Premier League questions: Can Chelsea win for Jose Mourinho? Will Wayne Rooney be dropped?
Saturday 31 October 2015 08:27, UK
Is it must-win for Jose Mourinho? Will Wayne Rooney be dropped? Can West Brom stop Jamie Vardy? We take a look at 10 questions that could be answered by the end of the Premier League weekend.
The action gets underway on Saturday lunchtime as struggling champions Chelsea host Liverpool before Manchester United go to Crystal Palace and Arsenal travel to Swansea.
With Tottenham completing the round of fixtures on Monday Night Football at home to managerless Aston Villa, here's what to look out for over the weekend...
Is it really must-win for Mourinho? (Chelsea v Liverpool, Saturday, 12.45pm)
After crashing out of the Capital One Cup at Stoke in midweek, Jose Mourinho did not single anyone out for blame or even criticise the referee, opting instead to defend his under-performing players.
But for how much longer will they be his players? There have been reports that this Saturday's game against Liverpool could be decisive for Mourinho, with a defeat potentially spelling the end of his second spell at Stamford Bridge.
Whether that is the case remains to be seen, but there is no doubt Chelsea could do with a win.
The defending champions have lost four of their last six games in all competitions and start the weekend 15th in the Premier League with just 11 points.
While Chelsea have fared well against Liverpool in recent seasons, Mourinho's record against Jurgen Klopp reads: P4 W1 D1 L2.
Will Wayne Rooney be dropped? (Crystal Palace v Manchester United, 3pm Saturday)
Louis van Gaal might be "sick" of talking about Rooney, but until the 30-year-old starts influencing games again, the questions will persist.
Rooney has managed just two Premier League goals in 810 minutes of action and has completed fewer dribbles than Bastian Schweinsteiger this season.
Adam Bate wrote earlier this week that by playing Rooney up front, Van Gaal is preventing Anthony Martial making an even bigger impact at Old Trafford.
But is Rooney undroppable? If we don't find out this weekend then we should in the coming weeks.
Will Kelechi Iheanacho keep his place? (Manchester City v Norwich, Saturday 3pm)
In a week of cup shocks, Man City were one of the few sides to progress to the quarter-finals with ease.
That they did was in no small part thanks to an impressive display from Iheanacho.
The 19-year-old scored one and set up two in a man-of-the-match display against Crystal Palace, with Soccer Special pundit Matt Murray labelling his performance "outstanding".
He's yet to start a game in the Premier League but this weekend seems as good an opportunity as any with Sergio Aguero and David Silva both still sidelined with injuries and a key trip to Sevilla in the Champions League on the horizon next week.
Can Newcastle put derby defeat behind them? (Newcastle v Stoke, 3pm Saturday)
For 44 minutes of last Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby it looked as though Steve McClaren could be the man to end Newcastle's losing run against Sunderland.
They hadn't scored, but they were by far the better side and McClaren later described the first-half performance as "almost perfect".
Unfortunately for the Magpies, it all unravelled after Fabricio Coloccini got sent off, with Adam Johnson scoring the subsequent penalty and a record sixth straight derby defeat following 45 minutes later.
Seen in isolation, the result is galling for Newcastle, but they have shown some encouraging signs in recent weeks.
However, the ultimate challenge for McClaren looks as though it might be stringing together consistent performances for 90 minutes every week.
Can Giroud be the main man? (Swansea v Arsenal, 3pm)
Everything seemed to be going swimmingly for Arsenal until their midweek Capital One Cup trip to Sheffield Wednesday.
They had won four games in a row, temporarily gone top of the Premier League and seen Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both score goals up front.
But they suffered a setback on Tuesday, if not due to the 3-0 defeat to the Owls then due to injuries to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott that will sideline both players until after the international break at least.
That means Walcott will miss this weekend's trip to Swansea, the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich and the north London derby with Tottenham.
As such, the striking responsibility, for the short-term at least, will fall on the shoulders of Giroud, who has scored just once in four Premier League starts against the Swans.
Can Hornets halt Hammers charge? (Watford v West Ham, 3pm)
West Ham might sit third in the table, but Slaven Bilic has been urging caution this week.
The Croatian says the team are "totally grounded" despite an impressive start to the season that has seem them beat Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea to soar up to third in the table.
While they find themselves up with the elite, the Hammers have not fared that well against the two newly-promoted sides they have faced so far.
Bournemouth are one of only two teams to beat them this season while only a late equaliser denied Norwich victory at Upton Park last month.
Watford will be looking to follow in the footsteps of their fellow top-flight new boys.
Can Baggies keep out Vardy? (West Brom v Leicester, 3pm Saturday)
Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Stoke, Arsenal, Norwich, Southampton, Crystal Palace.
Jamie Vardy has scored against all of them in succession to not only propel himself to the top of the Premier League scoring charts but start rumours that Real Madrid could be interested in his services.
If he makes it eight in a row this weekend against Tony Pulis' West Brom that speculation will surely only intensify.
The Baggies have recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins over Sunderland and Norwich in the past couple of weeks and, as a man who loves a clean sheet as much as a baseball cap, this could be the ultimate challenge for Pulis.
Can Toffees solve set-piece problems? (Everton v Sunderland, 1.30pm Sunday)
It might not be Roberto Martinez's most pressing concern, but set-pieces are becoming something of an issue for Everton.
After 10 games of the season, they are the only side in the Premier League yet to score from a set-piece situation, with all 13 of their goals coming from open play.
They have also conceded three times from set pieces in the last four games, with Arsenal's second last Saturday coming from a free-kick into the box and Norwich scoring shortly after a corner in midweek.
Defensively they will not be helped by the loss of captain Phil Jagielka to injury but it could be an area for the Toffees to work on.
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Can Federici/Boruc redeem themselves? (Southampton v Bournemouth, 4pm Sunday)
It's been a miserable few weeks for Bournemouth.
After long-term injuries to Callum Wilson, Tyrone Mings, Tommy Elphick Max Gradel, the Cherries have shipped 10 goals in their last two matches and find themselves slipping towards the relegation zone.
With holes to fill all around the pitch, they have not been helped by error-strewn displays from their goalkeepers.
First it was Adam Federici with a couple of mistakes against Man City and then Artur Boruc with a sloppy performance against Tottenham last weekend.
That has left the position in the balance, but whoever Eddie Howe goes with this weekend has a good chance to stake their claim.
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Will Spurs carry on under the radar? (Tottenham v Aston Villa, 8pm Monday)
There have been so many other stories and sub-plots this season that Spurs have almost gone unnoticed.
They have, though, put together an impressive run of results and are unbeaten in the Premier League since the opening day of the season.
Among the top leagues in Europe, only Bayern Munich and PSG are unbeaten for as long.
They also saw Harry Kane get among the goals last weekend with a hat-trick against Bournemouth and he will fancy his chances of netting again against a Villa side without a manager and propping up the table.
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