Premier League Preview: Matchday 13 sees Liverpool host City and Arsenal travel to West Ham

Navin Doodnath & Sujesh Rambajue

Nov 29, 2024, 03:00 PM ET

After last weeks thumping and a midweek collapse, Manchester City are trying to keep their title hopes alive with a win at Anfield. Arsenal will travel to the London Stadium and Chelsea host Aston Villa in a battle for the top 4.

Brighton celebrate their second goal at the Vitality Stadium

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Southampton FC (Friday, November 29th @American Express Stadium) 

Brighton are looking to add to Southampton’s misery by picking up their third successive win. The Seagulls are coming off an impressive 2-1 victory against Bournemouth last time out and a win would see them climb into second in the table. Brighton will be without Carlos Baleba who picked up a red card against the Cherries last weekend. However, Lewis Dunk and Tariq Lamptey are expected to be back in the squad for the game.  

Southampton come into this game after a strong performance against the league leaders Liverpool despite the 3-2 loss. The Saints have been competitive in recent league matches, but defensive errors have cost them. Sticking to Russel Martin’s style of play, which requires them to build up play from the back, they give the ball away too cheaply in dangerous areas. One such turnover led to Dominik Szoboszlai’s opening goal last weekend. 

Brighton will be desperate for 3 points to climb into second place and the Saints will be looking to kickstart their season to battle their way out of the relegation zone. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST. 

Crystal Palace vs Newcastle United (Saturday, November 30th @Selhurst Park) 

Newcastle travel to Selhurst Park after a disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham. They will be in search of all three points against a side in the relegation zone who are struggling for victories. The Magpies were in good form before the loss to West Ham having beat Arsenal and Forest in successive matches. There were injury concerns for Willock and Guimaraes after both were subbed off with injures, but the pair have travelled and are set to feature.  

Crystal Palace picked up a massive road point against Aston Villa last weekend. Despite all the injuries they managed to come away with a point and may feel disappointed not to have got all three. The Eagles took the lead twice, but were unable to hold on. Ismaïla Sarr had his best game since signing with the London club. The Eagles have a huge injury boost with Eze set to return to the squad. Palace currently sit in 19th spot and are desperate to find any sort of form to lift them out of the relegation zone. A win would see them climb to 15th. Kickoff is at 10 am EST. 

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs AFC Bournemouth (Saturday, November 30th @Molineux Stadium) 

Wolves welcome AFC Bournemouth to Molineux Stadium this weekend. Wolves look to pick up the three points and continue their form after winning comfortably against Fulham 4-1 in their last match. The Cherries, on the other hand, are coming off a 2-1 loss to Brighton in which they dominated after Brighton went down to 10 men.  

Wolves come into this match sitting in 17th place in the table, while Bournemouth sit 13th, one point back of Man United. You can expect Matheus Cunha to play a big role in this match, having got 2 goals and 1 assist in the last match. Both sides will look to pick up 3 points and help move their season in the right direction as we head into the festive period. Kickoff is at 10 am EST.  

Brentford FC vs Leicester City FC (Saturday, November 30th @Gtech Community Stadium) 

Brentford host the Foxes in an intriguing matchup this Saturday. Brentford, who valiantly picked up a point away at Goodison Park while down to ten men, will be looking for a win against a struggling Leicester side. The Bees have had no consistency this season with five losses and five ties, but against a poor Leicester side they will be confident in picking up all three points.  

The Foxes announced that they have parted ways with Steve Cooper after just 12 league games. It was a rocky relationship between himself and the fans for the past two months over the style of football Leicester played. Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who had great success at PSV winning the Dutch Cup and a brief, but successful interim position at Manchester United, is set to be announced as the new Head Coach. The Foxes will be without their main man in midfield, Harry Winks, after he was substituted early on in their previous match. However, they will be looking for that new manager bounce this weekend to boost their survival hopes. Kickoff is at 10 am EST. 

Nottingham Forrest vs Ipswich Town (Saturday, November 30th @City Ground) 

Omari Hutchinson after scoring his first Premier League goal

Nottingham Forest come into this game looking to pick up three points after losing 3-0 to Arsenal last match day. The team looked a step slower last week and struggled to muster a shot on target. Forrest has 5 wins in 12 matches in the Premier League this season, which is better than last season as they had 3 in the first 12. They will look to pick up three points and get back into the top 4 race.  

Ipswich Town come into this match after a draw with Manchester United in Ruben Amorim’s debut.  After a shocking start to Kieran McKenna’s tenure as Ipswich manager, things are starting to look up. Having picked up 5 points in their last 4 matches, Ipswich are starting to find some form. They look for help from Liam Delap. The 21-year-old has 6 goals in 12 matches this season. A win against Forrest would see Ipswich climb out of the relegation zone. Kickoff is at 10 am EST.  

