All articles by: Jools Jordan-Probert

Stoke City vs Arsenal – Match Preview

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Stoke City vs Arsenal – Match Preview – On the back of contrasting opening day results; Stoke face Arsenal at home hoping to kick-start their season and get one over on Arsene Wenger’s title-hopefuls in the process.

As everyone is aware, there is no easy fixture in the Premier League. Arsenal away to Stoke is a game which typifies that caveat – The Potters are often seen as The Gunners’ ‘bogey’ team – especially at the bet365 Stadium.

Wenger’s side have come away from Stoke with victory just twice in the Premier League era and know that another tough evening’s work awaits them in this game too.

Arsenal have finally invested in a big-money striker, Alexandre Lacazette, and the French international got off to the perfect start last week with a league debut goal inside two minutes.

This was just the first goal in a thrilling 4-3 win at home to Leicester, which saw the Gunners come back from 3-2 with less than 10 minutes left to claim the win – Aaron Ramsey and match-winner Olivier Giroud both came off the substitutes bench to find the net and send the fans into raptures.

In bleaker news, the futures of some of the club’s most valuable players in Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all still undecided, which leaves Arsenal in a particularly arduous scenario – the club need to be competing and winning at the highest level to keep players of that calibre, but need players of that calibre to be able to compete and win. Being able to come away with victory in battling fixtures such as Stoke away is essential to a good Premier League season.

New Stoke City signing Moteng could feature on Saturday

Stoke have succumbed to their own stereotype this summer, a middling club whose ambition can be questioned – and has by West Ham’s new £25m signing Marco Arnautovic upon his departure from the bet365.

The Potters have forgone spending money for instead acquiring loan signings, causing many to predict Stoke to struggle in the season ahead. A limp showing last week in a 1-0 defeat at Everton did nothing to dispel such suggestions. Mark Hughes is still a knowledgeable manager with a strong squad at his disposal, however.

Arsenal undoubtedly come in as massive favourites and if they play to their capabilities will win, but can Stoke live up to recent history and once again take pleasure in snatching a win against the North-London side?

 Team News
Sanchez is again unlikely to start due to an abdominal injury but is getting nearer to full fitness. Francis Coquelin is back in contention while the centre-back situation at Arsenal is improving with both Per Mertersacker and Shkodran Mustafi expected to be available while Laurent Koscielny serves the final match of his three-game ban.
Goal-scorers and match-changers from the bench last week, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud are both pushing for starts – with the former much more likely to do so than the latter.

For Stoke, their big team news is the signing of Jese on loan from PSG, and the Spaniard is expected to feature instantly. New signing Maxim Choupo-Moteng could also make his first start for the club.

Granit Xhaka needs to make his presence felt more in the Premier League Photo Credit: skysports.com

Player to Watch
Granit Xhaka played a significant part in the rollercoaster ride that was Arsenal 4-3 Leicester, at fault for a couple of The Foxes’ goals but repairing the damage by assisting some afterwards. That level of inconsistent performance typifies the 53-times capped Switzerland international’s Arsenal career to date. The 24-year-old’s ability to spray passes of all types while simultaneously demonstrating the aggression that’s been lacking in central midfield at The Emirates in recent years is a good sign – however a lack of discipline in both mistimed/sloppy challenges and in a positional and tactical sense leave a lot to be desired. There is no doubt he has a wand of a left foot, mind, and he isn’t afraid to show it.

 

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Swansea City vs Manchester United – Match Preview

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Swansea City vs Manchester United – Match Preview – Back into the thick of it we go, the Premier League is up and running and the second round of fixtures gets underway with Manchester United travelling to South Wales to face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

The Red Devils are hungrier than ever for trophies this year and are likely to seriously compete for the Premier League title and the form last week in beating West Ham suggested as much.

Paul Clement’s Swansea will be desperate to avoid the same relegation battle that blighted their 2016/17 campaign – an increasingly challenging task given that star player Gylfi Sigurdsson has just departed for Everton in a deal estimated to be worth £45m.

United will be massive favourites to steamroller the Swans and it will take defensive reliance of the highest order from the latter to deny that possibility.

Lukaku’s brace helped Manchester United to a 4-0 home win on the opening day Photo Credit: skysports.com

Previous Meeting
Jose Mourinho’s side were the strongest performers on the opening matchday, dismantling West Ham 4-0 at Old Trafford courtesy of a league debut brace by Romelu Lukaku and goals from Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial. As a result, they now find themselves sitting pretty at the top of the table.

