2018/19 English Premier League
While Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Arsenal is set to dominate the television screens and hog all the headlines this weekend there are two other tantalising derbies, either side of the one in North London, to look forward to on Sunday.
Catch Chelsea as they host The Cottagers followed by the latest instalment of Arsenal vs Spurs and finally Super Sunday rounds off with a fiery Merseyside derby between cross-town rivals Liverpool and Everton.
Sunday, December 2
nd
Chelsea vs Fulham
Stamford Bridge, London
Kick-off at 12pm GMT
Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur
Emirates Stadium, London
Kick-off at 14:05 (2:05pm) GMT
Liverpool vs Everton
Anfield, Liverpool
Kick-off at 16:00 (4pm) GMT
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The Blues head into Sunday’s lunchtime clash – the first West-London derby in over four years since Fulham’s relegation to Championship back in 2014 – off the back of a 4-0 drubbing of PAOK in the UEFA Europa League and will be hoping to end the week on high that began with defeat to Tottenham at Wembley last Saturday.
The Cottagers clawed themselves off the foot of the table last weekend, albeit temporarily, with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Southampoton in what was Claudio Ranieri’s first match in charge. An unlikely Premier League winner with Leicester City in 2016, the Italian may just need to offer pizza’s once more for every clean sheet if he is to plug the leakiest defence in the division having shipped 33 goals in the first 13 games.
Fulham have not beaten Chelsea since March 2006 – a run of 17 matches, with their last victory at Stamford Bridge coming way back in October 1979 in the Old Second Division.
Their most recent encounter ended 3-1 to the Blues with Andre Schurrle – who now plies his trade for Fulham – scoring a stunning second-half hat-trick.
The 196
th North-London derby takes centre stage on Sunday with two-teams looking to take a stranglehold over one another. A win for the Gunners would see them leapfrog their near neighbours into the top-four while a Spurs win would see them walk away from the Emirates with a steady six-point advantage over Arsenal.
The Gunners are unbeaten in 18 matches in all competitions since back-to-back defeats against City and Chelsea in the opening couple of weeks of the campaign. With a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Wednesday, these coming days will be seen as true test of their credentials under Unai Emery.
Spurs kept their UEFA Champions League hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan midweek but their attention now turns to arguably one of the biggest matches of their entire season. Since being narrowly beaten 1-0 by Manchester City at the end of October Mauricio Pochettino’s side have won their last six games in all competitions.
The duo are set to face-off once more in three weeks’ time after they were drawn together in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. Tottenham have not won an away game at Arsenal in their last eight visits across the capital since they came back from two-goals down at half-time to win 3-2 at the Emirates in November 2010.
The corresponding fixture last season ended 2-0 to the hosts in Arsene Wenger’s final season at the helm – the first time in the last eight North London derbies that Spurs have failed to find the back of the net. Harry Kane has five goals in six appearances against Arsenal and will be odds on to keep his remarkable run going against the Gunners on Sunday.
A derby that truly divides a city. Families temporarily torn apart by their love for their respective teams. Liverpool vs Everton is a fixture that rarely fails to live up to its lofty expectations and Sunday’s affair should hopefully be no different.
Everton are finally on the up under manager Marco Silva after a stuttering start marred the early weeks of their season. The Toffees find themselves sixth, just six points adrift of the top-four, and win this weekend at the home of their greatest rivals would be a signal of serious intent. Everton have suffered one defeat in their last seven in the league, winning five of those and keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Liverpool suffered successive defeats in the Champions League as they were beaten 2-1 by PSG, a hiccough that leaves them with work to do if they are to make the last 16. Domestically, however, they have been sensational and remain hot on Man City’s heels in second. The Reds are the only other unbeaten team in the league, winning 10 of their 13 matches and have the joint-best defence, having conceded only five goals.
In the last 17 meetings between the pair since Everton’s last win in October 2010, Liverpool have won just eight of those, with the remaining nine all ending in draws. Their most recent encounter at Anfield saw Virgil Van Dijk score the winner on his Reds debut to seal their progression to their fourth round of the FA Cup back in January before a goalless stalemate in the league at Goodison Park in April.