United take on Wolves, Sunderland v Villa, and more

By Brian Lofrumento | 15th December 2009

United take on Wolves, Sunderland v Villa, and more | read this item

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The holiday season is finally here, and for football fans that only means one thing: games come thick and fast. The Premier League is in action once again tomorrow, and Premiership Talk previews all of Tuesday’s action with a little bit of help from the Premiership Talk Predictions community.

Sunderland v Aston Villa

Aston Villa come into this match off a huge victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and the Villans hope to retain their fourth place spot in the league. Sunderland, meanwhile, are coming off of a disappointing 1-1 draw with Portsmouth after Darren Bent once again added to his goal tally.

Kenwyne Jones is hoping to make a return during Villa’s trip to the Stadium of Light, and Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock is facing a race against time as he tries to recover from a collision with Ji-Sung Park at the weekend. Black Cats fans will be delighted to see defender Phil Bardsley and midfielder Kieran Richardson return from suspensions.

Premiership Talk Predictions: 53% of the community members predict an Aston Villa win, while only 13% see Sunderland picking up all three points. It’s going to be a tight affair, though, with 58% of people predicting less than 2.5 goals in the game.

Birmingham v Blackburn

Birmingham are on an astonishing four game winning streak and are slowly moving up the table. The Blues beat West Ham 1-0 at the weekend, following a string of wins against Wigan Athletic, Wolves, and Fulham. Blackburn, on the other hand, are coming off of three straight 0-0 draws against Hull, Liverpool, and Stoke, and Sam Allardyce’s side are currently sitting in 12th in the table.

Premiership Talk Predictions: It’s certainly anyone’s game at St. Andrews’ Stadium. 49% of predictors see Birmingham picking up all three points, while 38% predicted a draw. It’s certainly not going to be a goalfest, as two thirds of the community members predicted under 2.5 goals in the game. This is no surprise as Blackburn haven’t scored in four straight games.

Bolton v West Ham

Two sides in the relegation zone will battle it out at the Reebok Stadium, and the winner could find themselves leapfrogging Wolves and into safety. Bolton are winless for nearly two months (they last won on October 25th) and had their hearts broken against Manchester City as the Citizens equalized with just 13 minutes to go to draw 3-3.

West Ham were beaten 1-0 by Birmingham on Saturday, but the Hammers are hopeful of a rebound. Kieron Dyer could feature in this match yet again, but may not fully recover in time to start the match.

Premiership Talk Predictions: 47% of the predictors see a victory for the home side, which would further West Ham’s problems. A third of the community members are predicting a draw, which could be enough to lift West Ham out of the drop zone.

Manchester United v Wolves

Sir Alex Ferguson saw his side lose to Aston Villa at home over the weekend, and Mick McCarthy has already warned his side that United will come out firing. The defending champions are still without first choice defenders Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville, and backups Jonny Evans and Rafael are still out with injury. That means Darren Fletcher will resume his role as a makeshift defender, and Wes Brown is expected to partner Nemanja Vidic in central defense. Edwin van der Sar continues to miss out, so Tomasz Kuszczak is expected to resume his role of goalkeeping.

Wolves are on the verge of dropping into the relegation zone, currently sitting in 17th. Kevin Doyle has been in excellent form lately, and the Republic of Ireland forward has led the way as Wolves have picked up a perfect six points from their two December matches. Their away win against Tottenham is sure to raise the spirits, and the pressure will be resting solely on United.

Premiership Talk Predictions: Manchester United are overwhelming favorites in this one, with 90% of predictors calling for a United win. Expect some goals in this one, too, as 81% of the community members can see over 2.5 goals in the game.

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