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 Chelsea still enjoys a six-point cushion at the top of the English Premier League standings heading into week 14 of the 2014-2015 season but their closest pursuer is now defending champions, Manchester City. The league leaders begin the weekend's proceedings in the early kickoff, where they travel to the northeast to face Newcastle. Manchester City will be looking to extend their current winning streak in their home game against Everton, while the fixture between third-placed Southampton and fourth-placed Manchester United sees two teams currently experiencing different fortunes. At the wrong end of the table, promoted clubs QPR and Burnley clash and last-placed Leicester take on Aston Villa. Remember to make your Premier League Pickem predictions before the deadline of each game. Week 14's schedule begins with a 7:45 AM ET kickoff on Saturday, followed by five 10 AM ET games. The day ends with a 12:30 PM ET fixture. The two matches on Sunday begin at 8:30 AM ET and 11 AM ET, while the week concludes with a Monday contest, starting at 3 PM ET. Note that the Yahoo! Fantasy Premier League game's deadline is on Saturday at 6:45 AM ET. Here we preview the ten games in the upcoming week of the English Premier League. The title of each game section is a link to pick the result of that game. Chelsea (1st) at Newcastle United (9th) (Sat, 7:45 AM ET) Chelsea has now gone through the first third of the season unbeaten, dropping just six points along the way. Two of those points came last weekend, though, when the standings leaders were held to a goalless tie by Sunderland. In midweek, however, Chelsea defeated Tottenham 3-0. That was Chelsea's fourth win in the last five and 11th in total. Newcastle's fine run of results came to a halt in week 13's double gameweek and now a difficult-looking stretch of fixtures during December begins. Last Saturday, the Magpies fell to a 1-0 defeat at West Ham. That ended their run of six consecutive victories. Newcastle managed to avoid making it successive losses by claiming a 1-1 tie at Burnley. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Chelsea 0-2 Newcastle Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Tied 3-3-0. Last 3 at Newcastle (all competitions): Newcastle lead 2-1-0. All-time (all competitions): Chelsea lead 65-51-39. Team News Chelsea (from): Cech, Courtois, Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Christensen, Filipe, Ivanovic, Terry, Zouma, Fabregas, Hazard, Mikel, Oscar, Ramires, Salah, Willian, Costa, Drogba, Remy, Schurrle, Solanke. Suspended: Matic (one-match ban). Newcastle (from): Alnwick, Elliot, Coloccini, Dummett, Haidara, Janmaat, Streete, S. Taylor, Williamson, Aarons, Abeid, Anita, Bigirimana, Cabella, Colback, Sissoko, Tiote, Vuckic, Ameobi, Armstrong, Cisse, Ferreyra, Gouffran, Perez, Riviere. Doubts: Coloccini (calf), Aarons (hamstring). Out (reason, expected return date): Krul (ankle, Jan 10), De Jong (thigh, Jan 10), Santon (knee, Jan 10), R. Taylor (knee, Jan 1), Obertan (thigh, no date), Good (groin, no date). West Bromwich Albion (16th) at Hull City (17th) (Sat, 10 AM ET) The first four weeks of the campaign saw West Brom slowly slip down the table and now heading into this week 14 game they're once again trying to arrest a gradual slide. The two games last week gave the Baggies double misery as Arsenal beat them 1-0 and then West Ham defeated them 2-1. That makes it four successive defeats for West Brom. Hull is currently one place below their visitors, courtesy of an even worse stretch of results. The Tigers' last win was in week 7 and since then they've recorded three ties and four defeats. Last weekend they fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United. However, in midweek, Hull went to Everton and came away with a share of the spoils. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: West Brom 0-2 Hull Hull 1-1 West Brom (reverse fixture) Hull 2-3 West Brom (this season's League Cup) Last 6 (all competitions): Hull lead 3-1-2 (includes 1 League Cup game). Last 3 at Hull (all competitions): Tied 1-1-1. All-time (all competitions): West Brom lead 19-18-14. Team News West Brom (from): Daniels, Foster, Myhill, Baird, Davidson, Dawson, Gamboa, Lescott, McAuley, Pocognoli, Wisdom, Blanco, Dorrans, Gardner, Morrison, Mulumbu, Roofe, Sessegnon, Varela, Anichebe, Berahino, Ideye, Nabi, Samaras. Out (reason, expected return date): Olsson (calf, Jan 10), Brunt (hamstring, Dec 13). Suspended: Yacob (final game of three-match ban). Hull (from): Harper, Jakupovic, McGregor, Bruce, Chester, Davies, Dawson, Maguire, McShane, Robertson, Rosenior, Brady, Ben Arfa, Elmohamady, Huddlestone, Livermore, Meyler, Quinn, Aluko, Hernandez, Jelavic, Sagbo. Out (reason, expected return date): Snodgrass (knee, May), Diame (knee, Dec 20). Suspended: Ramírez (final game of three-match ban). Sunderland (14th) at Liverpool (8th) (Sat, 10 AM ET) Sunderland has notched just two victories to date this season, the joint-lowest total in the division. The last one was back in week 10 when they defeated Crystal Palace 3-1. That victory was followed by three consecutive ties, the most recent of which came last week against Chelsea. Last time out, though, Sunderland lost 4-1 to Manchester City. Liverpool has had a tough time for much of this campaign but the double gameweek of week 13 brought them a full quota of six points out of six. On Saturday Liverpool sneaked past Stoke 1-0 and then despite falling one goal behind they went on to defeat Leicester 3-1. Those wins were welcome as they brought to an end a three-game losing span. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Sunderland 1-2 Liverpool Liverpool 3-1 Sunderland (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Liverpool lead 3-1-2. Last 3 at Liverpool (all competitions): Liverpool lead 2-0-1. All-time (all competitions): Liverpool lead 75-52-35. Team News Sunderland (from): Mannone, Pantilimon, Brown, Jones, O'Shea, Reveillere, Vergini, Alvarez, Bridcutt, Buckley, Cabral, Cattermole, Giaccherini, Gomez, Johnson, Larsson, Mavrias, Rodwell, Altidore, Fletcher, Wickham. Out (reason, expected return date): Van Aanholt (dislocated shoulder, no date). Unavailable: Coates (loanee; can't face parent club). Liverpool (from): Jones, Mignolet, Johnson, Jose Enrique, Lovren, Manquillo, Moreno, Sakho, Skrtel, Toure, Allen, Can, Coutinho, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Lucas, Markovic, Suso, Borini, Lambert, Sterling. Out (reason, expected return date): Sturridge (thigh, Jan 1), Saez (groin, Dec 26), Flanagan (knee, Dec 21), Balotelli (groin, no date). Burnley (18th) at Queens Park Rangers (19th) (Sat, 10 AM ET) It took Burnley 11 games to finally record their first victory of the season but they now go into this week 14 fixture against fellow promoted club QPR on the back of a four-match unbeaten stretch. That week 11 win was against Hull and they backed that up with a victory over Stoke. Last week Burnley earned ties against Aston Villa and Newcastle. Queens Park Rangers has notched 11 points so far this term and all of those points have come at Loftus Road. Three victories have come on home soil, the most recent being the 3-2 win over another promoted club, Leicester, last Saturday. In their midweek game, though, QPR lost 2-0 to Swansea, their seventh away defeat in as many outings. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Burnley 3-3 QPR QPR 0-2 Burnley (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Burnley lead 3-0-3 (includes 1 FA Cup game). Last 3 at QPR (all competitions): Tied 0-0-3 (includes 1 FA Cup game). All-time (all competitions): Burnley lead 20-10-7. Team News Burnley (from): Gilks, Heaton, Keane, Lafferty, Long, Mee, Reid, Shackell, Trippier, Arfield, Boyd, Chalobah, Howieson, Jones, Kightly, Marney, Wallace, Barnes, Ings, Jutkiewicz, Sordell. Out (reason, expected return date): Taylor (Achilles, Dec 13), Vokes (ACL, no date), Ward (ankle, no date), Duff (calf, no date). QPR (from): Green, McCarthy, Murphy, Caulker, Dunne, Ferdinand, Hill, Isla, Onuoha, Traore, Yun, Barton, Fer, Henry, Hoilett, Kranjcar, Mutch, Phillips, Wright-Phillips, Austin, Vargas, Zamora. Out (reason, expected return date): Faurlin (ACL, Jul), Sandro (knee, Jan 10). Arsenal (6th) at Stoke City (13th) (Sat, 10 AM ET) There have been many frustrations along the way during Arsenal's opening to this campaign but they toughed it out last week to gain maximum points. The Gunners recorded a pair of 1-0 victories during week 13's double gameweek, defeating West Brom on Saturday and then Southampton on Wednesday. Saturday's success ended a two-game skid. Stoke had been inconsistent heading into week 13 but now they go into this encounter trying to end a slump. The Potters went to Tottenham in week 11 and came away with a 2-1 victory. However, they then lost 2-1 at home to Burnley. Last weekend Stoke lost 1-0 against Liverpool and then last time out Manchester United defeated them 2-1. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Arsenal 1-0 Stoke Stoke 1-3 Arsenal (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Arsenal lead 3-1-2. Last 3 at Stoke (all competitions): Stoke lead 1-0-2. All-time (all competitions): Arsenal lead 52-24-23. Team News Arsenal (from): Martinez, Ospina, Szczesny, Chambers, Gibbs, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Cazorla, Diaby, Flamini, Gnabry, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Rosicky, Alexis, Campbell, Giroud, Podolski, Sanogo, Welbeck. Doubts: Rosicky (thigh), Szczesny (hip), Sanogo (calf). Out (reason, expected return date): Wilsere (ankle, Feb), Özil (LCL, Jan 1), Arteta (calf, Dec 21), Walcott (groin, Dec 13), Debuchy (ankle, Dec 13), Monreal (ankle, no date). Stoke (from): Begovic, Butland, Sorensen, Bardsley, Cameron, Huth, Muniesa, Pieters, Shawcross, Wilson, Adam, Assaidi, Ireland, N'Zonzi, Palacios, Whelan, Arnautovic, Bojan, Crouch, Diouf, Moses, Walters. Doubts: Ireland (illness), Whelan (calf). Out (reason, expected return date): Sidwell (knee, Jan 10), Teixiera (ankle, no date). Crystal Palace (15th) at Tottenham Hotspur (10th) (Sat, 10 AM ET) Crystal Palace secured a fine 3-1 victory over Liverpool in week 12 but that's their only success in the league in the last two months. The Eagles had a five-match winless stretch preceding the win over Liverpool, where they tied one and lost four. Last Saturday they shared the spoils with Swansea but on Tuesday Palace lost 1-0 against Aston Villa. Tottenham has experienced as many highs as lows in this campaign, leaving them in mid-table after 14 games. Their last tie came in week 6 and Spurs have won four and lost four since then. Last week's double gameweek was split as well; Tottenham recorded a 2-1 victory over Everton on Sunday but lost 3-0 last time out against leaders Chelsea. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Crystal Palace 0-2 Tottenham Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Tottenham lead 4-1-1 (includes 1 FA Cup game). Last 3 at Tottenham (all competitions): Tottenham lead 2-0-1 (includes 1 FA Cup game). All-time (all competitions): Tottenham lead 18-7-12. Team News Crystal Palace (from): Hennessey, Kettings, Speroni, Dann, Delaney, Fryers, Hangeland, Kelly, Ward, Bannan, Bolasie, Jedinak, Ledley, McArthur, Puncheon, Thomas, Campbell, Chamakh, Gayle, Zaha. Doubts: Ledley (hip), Delaney (calf). Out (reason, expected return date): Mariappa (MCL, no date). Tottenham (from): Friedel, Lloris, Vorm, Chiriches, Davies, Dier, Fazio, Kaboul, Naughton, Rose, Veljkovic, Vertonghen, Bentaleb, Capoue, Ceballos, Chadli, Dembele, Eriksen, Lamela, Lennon, Mason, Paulinho, Stambouli, Townsend, Kane, Soldado. Doubts: Rose (chest), Townsend (ankle), Capoue (knock). Out (reason, expected return date): Adebayor (back, Dec 14), Walker (groin, Dec 14). Everton (11th) at Manchester City (2nd) (Sat, 12:30 PM ET) At this point last season, Everton was established inside the top-5 of the standings having notched seven victories and losing just the once. It's a different story so far this term with the Toffees lingering in mid-table. Everton has won three of their last seven, though, losing just the once during that span. In total, they've already tied six times. Manchester City is still six points off the pace set by the unbeaten Chelsea but they've improved over the last two months and they closed the gap last week. The champions head into this week 14 fixture looking to improve on a three-match winning streak, their joint-longest on the season. They're also unbeaten in their last five encounters. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Everton 1-3 Manchester City Manchester City 3-2 Everton (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Manchester City lead 3-2-1. Last 3 at Manchester City (all competitions): Manchester City lead 2-0-1. All-time (all competitions): Everton lead 66-65-43. Team News Everton (from): Howard, Joel, Stanek, Baines, Browning, Coleman, Distin, Garbutt, Hibbert, Jagielka, Atsu, Barkley, Barry, Besic, Gibson, Junior, McCarthy, McGeady, Osman, Oviedo, Pienaar, Eto'o, Hope, Kone, Long, Lukaku, McAleny, Mirallas, Naismith. Doubts: Gibson (knee), Naismith (hamstring), McCarthy (hamstring). Out (reason, expected return date): Stones (ankle, Jan 1). Manchester City (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Demichelis, Mangala, Sagna, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Fernando, Lampard, Milner, Nasri, Navas, Sinclair, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko. Out (reason, expected return date): Nastasic (thigh, Dec 20), Kompany (hamstring, Dec 10), Silva (knee, Dec 10), Jovetic (knock, no date). Swansea City (7th) at West Ham United (5th) (Sun, 8:30 AM ET) The current season began very well for Swansea, they then hit a rocky patch and now they're in the midst of some inconsistent results. The Swans went winless for five weeks before beating Leicester in week 9. They had a tie, win and a defeat in their next three, before tying 1-1 with Crystal Palace and defeating QPR 2-0 during week 13's games. West Ham is still surprising some by remaining in the league's top-5 through 14 games of the season. Their fortunes began picking up when they notched three victories on the trot from week 7, before tying their next two. They went down 2-1 at Everton but bounced back last week by defeating Newcastle 1-0 and then West Brom in midweek 2-1. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Swansea 0-2 West Ham West Ham 0-0 Swansea (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Tied 2-2-2 (includes 2 FA Cup games). Last 3 at West Ham (all competitions): West Ham lead 2-0-1 (includes 1 FA Cup game). All-time (all competitions): West Ham lead 25-17-13. Team News Swansea (from): Fabianski, Rangel, Bartley, Williams, Richards, Britton, Ki, Montero, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Bony, Tremmel, Amat, Richards, Shelvey, Carroll, Dyer, Gomis, Emnes, Barrow, Tiendalli, Fulton. Doubts: Britton (knee). Out (reason, expected return date): Fernandez (calf, no date). Suspended: Taylor (one-match ban). West Ham (from): Adrian, Jaaskelainen, Cresswell, O'Brien, Reid, Tomkins, Collins, Jenkinson, Noble, Kouyate, Song, Nolan, Amalfitano, Downing, Jarvis, Vaz Te, Cole, Zarate, Sakho, Valencia. Doubts: