English Premier League Match Day 15 Fixtures, Previews And Picks: Big Three Try To Avoid Speed Bumps

That’s speaking probabilistically. Each of the big three should be favored this weekend, if only slightly, but the probability of all three winning? It’s got to be low. Manchester United continues to show themselves a draw waiting to happen. Chelsea needed an 86th minute winner at home to beat Zilina, producing their best result in ten days. Arsenal hasn’t scored in 153 minutes, leading to two historic losses.

Don’t expect much to change this weekend. Manchester United has the easiest task, hosting Blackburn Rovers, but as was affirmed by their inability to finish mid-week at Ibrox, they are not above letting inferior competition have a chance at points. Chelsea is still without Frank Lampard and Micheal Essien, while Arsenal’s visit to Villa Park would be a difficult match for an in-form team, let alone one with the struggles of Arsenal. For one more week, England’s big three should continue to appear vulnerable.

And that leaves Manchester City. The citizens are coming-off an impressive thrashing of Fulham. This weekend they go to the Britannia to take on a Stoke City club that’s won three in a row, quickly climbing from the drop zone to eighth place. Under normal circumstances, getting a point at Stoke would be a good result, but with City likely to be given a chance to move into the middle of the title race, the Citizens would be remiss not to get three from the Potters.

Amongst the league’s other fixtures, Liverpool’s Sunday visit to White Hart Lane has the name value, though Saturday’s match at the Reebok will be more watchable. That’s where Bolton - whose 26 goals are most outside of the league’s Big Three - will host a Blackpool team that’s given up the most goals in the league. While that combination should lead to a lop-sided match, there will be a charming un-relentlessness to the play. Ian Holloway won’t change the wide-open way Blackpool plays, even if the Tangerines have no apparent answer for Bolton.

Not every match needs to be close to be interesting, part of the reason why Bolton-Blackpool heads our rundown of this weekend’s English Premier League action. As always, we count the fixtures down from least-to-most watchable.

10. Fulham versus Birmingham City, Craven Cottage (London), Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern - Against a team like Chelsea (a team that can create momentum for a match), Birmingham’s matches can be worthwhile. Otherwise, Brum ranks with Blackburn as the league’s least watchable. Paired with Fulham on Saturday, Birmingham City’s approach should make for a match worth skipping.

9. West Ham United versus Wigan Athletic, Upton Park (London), Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern - Two of the worst teams in the division (20th and 18th place) will give us an open game, even if the neither inspires much excitement. With Avram Grant supposedly on the chopping black at West Ham, this match could prove one of the weekend’s most important, should the Hammers fail to get their from Wigan.

8. Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Sunderland, Molineux Stadium (Wolverhampton), 10:00 a.m. Eastern - The Black Cats are undefeated in four, having scored eight goals in a stretch of matches that includes Chelsea, Spurs and Everton. Their presence, along with the passing they’ve put on display, lifts this match from the bottom of the list.

7. Manchester United versus Blackburn Rovers, Old Trafford (Manchester), Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern - Much like the Wolves-Sunderland match, one team’s creating the attraction, but with this match’s marquee name being Manchester United, this match gets the slightly higher ranking.

6. Everton versus West Bromwich Albion, Goodison Park (Liverpool), Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern - Superficially, this game would have been more compelling two weeks ago, when West Brom was in the top half of the table. Despite Brom’s slump, the main conflicts are still here. Roberto Di Matteo has to figure out a way to weave his attack through that strong Everton midfield. Everton, with seven draws, has to figure out a way to get three instead of one.

5. Newcastle United versus Chelsea, St. James’ Park (Newcastle-on-Tyne), Sunday 8:30 a.m. Eastern - Newcastle’s already beaten Chelsea in League Cup and now get the Blues at their trough. Carlo Ancelotti will try to build on the team’s mid-week victory with the hope that Chelsea’s problems can be solved with an injection of confidence.

4. Stoke City versus Manchester City, Britannia Stadium (Stoke-on-Trent), Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern - This could be the most hard-fought match of the weekend, with two conservative, physical teams hammering at each other in front of one of the league’s best crowds. Stoke’s chances could come own to the effectiveness of Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant, giving the Potters a way around and behind the strong City center.

3. Tottenham Hotspur versus Liverpool, White Hart Lane (London), Sunday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern - Tottenham may be leading their Champions League group and coming off a win over Arsenal, but a loss on Sunday could find them behind Liverpool at the final whistle. That hardly seems fair (or accurate).

2. Aston Villa versus Arsenal, Villa Park (Birmingham), Saturday, 7:45 a.m. Eastern - Villa was lulled into a typical Blackburn stinker last week at Ewood. If they play to their opponent’s style this week, we’ll have a match worth waking-up early for on Saturday, though you have to sympathize with U.S.-based Villans whose team keeps getting slotted into the early kick-off times.

1. Bolton Wanderers versus Blackpool, Reebok Stadium (Bolton), Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern - Be it at Arsenal, Chelsea, or Liverpool, Ian Holloway has not altered his team’s style. His reluctance to do so Saturday in Blackpool should give the Trotters another chance to fill-up the scoresheet, with Bolton coming off a five goal performance last week against Newcastle.