Swansea, however, were considerably less convincing; their season began by hanging on for dear life and battling to earn a 0-0 draw away at Southampton – a good clean sheet and point nonetheless.

Meetings last season
This fixture last year brought a 3-1 victory for the travelling Mancuinians, Paul Pogba scoring a wonderfully executed half-volley in a feeble performance by the Swans during Bob Bradley’s tumultuous reign.

The reverse fixture also saw the away side look strongest, whilst conceding a very contentious penalty for Lukasz Fabianski’s challenge on Marcus Rashford which Wayne Rooney duly dispatched, what was now Paul Clement’s team contained the Europa League winners. A wonderful piece of Gylfi Sigurdsson magic to find the top corner’s apex with a delightful free-kick saw the scores finish 1-1.

Fernando Llorente could return to the Swansea side this weekend Photo Credit: skysports.com

Team News
Swansea now have the almighty task of replacing Gylfi Sigurdsson, but will be boosted in the knowledge last season’s top-scorer Fernando Llorente is set to return from the broken arm which prevented the striker from featuring in pre-season. However, Ki Sung-Yeung and Nathan Dyer are still injured so will play not take part.

Jose Mourinho can once again count on the squad he had available last time out, with only the long-term absentees of Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo unavailable for selection.

Nemanja Matic will be key for Manchester United in all competitions this season Photo Credit: skysports.com

Player to Watch
Scarcely does a player make such an instant impact as what Nemanja Matic did last week. The Serbian international completely dominated in midfield against The Hammers in a performance which many took to justify his £40m price tag and strongly question Chelsea’s reasoning for selling such a key player to a direct rival. Matic seems to be precisely the type of forward-thinking midfield patroller than United have lacked in recent seasons, with a great blend of dynamism and technique on the ball, the 29-year-old will be at the heart of Saturday’s match and in the United midfield for seasons to come.

 

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Manchester United vs West Ham United – Match Preview

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Manchester United vs West Ham United – Match Preview – The Premier League’s hugely anticipated return is upon us! Pre-season is officially over and England’s top tier is all systems go with yet another pulsating year in store.

The weekend’s action concludes as Manchester United kick-off their season at Old Trafford against Slaven Bilic’s West Ham, looking to begin their challenge for the Premier League title.

Jose Mourinho’s side won three trophies last campaign but missed out on the opportunity to claim their first of 2017/18 by losing to Real Madrid 2-1 in the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday.

The match will have been a real eye-opener for the Portuguese manager as to the level he wants his team to be, so they will be eager to start the season positively. Brushing aside the home troubles endured in 2016/17 and comfortably beating West Ham on Sunday will do just that.

If United do not claim the Premier League this season it will have been half a decade since the last time they achieved that feat, further amplifying the diminished dominance The Red Devils hold in the English game. A strong start is key to preventing that from happening.

All teams inevitably want to get off the mark as quickly as possible, but after West Ham’s truly sluggish start to the season last time around they will be keener than most. An 11th place finish after an injury-plagued campaign was barely a disaster – but after finishing 7th the year before anything similar would be hugely disappointing for Slaven Bilic and his team.

West Ham new signing Hernandez will come up against his former club on Sunday Photo Credit: skysports.com

It will be very interesting to see how each team’s new respective strikers fare, Romelu Lukaku and his huge £75m fee demands instant results but more eyes will be on Javier Hernandez – making his competitive debut for The Hammers against the club that brought him to England in 2010. A goal would set the tone for his West Ham career rather nicely.

Team News 
After being suspended for the Super Cup match, both Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are available for United again and will compete for centre-back berths with Tuesday’s starters Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling. Lukaku, Lindelof and Nemanja Matic will all be expected to make their first competitive starts for the club. Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo are still unavailable with long-term problems.

In great news for The Irons; key players Manuel Lanzini and Aaron Cresswell are both expected to return for the start of the season. However, the squad is still depleted following the side-lining of Andy Carroll, Michail Antonio, Diafra Sakho, Cheikhou Kouyate and Sofiane Feghouli.

Paul Pogba must improve his performances for Manchester United to progress this year Photo Credit: skysports.com

Player to Watch
His world record transfer fee has been broken this summer by Neymar, but Paul Pogba is undoubtedly still one of the biggest players on the planet. There is a lot of pressure on the broad shoulders of the French international but with a year’s further experience upon returning to England the marauding midfielder is expected to shine. A devastating partnership with friend and teammate Romelu Lukaku could be exactly what United need to power them to major honours this season.

 

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