Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Can the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United and their latest interim manager, Michael Carrick? This is his second caretaker tenure though the three games of November-December 2021 (beating Villarreal and Arsenal, drawing with Chelsea) hardly compares to sending out an XI to try to beat Manchester City in Saturday’s early kick-off. Pep Guardiola’s high-performing unit remain in contention on all fronts. Carrick takes charge of a United suffering the aftershocks of a latest manager sacking, hoping to salvage the season via European qualification. The lad from Wallsend has 17 games to do so – his new team are in seventh place on 32 points, so victory over City would be a fine start. But you wonder if the match might end with Carrick and United humbled or, even worse, humiliated. Jamie Jackson

Chelsea know what’s coming. They conceded a late equaliser from a long throw when they drew with Brentford in September and will be wary of Michael Kayode’s huge deliveries when the sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Liam Rosenior must make sure his new side are ready. Chelsea have let in four goals from long throws this season and were all over the place when they drew with Bournemouth last month. Both of Bournemouth’s goals came from Antoine Semenyo hurling the ball into the area and exposing glaring deficiencies in Chelsea’s defending. Expect more of the same from Brentford and Kayode. Jacob Steinberg

Leeds had gone seven top-tier games unbeaten before they were slightly unfortunate to lose their last league fixture 4-3 at Newcastle. Can Daniel Farke’s side recover from that setback at Fulham’s expense? If it helps that the match takes place at Elland Road, the Leeds manager is certainly not underestimating Marco Silva’s team. “Fulham didn’t get the results they deserved earlier in the season,” said Farke, who tried and failed to lure the attacking midfielder Harry Wilson to West Yorkshire last summer. “But they’re now turning good performances into good results and, in the last five games, they’re third in the form table. They’re dangerous. We’ll need to be structured and take away their football skills.” And Wilson? “Harry Wilson’s a really good player and he’s having an impressive season,” he said. “I tried signing him for Norwich. He’s one of the Fulham players we’re going to have to be very aware of.” Louise Taylor

Right-back presents Arne Slot with another delicate balancing act against a Burnley team showing signs of improvement. The season-ending knee injury sustained by Conor Bradley at Arsenal was, as Slot put it, “an enormous blow” for the luckless defender. It also heightens the load on Jeremie Frimpong at a time when he has to be managed carefully, having recently returned from a second hamstring injury of the campaign. Frimpong has impressed in recent weeks but, with trips to Marseille and Bournemouth on the horizon, Slot may consider the claims of Joe Gomez or Calvin Ramsay for the problematic position. Scott Parker’s side have not won a league game since October but having ended a 12-match winless streak with an emphatic FA Cup rout of Millwall last Saturday, and drawn three of their past five league matches, the relegation-threatened visitors have arrested the slide. Andy Hunter

After impressing in last Saturday’s FA Cup third-round win on penalties at Everton, Luke O’Nien is likely to find himself back on Régis Le Bris’s bench when Crystal Palace visit the Stadium of Light. Yet his difficulties in breaking into the starting XI have done nothing to diminish O’Nien’s admiration of the high-performance culture being created on Wearside by, among others, the team captain, Granit Xhaka. “Granit’s one of the best, if not the best, leaders in football,” said the Sunderland defender. “He’s a special player and he’s bringing the club forward in so many ways. He’s such an easy guy to talk to, whether about football, family, the past or the future. And he’s backed up by many of our other players like Enzo [Le Fée], Nordi [Mukiele] and Omar [Alderete]. First and foremost they’re really good humans beings. Then, you add their leadership skills and playing ability. What they’re doing here is something I’ve never seen before. I haven’t played as many minutes as I’d like but, just by watching them and listening to them, they’ve raised my game.” LT

It took an almost full-strength West Ham team to see off Championship side QPR in the FA Cup but a win is a win, and more importantly a first since 8 November when they edged past Burnley. The decider came from Taty Castellanos on his second appearance after his recent move from Lazio. Nuno Espírito Santo needs a goalscorer in a team that have lost five of their past six Premier League games. Castellanos, deployed between Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, could form part of an ideal trio to bring life amid a crisis of confidence. The Argentinian is the man for the big occasion, once scoring four in a Girona victory over Real Madrid, and is the type of forward others can play off, so will help the runs of Bowen and Summerville in behind. Castellanos has the ability to be a playmaker as well as a finisher; if the West Ham forwards can learn each other’s traits and attributes, they could spearhead the push for survival – but need to do it quickly, starting at an out-of-form Spurs. Will Unwin

Sean Dyche learned he could not rely on his fringe players at Wrexham last Friday, so it will be back to what he knows best for the Premier League leaders’ visit. What will be critical for Forest is their defending of set pieces because everyone is aware of how seriously Mikel Arteta and the Gunners take them. Dyche implemented a marked improvement on the structure when facing corner and throw-ins immediately after his arrival and will be confident his centre-back pairing of Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo can keep Arsenal at bay. They are supported by the steady Matz Sels, an improvement on the trial of starting John Victor for a brief period. It will need careful planning from Dyche but he has the players capable of frustrating and irritating the visitors, while also possessing the quality to hit a team on the break. WU

A trip to Molineux is not as inviting as it was only a matter of weeks ago. Rob Edwards has re-energised bottom club Wolves and while they still look doomed to relegation they have accrued five points from their past three league matches, are four games unbeaten in all competitions, and won both of their previous home matches, the latest a 6-1 trouncing of Shrewsbury in the FA Cup. Wolves are seeking back-to-back league wins after kicking off the new year with victory over West Ham. The last time Wolves went five games unbeaten was last April, a six-game winning run under Vítor Pereira. For Newcastle, a team with a fragile away record, Sunday’s match represents something of a banana skin. Eddie Howe’s side have only won three of their 13 away matches in all competitions this season. Ben Fisher

Now the noise has faded and the eyeballs fixed on Aston Villa’s post-Christmas trip to Arsenal are looking elsewhere, Unai Emery’s side can crack on with their fine work. Villa may have lost at the Emirates Stadium but since then they have beaten Nottingham Forest, earned a respectable point at Crystal Palace and sent Tottenham packing from the FA Cup. Villa are level on points with second-placed Manchester City, six behind the leaders, and even if the title is beyond them, it is the buffer to sixth place currently occupied by Newcastle which is most significant, with fifth likely sufficient for Champions League qualification. Eleven points separate Villa and Newcastle heading into the weekend. Sunday’s match at home to Everton, who remain thin on quality, provides another chance for Villa to maintain a healthy gap between them and their rivals. BF

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