Chelsea v Newcastle United
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says his side remain optimistic about their title prospects ahead of the visit of Newcastle United to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Blues have stuttered in the BPL in recent weeks, with a draw at Southampton and a 5-3 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur leaving them with an identical record to second-placed Manchester City, but Mourinho, whose side now top the table by virtue of alphabetical order, insists spirits are high.
"The mood is really positive and we're still focused on all of our targets," he said. "During the season every team will be in trouble at certain times. For us I hope it's behind us now with the last two league games. It's going to be hard but we want to win every competition, that's why the mentality and quality of the squad can make the difference."
Newcastle caretaker manager John Carver says he is going to enjoy the challenge of facing Mourinho as he seeks to make the interim manager role he has been given permanent following the departure of Alan Pardew to Crystal Palace last weekend.
The Magpies' 2-1 win over Chelsea at St James' Park last month made it three consecutive home league successes against the title challengers but it is different story on their travels to west London, where the visitors have earned one league victory at Stamford Bridge since 1986.
"We're going up against one of the best sides, and best manager, in Europe, if not the world," said Carver. "We've got a good record against Chelsea and we have to use that to our advantage this weekend. It'll be great standing in the technical area next to him. I'm going to take it in my stride and I'm going to enjoy it, but I want to win."
EVERTON V MANCHESTER CITY
Roberto Martinez has urged his Everton team to take responsibility for the club's poor Barclays Premier League form against champions Manchester City.
Everton head into Saturday's match at Goodison Park looking to arrest a run of four straight league defeats that has seen them drop to 13th place in the table.
"We need to take responsibility," said Martinez, whose side drew 1-1 with West Ham United in the FA Cup third round on Tuesday. "We're playing at home, we've had four bad results and we need to put that right. It doesn't matter what kind of opposition you're playing.
"Looking at our position in the league all we want is to get momentum and to do that you need a little chain of good results. Man City could follow the performance we put in against West Ham."
Pellegrini's side, who are without influential midfielder Yaya Toure, have won 11 of their past 12 matches in all competitions, with a 2-2 draw against Burnley on December 28 proving the only blot in that run, and they now have an identical record with Chelsea at the top of the BPL table.
"Hopefully we'll be looking to open up a little gap of our own," said Pellegrini after their 2-1 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. "All we can do is concentrate on our games and if we can get the results we want to get, it depends on how Chelsea do."
SWANSEA V WEST HAM UNITED
Swansea City manager Garry Monk is confident his side can avenge their defeat by West Ham United last month with a home win over the high-flying Hammers.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was sent off as Sam Allardyce's outfit beat the Swans 3-1 at the Boleyn Ground last month after Wilfried Bony opened the scoring and Monk wants his side to atone for that reverse.
"I felt disappointed that day because we didn't reach the levels we have set this season," said Monk, whose side can move level on points with the seventh-placed Hammers with a home win. "We were up against a very good side but we didn't use our strengths. Hopefully we can do that a lot better on Saturday."
Andy Carroll scored twice for the London club in the reverse fixture and Monk is wary of the threat posed by the powerful striker, who is set to return after missing the trip to Everton with a foot injury.
In the absence of Bony, who is away on Africa Cup of Nations duty and may soon complete a transfer to Manchester City, Bafetimbi Gomis is likely to lead the line for Monk's men, while new signings Nelson Oliveira and Matt Grimes are in contention to make their debuts for Swansea.
Allardyce will be hoping influential midfielder Alex Song recovers from illness, but the visitors will be without midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, who is on Afcon duty with Senegal, and compatriot Diafra Sakho (back).
WEST BROMWICH ALBION V HULL CITY
Tony Pulis starts his quest to keep West Bromwich Albion in the Barclays Premier League with a home clash against fellow strugglers Hull City on Saturday.
Pulis has never been relegated as a manager and he defied the odds to keep Crystal Palace up last season. The Welshman left Palace by mutual consent on the eve of the current campaign but returned to the top flight to take over as Albion head coach on New Year's Day.
Striker Saido Berahino scored four times as Pulis' tenure started with a 7-0 rout of Gateshead in the third round of the FA Cup last weekend but the priority for the Midlands club is to remain in the top flight, where they lie 17th having lost three of their last four Barclays Premier League matches and won one of their previous 10.
Albion, who are one place and a point above the relegation zone, have already beaten Hull 3-2 in the League Cup back in September and another victory on Saturday would move them ahead of Bruce's men in the table.
Hull were eliminated from the FA Cup at Arsenal last Sunday but two wins in their last three BPL matches have lifted them up to 15th place.
LEICESTER CITY V ASTON VILLA
Nigel Pearson has acknowledged a sense of confidence in the Leicester City camp ahead of Aston Villa's visit to the King Power Stadium.
Pearson's men are on a three-match unbeaten streak in all competitions which has boosted the morale of the bottom-placed side, while the Foxes have announced the signings of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and striker Andrej Kramaric, pending the approval of a work permit.
"There is an air of confidence and self-belief, which I think is important," said Pearson. "There's a bit of relief in there but it's not as if all of a sudden the season has changed hugely. The FA Cup win [over Newcastle last weekend] underlines some of the positive aspects of the previous league performances."
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert will be without captain Ron Vlaar (knee) for around a month as he seeks to end Villa's five-match winless run in the top flight - their last top-flight victory coming against Leicester last month.
BURNLEY V QUEENS PARK RANGERS
Sam Vokes could be in contention to make his first Barclays Premier League start for Burnley, and his first appearance since sustaining a serious knee injury in March, when Queens Park Rangers visit Turf Moor.
The Wales international came off the bench on Monday to rescue a 1-1 draw and an FA Cup third-round replay with Tottenham Hotspur, the striker's first goal in over nine months following his injury absence but he faces competition from Ashley Barnes, who has three goals in his last five league outings.
Burnley continue to have fitness doubts over midfielder David Jones, who missed the draw with Spurs through illness, as well as Michael Duff (calf) and Matt Taylor (Achilles). Ben Mee could continue at centre-half alongside Michael Keane, who made his loan move from Manchester United permanent on Thursday, with captain Jason Shackell (calf) doubtful, while fellow defender Kevin Long is out for the season after rupturing the anterior cruciate in his knee during the 3-3 draw at Newcastle United.
QPR are still without Sandro (knee) and Yun Suk-young (ankle), and will look to former Burnley striker Charlie Austin to provide their major goal threat. Austin has 12 league strikes to his name this season, including one in the 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in December.
SUNDERLAND V LIVERPOOL
Liverpool travel to Sunderland with that coveted top-four spot still within their grasp with just over half the Premier League season gone.
Despite an inconsistent showing so far in this season's top flight, Brendan Rodgers believes his side's performances have improved drastically of late.
They are seven points off the Champions League places and have lost just one of their previous eight Premier League games, and have lost to Sunderland just once in their last 10 meetings.
The Black Cats have stumbled since their late winner in the Tyne-Wear derby at Newcastle in December, picking up just one point from nine in the Premier League.
They showed fight in coming back from 2-0 down at the Manchester City on New Year's Day, but lost to a Frank Lampard winner to leave them just three points from the relegation zone.
The two sides drew 0-0 at Anfield in early December.
Source: Sky Sports
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