Rezzil’s Premier League Preview: What’s on the menu this weekend?

Following another dramatic week of FA Cup action, focus shifts back to the Premier League this weekend and there are some thrilling encounters in prospect.

The matchweek commences on Friday as January’s big-spenders Chelsea welcome Fulham to Stamford Bridge in an eagerly anticipated west London derby.

The Blues broke the British transfer record with the signing of Enzo Fernandez on deadline day and Graham Potter will now be expected to turn the club’s fortunes around having been heavily backed in the transfer window.

Chelsea have welcomed a raft of new additions to their squad over the previous six months but so far the team have failed to impress and sit bang slap in mid-table after 20 games – a whole ten points off the top-four.

Friday’s opponents Fulham actually sit three places above their rivals in seventh and ran out 2-1 winners when the pair met three weeks ago at Craven Cottage as Joao Felix was sent off on his Chelsea debut.

Potter will be desperate to avoid a repeat performance on Friday but it remains to be seen whether his gold-plated team will be able to instantaneously gel.

Onto Saturday’s action and relegation-threatened Everton host league leaders Arsenal in the day’s early kick-off. Sean Dyche takes charge of his first game in the Goodison Park hotseat and has a monumental challenge on his hands to overcome a swashbuckling Gunners outfit who have been practically faultless all season.

Dyche will know that the measure of success during his tenure in Merseyside will not be judged on this weekend’s result against Mikel Arteta’s table-toppers but on his ability to keep Everton in the Premier League come May.

However, there is plenty of hope that the ex-Burnley boss can steady the sinking ship and the north Londoners may not find a win as easy to come by on what could prove to be a season-defining game at a packed-out Goodison.

The feature fixture this weekend comes from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though, as Spurs lock horns with Man City for the second time in just over two weeks.

We were treated to a Premier League classic the last time these two sides met at the Etihad last month, as City produced a mesmeric comeback to win 4-2 after finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time.

The time before that, City were edged out 3-2 in their own backyard thanks to a dramatic last-gasp goal from Harry Kane, and we all remember that explosive Champions League quarter-final where City overcame their north London counterparts 4-3 and five of the seven goals scored fell in the opening 21 minutes!

If the history books are anything to go by, we should be in for another absolute cracker on Sunday afternoon.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for both teams this weekend, as City need to keep pace on Arsenal at the summit and Spurs look to fight their way back into the top-four after making way for a resurgent Manchester United in recent weeks.

Depending on what happens at Goodison, things could get really interesting come Sunday afternoon and the state of play could be altered drastically when the curtain closes on what promises to be another action-packed weekend of top-flight drama…

Premier League fixtures in full:

Friday 3rd February

Chelsea 20:00 Fulham

Saturday 4th February

Everton 12:30 Arsenal

Aston Villa 15:00 Leicester City

Brentford 15:00 Southampton

Brighton & Hove Albion 15:00 AFC Bournemouth

Manchester United 15:00 Crystal Palace

Wolverhampton Wanderers 15:00 Liverpool

Newcastle United 17:30 West Ham United

Sunday 5th February