Fabregas-less Blues will huff and puff

SATURDAY Burnley 1-3 Saints 5pm All it took for Ronald Koeman to surrender his title pretence were three tough tests. Man City were first, mauling Saints at St Mary’s, then a trip to Arsenal saw the surprise package flatter to decieve. They fell. Last weekend, they hosted last season’s laughing stock in Man United and again Koeman failed to outwit his Dutch nemesis Van Gaal. The result is that Southampton have been trampled from the second to the fifth position on the log, and only Newcastle’s feat in consigning Chelsea to first league defeat at least sees the Saints sit 10 points off the top. The hosts, battling for survival, will want to capatalise on the demoralised state the visitors are in to inflict further woes on them. However, this can’t just happen easily because Burnley are themselves in dire straits. SATURDAY Chelsea 1 - 1 Hull 5pm Jose Mourinho was brought down to earth at St James Park last weekend and will be looking for a quick recovery when struggling Hull City visit Stamford Bridge. However, with Diego Costa struggling and Cesc Fabregas suspended, the Blues will have to negotiate this fixture without their inspirational playmaker. Tall order. The Tigers, sitting in the drop zone, have been eying this fixture, and having forgotten the thrills of victories and getting used to the agony of defeats, Mark Hughes’ boys will settle for draw. SATURDAY S’land 1 - 3 West Ham 5pm Sam Allardyce is in a dreamland but he is not about to be carried away. His fourth-placed West Ham, who have 27 points from 15 games, have surpassed expectations with a string of fine attacking displays and they will be hoping to record their fourth straight win away to Sunderland today. Andy Carroll announced his return from injury with two goals against Swansea City as West Ham cruised to a 3-1 victory. The Hammers will not let the absence of Mark Noble affect them as Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia are making a seamless transition to the Premier League. SATURDAY Arsenal 2 - 0 n’castle 7.30pm Wenger is adamant he is still of value that can help Arsenal finish fourth. To do this, he must start winning league games. A defeat to a resurgent Newcastle will push Arsenal further down from their current sixth place. Worse is that Wenger is without Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal. Pardew brought Mourinho to earth and will relish rubbing it in Wenger’s wounds but not to do this, Newcastle will have to go back four years – the last time they beat Arsenal. They only ever manage draws and this is why they will lose. Free-falling Reds to settle for draw man united 1 - 1 liverpool 3.30pm Interesting fixture this! Last season, it was United down in midtable facing humiliation at the hands of their bitter rivals Liverpool. The 3-0 loss at Old Trafford was flattering for Liverpool would have walked away 7-0 winners. Now the tables are turned and Liverpool are anything but the remains of Luis Suarez. United are cruising after finding their touch and do not look like the side that finished the season 20 points adrift of their cross-county rivals in the final standings. Liverpool have been taken to the sewers across all fronts and Tuesday’s failure before the home crowd in Champions League wrote further inscriptions that look like epitaph on both Brendan Rodgers and the team’s walls. Liverpool remain without injured striker Daniel Sturridge, while Mario Balotelli has not played for over a month, but United have injury problems as well. Chris Smalling sustained a groin injury during United’s 2-1 win at Southampton on Monday, joining Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Angel di Maria and Daley Blind on the sidelines. I have been tempted to give Liverpool a slim win against all odds, but that will be a cowardly call. However, considering that United have been riding on luck, they will need more luck to earn their win at home against the Reds. Sunday l’kusen 1 - 1 gladbach 4.30pm Roger Schmidt has done a lot to keep Bayer in the top four all season so far while also playing in Champions League. Last weekend, the Munich side fought hard but lost to runaway leaders Bayern Munich and will be too tired after midweek games to bother with anything. The visitors, too, have been in Europa ties. This could be a boring game. Sunday Genoa 2 - 1 Roma 9pm AS Roma failed to capitalise on Juventus’ barren draw at Fiorentina when they were taken for a ride at home by Sassuolo, then were beaten by Manchester City at home again. Rudi Garcia had better put the Roman house to order before third-placed Genoa make them pay big tomorrow. A win will keep the home side’s push for Europe bright. They can do it. Sunday monaco 0 - 2 marseille 10pm Monaco have won their last two games without conceding but they also know that leaders Olympique Marseille are not about to surrender the table leadership to PSG any time soon. other fixtures Saturday Palace 2-1 Stoke 5pm W. Brom 2-0 Villa 5pm Nantes 1-0 Bordeaux 9pm Bastia 2-3 Rennes 9pm A’burg 0-2 Bayern 4pm Hertha 2-1 Dortmund 4pm SUNDAY Swansea 2-1 Spurs 6pm Juventus 3-0 S’doria 2pm *Seaman is a Liverpool fan

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Fabregas-less Blues will huff and puff