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EPL Match-Day 34 Preview

With only four more match weeks left to play in this season Premier League, the action is certainly getting more intense with relegation-threatened teams giving it their everything to stay in the Premier League next season and Chelsea slowly inching towards becoming English champions. Let's take a look at the matches being played this weekend.

On Saturday we kick start match-day 34 with two teams who are fighting for a place in Europe next season. It's between Southampton and Tottenham. The Saints had a disappointing game last week away to Stoke losing out narrowly and will looking to make amends when the Spurs visit St. Mary's.  Tottenham on the other hand ran out comfortable winners with Harry Kane netting his 20th Premier League of the season. The PFA Player of the year nominee is certainly having a season to remember and will be looking to add some more goals to his impressive tally before the season ends. With both  teams out of Champions League contention for next season, the goal now for both teams is to settle for the Europa League spots. Spurs on the road have a record winning two ,drawing one and losing one in their last four away matches, whereas the Saints at home are unstoppable winning their last three home fixtures. The last time these two sides met Tottenham ran out winners with a solitary goal scored by in form midfielder Eriksen.

The other fixture is between relegation threatened sides Burnley and Leicester City. Both these teams should treat this match like it is a cup final and give it all. The Foxes performances in recent weeks have been inspiring winning their last three league games and moving up the table from dead last to eighteenth equal on points with 17th place Hull with a game in hand. The Clarets had a disappointing game last week losing out to Everton and with this being a home game for Burnley they should seize the opportunity and make the most out of it. Confidence must be running high for the foxes and Nigel Pearson will be looking for nothing more than three points from his side.  Ashley Barnes of Burnley will not be available for the clarets as he picked up two straight yellow's at the game against Everton. The last time these two sides met it ended in a 2-2 draw with Burnley securing a points right at the dying moments of the game through Wallace.

The fixture between Newcastle and Swansea is a crucial game for the Magpies. Having lost their last six games on the trot, the fans are certainly not happy with the team's performances and definitely Newcastle manager John Carver must be feeling the heat. Since the departure of Alan Pardew the magpies have failed to win more games. Swansea and Gary Monk on the other hand will be looking to get the three points and set a new record for the most points achieved in the PL which was achieved by previous Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers. The pressure is a lot more on Newcastle than on the Swans to deliver a good performance. The last time these two sides met at the liberty stadium they played out a scored draw with Cisse getting a brace for the magpies.

The fixture between QPR and West Ham with one team to play for survival in the league and the other with nothing to play for. QPR in their last game played out a 3-3 against Aston Villa and Chris Ramsey was unhappy at his side's defending calling it school boyish. Sitting at 19th two points of 17th place QPR must believe that they still have a fighting chance QPR at home this season have been poor but their last game against Chelsea which they lost out narrowly due to a goal keeping error form Robert Green showed some signs positive signs. QPR will be pinning their hopes on their talisman Charlie Austin and also on midfielder Matty Philips to give their side the three points. West Ham will be looking to put an upset in the relegation battle and nothing more. The last time these two sides met the Hammers ran out comfortable winners. West Ham will be with out Andy Carroll and Sakho who both are injured for the Hammers.

The fixture between Stoke City and Sunderland. Nothing for Stoke City to place but for Sunderland they are still not out of the relegation and with some tough fixtures to come for the Black Cats, they have to make the most out of fixtures like this. They sit in 16th place a point above the relegation threatened teams. Stoke on the other hand will be looking to bag another three and finish as high as they possibly can in the table. Injuries for Sunderland:Steven Fletcher, Wes Brown, R. Alvarez and Giaccherrini. Injuries for Stoke City: Steven Ireland, Victor Moses, Bojan Krkic ,Muniesa and Odemwingie. The last time these two sides met Sunderland ran out winners.

The fixture between Crystal Palace and Hull City. The Tigers have to pick up three points or at least a point to prove that they are still fighting to stay in this league. With teams like Leicester, QPR, Sunderland and Burnley picking up some recent wins the pressure has increased for Hull City to perform.Sitting in 17th equal on points with Leicester but above them on having conceded fewer goals than the foxes. Crystal Palace on the other hand will be looking to make amends for their disappointing performance last week against the baggies. Injuries for Crystal Palace: F.Campbell, Jordan Mutch and M. Chamakh. Injuries for Hull City: Late fitness test for M. Diame, R Snodgrass, Jelavic and Gaston Ramirez. The last time these two sides met Hull City came out as the victorious side.

The fixture between West Brom and Liverpool. Liverpool would be gutted to lose out in Semi-Finals to Aston Villa in the FA cup last week but the have to move on from and focus on finishing strong in the league. With Liverpool announcing that Jordan Henderson signing a new long term contract till 2020 for the reds. Tony Pulis will be looking to cause and upset over Liverpool having put up an impressive performance last week against Palace. Injuries for Liverpool:Liverpool will be sweating on a late fitness test for Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge, Lucas Leiva, M Sakho. Injuries for West Brom: Dawson and Foster. The last time these two sides met Liverpool edged out a victory with Jordan Henderson scoring the winner.

We end the fixtures on Saturday with the match between Manchester City and Aston Villa.  Aston Villa will be looking forward to another date at Wembley when they take on Arsenal in the FA cup final. And with the team also putting some good performances in recent matches especially Christian Benteke who is on a hot streak scoring at will the Villians just might pull off an upset against City. Manchester City on the other hand at home are a strong side and I'm sure they will not settle for anything less than three points. Injuries for Manchester City: David Silva, Nasri , Clichy , Milner, Kompany , Jovetic and Bony. Injuries for Aston Villa: Agbonglahor-late fitness test , Nathan Baker , Clark , Hutton , Cissokho and Senderos. The last time these two sides met City scored two late goals to secure the victory.

We kick start the Sunday fixtures with a cracking fixture between Everton and Manchester United. Everton sneaked a victory against Burnley last week, were as United lost out to Chelsea ruling them out of their slim hope for a title challenge. With Manchester United clearly dominating the game in all aspects a typical Mourinho performance saw Chelsea grab the three points. In the games against Manchester United, Everton at home have come out on top on more occasions
But with United slowly starting to look like their old self it could be a tough game to predict but one thing is for sure it's going to be feisty. Injuries for Manchester United: Daley Blind-late fitness test , Marcos Rojo , Phil Jones , Januzaj. Injuries for Everton: Hibbert , Oviedo , J McCarthy, Leon Osman-late fitness test and Darren Gibson. Van Persie might get the nod over the Colombian Falcao who failed to make an impact against Chelsea.

We end the Match-Day 34 with an epic fixture between the two London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea. Arsenal last week did not play a League as they had a FA cup match which they had to labour their victory against championship side Reading to progress through the final. Chelsea on the other hand did what was required from them a win over United to see them slowly inch towards to the league title. The rivalry is not only present on the field but also spread through the managers. Chelsea needs just two wins to secure the title were as Arsenal feel they have a slim chance of attaining the title. This fixture however in the recent years have been dominated by Chelsea. In their last five meetings Chelsea have won 4 and the other one was a goal less draw. And with both sides in good form it is hard to side with Chelsea based on the past derby results who knows Arsenal might just spoil their early party plans. Injuries for Chelsea: Drogba , Remy and Costa Chelsea are sweating on the fitness of these two strikers with speculations surrounding Costa's match inclusion in this fixture. Injuries for Arsenal:Mertesacker- late fitness test and Oxlade-Chamberlian.

With some cracking fixtures this weekend it's foolish and unwise to miss out on this action. It's this stage of the League where you can get an idea of which team is going to survive or face the drop.
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