Saturday's Premiership Action

Right i'm a bit late with this but here's my take on this weekend's football action.
Let's start with Chelsea who take on Bolton at Stamford Bridge in what could turn out to be a crucial game for both teams. Chelsea are desperately in need of three points. Their form recently has been nothing short of shocking. No win in 4 Premier League games and facing exit from the Champions League after a 3-1 defeat away to Napoli, certainly not the form of a title challenging team. With pressure mounting on Andre Villas-Boas every game is now crucial for him and he needs to start producing results or he could be out of a job. For Bolton fans they must feel they can go to the Bridge and get a result. Their stuck in the relegation zone and will be very disappointed not to get any points from their last two games against Wigan and Norwich and now face Chelsea and with Man City next week they could be looking at 4 losses on the trot. Chelsea will be looking for an assured performance and would give anything to see Fernando Torres find the target. They need an early start and if they get it then they could run riot over a troubled defence at Bolton. However, I think if Bolton can keep it tight at the back and force Chelsea to play through them then they might find success in playing counter attacking football against a Chelsea defence that was horribly exposed midweek. I think AVB's problems will ease slightly after this game and Chelsea edge it, just.
The nest game we'll look at is Wolves visit to Newcastle in their first game since the sack of Mick McCarthy. Terry Connor has been appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the season after two weeks of rumours and speculation they end up with nothing permanent. To make matters worse they find themselves in the bottom 3 and really struggling to accumulate points. A trip to Newcastle is not what they would have wanted. Alan Pardew has done fantastically well this season and it seems fans have completely forgotten ho they felt when Chris Hughton was unceremoniously sacked last year. They started the season well and despite the general belief they would falter as the season went on they are currently find themselves sitting three points ahead of Liverpool and just a point behind 5th place Chelsea and 4th place Arsenal. European football looks likely for the toon army and 4th place is still a possibility if they can continue to get wins. Their defence has been immaculate this season and without Steven Taylor they've managed to adjust and remain very difficult to break down. The severity of their loss to Spurs was shocking but they should be able to bounce back at home to Wolves. With Papiss Cisse now partnering the sensational Demba Ba up front they should be able to find goals regularly especially at home. I see Newcastle winning this one and keeping a clean sheet.
Mark Hughes' QPR entertain Fulham hoping to avenge the crushing the received at the hands of Martin Jol's side earlier in the season. Rangers sit in 16th place with two straight defeats and Fulham will be looking to continue their decent form and make a break for the top ten in the run in to the end of the season. This one is very difficult to call, mainly due to the unpredictability of QPR. They dominated against Blackburn for 90 minutes but at half time found themselves trailing by three. Other weeks they can look a proper good football side and pose threats from both wings and through the middle. After two straight defeats i think QPR will get something out of this game simply because Mark Hughes won't accept three defeats on the trot. I dont see them holding Fulham scoreless for the game and so my feeling is a score draw.
High flying Sunderland travel to West Brom looking to continue their rennaissance under Martin O'Neill. Since O'Neill took charge they've beaten Man City, knocked Arsenal out of the cup and flown up the table and now sit 9th just 6 points off Liverpool in 7th with a surge towards European qualification looking likely. At West Brom they won't find it easy with Roy Hodgson's side a very organised unit, sitting up on a pedestal after beating local rivals Wolves 5-1 in their last game. A return to form of Peter Odemwingie is a huge bonus for the Baggies
and they look likely to put themselves well clear of the drop in time to avoid a nervy run in. This game will be very entertaining and I see plenty of goals coming in this one. Sunderland are more prolific at the back and West Brom are more prone to leaking goals through poor defending so that's why im picking Sunderland to win this one.
Aston Villa make the trip to Wigan in a game where on paper goals are sure to flow. Wigan have only kept one clean sheet in the last twenty two games with Villa having just one in their last twelve. Villa won their meeting earlier in the season and the Latics have failed to win in ten home games. All the signs suggest Villa will win and I have a feeling Robbie Keane might just have a say in the outcome of this in the final game of his loan spell from LA Galaxy. Wigan's win over Bolton was crucial for them and it kept them in the hunt for survival. Oddly enough I think it the fact they won takes the pressure off slightly and Villa can take advantage. I expect Villa to get the win with their more potent attacking threat being the key.
Man City have a chance to put the pressure on Man United in the title race when they take on struggling Blackburn at the Etihad Stadium. City currently lie top of the table with a two point lead of neighbours United and will look to add three points to their tally against Steve Kean's Blackburn side who are fighting for their Premier League lives at the bottom. They are one space above the drop zone and anything they can get from games against the big sides is going to be a huge bonus in the relegation battle. Kean has been criticised and jeered by his own fans this season but when the pressure is really on and the odds stacked against them they play their best football. Yakubu has been sensational up front and his goals are probably the sole reason Blackburn are currently winning their fight with the drop. Man City on the other hand have struggled for form lately but their win over Porto Wednesday night was more of the City we saw dominate in the beginning of the season. The return of the Toure brother's is crucial for them. Without them they looked lost. Silva lost his spark. The defence was dodgy. Goals stopped coming. With them back and Tevez likely to return they might have the artillery to win their first Premiership trophy. Blackburn will be tricky and it all depends on the start they get. If they concede early then any score is possible. If they keep it scoreless then City could get nervy and it only takes on chance for Yakubu to turn the game Blackburn's way. I don't see Blackburn getting a result but i think they might push City before falling to a 2-0 loss.