Sunday’s Premier League calendar promises to have a wide range of actions as Wolves, Manchester United and Arsenal all take the field.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Norwich City – 9:00 ET, on NBC Gold and NBCSports.com
The Wolverhampton Wanderers are heading into Sunday’s game against the inhabitants of Norwich City with fresh and positive inertia.
On Thursday, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men beat Espanyol 4-0 in the Europa League knockout stages, giving the Wolves a boost of confidence. The club, which has yet to win in the Premier League since 18 January, have ended a series of two games without generating a goal against the Spanish team.
Wolves are clearly the direct favorites at the Molineux stadium on Sunday. But on the other side there is a well-rested and hungry Norwich who, before going on a winter vacation, showed class and discipline against Liverpool in his last championship game.
Daniel Farke’s team is eight points from the safe zone but time is running out. The sense of urgency is at the maximum throughout the season for the Canaries, believers of their undervalued strengths.
“They (the Wolves) are playing in Europe, have kept three clean sheets, have individual quality and is a huge task,” said Farke. “But at this stage I don’t see easy games. It’s about us. We always have the chance to be good at our topics.
“People can erase us and say that we have no chance of closing the gap. But I don’t agree. It’s possible.”
injuries: wolves – OUT: Ruben Vinagre (hamstring) | Norwich – OUT: Timm Klose (knee), Sam Byram (hamstring)
Manchester United vs. Watford – 9:00 ET, on NBCSN and NBCSports.com
History and data say that Watford, who never won a league game at Old Trafford, has no chance on Sunday against Manchester United.
But if a win inspired a mostly lethargic Hornet this season under Nigel Pearson, it was a 2-0 win over United on Vicarage Road. The penultimate team continued an unbeaten six-game streak following the win. He brought the club back to life by lifting them from the bottom three.
Since then Watford has wavered and fallen under the red line, but Pearson promises to stick to his philosophical guns.
“We approach every game in a very similar way and that is to try to be as positive as possible,” he said. “We will go out there and do everything we can to win the game, we haven’t changed our approach, it’s just that sometimes the results change the way people perceive things.”
United will certainly look different, as Odion Ighalo is expected to make his home debut against his former club after his arrival earlier this month.
United, who are in seventh place with 38 points, have a clear window of opportunity to beat Tottenham’s fifth place with a win. Before Sunday’s game, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer asked questions about consistency.
“It’s the team selection: you have to maybe rotate in Europe like we did, so maybe go back to what we were at Chelsea this week,” said Gunnar Solskjaer. “I feel that Bruno [Fernandes] and Odion [Ighalo] entering will get more goals in the team. That is missing. The games we lost – West Ham, Burnley, Palace, Bournemouth – we had chances but we didn’t score goals. “
Perhaps Ighalo could finally contribute to the victory at Old Trafford with the Watford shirts on the field.
injuries: Manchester United – Paul Pogba (ankle), Axel Tuanzebe (thigh), Marcus Rashford (back) | Watford – OUT: Daryl Janmaat (knee), Tom Cleverley (match fitness)
Arsenal vs. Everton 11:30 ET, on NBCSN and NBCSports.com
Secondary plots reign supreme before Everton’s visit to the Emirates.
Mesut Ozil, who missed the Gunners’ 1-0 victory in the Europa League, and Andres Gomes, 16 weeks after an ankle dislocation and fracture, are expected to return to action. In the meantime, Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti will meet for the first time after being connected to each other before the start of the new year.
Perhaps most significant, however – at least for Everton – is that 24 years have passed since the Toffees won at Arsenal. If they manage to do it this time, the Liverpool team will be one step closer to the European dream.
“We have to focus on Arsenal,” said Ancelotti. “Then there are very important games later. There is [Manchester] United, Chelsea, Liverpool. After these four games, we can see what’s going on for Europe ”.
“This is a really important game against a strong team, far away, but we must have confidence to do our best and try to win. We have 13 games to go and we got in a decent position, “he said.” It gives us the platform to have a decent season. I think we did well. We had big problems in six weeks and we played well with the team for showing that ability to recover. “
Everton collected 17 out of 24 possible points under the Italian, while Arsenal recorded only two wins under the Spaniard.
injuries: Arsenal – Cedric Soares (knee), Kieren Tierney (shoulder), Callum Chambers (knee), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (knee) | Everton – OUT: Jean-Phillipe Gbamin (thigh)