Chelsea vs Fulham September 21, 2013

Chelsea and Fulham clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening for the first West London derby of the season.

The hosts suffered a disappointing home defeat to Basel on Wednesday night and will be looking to bounce back in the league against their local rivals.

Chelsea captain John Terry is likely to return after being rested in midweek.
Ramires sat out Wednesday's defeat by Basel through suspension but is available for domestic action, while Juan Mata will hope to earn a recall.


The Premier League season is only four games old but the return of the 'Special One' has so far not been a 'perfect one' or a 'contented one'.
It will have been a long week for Jose Mourinho, which will have reminded him once again that he has inherited a very different Chelsea squad to the one he left six years ago.

Darren Bent is fit for Fulham but fellow forward Dimitar Berbatov will have a fitness test on a hamstring problem.
Bryan Ruiz's ankle injury means he joins Aaron Hughes, Matthew Briggs and Maarten Stekelenburg on the sidelines.

Fulham made the perfect start to their season with three points at Sunderland, but have failed to win in their three games since.

Blues manager Jose Mourinho has no injury or suspension concerns for the game, but could opt to drop one or two of the players who disappointed on Wednesday.

Dimitar Berbatov is expected to return from the injury he picked up against West Bromwich Albion, but Darren Bent and Bryan Ruiz will most likely miss out for the Cottagers.

Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole; Oscar, Lampard, Ramires; Mata, Hazard, Eto'o

Fulham: Stockdale; Riether, Senderos, Hangeland, Richardson; Duff, Sidwell, Parker, Kacaniklic; Kasami; Berbatov

West Ham vs Everton September 21, 2013

Everton will be seeking to stretch their unbeaten run against West Ham United to 11 games when they face Sam Allardyce's shot-shy side at Upton Park on Saturday.

West Ham last beat Everton in the Premier League in April 2007 when Bobby Zamora's goal earned a 1-0 win and the hosts head into this weekend's fixture with problems in attack.

Though West Ham started the season with a 2-0 home win over Cardiff, they have not scored in three subsequent games and have managed just six shots on target this term.

The Hammers also have the worst shooting accuracy in the division at just 20 per cent and it is almost seven years since they last went four consecutive Premier League games without a goal.

Everton have not exactly been prolific either so far this term after scoring only three goals in their four-match unbeaten start to the campaign.

Steven Naismith's header secured Roberto Martinez his first league win at the helm against Chelsea last week and Everton have at least been enjoying plenty of possession in their opponents' half of the pitch.

Martinez's men have attempted more passes in the final third than any other top-flight team and currently sit sixth in Europe in that statistic.

West Ham started their season off with a strong victory over Cardiff City with their new additions from the last two transfer windows getting things off to the right start. However, injuries to key players such as Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Joe Cole have seen the club hampered as of late as their struggle to build their offense around their summer marquee signing's of Carroll and Downing.

 Everton on the other hand continue to only look stronger every week under Roberto Martinez as his Toffees share the undefeated status of the Premier League with neighboring rivals Liverpool and know one else. After three straight draws and the sell of Marouane Fellaini to Manchester United, the club managed to upset Chelsea at home to remain unbeaten and earn their first victory of the year as Martinez continues to send out the right players week after week.

West Bromwich vs Sunderland September 21, 2013

West Bromwich Albion host Sunderland at the weekend as both teams look to register their first Premier League win of the season.

The Baggies and the Black Cats currently sit in the bottom two positions in the league table, with a victory apiece in the League Cup all that they have to show for their season so far.

Defeats to Fulham, Crystal Palace and Arsenal have so far dampened the Paolo Di Canio ‘revolution’ which bought a colossal 13 new faces to Wearside this summer, although they were extremely unlucky not to see out an away win at Southampton three games ago, and they’re already approaching their next fixture away at West Bromwich Albion in much need of their first three points.

But for all the recent talk condemning the enthusiastic Di Canio so early on, West Brom are only one position above Sunderland in 19th place and Steve Clarke is also desperate for a win after seeing his side do the complete opposite of last season by starting off rather slow this time around, with just two points being collected thus far.

West Brom head coach Steve Clarke will have new signing Stephane Sessegnon at his disposal after the former Sunderland man was finally handed a work permit earlier this week.

Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio will be able to call upon defender John O'Shea, who missed the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal through suspension.

The Italian could also recall midfielder Craig Gardner, who came off the bench to score last weekend.

West Bromwich Albion: Myhill; Olsson, Ridgewell, McAuley, Jones; Yacob, Brunt, Amalfitano, Mulumbu; Anichebe, Sessegnon

Sunderland: Westwood; Celustka, Colback, Diakite, O'Shea; Ki, Johnson, Gardner, Mavrias; Fletcher, Altidore

Liverpool vs Southampton September 21, 2013

Liverpool's Daniel Agger is expected to return after missing Monday's draw at Swansea with a side strain.
Philippe Coutinho is out for several weeks after shoulder surgery so the likes of Iago Aspas and Raheem Sterling will be pushing for a recall.

