English Premier League

Here’s a pre-match analysis of the games to be played in the English Premier League on Sunday, November 28, 2010.

Newcastle United Vs Chelsea

Place: St. James’ Park, Newcastle

Referee: Andre Marriner

Kick-off: 1330 hrs GMT

Chelsea faces a tough trip away at Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Sunday. For the Blues, their top position in the Premier League table is on the line, as Manchester United and Arsenal both won their respective matches yesterday to jump past Chelsea to gain the first and the second spot respectively.  Newcastle comes into this match at the 12^th position in the league table.

Chelsea have lost 3 of their last 4 Premier League matches including losses against Sunderland and Birmingham, but a win midweek in the Champions League against Slovakian champions MSK Zilina has raised the spirits at Stamford Bridge.  The home side has lost two of their last three matches and will be looking to once again get on the winning track with a win against the recently humanized Chelsea team.

Chelsea will be without top players like John Terry, Frank Lampard, Yuri Zhirkov and Michael Essien. They are all out with injuries but are expected to be back for the next weekend matches.

The home side will be without the services of centrebacks Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson, both of them with three match suspensions.  Ryan Taylor and Dan Gosling are also all set to miss the match due to injury problems.

The players to watch will be the Chelsea forward line including Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda.

Tottenham Hotspur Vs Liverpool

Place: White Hart Lane, London

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Kick-off: 1600 hrs GMT

6^th placed Tottenham Hotspur host 9^th placed Liverpool at White Hart Lane in West London. The visitors have won four, drawn one and lost one of their last 6 Premier League matches. Their only loss was against Stoke City two weeks back, while the wins include the famous home win against Chelsea.  This is a chance for Liverpool to get back to their winning ways after a tumultuous start to this season in which they were able to accumulate only six points from their first eight matches. Spurs are on a winning run as they’ve won their last two consecutive matches. They’ll be aiming to get a hat-trick of wins.

Both sides are missing crucial players due to injury. For the home side, Rafael van der Vaart is out with an ankle injury, he also sat out the midweek match against Werder Bremen. Jermaine Jenus, Michael Dawson and Giovani dos Santos are also suspected to be not available for this match.

Liverpool are all set to miss their talismanic captain Steven Gerrard due to hamstring injury sustained on international duty, however, Joe Cole will be available after a long absence from Premier League football.

Both teams are hunting for that elusive Champions League spot and this match will determine which one will be closer at the end of the week.

Tags: Chelsea, English Premier League, EPL, Football, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Newcastle United, Preview, Tottenham Hotspur