Noble (calf). Leicester City (20th) at Aston Villa (12th) (Sun, 11 AM ET) The first five weeks provided a glimmer of hope for Leicester in their quest to remain in the top flight but their form since has been worrying. The Foxes were seventh when they won successive games in week's 4 and 5 but they then lost five of the next six. They tied 0-0 with Sunderland in week 12 but last week they lost to QPR and then Liverpool. Aston Villa has still only scored more than one goal once this term, in their 2-1 week 3 win over Hull, but they've steadied things and have briefly moved away from the relegation zone. Villa lost six games on the trot, before tying three consecutive fixtures. Villa's 1-0 success against Crystal Palace last time out was their first victory since week 4. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Last met in 2007 Last 6 (all competitions): Aston Villa lead 4-1-1 (includes 3 League Cup games). Last 3 at Aston Villa (all competitions): Aston Villa lead 2-1-0 (includes 2 League Cup games). All-time (all competitions): Leicester lead 39-31-23. Team News Leicester (from): Schmeichel, Hamer, Moore, De Laet, Konchesky, Wasilewski, Drinkwater, James, King, Cambiasso, Albrighton, Mahrez, Knockaert, Vardy, Ulloa, Nugent, Schlupp, Wood, Powell. Doubts: Nugent (illness). Out (reason, expected return date): Upson (ankle, Dec 13). Suspended: Morgan (one-match ban). Aston Villa (from): Guzan, Given, Hutton, Lowton, Okore, Clark, Herd, Cissokho, Westwood, Richardson, Sanchez, N'Zogbia, Cleverley, Grealish, Bacuna, Weimann, Agbonlahor, Benteke, Robinson. Out (reason, expected return date): Delph (dislocated shoulder, Dec 26), Cole (hamstring, Dec 20), Vlaar (calf, Dec 13), Kozák (broken leg, no date), Baker (knee, no date), Senderos (calf, no date). Suspended: Weimann (one-match ban). Manchester United (4th) at Southampton (3rd) (Mon, 3 PM ET) Manchester United's coach Louis van Gaal pleaded for time at the start of his tenure and his charges have finally strung together a run of victories. Two ties and then a 1-0 defeat at the hands of rivals Manchester City in week 10 saw United drop to tenth in the league table. However, they've responded by recording a four-match winning streak. Southampton is still enjoying occupying a top-3 spot in the table but they're currently experiencing their worst form of the campaign. The Saints managed to keep pace with Chelsea courtesy of eight wins in nine outings from week 3. They had a disappointing 1-1 tie with Aston Villa in week 12, before losing to Manchester City and Arsenal last week. Head-to-Head Stats Last season: Manchester United 1-1 Southampton Souhampton 1-1 Manchester United (reverse fixture) Last 6 (all competitions): Manchester United lead 4-0-2 (includes 2 FA Cup games). Last 3 at Southampton (all competitions): Manchester United lead 2-0-1 (includes 1 FA Cup game). All-time (all competitions): Manchester United lead 59-25-30. Team News Manchester United (from): De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos, Vermijl, Rojo, Smalling, Blackett, Thorpe, McNair, Pereira, Fletcher, Valencia, Lingard, Fellaini, Anderson, Carrick, Young, Herrera, Mata, Januzaj, Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie, W. Keane. Out (reason, expected return date): Blind (MCL, Jan 1), Jones (calf, Dec 20), Di María (hamstring, Dec 14), Shaw (ankle, Dec 14), Rafael (groin, Dec 14). Southampton (from): Forster, K. Davis, Cropper, Clyne, Alderweireld, Fonte, Yoshida, Gardos, Bertrand, Targett, Wanyama, Reed, Hesketh, S. Davis, Isgrove, Mane, Tadic, Long, Mayuka, Pelle. Doubts: Alderweireld (hamstring). Out (reason, expected return date): Cork (ankle, Jan 17), Rodriguez (ACL, Jan 1), Schneiderlin (groin, Dec 20), Ward-Prowse (foot, Dec 20), Gallagher (knee, Dec 20). |
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