West Ham United vs Arsenal (Saturday, November 30th @London Stadium) 

Wan-Bissaka gives West Ham a two goal adavantage against Newcastle United

The Hammers return home to take on North London’s finest in a London clash. Both sides are coming off comfortable wins on the last matchday.  

West Ham has had a shaky start to the 24-25 Premier League season. They currently sit 14th in the table, level on points with AFC Bournemouth. Despite their poor performances, things are starting to look better. They went away to St. James Park last week and picked up all three points in a dominant 2-0 win over Newcastle.  

Arsenal come into this match in top form. After beating Sporting in the UCL 5-1 midweek, they look to build on this performance. Boosted by the return of Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, the Gunners will look to pick up all three points. Arsenal currently sit 4th, tied on points with Chelsea and Brighton, but a win this weekend could solidify their top 4 chances.  

This match will be important for both sides. Arsenal will hope to kickstart their title challenging push, while West Ham look to pick up back-to-back wins and edge into the top half of the table. Kickoff is at 12:30 pm EST. 

Chelsea FC vs Aston Villa (Sunday, December 1st @Stamford Bridge) 

The Blues return home to the Bridge as they welcome Unai Emery’s Villa side. Both teams are coming off playing European football this week.  

Chelsea will look to continue their dominant form after beating Leicester 2-1 last matchday. They will look for help from striker Nico Jackson who has 3 goals in his last 5 Premier League matches. Chelsea enter this match without Reece James yet again, with his latest injury ruling him out at least until January. Chelsea currently sits 3rd, tied on points with Arsenal and Brighton.  

Aston Villa enter this match not in the greatest form; winless in their last 7 matches in all competitions. Last Premier League matchday, they drew with Crystal Palace 2-2 in a match which Villa felt they deserved to win. Unai Emery’s side will rely on Ollie Watkins to help pick up three points at the Bridge. Aston Villa sit 8th in the table, tied with Spurs and Forrest.  

Both sides will continue to push for a top four finish in what should be a heavily contested match. Kickoff is at 8:30 am EST.  

Tottenham Hotspurs vs Fulham FC (Sunday, December 1st @Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) 

Tottenham Hotspurs return home after trashing Manchester City 4-0 last matchday. They welcome a strong Fulham team who are coming off a surprising 4-1 loss to Wolverhampton.  

Ange Postecoglou has vowed to keep Spurs competitive and entertaining. “I’d like to think when you tune into us, you’ll be entertained”, said Postecoglou. Spurs currently sit 6th in the Premier League, 3 points back of a top 4 spot. They will be without many key players against Fulham as Guglielmo Vicario, Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero are confirmed out.  

Fulham will look to get back on track after suffering a tough loss to Wolves last matchday. Having picked up 6 points in their last 3 matches in the Premier League, they should feel confident about this match. Fulham are 9th in the table and sit 1 point back of Spurs for 6th. They will turn to their summer signing, Emile Smith Rowe, to be the difference maker. He has 3 goals and 2 assists in 12 matches this season.  

This should be a thrilling match at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium as this match will have huge implications for both sides. Will Spurs climb into the top 4 or will Fulham move into a European spot? Kickoff is at 8:30 am EST.  

Manchester United vs Everton (Sunday, December 1st @Old Trafford) 

Manchester United host Everton in Ruben Amorim’s first Premier League match at Old Trafford. After a victory midweek in the Europa League, United will want to pick up all three points against Everton. They will look for another quick start after scoring in the opening two minutes of the last two games. The Red Devils showed massive improvement midweek in their new system and will continue to build on the performance. Top four may be a reach for United this season, but with seven league games in December, United will take it game by game and see where they are in the New Year. 

Everton are coming into the game off a disappointing 0-0 draw against a Brentford side who had 10 men for a full half of football. Goalscoring has been a glaring issue for the Toffees having failed to score in their last three games. Everton have the toughest festive schedule as they play four of the “Big 6” clubs. They will hope for a positive result against a vulnerable United side. Kickoff is at 8:30 am EST. 

Liverpool vs Manchester City (Sunday, December 1st @Anfield) 

Ibrahima Konate receives treatment before subbed off with injury

Our featured match of the week sees a struggling City side visit high flying Liverpool. Off the back of a 2-0 victory against Real Madrid, Liverpool will look to keep their title hopes running with a victory over Manchester City. Liverpool are in red hot form coming into this one with six straight wins in all competitions. However, they will be without Ibrahima Konaté, after he picked up an injury late in the midweek match.  Connor Bradley who was superb against the Spanish opposition will also be missing. Trent Alexander-Arnold will return to the squad after recovering from his injury. 

Manchester City are in their worst run of form since Pep Guardiola took charge back in 2016. Winless in six games and fresh off blowing a 3-0 lead at home, City are looking to get back to normality with a positive result at Anfield. Pep has pinpointed injuries for the reason of this poor form and with many of his players still absent for this weekend’s game, he will need to find a solution as there is no time for excuses. A loss this weekend would likely see City out of the title race. Kickoff is at 11:00 am EST.