PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW 2014/15 – WEEK 3
By Eric White
TRANSFER deadline day is fast approaching and despite confirmation that star striker Olivier Giroud’s injury is to leave him on the sidelines for three to four months, manager Arsene Wenger says the Gunners will not sign a replacement during the window.
Arsenal have had a decent start to the campaign, showing great fight to snatch points late on when they beat Crystal Palace and drew away at Everton, and they face another tricky trip when they travel to Leicester on Sunday.
News of Giroud’s injury does beg the question of whether Arsenal will cope without the man who scored 16 league goals for the club last season. Wenger knows they will be expected to improve on last season following the arrival of £35m Alexis Sanchez, who netted the winner against Besiktas on Wednesday.
Like Arsenal, Manchester United will face a tough trip away in the league, when they play Burnley at Turf Moor.
Louis Van Gaal knows his squad was exposed brutally in the League Cup humiliation to MK Dons and he is expected to sign at least one other player to go along with recent acquisition Angel Di Maria, who signed for a British transfer record £59.7m earlier this week. This will bring little comfort to United fans however if they fail to pick up the points on Saturday.
Champions Manchester City sent out a title message when they dispatched Liverpool so comfortably at the Etihad on Monday and Manuel Pellegrini knows nothing other than another home win will do when they entertain Stoke City.
Chelsea play Everton at Goodison Park, but Jose Mourinho’s men will have to be victorious without goal machine Diego Costa, who has proved as clinical a striker in England as he was in Spain.
Tottenham, who have maximum points under Mauricio Pochettino, have the chance to show their credentials for Europe when they host last season’s runners-up Liverpool, while Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to bounce back from their defeat to Manchester City.
Neil Warnock will take charge of the first game of his second reign as manager of Crystal Palace when his side travel to Newcastle and he knows a good start is paramount if he is to begin to turn around the fortunes of a club swept by controversy in the early weeks of the campaign.
It seems this transfer window is going to prove vital in determining the fate of the teams in the league come May.
Whether they will be able to land the players they want remains to be seen.
