1) Will Liverpool stick or twist against Man City?
One could be sceptical about Brendan Rodgers putting the brakes on Liverpool’s attacking verve as they prepare to play arguably their most important league game in 24 years, but striking a harmony between attack and defence will be crucial in deciding the outcome of Sunday’s match with Manchester City. To blitz or to balance? 4-3-3 or a diamond formation? Philippe Coutinho or Lucas Leiva? Coutinho was irresistible in humbling both Arsenal and Tottenham in their respective visits to Anfield but as Liverpool struggled last week against West Ham, Rodgers substituted him at half-time for Lucas at the base of a diamond formation and partly on that change, the game swung in Liverpool’s favour.
2) Arsenal wary of fear factor against Wigan
The last thing Arsène Wenger will fear for Arsenal when they face Wigan is complacency. Moreover, it is fear itself. Having conceded 12 goals in their last four games, none of which they won, Arsenal’s prospect of beating a resurgent Wigan in their FA Cup semi-final on Saturday is looking less and less like a formality. Yes, Arsenal have a better team, but Wigan carry sufficient quality, and superior form and momentum going into Saturday’s evening clash to give the Gunners a shiver.
3) Will Mourinho risk a change to give Cole match fitness?
Ashley Cole may not have started a game for Chelsea since 11 January but with Branislav Ivanovic suspended for the Champions League semi-final first leg, José Mourinho could well decide to use Cole instead of the Serb this weekend against Swansea, with César Azpilicueta shifting over from left-back to the right.
4) Norwich hoping Adams will reinvigorate Norwich’s attitude
‘Team spirit’, ‘belief’, and ‘confidence’ might all be abstract metrics that stay hidden from Opta data and league tables, but in the closing stages of a relegation battle, such things are often the difference between staying up and crashing out. Bradford’s survival in 1999-00 and Wigan’s escape in 2010-11 owed as much to these age-old buzzwords in the closing weeks of their respective seasons. Much of Neil Adams’s success as a youth-team manager with Norwich was based upon attitude rather than outright quality and in his first week in charge at Premier League level, he has already been banging the drum for improvement in this area. “We need people who are willing to give everything. That is the spirit, desire and determination these supporters deserve,” he said.
5) Ole registered the wrong Joe for Cardiff in January
José Mourinho may be guilty of wailing about his misfiring strikers the loudest, but with goals in general not a problem at Chelsea, the issue is being most keenly felt at Cardiff. Just one goal in the last nine league games dating back to the beginning of February has been scored by a Cardiff forward – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer persisting with alternating Kenwyne Jones and Craig Bellamy alongside Fraizer Campbell during that period. Following last weekend’s 3-0 home mauling to Crystal Palace, they are in desperate need of someone to step up. Joe Mason – on loan at Bolton – has scored five times in eight games in that same period and returns to Cardiff next week having completed his maximum 93-day loan. However, the 22-year-old was not registered by Solskjaer in the club’s Premier League squad in January – ousted in favour of fellow striker Jo Inge Berget, who has been given just 72 minutes (without scoring) since signing from Solskjaer’s former side Molde.
6) Probably three defeats, hopefully three wins ... and Everton
Currently seven points adrift of safety, Sunderland have seven games left to save their season. The most likely outcome is that they will get nothing from three of them – away trips to Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United – while a best case scenario of nine points from three of their home games – Cardiff, West Brom and Swansea – would surely not be enough to leapfrog their rivals come the end of the season. Put simply, anything but a victory this weekend against Everton – themselves chasing a record seventh consecutive league win that would propel the Toffees above Arsenal into fourth – would almost certainly see Sunderland relegated.
7) The race for seventh heaven
How much have Tottenham fans enjoyed being in the Europa League this season? Has it provided opportunity for some of the team’s squad players to impress, or provided more unwanted game-time leaving their stars leg-weary as we enter the season’s final weeks? Currently in sixth and with a visit to West Brom on Saturday, Spurs look set for another Europa adventure next campaign, but fans could be forgiven for praying for seventh heaven – Manchester United lurking two points behind. And so we begin the worst game of cat and mouse ever: Tim Sherwood and David Moyes hoping for strong performances to ease the pressure on their jobs, but poor results in order for their respective clubs to secure that elusive seventh place.