The games come thick and fast in the world of lockdown football and the Premier League is back again after a weekend of FA Cup action.
The old competition gave us plenty to think about going back into another week of top-flight match-ups – we saw Manchester United assert their dominance over a Liverpool side that continues to falter, we saw Chelsea get back into their groove against Championship outfit Luton before the axe finally fell on Frank Lampard.
There is almost no time to switch gears as we focus our attention on the title race again, and this Wednesday offers games with big stakes – Tottenham taking on a wounded Liverpool side, top-four hopefuls Everton welcoming in-form Leicester.
How will Tuchel’s Chelsea line up?
News of Lampard’s sacking caught many by surprise. But a look at the bigger picture and it’s clear his time was running out at Stamford Bridge, with the club now hoping to get Tuchel in before Wednesday’s clash with Wolves.
Lampard had been forced to shuffle his pack several times this season with a number of stars failing to impress – not to mention big-money buy Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. But should Tuchel be announced as his successor, will he bring both of his fellow Germans to the forefront?
After splashing out £230million this summer, the club are desperate to see both men succeed, and Tuchel could hold the keys to unlocking their potential having impressed in the Bundesliga. The game at Stamford Bridge might come too soon for Tuchel, but should he find himself in the dugout, what will that mean for Chelsea’s homegrown players?
Tottenham should attack vulnerable Liverpool
When Liverpool secured a stoppage-time win over Spurs in December, it sent the Reds three points clear of Jose Mourinho’s men at the top of the table. Well now look at them both.
Just over a month later, it’s all come tumbling down for Liverpool, who are on a torrid winless run of five games and are now down in fourth. Tottenham’s loss at Anfield started a blip of their own – they’re just below the Reds, and what was once a title clash is now a top-four battle on Thursday night.
Tottenham have looked like real contenders at times this season but have been let down by negative tactics. Now, with Liverpool still enduring an injury crisis and lacking in confidence, is it time for Spurs to take the game to Jurgen Klopp’s men?
Are Burnley finding form at the right time?
You should never count Burnley out with Sean Dyche at the helm, and now we’re finding out why. The Clarets looked like dead-certs for relegation this season after making just one signing last summer.
But gradually they’ve been pulling away from the bottom three and their stunning win at Liverpool last week – the Reds’ first at Anfield since 2017 – would have given the team all the confidence in the world that they can avoid the drop. That coupled with a 3-0 win over fellow Premier League outfit Fulham in the FA Cup has got the wheels turning at Turf Moor.
They’re up against Villa side who have impressed this season and are pushing for a spot in the top six, but Burnley will hope to put in the same solid displays that saw them nick wins at Arsenal and Liverpool.
Time for leaders Man United to show their teeth
The rise of the Red Devils to the Premier League summit has taken most people by surprise, and their ability to sneak results and win ugly has been key to an impressive consistency from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
We’re seeing a mentality that brought so much success to the club during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Midfielder Bruno Fernandes is currently outscoring forwards Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani. Now that United are in full swing at the league summit, it’s time for Solskjaer to unleash the shackles and give his forwards the licence to express themselves as they take on basement boys Sheffield United.
Everton welcome in-form Leicester
At the start of the season Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the name on everyone’s lips as he blitzed his way to six goals from his first four games. His contributions remained steady throughout the season – but lately they’ve dried up, with his last league goal coming in early December.
The 23-year-old was back on the scoresheet in Everton’s 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday after sitting out the last three games with a hamstring injury. Not a bad time to have him back and in a scoring mood as the Toffees face a pivotal game in their bid to claim a place in the top four.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have shown they are by no means reliant on Calvert-Lewin – winning four of their last five – but it can do no harm to have him back in the side when they take on the Foxes, who are six points above them in the table.
Another team getting by without their star striker is Leicester, who briefly went top of the league last week by beating Chelsea 2-0, and pulled it off again without goals from Vardy.
The forward will be absent against Everton as he continues to recover from a hernia operation, but Rodgers won’t be too concerned given the output from other areas of the pitch. James Maddison is enjoying a purple patch and Harvey Barnes impressing too.
The post Tottenham must attack against wounded Liverpool, Chelsea face big change in Tuchel era appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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