Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Michael Olise’s anticipated return from injury for Crystal Palace against Manchester City could not be more timely for Oliver Glasner’s struggling side. The France Under-21 international has been in sensational form this season on the rare occasions he has made it on to the pitch – Olise has played only 755 minutes so far in just 11 appearances, but in that time has scored six goals and provided three assists. City are believed to be one of several clubs who have been monitoring his progress and will be wary of the threat he poses to their title ambitions, especially if he can adapt quickly to Glasner’s favoured 3-4-2-1 formation. Like Palace, who are still not quite safe given their testing run-in that only features games against sides above them, Eberechi Eze has not been in his best form so far under the Austrian. But could the return of Olise help the England midfielder also rediscover his touch? Ed Aarons

On Wednesday night, as they were being torn apart by Phil Foden, Aston Villa didn’t look like a team that had spent much of the season in the top four. But that is unlikely to bother them. Under Unai Emery Villa have a secret weapon: the ability to get back off the floor. They began the season by losing 5-1 at Newcastle, then beating Everton 4-0, and the pattern has barely changed. When they lose, unless it’s against Manchester United, they tend to lose heavily – 3-0 at Anfield, 3-1 at home to Newcastle, 4-0 at home to Spurs – but each of those batterings was followed by a resounding victory. And against Brentford, whom they beat 2-1 in December, Villa will have John McGinn back from the three-game suspension that came with his red card in the Tottenham debacle. Brentford’s most realistic hope is to keep doing what they’ve been doing lately: inching towards survival, one draw at a time. It’s been enough to stop Everton and Luton gaining on them, though all three, plus Forest, are in the twilight zone where a couple of wins for one team can make all the difference. Tim de Lisle

Everton have forgotten how to win, to reuse the phrase that Sean Dyche once employed of Frank Lampard’s team while manager of Burnley. With the threat of a second points deduction on the horizon and four home games remaining against other sides in the bottom six, they must remember how against his former club. Burnley will be the form team at Goodison Park having put together their best run of the season with four matches unbeaten. Dyche, by contrast, has now presided over the longest winless streak in Everton’s Premier League history after Tuesday’s draw at Newcastle extended their barren sequence to 13 matches. Even Mike Walker wasn’t that bad. Talk of the manager’s future is understandable but futile – Everton don’t have the board, an engaged owner nor the money to sack Dyche and recruit a replacement – but he undoubtedly needs a win to ease mounting criticism and relegation concerns. Andy Hunter

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Harvey Barnes has drifted out of the England picture. He made his international debut in 2020 and enjoyed the same kind of standing that Anthony Gordon does now: an energetic, enterprising young winger with every chance of becoming a regular in Gareth Southgate’s squad. Yet injuries have stopped Barnes from progressing. He has struggled to stay fit since joining Newcastle from Leicester and, unlike Gordon, has no chance of going to Euro 2024. Still, the talent endures. Barnes scored twice after coming off the bench against West Ham last weekend and he grabbed an assist against Everton. Now he needs to push on. Newcastle, who visit Fulham, would be far more dangerous with the speed of Barnes on the left and Gordon the right. Jacob Steinberg

Which has been the best team in the league over the past three matches? Not Arsenal (they’re second). Not Liverpool (third) or Manchester City (fourth). It is, of course, Bournemouth. Yes, they’ve had a series of meetings with the bottom seven, but you can only beat the team in front of you and Bournemouth have done that to four of their past five opponents – Burnley, Luton, Everton and Palace. Now they face Luton again. The reverse fixture was one of the seven-goal sagas that have been such a feature of this season. Luton scored three goals in the first half, only to concede four in the second. This week their manager Rob Edwards said: “I want to be in the Premier League forever.” As endearing as that was, if he wants to be in it next season, his team need to get something out of this game. Next weekend they go to the Etihad. TdL

In those blank tables that pop up before the season begins, West Ham and Wolves are joined at the hip, scorned by alphabetical order. Eight months later, both are happily ensconced in mid-table. They are separated by only three points and that gap that will vanish if Wolves win their game in hand (home to Bournemouth on 24 April). So this tussle is, in its quiet way, a six-pointer. West Ham won the reverse fixture 3-0 in mid-December, with two goals from Mohammed Kudus and one from Jarrod Bowen. But Wolves have sharpened their teeth since then, while the Hammers have had their hands too full in Europe to keep banging on the door of the top six. Saturday’s visitors have only two league wins this year, and David Moyes will fancy a third given Wolves’ many injuries. But then Gary O’Neil is very good at setting up his team. Can Kudus and Bowen can show their class again? TdL

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Some managers are admired for their ability to get results: others succeed in being admired regardless. Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton were seventh on 3 January, above Manchester United, but they’ve been in a slump ever since. They have won just three of their past 11 league games and scored only three times in seven matches in all competitions, including a rout by Roma. Solly March, out since October with a knee injury, has been sorely missed. De Zerbi, though, is still being mentioned in dispatches for the forthcoming vacancies at Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Nobody would blame him for losing to Arsenal again, who have been relentless in the league this year, with 28 points from a possible 30. It’s more that Brighton need to find the fluency that won them those admiring glances in the first place. TdL

In a troubled season, Erik ten Hag’s team talk will surely be easy for this visit of their fierce rivals from down the East Lancs road: remind his players of the defiant way they twice came from behind to beat Jürgen Klopp’s side to enjoy a 4-3 victory in the 120th minute of an FA Cup thriller. That was only three weeks and three games ago, yet United are wildly erratic and Liverpool arrive off the back of another win, determined to give their genius manager the finest of send-offs with a second Premier League title before he walks away into a new future. Jamie Jackson

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Chelsea fans are not happy that their game at Bramall Lane is kicking off at 5.30pm and who can blame them? Public transport – even to London – is never at its best on a Sunday and particularly not in the evening, but matters may be exacerbated by the rail strikes scheduled for this weekend. Many travelling fans will end up driving but, given the school Easter Holidays, motorways are likely to be congested too. In fairness to the broadcasters, who seem to impose ever-more inconvenient match schedules on those who actually attend them, it was originally scheduled for 1.30pm on Sunday, but had to be switched as it clashed with Sheffield’s half marathon. Problems with policing, stewarding, parking and local taxis dictated the need for a change … but did it really have to be moved to 5.30pm? Louise Taylor

A game brought forward by 24 hours due to rail and underground strikes is one that could see Nottingham Forest strengthen their survival hopes. Certainly, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men should arrive in north London in confident mood after a stirring midweek victory over Fulham. Forest were 3-0 up before half-time on the back of a display brimming with intensity and quality and, in general, appear galvanised by the four-point deduction they received last month for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). That makes them potentially dangerous opponents for every team they’re going to face between now and the end of the season, and Spurs could be especially ripe for the taking given the openness with which they defend, allied to how often they fall behind at home. Their opponents on Sunday should believe they can take the lead and, unlike the likes of Palace and Luton, build on that. That will not be easy, however, against a team that scores plenty of goals, with the presence of Brennan Johnson in the home ranks adding a tantalising narrative. Sachin Nakrani

Source: theguardian.com