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4 things to look out for this weekend

By on December 12, 2014

Manchester United-Liverpool Derby brings out the best of football.
As December wears on, the injury list for each club is growing and growing. Coming into their fixture with Liverpool Sunday, Manchester United will be missing Chris Smalling, Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, and Daley Blind. And though Liverpool will only have Rickie Lambert to count on up front, with both Mario Balotelli and Daniel Sturridge sidelined, it has been reported that Adam Lallana may play through two broken ribs to keep Liverpool’s side intact, a much needed boost for Brendan Rodgers’ struggling side. Yes, a modern footballer, playing through two broken ribs. Just for a moment, during the United-Liverpool derby, it could be easy to picture the old-fashioned football before it was commercialized.

Perhaps they can take tips from Newcastle United, who have continued their world-beating form despite losing their starting goalkeeper Tim Krul and multiple other starters. The injury crisis had also spread to Newcastle’/ opponents this week, Arsenal, who will have Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott, and Jack Wilshere all be watching from the terraces due to injury.

Southampton out for blood.
Southampton – they aren’t any good anymore, right? Wrong. Though they have lost thrice in a row, to Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal, they deserved, and were unlucky not to win at least a few points out of the run of fixtures, and now, will be seeking sweeter revenge on all their recent critics against Burnley. With the three points, they could very well be back in third by the end of the weekend if United lose to Liverpool and West Ham United lose or draw Sunderland.

West Ham to be top four by Christmas?
With all the hype around Southampton and Newcastle, though deserved, West Ham have themselves snuck up into the top four the past week. Off the back of an incredibly easy two months of fixtures, their fixtures don’t fog up for Sam Allardyce’s side until they face Chelsea on Boxing Day – however astonishing it would be all that hard for Southampton and West Ham to be sitting in the top four by Christmas. Now that would be one gift for the two clubs.

West Ham face Sunderland on Saturday, a matchup made in heaven for The Hammers, who will be perfectly suited to beat a side that has struggled to score, being defensively solid themselves.

Conformation of Gylfi Sigurdsson’s impact at Swansea
Facing his old club Tottenham Hotspur, things have only improved for Gylfi Sigurdsson since his move commonly thought as a step down. But now, he will play his old club ahead of them in the league, proving what they missed from him – Swansea’s star player, a technically brilliant attacking midfielder who can both score, set up goals, and frankly provide what seems exactly like what Tottenham are missing these days.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.