Its quite late in going up, but heres a preview of this weeks games. Join me over the break...<!--more-->

Man City v Blackburn

Overnight Blackburn sold Samba to Russian club Anzhi and his presence in defence and attack will be sorely missed. Aguero will fancy his chances today and so do I. Tevez has “sincerely and unreservedly” apologised to all and sundry, no doubt that will include his wife who has missed out on £10 million quid of housekeeping money.

Mancini believes that Tevez will be available in 2-3 weeks but surely means off the bench as even at the start of the season he looked far from full fitness. Although personally I’d rather not see him rewarded with an opportunity to engineer himself a move to Paris or Milan. Indeed anywhere that will help cure him of his “homesickness” for Buenos Aires. He has a real chance to redeem himself. A winner against United with three games of the season to go? Watch this space…

Yaya Toure is back and will undoubtedly play in a match that could see City have 13 wins from 13 at the Etihad this year.

Chelsea v Bolton

A disoriented Chelsea get the chance to focus on getting their fight for top four back on track against relegation threatened Bolton. They’ll need to do it without Captain Terry who is out for 4-6 weeks after a knee operation. Bosingwa came off with a hammy against Napoli, while his replacement Ashley Cole is fighting a calf problem but should play. As Bolton are the visitors then one would expect the focus to be on Chelsea’s attack. Torres however hasn’t scored in his last 20 Chelsea appearances, Drogba midweek looked hungover from his efforts at the African Cup of Nations. Sturridge and Mata again look to be the main source of goals for Chelsea.

Arsenal v Spurs

Things aren’t getting any easier for Arsenal. After getting all but knocked out of the UCL after a 4-0 trouncing in Milan and deservedly losing 2-0 in the FA Cup at Sunderland, they now have their hated rivals roll into town.

Spurs I’m sure will cherish the opportunity to twist the knife and show Arsenal that there has been a shift of power in North London. They’ve had some recent injury issues with Diana Ross lookalike <a href="http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=Assou-ekotto&amp;hl=en&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;sa=X&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-GBfficial&amp;biw=1366&amp;bih=638&amp;tbm=isch&amp;prmd=imvnsu&amp;tbnid=g0J7b3PKwEJKpM:&amp;imgrefurl=http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/fanseyeview/archive/2012/01/13/not-just-for-the-love-of-money-tottenham-s-most-fascinating-man.aspx&amp;docid=9q7ivEQbt3fmfM&amp;imgurl=http://cms.442.haymarketnetwork.com/contentimages/blog/bae-470-1.jpg&amp;w=470&amp;h=300&amp;ei=vktIT9CnLZDFmQWortT7DQ&amp;zoom=1&amp;iact=hc&amp;vpx=327&amp;vpy=337&amp;dur=1343&amp;hovh=179&amp;hovw=281&amp;tx=175&amp;ty=57&amp;sig=107168184532619487944&amp;page=5&amp;tbnh=136&amp;tbnw=179&amp;start=107&amp;ndsp=29&amp;ved=1t:429,r:9,s:107">Assou-Ekotto[/url] as well as VDV and Adebayor missing game time. January signing Saha – much to the frustration I’m sure of Everton supporters – has already shown his class &amp; goalscoring capabilities in a Spurs jersey.

With the continued decimation of Arsenal’s defence and the pressure piled on Arsenal’s young up-starts they’ll do well to emerge unscathed.

Norwich v Man United

This game has the potential to be a cracker. Norwich played a counter-attacking game at Old Trafford when they met earlier in the season which nearly paid dividends. They had their chances and really, with better finishing could’ve won the game before United scored twice in the last 20 minutes.

This time round Rooney is doubtful with a throat infection which saw him miss the midweek defeat at Old Trafford to Ajax. Welbeck was on the bench (Chicharito and Berba started) so will most likely face Norwich from the start. Jones, Smalling, Nani, Young, Cleverley and both twins all got some game time.

It’s unlikely that Young, Cleverley and Jones will manage two games in three days after their injury lay-offs. Evans and Evra will certainly come back in and most likely Scholes(or Giggs ) &amp;  Ji Sung Park

* If Giggs plays it will be his 900th Man Utd appearance- an incredible achievement!

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Stoke v Swansea

If this game was played three months ago the outcome would be a no-brainer. Times have changed though and Stoke aren’t quite the same proposition at the Brittania. They’ve dropped points there in recent times while Swansea have learnt how to win away from home.

Additionally, Stoke are off the back of a difficult Euro tie in Valencia, which ultimately ended in defeat and elimination.

With Swanseas passing style it will be a tough game for the weary Potters.

Wigan v Villa

They remain bottom of the table but due to some welcome aiding and abetting from others hovering around the relegation zone, Wigan are only 2points from 16th place.

They’re currently in a run of must-win games and a home game against Aston Villa surely comes into that category. Villa have decent form in recent away games while Wigan haven’t won in their last ten home games (a record for them) but they’ll need to buck that trend now. Wigan have everyone fit and available while Keane will play his last game for Villa and Agbonlahor is fit again.

Newcastle v Wolves

Newcastle look much stronger again all of a sudden. R Taylor, Cabaye, Tiote are all available as is the new strikeforce of Ba and Cisse.

They’ll fancy their chances of a comfortable win over a Wolves side that have now appointed their manager at the fifth time of asking. Four possible candidates all knocked back the chance to take over from McCarthy who was sacked at a curious time in the season.

Terry Connor their first team coach has been promoted from within after ten years at the Club working in various roles under various managers. The obvious advantage is that he knows the players better than anyone, the disadvantage is his working relationship with them changes in an instant. He’s going from being the buffer between manager and player to the man that makes the tough calls of leaving out certain players etc. He has no managerial experience at any level, never mind EPL, this is strange as his Chairman insisted experience was essential for the role. Experience should really be a pre-requisite for someone being thrown into a relegation dog-fight, or thrown to the Wolves if you like. If I were a Wolves supporter I would be feeling very, very uneasy at the moment.

Steven Fletcher should recover in time from a virus that meant he couldn’t train earlier in the week, Karl Henry returns from a three game suspension.

WBA v Sunderland

West Broms home form, two wins all season, coupled with Sunderland’s form would suggest that the game could only go one way. Sunderland in their last eight games have taken as many points as the two Manchester clubs and have won three of their last four away games.

WBA though will be determined to improve on that record and will no doubt look to recent hat-trick hero Odemwingie to deliver the goods. Brunt shouldn’t be far off making a return also. Bendther is fit again for the Black Cats.

QPR v Fulham

The Fulham supporters would be right for feeling a little bewildered when they see Mark Hughes in the QPR dugout. He did after all leave Fulham after 12mths to “further his experience”.  After being knocked back for the vacant Villa job, or not, if you’re in the habit of believing Hughes’ (and Tevez’s) agent Kia Joorabchian, he found himself out of work.

Apart from not “looking a gift horse in the mouth” I’m not sure what Hughes garnered from this “experience”. He is however, back in management and back in West London and will be looking to improve on QPR’s record of one win in the last 13 games. He’ll do it with the help of ex-Fulham striker Zamora who should be afforded a better reception. Helguson, Luke Young and Cisse will all be missing though.

Zamora’s replacement Pogrebnyak (who scored in his debut) and Andy Johnson should both be fit.

Everton v Liverpool  is postponed due to the Reds Carling Cup final appearance versus Cardiff.