Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Aaron Cresswell is crucial for West Ham, Manchester United should play on the counter and is this Burnley’s moment?

    

1) Crucial Cresswell

Stoke have not had successive results all season. Their league record is a jumble – LDWLDWLWL – that suggests they whatever happens at the Britannia Stadium this weekend, a defeat isn’t on the menu. West Ham are exceeding expectations to such an extent that even Sam Allardyce has admitted surprise at how quickly his team have gelled. The forwards – Diafra Sakho in particular – have been getting much of the credit, and the work of Stewart Downing (the Premier League’s second highest “chance-creator” so far this season behind Cesc Fàbregas) and Alex Song in midfield has not gone unnoticed.
But a slightly unheralded star of West Ham’s superb start has been Aaron Cresswell. The left-back signed from Ipswich Town in the summer is one of only three Hammers to have played every minute of every game thus far and his dynamism from deep has been crucial in opening up the way Allardyce’s side play. Andy Carroll is clearly relishing the chance to get on the end of his deliveries. If the full-back positions are indeed the most important on the pitch then West Ham are in excellent shape and well-placed to take advantage of the reshuffle required by the absence of the suspended Phil Bardsley at right-back for Stoke. John Ashdown

2) Van Gaal should plan to play on the counterattack

If Louis van Gaal wasn’t planning on playing counter-attacking football in the Manchester derby on Sunday, he must surely be now. The Manchester United manager will have keenly watched City’s 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle on Wednesday, in which the visitors were stout in defence, ruthless and quick in attack, and worthy winners despite having just 30% possession. United will take unquestionably more talent to the Etihad than Newcastle did but in Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao, Juan Mata, and a returning Wayne Rooney, they are not overly blessed with genuine attacking pace that is crucial to counter-attacking. So much depends on Angel di María in this regard, but perhaps the inclusion of Antonio Valencia – who returned to full training last week and who has played in both defensive and attacking roles – would be an effective one, even if it is from the bench. Michael Butler

3) Redknapp needs to be bold

It is no coincidence that QPR’s improvement over their past two games has come with a more prominent role for Bobby Zamora in the side and while the temptation for Harry Redknapp at Stamford Bridge will be to play Charlie Austin alone up front and pack the midfield, you wonder if QPR might not be better served by throwing caution to the wind. QPR’s creaking defence will surely not be strong enough to keep out Chelsea, even if the Premier League leaders’ forward options are restricted by injury, so isolating Austin alone up front would serve little purpose. Redknapp needs to be positive to stand any chance of getting a result. JA

4) Eto’o mentorship is helping Lukaku

It is difficult to measure the value of signing a player like Samuel Eto’o. Judgements can be made on the basis on a goal tally, a player’s wage, or an Opta index but less tangible metrics like confidence, team spirit and experience are often left unaccounted for. Everton fans have already taken the 33-year-old to their hearts for his goals but the Cameroonian’s positive influence over Romelu Lukaku may be more beneficial for Everton in the long-term. “I spend most of the time with him,” Lukaku said this week. “I come in at the same time as he does, I leave at the same time. In training we have a finishing competition and the one who loses has to do sprints. We do everything together on and off the pitch as well. He comes to my house, I go to his house. I try to learn as much as I can from.” After a slow start to the season, Lukaku’s recent improvement in form may or may not be down to Eto’o’s mentorship but it will be interesting to see if the young Belgian can make his mark against Swansea’s defence on Saturday: only Chelsea and Southampton have conceded fewer goals than the Welsh team this season. MB

5) Will the Newcastle fans give Pardew a break?

At nearly every home game this season, Newcastle’s manager has sustained heavy fire from the terraces: booing, Pardew Out signs, and fans of the last visitors to St James’ Park, Leicester, even made a ‘Don’t Sack Pardew’ banner in jest. But after three consecutive wins, including away wins at Tottenham and Manchester City, what kind of reception will Pardew receive on Saturday when his side face Liverpool? The 53-year-old has at the very least bought himself some time at board level with recent results, but will the home fans be as generous? MB

6) Is this Burnley’s moment?

Burnley’s start has gone to script: no wins, five goals scored, 16 conceded, Sean Dyche having to defend himself against daft sack rumours and self-belief fading weekly. All of which points towards a tidy win at the Emirates on Saturday. Arsenal’s last game there featured a scraped point against Hull via a last-minute Danny Welbeck equaliser, and their ability to be upset by spirited opponents remains consistently strong. Dyche is making all the right, hoarse noises. “It dents you but it doesn’t break you. Whether it hurts or not is irrelevant – it gives you the added motivation to get wins.” His two big positives heading to London: Dean Marney is back after injury and Danny Ings scored his first of the season against Everton. Arsenal’s good news: Theo Walcott could return. David Hills

7) Long- and short-term history a worry for Villa

There’s not really much for Villa to feel optimistic about ahead of the visit of Tottenham. Over the past two seasons the clubs have met five times, with Spurs winning all five at an aggregate score of 15-0. And even if you want to dismiss that as an irrelevance you’ve still got Villa’s last five games in the Premier League to worry about – five games, five defeats and an aggregate score of 13-0. It has not been an easy run of games – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton took the wind from their early-season sails, and if you were feeling charitable you might suggest they were unfortunate to meet a QPR side just as they came into form. Spurs, though, will surely enjoy the wide open plains provided by Villa’s luxuriously spacious 105m x 68m pitch. JA

8) Will the real Hull City please stand up?

It must be a slightly bemusing time to be a Hull City fan. On one hand it feels the season is going just fine – a win over Crystal Palace began the month and was followed by two very handy draws away at Arsenal and then Liverpool (the latter achieved without a couple of key men). On the other, they’ve won only twice in the Premier League so far (the same, for example, as the up-until-a-minute-or-two-ago-entirely-hapless QPR) and they’re nowhere near as far away from the stragglers as it feels they should be after nearly a quarter of the season. The visit of Southampton – form side though they undoubtedly are – is the sort that could swing the mood one way or the other. Ronald Koeman’s team aren’t going to shut up shop at the KC Stadium so this could – maybe even should – be a chance for the freewheelin’ funster side of the Tigers to shine. JA
 

9) Ulloa and goodbye

   Since beating Manchester United in that dramatic 5-3 in September Leicester have lost three away from home without scoring and drawn the one home game they’ve had against lowly Burnley. This, though, should provide an opportunity to get their autumn back on track, both for the team in general and for Leonardo Ulloa in particular. The Argentinian striker hit the ground running after his move from Brighton but his stall in form has coincided with that of the team as a whole. Asked whether his striker could rediscover his touch this weekend, Nigel Pearson told the Leicester Mercury this week: “It depends on whether we can create enough chances. This is something where you can’t have one without the other. Strikers need enough opportunities.” West Brom have been generous enough in that regard of late. JA

10) Can Sunderland hold themselves together?

It was progress, of sorts. At St Mary’s Gus Poyet’s side scored two of their opponent’s goals; against Arsenal they just set two up. On Monday they take their recent average conceding rate of one goal every 18 minutes to Selhurst Park, to face a Palace side newly buoyed up by/unsettled by American billionaire takeover rumours. Poyet – who has his own special history with Palace, having been in charge of Brighton during the 2013 Championship play-off semi-final second-leg when tactical excrement made headlines – could drop both Vito Mannone and Wes Brown in an attempt to cut out the errors at source. “We have characters,” he says. “It’s just the quality and the momentum which we need to change.” DH