Southampton left-back Luke Shaw has overcome the knock that forced him to limp off in the draw with West Ham.

But fellow left-back Danny Fox remains a doubt with an ankle complaint and Tadanari Lee may also miss out.

Southampton have a very clear game plan under Maurico Pochettino. Under previous manager Nigel Adkins, Southampton took a more patient approach and looked to be compact in their own half especially against the stronger teams. However, the new manager changed the mind-set and now has the team hunting the ball down in the oppositions half when the possession is lost. The key to this tactic is Lambert and the attacking midfield trio with Wanyama & Schneiderlin backing them up. That midfield of players are all energetic enough and aged between 18-25yrs to carry out such gameplan. Young Jack Cork, who has now been displaced by Wanyama in the team, commented last February on the new high intensity pressing game saying “…it does feel like you need two hearts to play like that“.

Signs of exciting times ahead then? Well, yes, but in a back-to-front way I think the most exciting thing about Liverpool's start is that few seem to be getting TOO excited. There was even talk of a "reality check" from Monday's 2-2 draw at Swansea - a result most teams would happily shake hands on before kick-off.
Southampton drew last week, too, with their failure to turn umpteen chances into goals the reason they couldn't beat West Ham at home. Indeed, it's been a problem for Saints going back to last season, with only four scored in their last nine league games.

"This Is Anfield". It's only a sign, but it's the reason Liverpool's tunnel is arguably the most famous in world football - and a sign that might be starting to resonate with visiting teams again.

Liverpool are 10 home games unbeaten, with only West Brom having left Anfield victorious in 2013 - a year in which Liverpool have so far won seven home league games. At this same stage of 2012, the Kop had only celebrated two successes and wouldn't cheer a third for another month.

Newcastle vs Hull City September 21, 2013

Newcastle are without Steven Taylor, who damaged a hamstring in training.
Shola Ameobi is out with an injury picked up on international duty with Nigeria, while Jonas Gutierrez remains out with a hamstring problem.

As a boy, Danny Graham was a Magpies fan, but his association with Sunderland - and he played in their 3-0 win at Newcastle in April - means he won't be receiving a hometown welcome at St James' Park.
The Hull striker has not scored in any game since January. If he takes part in this one it will be his 22nd outing since last finding the back of the net. Steve Bruce must decided whether to stick with him up front or to pick Yannick Sagbo, who is available again after suspension.

Hull captain Robert Koren has broken a bone in his right foot and faces up to eight weeks out, while Maynor Figueroa has been granted compassionate leave.
Paul McShane is out with a hamstring injury, but striker Yannick Sagbo returns from suspension.

Newcastle United (Possible, 4-3-3): Krul; Debuchy, Coloccini, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon; Anita, Sissoko, Cabaye; Ben Arfa, Cissé, Rémy. 
Out: Gutierrez, S Taylor (both hamstring), R Taylor (knee), Sh Ameobi, Williamson (both unspecified).

Hull City (Possible, 4-3-2-1): McGregor; Elmohamady, Chester, Davies, Rosenior; Quinn, Huddlestone, Livermore; Aluko, Brady; Sagbo.
Out: Dudgeon (unspecified), Koren (foot), Figueroa (personal), McShane (hamstring).

Norwich vs Aston Villa September 21, 2013

Prior to the start of the season there was great hope that Norwich City and Aston Villa could both have successful Premier League campaigns. The Canaries arguably had the most impressive transfer window in the entire division, while it seemed almost impossible for the Villans to fare quite as badly as they did last season -- especially retaining top scorer Christian Benteke.

Aston Villa will be looking to pull away from the Premier League's bottom three when they travel to Norwich City on Saturday.

Paul Lambert's side have lost three of their opening four fixtures, including last Saturday's 2-1 reversal to Newcastle United at Villa Park.

Norwich, who sit two places and one point ahead of Villa in 15th, were beaten 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

Canaries boss Chris Hughton has no fresh injury concerns but may decide to shuffle his pack, with Gary Hooper in contention to make his debut after recovering from a shin injury.

Villa manager Paul Lambert may make changes to the side that lost against Newcastle, with Aleksandar Tonev and Libor Kozak pushing for starts.

However, neither team has delivered on the expectation so far. Norwich have picked up four points from their opening three games and Villa just three points, having not won since the opening game of the season. That means that this game could be quite a cagey affair, between two teams looking to push away from the foot of the table.

Norwich City: John Ruddy; Javier Garrido, Sébastien Bassong, Michael Turner, Steven Whittaker; Nathan Redmond, Leroy Fer, Bradley Johnson, Robert Snodgrass; Johan Elmander; Ricky van Wolfswinkel

Aston Villa: Brad Guzan; Antonio Luna, Ciaran Clark, Ron Vlaar, Matthew Lowton; Fabian Delph, Ashley Westwood, Yacouba Sylla; Gabriel Agbonlahor, Christian Benteke, Aleksandar Tonev

Match Date/Time: Saturday, 12:45 p.m. local, 7:45 a.m. ET

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