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PREMIER LEAGUE: Week two as it happened.

• PREMIER LEAGUE: Week two as it happened.

• PREMIER LEAGUE: Week two as it happened.

  StrumSolo > 23/08/2013, 17:47

  Previews of Saturday's Premier League matches. Sunday and Monday's fixtures to follow.
  
  Arsenal v Fulham (12:45)
  The 3-0 win over Fenerbache has given Arsene Wenger a bit of leeway, but after last week’s defeat at home to Villa, and Tottenham visiting the Emirates next weekend, anything less than a win in Saturday’s early kick-off will crank the pressure right back up. Laurent Koscielny is suspended and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thomas Vermaelen are long-term absentees, but other than that Arsenal have no new injury concerns.
  
  Fulham will be hoping to capitalise on the unease surrounding the Gunners currently and build on last Saturday’s win at Sunderland. Scott Parker could make his debut and can expect a lively welcome from the away support if he does. Maarten Stekelenburg has a shoulder injury so David Stockdale will deputise in goal.
  
  Everton v West Brom (15:00)
  Roberto Martinez takes control of his first league game at Goodison Park here and will fancy his chances of making a good early impression against a West Brom side who looked sluggish at home to Southampton last time out. Darron Gibson and Tony Hibbert are both returning to fitness but might struggle to oust Ross Barkley and Seamus Coleman from the starting 11 after both got on the scoresheet in the draw against Norwich. Sylvain Distin is doubtful and Antolin Alcaraz will definitely miss out due to a hamstring injury.
  
  West Brom will have to make do without Nicolas Anelka after the death of his agent so Matej Vydra could make his first start for the Baggies. Scott Sinclair could also make his debut after his loan switch from Man City was finalised earlier this week.
  
  Hull v Norwich (15:00)
  The “Tigers’ will probably be happy with their goal difference of -2 after the fixture computer threw up Chelsea away for their first match back in the top flight, but expectations for this game will be considerably higher. No disrespect to Norwich, who look a useful side with their summer arrivals, but this is the sort of game Hull have to win if they’ve any chance of staying up this season. Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone started from the bench on the opening weekend but could now be in line for starts. Stephen Quinn has a hamstring problem though and will miss out.
  
  Gary Hooper still isn’t ready to make his Canaries debut, but loan signing Johan Elmander could feature after his switch from Galatasaray this week.
  
  Newcastle v West Ham (15:00)
  The managers of these sides have both previously been in charge their opponents, and while Andy Carroll, a native Geordie, misses out for West Ham, Kevin Nolan should get a ‘lively’ reception on his return to Tyneside. Not that the game needs such sub-plots mind, all eyes will be on Alan Pardew’s side after their disappointing display at Man City on Monday night. While a defeat in that match wasn’t unexpected, a similar performance against the Hammers won’t do anything to placate the supporters still smarting from the events of last season and this summer (Joe Kinnear mostly). Yohan Cabaye remains a doubt after being unsettled by recent talk of moves away from St James’ Park, Steven Taylor is suspended and Chiek Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez and Loic Remy are just plain-old-injured.
  
  As well as Carroll, the Hammers will also have to do without George McCartney. Razvan Rat could make his debut and former Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing could be handed his first start.
  
  Southampton v Sunderland (15:00)
  All eyes at St Mary’s will be on Dani Osvaldo for this one, and the Italy striker should feature after his £15m move from Roma. Southampton will be looking to build on their opening-day win and it’s probably the perfect time to be playing Paolo Di Canio’s newly-assembled side, especially after their defeat at home to Fulham. Nathaniel Clyne remains a doubt for the Saints so 18-year-old Callum Chambers could continue at right-back.
  
  Sunderland welcome back David Vaughan and Craig Gardner after suspension, but Steven Fletcher and Wes Brown are still sidelined.
  
  Stoke v Crystal Palace (15:00)
  Both these sides lost by the odd goal last weekend but Mark Hughes, taking charge of his first home game, will be hoping that the Britannia is as much of a fortress for him as it was for his predecessor Tony Pulis. Wilson Palacios is still ruled out but Charlie Adam could return to the Potters’ midfield.
  
  Ian Holloway could hand Jason Puncheon his Palace debut following the winger’s arrival from Southampton on loan, but fellow wide-men Jerome Thomas and Yannick Bolasie remain ruled out by injury. Youngster Jonathan Williams could start after an impressive substitute appearance against Spurs.
  
  Aston Villa v Liverpool (17:45)
  Villa have made a decent start and if you’d offered Paul Lambert 3 points from games away at Arsenal and Chelsea before the season started, he’d probably have taken that. The tough run of fixtures continues though and Christian Benteke will need to carry on his fine early-season form if the home side are to get a result here. Ciaran Clark is available despite picking up a head injury at Chelsea but Nathan Baker remains doubtful.
  
  Aly Cissokho could feature for Liverpool after his loan move from Valencia. Luis Suarez is still banned, obviously, but other than that they’ve got a fully fit and available squad to choose from.
  
  Are your team involved? How do you think they'll get on?

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  rustee1 > 23/08/2013, 18:35

  i'm looking forward to this bank holiday weekend football. villa liverpool should be a good game and ofcourse man utd chelsea on monday should be interested. you wanna see who does better with predictions?

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 09:50

  Yeah, providing your scouts and inside men get back to you on time... :)

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 12:39

  Here are the teams for today's early kick off, which gets underway at 12:45.
  
