English Premier League Wednesday Preview: Can Manchester City Catch United By Beating Arsenal At The Emirates?

A few well taken goals by Manchester United’s Nani and Javier Hernandez were enough to see off Stoke City at home on Tuesday from Old Trafford. Although it wasn’t a classic, the win pushed United three clear of Manchester City who travel to North London to the Emirates stadium to take on Arsenal later today. Wednesday’s most entertaining match sees second in the table take on third as Arsenal will have the chance to reverse that standing with a win at home. Three points will catapult Arsenal to 42 and leave City on 41.

Earlier in the season, Arsenal traveled to Eastlands in Manchester and saw out a 0-3 win with goals from Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Niklas Bendtner. None should forget the fact the City’s Dedryck Boyata was sent off in the game’s fourth minute for a last man foul on Marouane Chamakh. It was clear from that minute on that City had been affected by the sending off which lead to a consolidation of sorts by boss Roberto Mancini as City would have to play a man down for the duration of the afternoon.

For City, Mario Balotelli and David Silva will miss out due to injury while Arsenal’s starting eleven will be at full strength as the Gunners are suffering very little in the injury department. Manchester City have dominated most headlines in recent days as they’ve acquired Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko from Wolfsburg and further strengthened their already sharp attack. While Dzeko’s move has yet to be finalized, it seems as if minor details and a short amount of time are all that’s needed before Dzeko looks to bolster an already strong Manchester City.

Around the Premier League

Aston Villa Vs. Sunderland, Villa Park, Birmingham- The Villans are coming off of a dramatic late draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea on Sunday. One that witnessed them concede a late lead, but also one that saw the Villans earn a hard fought point away to the Champions. Sunderland rather easily disposed of Blackburn at the Stadium of Light and will look to build upon a fantastic season - one where the current table places them in sixth.

Newcastle United Vs. West Ham United, St. James’ Park, Newcastle- West Ham dramatically pulled themselves out of the muck and mire of the relegation zone with a 2-0 home win against Wolverhampton last time out. The Hammers have been slowly building steam with positive results over the last month as four league matches have seen West Ham gain eight valuable points in their struggle to stay in England’s top flight. Newcastle won away to Wigan without Andy Carroll and seem to be fairly stable under the new Alan Pardew regime, yet work is still needed on Tyneside if Pardew is to keep the Toon in the top half of the table.

Wolverhampton Vs. Chelsea, Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton - Bottom Wolves will just be hoping for some form of a positive result as a relegation scrap seems to occupy their future for the next five months. Mick McCarthy, looking for consolidation, has set up Wolves to play good football, yet their ability to actually carry out McCarthy’s tactics effectively has yet to be seen. Chelsea still continue to slide down their ever so slippery slope, but an away trip to bottom Wolves, while not an easy place to play, could be the kind of match that gets the Champions back to their best.

Blackburn Vs. Liverpool, Ewood Park, Blackburn - As both teams continue to trudge forward under new ownership and new leadership, Wednesday’s match at Blackburn is seemingly wide open. Liverpool won at the death last time out thanks to a Joe Cole tap in, but the better news for Liverpool is that Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard linked up brilliantly for the Reds opener.

Tottenham Hotspur Vs. Everton, White Hart Lane, London- Everton’s struggles continued last weekend against Stoke, losing 2-0 with a lineup that included Tim Cahill. Now that the Australian wonder-man is away on Asian Cup duty, it seems unlikely that Everton will find even a point at WHL. Spurs seem almost invincible these days, having won their last three matches and climbed to fourth in the table.

Bolton Vs. Wigan, The Reebok, Bolton - Low-flying Wigan were quite poor on the weekend at home to Newcaslte. The Latics were without attacker Charles N’Zogbia and will continue to miss his services for an additional two matches. Bolton will be without Lee Chung-Yong who is on AFC Asian Cup duty with South Korea. The home side will look to rebound at home against Wigan after losing two straight league matches.