Felix Magath begins his quest to guide rock-bottom Fulham to safety on the road at West Brom, while leaders Chelsea welcome Everton to Stamford Bridge.
Magath makes bow, Chelsea, City and Arsenal eye home comforts
Felix Magath begins his quest to guide rock-bottom Fulham to safety on the road at West Bromwich Albion, while leaders Chelsea welcome Everton to Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal and Manchester City will be hoping to enjoy home comforts and keep their title chases on track, against Sunderland and Stoke City respectively, before Liverpool play host to Swansea City on Sunday.
Manchester United will want to close in on the European places when they take in a trip to Crystal Palace, live on
Sky Sports, while Cardiff City will aim to climb out of the drop zone at home to Hull City and West Ham United will endeavour to keep their recent revival going against Southampton.
The
Sky Sports cameras will then be in the North East and East Anglia for a Super Sunday double-header that opens with Newcastle United entertaining Aston Villa and closes with Tottenham Hotspur's trip to Norwich City.
Table-topping
Chelsea get the weekend action up and running on Saturday lunchtime as they welcome
Everton to west London. The Blues are unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League fixtures, and have moved one point clear at the summit as a result. They are now there to be shot at, and Everton will want to be the ones to knock them from their lofty perch. The Toffees have failed to emerge victorious in their last 18 visits to Stamford Bridge, but did overcome Jose Mourinho's men 1-0 in the reverse fixture back in September, so know what it takes to get the job done.
Second-placed
Arsenal will know by the time they take to the field against Sunderland whether there is any chance of them ending the day back in first place, and will be desperate to ensure that they offer a positive response to their European setback against Bayern Munich in midweek. The Gunners have now won just one of their last four games in all competitions - an FA Cup clash with Liverpool - and know they need to rediscover their spark if they are to remain in contention for the top-flight crown.
Sunderland are more concerned with events at the opposite end of the division, with Gus Poyet's cup specialists having slipped back into the relegation zone.
Manchester City are also in action at three o'clock on Saturday, and have a continental itch of their own to scratch upon their return to domestic duty. They need to get a disappointing defeat to Barcelona out of their system as quickly as possible and get back to the business of blowing opponents away at the Etihad Stadium.
Stoke City are unlikely to be relishing a trip to the North West, having been beaten in each of their last five visits - conceding 14 times and offering no reply. Mark Hughes may feel that he still has a point to prove on his former stomping ground, though, and masterminded a goalless draw with City at the Britannia Stadium earlier in the campaign.
Elsewhere,
West Ham will be looking to make it four wins in a row when
Southampton arrive at Upton Park. The Hammers, who found themselves languishing inside the bottom three a few weeks ago, are now 11th, with only goal difference keeping them out of the top half. Another positive result this weekend would fire them into the top 10 and put further daylight between them and the top-flight trapdoor. Saints have, however, become a tough nut to crack again, with Mauricio
