1<\/p>\n
Carrick kicks off with tricky derby task<\/p>\n
Can the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United and their latest interim manager, Michael Carrick? This is his second caretaker tenure though the three games of November-December 2021 (beating Villarreal and Arsenal, drawing with Chelsea) hardly compares to sending out an XI to try to beat Manchester City in Saturday\u2019s early kick-off. Pep Guardiola\u2019s high-performing unit remain in contention on all fronts. Carrick takes charge of a United suffering the aftershocks of a latest manager sacking<\/a>, hoping to salvage the season via European qualification. The lad from Wallsend has 17 games to do so \u2013 his new team are in seventh place on 32 points, so victory over City would be a fine start. But you wonder if the match might end with Carrick and United humbled or, even worse, humiliated. Jamie Jackson<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n New test of Chelsea\u2019s long-throw jitters<\/p>\n Chelsea know what\u2019s coming. They conceded a late equaliser from a long throw when they drew with Brentford<\/a> in September and will be wary of Michael Kayode\u2019s huge deliveries when the sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Liam Rosenior must make sure his new side are ready. Chelsea have let in four goals from long throws this season and were all over the place when they drew with Bournemouth<\/a> last month. Both of Bournemouth\u2019s goals came from Antoine Semenyo hurling the ball into the area and exposing glaring deficiencies in Chelsea\u2019s defending. Expect more of the same from Brentford and Kayode. Jacob Steinberg<\/p>\n Michael Kayode winds up for a trademark long throw against Spurs. Photograph: Dave Shopland\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Farke wary of Fulham and Wilson<\/p>\n Leeds had gone seven top-tier games unbeaten before they were slightly unfortunate to lose their last league fixture 4-3 at Newcastle<\/a>. Can Daniel Farke\u2019s side recover from that setback at Fulham\u2019s expense? If it helps that the match takes place at Elland Road, the Leeds manager is certainly not underestimating Marco Silva\u2019s team. \u201cFulham didn\u2019t get the results they deserved earlier in the season,\u201d said Farke, who tried and failed to lure the attacking midfielder Harry Wilson to West Yorkshire last summer. \u201cBut they\u2019re now turning good performances into good results and, in the last five games, they\u2019re third in the form table. They\u2019re dangerous. We\u2019ll need to be structured and take away their football skills.\u201d And Wilson? \u201cHarry Wilson\u2019s a really good player and he\u2019s having an impressive season,\u201d he said. \u201cI tried signing him for Norwich. He\u2019s one of the Fulham players we\u2019re going to have to be very aware of.\u201d Louise Taylor<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n A rest for Frimpong? A chance for Gomez?<\/p>\n Right-back presents Arne Slot with another delicate balancing act against a Burnley team showing signs of improvement. The season-ending knee injury sustained by Conor Bradley<\/a> at Arsenal was, as Slot put it, \u201can enormous blow\u201d for the luckless defender. It also heightens the load on Jeremie Frimpong at a time when he has to be managed carefully, having recently returned from a second hamstring injury of the campaign. Frimpong has impressed in recent weeks but, with trips to Marseille and Bournemouth on the horizon, Slot may consider the claims of Joe Gomez or Calvin Ramsay for the problematic position. Scott Parker\u2019s side have not won a league game since October<\/a> but having ended a 12-match winless streak with an emphatic FA Cup rout of Millwall<\/a> last Saturday, and drawn three of their past five league matches, the relegation-threatened visitors have arrested the slide. Andy Hunter<\/p>\n Joe Gomez, vying for the ball with Barnsley\u2019s Reyes Cleary on Monday, has a chance to press his claims for a first XI slot at Liverpool. Photograph: Phil Noble\/Reuters<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n O\u2019Nien raises game despite facing drop<\/p>\n After impressing in last Saturday\u2019s FA Cup third-round win on penalties at Everton<\/a>, Luke O\u2019Nien is likely to find himself back on R\u00e9gis Le Bris\u2019s bench when Crystal Palace visit the Stadium of Light. Yet his difficulties in breaking into the starting XI have done nothing to diminish O\u2019Nien\u2019s admiration of the high-performance culture being created on Wearside by, among others, the team captain, Granit Xhaka. \u201cGranit\u2019s one of the best, if not the best, leaders in football,\u201d said the Sunderland defender. \u201cHe\u2019s a special player and he\u2019s bringing the club forward in so many ways. He\u2019s such an easy guy to talk to, whether about football, family, the past or the future. And he\u2019s backed up by many of our other players like Enzo [Le F\u00e9e], Nordi [Mukiele] and Omar [Alderete]. First and foremost they\u2019re really good humans beings. Then, you add their leadership skills and playing ability. What they\u2019re doing here is something I\u2019ve never seen before. I haven\u2019t played as many minutes as I\u2019d like but, just by watching them and listening to them, they\u2019ve raised my game.\u201d LT<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Castellanos can give Hammers hope<\/p>\n It took an almost full-strength West Ham team to see off Championship side QPR<\/a> in the FA Cup but a win is a win, and more importantly a first since 8 November when they edged past Burnley<\/a>. The decider came from Taty Castellanos on his second appearance after his recent move from Lazio. Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo needs a goalscorer in a team that have lost five of their past six Premier League games. Castellanos, deployed between Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, could form part of an ideal trio to bring life amid a crisis of confidence. The Argentinian is the man for the big occasion, once scoring four<\/a> in a Girona victory over Real Madrid, and is the type of forward others can play off, so will help the runs of Bowen and Summerville in behind. Castellanos has the ability to be a playmaker as well as a finisher; if the West Ham forwards can learn each other\u2019s traits and attributes, they could spearhead the push for survival \u2013 but need to do it quickly, starting at an out-of-form Spurs. Will Unwin<\/p>\n Taty Castellanos powerfully nods in the winning goal against QPR \u2013 his all-round attacking game could be vital to West Ham\u2019s survival hopes. Photograph: Bradley Collyer\/PA<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n Dyche has the players to frustrate Arsenal<\/p>\n Sean Dyche learned he could not rely on his fringe players at Wrexham last Friday<\/a>, so it will be back to what he knows best for the Premier League leaders\u2019 visit. What will be critical for Forest is their defending of set pieces because everyone is aware of how seriously Mikel Arteta and the Gunners take them. Dyche implemented a marked improvement on the structure when facing corner and throw-ins immediately after his arrival and will be confident his centre-back pairing of Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo can keep Arsenal at bay. They are supported by the steady Matz Sels, an improvement on the trial of starting John Victor for a brief period. It will need careful planning from Dyche but he has the players capable of frustrating and irritating the visitors, while also possessing the quality to hit a team on the break. WU<\/p>\n Sean Dyche feels the heat as Forest head towards FA Cup defeat at Wrexham, but his first string have the organisation at the back to hamper Arsenal. Photograph: Carl Recine\/Getty Images<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Will Wolves keep unbeaten run going?<\/p>\n A trip to Molineux is not as inviting as it was only a matter of weeks ago. Rob Edwards has re-energised bottom club Wolves and while they still look doomed to relegation they have accrued five points from their past three league matches, are four games unbeaten in all competitions, and won both of their previous home matches, the latest a 6-1 trouncing of Shrewsbury<\/a> in the FA Cup. Wolves are seeking back-to-back league wins after kicking off the new year with victory over West Ham<\/a>. The last time Wolves went five games unbeaten was last April, a six-game winning run under V\u00edtor Pereira. For Newcastle, a team with a fragile away record, Sunday\u2019s match represents something of a banana skin. Eddie Howe\u2019s side have only won three of their 13 away matches in all competitions this season. Ben Fisher<\/p>\n 9<\/p>\n Stylish Villa have breathing space<\/p>\n Now the noise has faded and the eyeballs fixed on Aston Villa\u2019s post-Christmas trip to Arsenal are looking elsewhere, Unai Emery\u2019s side can crack on with their fine work. Villa may have lost at the Emirates Stadium<\/a> but since then they have beaten Nottingham Forest<\/a>, earned a respectable point at Crystal Palace<\/a> and sent Tottenham packing from the FA Cup<\/a>. Villa are level on points with second-placed Manchester City, six behind the leaders, and even if the title is beyond them, it is the buffer to sixth place currently occupied by Newcastle which is most significant, with fifth likely sufficient for Champions League qualification. Eleven points separate Villa and Newcastle heading into the weekend. Sunday\u2019s match at home to Everton, who remain thin on quality, provides another chance for Villa to maintain a healthy gap between them and their rivals. BF<\/p>\n Ollie Watkins helped his side to Midlands derby victory over Nottingham Forest \u2013 Villa are level on points with Manchester City. Photograph: Neville Williams\/Aston Villa FC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n 10<\/p>\n Baleba returns to find lively battle for spot<\/p>\n Even if he remains a transfer target for Manchester United in the summer, Carlos Baleba has a fight on his hands to regain his place in Brighton\u2019s team after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations. The homecoming of club legend Pascal Gross while Baleba was in Morocco with Cameroon means that Fabian H\u00fcrzeler now has an embarrassment of riches in central midfield, with Yasin Ayari, Jack Hinshelwood, Diego G\u00f3mez and the evergreen James Milner also in the mix to face Bournemouth. H\u00fcrzeler admitted in September that the continual speculation linking Baleba with a move to Old Trafford had affected the 22-year-old\u2019s performances this season, although he has started all but two of Brighton\u2019s Premier League games so far when available. After two wins and a draw since Gross returned, that included knocking United out of the FA Cup<\/a>, Baleba may have to be patient for his chance. Ed Aarons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1 Carrick kicks off with tricky derby task Can the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-415975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}