A full Premier League fixture list? At this time of the year? In this part of the week? All to be played entirely within 72 hours? We hope you\u2019re prepared for an unforgettable midweek.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the best time of the season, really, and with the FA Cup third round taking place this weekend, there\u2019s something to tickle the tastebuds of every English football fan.<\/p>\n
Arsenal<\/a>, Liverpool and managerless Manchester United are among those who headline the latest Big Midweek.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Game to watch: Arsenal v Liverpool<\/p>\n This is a fixture that speaks for itself, with two of the Premier League\u2019s big hitters going head to head. Under the lights, no less.<\/p>\n On Thursday night, we will learn a lot about this very strange Liverpool<\/a> team and just how big a corner they have in fact turned on this increasingly confusing eight-game unbeaten run in Our League. Half of those results have been draws, and two of those draws have come against Leeds United. The Reds are simultaneously showing us that they have the character to recover while displaying no real improvement on the pitch. Teams that show them too much respect get punished \u2013 see West Ham, and Fulham to an extent<\/a>. Get at them, and they are very vulnerable.<\/p>\n This is a Liverpool side that have been playing at a very consistent level all season; they are just going through different sequences. At the start of the campaign it was late, unsustainable wins. Then it became shocking defeat after shocking defeat. When they got out of that funk, they\u2019ve been grinding out results while still performing below expectations.<\/p>\n Premier League leaders Arsenal<\/a> are sure to get at them and put their turnaround credentials truly to the test.<\/p>\n The Gunners have their own doubters to answer with a win against a Big Six rival. Smashing Aston Villa 4-1 and ending their 11-match winning run was a statement, and beating the current champions would go a long way to proving they will be labelled as such come May, no matter how beatable said champions are right now.<\/p>\n It will be an interesting game between two sides eager and able to make big statements.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Team to watch: Manchester United<\/p>\n Well, here we are. Another Manchester United manager has fallen<\/a>. The poisoned chalice remains very much poisoned. Interim boss Darren Fletcher is certainly a manager to watch, but not the manager to watch, with another match having an even juicier storyline to quench our thirst.<\/p>\n There are so many questions worth asking ahead of United\u2019s trip to Burnley, against whom they earned their first Premier League win of the season courtesy of a 97th-minute Bruno Fernandes penalty back in August.<\/p>\n Will it look like a Ruben Amorim side? Will Fletcher start his twin sons and wing the rest of his starting XI? Will we see Amorim\u2019s 3-4-2-1 system instantly thrown in the bin for a more conventional formation \u2013 say, a 4-3-2-1, 4-3-3, or even the good old-fashioned 4-4-2 that won Fletcher so many trophies playing under Sir Alex Ferguson?<\/p>\n We all know that Fletcher won\u2019t line up in a 3-4-2-1, don\u2019t we? There is arguably only one player who exclusively fits that system in the entire squad, and that\u2019s Patrick Dorgu, so it will hardly take much adaptation for a group of players who couldn\u2019t adapt to a new formation in 14 months under Amorim.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lovely first fixture for United and Fletcher in every sense. There is no team you\u2019d rather face right now than Burnley, who haven\u2019t won since October 26. Win, and Rio Ferdinand and other United fans will get over-excited and proclaim that Fletch is in fact at the wheel. And if they don\u2019t win, it\u2019s quite funny, innit?<\/p>\n It\u2019s not like this is a team in complete and utter disarray either. All things considered, Amorim has left them in a pretty good place. It\u2019s much better than last season, and there have been some positive performances, albeit with results like home draws with Wolves and West Ham, and a home defeat to 10-man Everton thrown in there. Fletcher isn\u2019t replacing a manager sacked after a heavy defeat, but one whose position became untenable after he fell out with his superiors.<\/p>\n The result is important, but we are really more interested to see how much changes, from the formation to how they play.<\/p>\n READ:\u00a0Fletcher overtakes Glasner as favourite to be the next Man Utd manager after Amorim sacking<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Manager to watch: Nuno Espirito Santo<\/p>\n Oh, this will be spicy. We\u2019re not expecting a humdinger<\/a> between West Ham and Nottingham Forest in Tuesday\u2019s lone Premier League fixture, but there\u2019s a lot on the line as 17th travel to 18th. Neither side has won any of their previous four games. West Ham haven\u2019t won in nine and just handed Wolves their first win of the season at the 20th attempt. That result was made even more amusing by being against Nuno\u2019s old club. Three days later, he faces another of his former employers, but winning will mean so much more.<\/p>\n