The Wait is Over!

It is April 2ed, early in the morning, and I cannot stress how excited I am that the EPL is back in action after a long two week break! And to top it all off, Manchester United starts the day with a game at West Ham. This will be aired at 7:45AM (EST) on ESPN2. Fox Soccer Channel will be showing the Stoke vs. Chelsea game, another game worthy to watch, airing after the United game at 10:00 AM (EST).

Stoke coming from their last game with an amazing 4 to nil result against Newcastle, Chelsea are in for a fight as they strive to keep up within the Premier League top four. Manchester City only being a point behind will be playing Sunderland on Sunday, also airing on Fox Soccer. The game will be shown here at 11:00 AM (EST).

Here is a complete list of tomorrows fixtures:

7:45 AM West Ham vs. Manchester United

10:00 AM Everton vs Aston Villa
West Brom vs. Liverpool
Birmingham City vs. Bolton Wanderers
Wigan vs. Tottenham
Stoke vs. Chelsea

12:30 PM Arsenal vs. Blackburn

As most would predict, Arsenal are expected to gain a victory tomorrow against the Rovers, however, even if United were to have a tie with West Ham or even lose, they still won't be much closer to the top until next week and it's results. It is doubtful however that West Ham will produce much of an offensive game, shown last game when they played Tottenham.

Sunday will have it's usual two games. This week it will be Fulham hosting Blackppol and Manchester City hosting Sunderland. Man City are in dire need of a win in order to keep themselves within the top four. Though Tottenham are a few points clear at fifth place, they are surely expected to bring in three points after their game against Wigan. Surely Sunderland seeks to redeem themselves after the unfortunate nil to 2 lose at their home stadium against Liverpool.

Here are Sunday's fixtures and EST times.

8:30 AM Fulham vs. Blackpool

11:00 AM Manchester City vs. Sunderland

Personally I do not see much out of this week. Most teams playing are going against weaker clubs, proving to most expected wins for the stronger teams. But we never truly know! As the Wolves have once, Wigan or Blackburn may very well prove to be giant killers this week, bringing their fans hope of a better season to come.

One may notice a particular game coming up against manager rivals. West Brom's Roy Hodgson recently admitted that the presence of new Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish made his job there much more difficult. Tensions will be high during the West Brom vs. Liverpool game, but I'm sure everyone expects a one sided outcome.

On a recently made pool on Skysports.com, nearly half their readers beleive Wigan Athletic are the team to most likely be relegated from the Barclay's Premier League. However one cannot truly tell at this point, seeing that both bottom three teams are only a point separated, however I have my doubts that Birmingham will even dare to let that happen, and Mick McCarthy will surely do all he can to prevent his end at the Premier League. Wigan may have the lesser chance, I will agree on that, but after this week's line up of games we will have a much clearer picture on who drops from the magnificently competitive English Premier League.

Finally I must inform my readers that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes that victory is crucial at Upton Park. As stated before I do not think that it is incredibly important that they seek a victory this game, but the odds are they will be victors one way or the other. If West Ham's players don't cease from making foolish fouls that result in four yellow cards to four players, they may not even have enough players to properly defend. For their sake, lets hope the Hammers manager has a little talk with them about making overly violent fouls if they even plan on having a full team for the game.

Hope everyone enjoys this weekend's games,
Craig Fortner