premier League Preview - Matchday 3

Subject: General Premier League Preview - Matchday 3 Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:02 pm

With defending champions Manchester United
otherwise engaged on Uefa Super Cup duty on Friday night, it’s a case
of while the cat’s away in the Barclays Premier League this weekend.

And of the mice eager to play, none are better-equipped to make hay than Chelsea, who for good measure host Tottenham Hotspur
on Sunday. Spurs haven’t beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge since 1990 -
two years before the Premier League was formed. And with Chelsea having
started with two wins out of two, in contrast to Tottenham’s two
defeats from two, the omens don’t look good for Juande Ramos’
stuttering side.

It’s a fixture that has tended to generate plenty of goals - no
fewer than 26 over the last two seasons, but with Dimitar Berbatov
feeling sorry for himself and unlikely to play, and Deco in sparkling
form, you’d be inclined to bet on the Blues rather than the Lilywhites.
Worryingly for Ramos, if Tottenham fail to take a point from Stamford
Bridge (and few teams take much from there), it will be their worst
start to a season for Spurs for 29 years. Still, maybe Ramos can invoke
the spirit of last February’s Carling Cup final, when Spurs beat
Chelsea against the odds to win their first silverware for nine years.

There are other intriguing nuggets in the Premier League calendar
this weekend. At Villa Park, for example, Gareth Barry - the player LiverpoolAston Villa
against the Reds, who will probably be wearing grey, which about sums
up the colour of their performances so far. But if you win every game,
as they have, why worry? boss Rafael Benitez has coveted, without reward, all summer - is likely to be lining up for

Then there is the game at Ashburton Grove between Arsenal and Newcastle.
The Gunners may not have needed to be full-blooded in defeating Twente
4-0 in midweek, but they certainly looked a lot rosier than the pallid
shower who stumbled to defeat at Fulham, last weekend. Newcastle won a
pulsating cup tie at Coventry in midweek and have started their season
very promisingly, despite Kevin Keegan’s worries about the size of his
squad. The Magpies seem likely to give the Gunners a lively
examination.

And what sort of reception can Paul Ince expect at the Boleyn Ground this weekend when he takes his Blackburn side to play West Ham?
Vitriolic is probably as good a word as any to describe it. They have
long memories in the East End have never come close to forgetting or
forgiving Ince for the circumstance surrounding his departure to
Manchester United back in 1989. But he has broad shoulders - and
anyway, he may find that the hostility of the natives is directed as
much towards their own manager, the hapless Alan Curbishley, as it is
towards Ince. Curbs copped plenty of flak on Wednesday as the Hammers
squeezed through to the third round of the Carling Cup at lowly
Macclesfield’s expense. A victory for Ince’s Rovers could leave
Curbishley on very shaky ground.

Another manager used to not winning popularity contests is Gary Megson. He is not exactly flavour of the month even among the BoltonWest Bromwich Albion
- the Trotters’ guests on Saturday - in less than harmonious
circumstances a few weeks into the 2004-05 season, he could be in for
an interesting afternoon. fans; and having left the hot seat at

Then there is a meeting of former Manchester United team-mates at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland boss Roy Keane and Manchester City’s
Mark Hughes will be eager to put one over the other, and both could be
giving debuts to new signings they made this week: Anton Ferdinand for
the Black Cats, and Shaun Wright-Phillips for City.

definatly the games to watch this week are The London derby between Chelsea n Tottenham and Arsenal vs Newcastle will be excitin

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