  Scott Parker makes his Fulham debut while Jack Wilshere drops to an inexperienced looking Arsenal bench.
  
  Fulham: Stockdale, Riether, Hughes, Hangeland, Riise, Duff, Parker, Sidwell, Taarabt, Kasami, Berbatov.
  Subs: Ruiz, Kacaniklic, Karagounis, Briggs, Boateng, Etheridge, Bent.
  
  Arsenal: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Sagna, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Rosicky, Ramsey, Walcott, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud.
  Subs: Wilshere, Monreal, Fabianski, Sanogo, Frimpong, Gnabry, Zelalem.

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 13:10

  Olivier Giroud's decent start to the season continues as he grabs the opening goal in Arsenal's game away at Fulham. 0-1 at a wet Craven Cottage with 20 minutes played.

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 13:39

  2-0 to Arsenal. Lukas Podolski with the away side's second goal.
  
  Half time at Craven Cottage with the Gunners looking comfortable.

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 14:20

  Lukas Podolski grabs his second goal after 68 minutes to make it 3-0 to Arsenal.
  
  Game over, and the Gunners are looking impressive.

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 14:54

  Fulham pulled a goal back through Darren Bent but it wasn't enough to affect the outcome and Arsenal came through 3-1 winners.
  
  Here are the line-ups for today's 3 o'clock kick-offs:
  
  EVERTON V WEST BROM
  Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Fellaini, Mirallas, Barkley, Pienaar, Jelavic. Subs: Robles, Heitinga, Kone, Deulofeu, Naismith, Stones, Anichebe.
  West Brom: Foster, Billy Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Morrison, Mulumbu, Yacob, Dorrans, Long, Rosenberg. Subs: Sinclair, Popov, Brunt, Lugano, Luke Daniels, Vydra, Berahino.
  
  HULL V NORWICH
  Hull: McGregor, Elmohamady, Chester, Davies, Figueroa, Koren, Huddlestone, Livermore, Brady, Aluko, Sagbo. Subs: Rosenior, Bruce, Meyler, Graham, McShane, Boyd, Harper.
  Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Turner, Martin, Garrido, Howson, Tettey, Fer, Johnson, Redmond, van Wolfswinkel. Subs: Elmander, Snodgrass, Bunn, Hoolahan, Becchio, Olsson, Ryan Bennett.
  
  NEWCASTLE V WEST HAM
  Newcastle: Krul, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Ben Arfa, Anita, Sissoko, Marveaux, Shola Ameobi, Cisse. Subs: Gouffran, Gosling, Bigirimana, Elliot, Sammy Ameobi, Vuckic, Dummett.
  West Ham: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Collins, Reid, O'Brien, Noble, Diame, Downing, Nolan, Jarvis, Maiga. Subs: Tomkins, Rat, Vaz Te, Adrian, Morrison, Diarra, Cole.
  
  SOUTHAMPTON V SUNDERLAND
  Southampton: Boruc, Chambers, Fonte, Lovren, Shaw, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez, Lallana, Lambert. Subs: Kelvin Davis, Clyne, Steven Davis, Ramirez, Osvaldo, Cork, Hooiveld.
  Sunderland: Westwood, Celustka, O'Shea, Diakite, Colback, Johnson, Gardner, Larsson, Giaccherini, Sessegnon, Altidore. Subs: Cabral, Wickham, Vaughan, Moberg Karlsson, Mannone, Ji, Roberge.
  
  STOKE V CRYSTAL PALACE
  Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Pieters, Wilson, Walters, Nzonzi, Adam, Etherington, Crouch. Subs: Muniesa, Whelan, Pennant, Jones, Wilkinson, Sorensen, Jerome.
  Crystal Palace: Speroni, Ward, Gabbidon, Delaney, Moxey, Puncheon, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Campana, Chamakh, Gayle. Subs: Phillips, Garvan, Dobbie, Wilbraham, Williams, Alexander, Ramage.

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 16:18

  The second half is underway around the grounds. Here are the scores at present:
  
  Everton 0-0 West Brom
  Hull 1-0 Norwich
  Newcastle 0-0 West Ham
  Southampton 0-1 Sunderland
  Stoke 0-1 Crystal Palace
  
  So we're not exactly overrun with goals but Brady netted for Hull from the spot, Giaccherini for Sunderland and Marouane Chamakh is off the mark for Palace.

• RE: PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES: 24th-26th August

  StrumSolo > 24/08/2013, 17:05

  A late header from Jose Fonte saved a point for Southampton which was no less than their pressure deserved. Palace couldn't hold on to their lead and goals from Ryan Shawcross and Charlie Adam gave Stoke the three points at the Britannia. And Hull picked up their first win of the season thanks to a first half penalty from Robbie Brady.
  
  Here are the results in full:
  
  Everton 0-0 West Brom
  Hull 1-0 Norwich
  Newcastle 0-0 West Ham
  Southampton 1-1 Sunderland
  Stoke 2-1 Crystal Palace
  
  Aston Villa v Liverpool is coming up at 17:45 and here are the line-ups for that game:
  
  Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Okore, Luna, Bacuna, Westwood, Delph, Weimann, Benteke, Agbonlahor. Subs: Clark, El Ahmadi, Helenius, Steer, Herd, Sylla, Tonev.
  Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Toure, Agger, Jose Enrique, Gerrard, Lucas, Henderson, Aspas, Coutinho, Sturridge. Subs: Cissokho, Brad Jones, Alberto, Allen, Borini, Sterling, Wisdom.
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