Premier League Preview – Week 2

As always in the Premier League, opening weekend through up some big surprises with West Ham beating Arsenal and Leicester City sitting on top of the Premier League, at least for a couple of nights, after demolishing Sunderland. 

Week two is now upon us and we are likely to see the league begin to settle down, starting this weekend as teams move into their expected positions over the next few weeks.

Here at The Sports Lowdown we preview this weekends games and team news across the Premier League and offer our thoughts on who will win.

Friday

Aston Villa v Manchester United – Kick Off – 19:45 – Villa Park

Aston Villa have a decision to make over whether to start last weekend’s goalscoring hero Rudy Gestede who is still not yet fully fit. Tim Sherwood is still without the injured duo of Carles Gil and Jack Grealish, despite them returning to training this week as they continue their quest for match fitness.

Manchester United are still without goalkeeper David De Gea after disagreements over his transfer to Real Madrid with Sergio Romero to remain in goal. Maroune Fellaini is still out through suspension and defender Phil Jones is out injured. Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to play off the bench again as he continues his quest for full match fitness.

Prediction – 1-2 – Villa are a tougher prospect than last season but Manchester United are still expected to have too much for them, with goals from Rooney and Depay, with Gestede scoring for Villa.

Saturday

Southampton v Everton – Kick Off – 12:45 – St Mary’s Stadium

Oriol Romeu could come straight into the side after signing from Chelsea this week but manager Ronald Koeman is still missing the services of Steven Caulker and Jordy Clasie. Koeman himself missed last week’s game after having achilles surgery, but should be in the dugout for the visit of Everton.

Leighton Baines has been ruled out for 2-3 months after having ankle surgery but the Toffee’s are set to welcome back Kevin Mirallas. Mason Holgate could be in the squad with Aidan McGeady and Gerard Deulofeu also expected to be in contention for a place in the starting XI.

Prediction – 1-1 – Both sides are expected to have similar seasons and we don’t see much between these two sides. We think Lukaku and Pelle will be on target in this game.

Sunderland v Norwich City – Kick Off – 15:00 – Stadium of Light

Sunderland need to bounce back quickly from last Saturday’s poor display at Leicester with manager Dick Advocaat hoping his side will take their hard work on the training pitch into this weekends game. Adam Johnson is out for around 6 weeks but Yann M’Vila could make his debut for the Black Cats.

Norwich were soundly beaten by an impressive Crystal Palace side last week and they will need to pick up points against one of their possible relegation rivals. They are still missing a number of key players with Youssouf Mulumbu still out, as well as Kyle Lafferty and Martin Olsson.

Prediction 1-0 – We think this will be a bit of an edgy and scrappy game with one goal being all it will take to pick up the three points with M’Vila scoring on his debut.

Swansea City v Newcastle United – Kick Off – 15:00 – Liberty Stadium

Swansea City will be buoyed by their point at Chelsea last weekend and they have an almost fully fit squad to choose from with the only doubt being Ki Sung-Yeung who limped off last week with a hamstring injury.

Newcastle United have yet to make a decision on whether Aleksandar Mitrovic will start after his eventful debut last week and they are still missing Paul Dummett and Remy Cabella who are not yet match fit. Emmanuel Riviere is out for a while after undergoing surgery.

Prediction – 2-0 – Swansea looked impressive last week at Chelsea and they could be the surprise package this season under Garry Monk. We see a Batafembi Gomis double being enough to see off the Magpies.

Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City – Kick Off – 15:00 – White Hart Lane

Spurs have a fully fit squad to choose from with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris expected to make his return from a fractured wrist injury whilst Danny Rose and Andros Townsend are also match fit after recovering from their injuries.

New signing from Inter Milan, Xherdan Shaqiri could make his debut for Mark Hughes side but they are still missing Ryan Shawcross who is out for two months. Bojan and Peter Odemwingie are still out but Erik Pieters has recovered from illness and should return.

Prediction – 2-1 – Spurs having a fully fit squad to choose from is huge as is the return of Hugo Lloris. We can see Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen on target for Spurs with Charlie Adam getting one back for Stoke City.