Preview

Feb

2026

Preview: Man City meet neighbours Salford for FA Cup rematch

There are some worrying warning signs for League Two Salford City, ahead their short journey of their FA Cup Fourth Round trip to Manchester City.

By Ian King

Manchester City are cranking back into gear, while Salford have wobbled in League Two

Manchester City may be slipping back into gear. Three wins in their last four matches have reignited the Premier League title race, with the gap between themselves and Arsenal at the top of the table now cut to four points, while they’ve already booked a place at Wembley in the Carabao Cup and they remain in the Champions League, although they don’t find out who they play in the Round of Death play-off until the 27th February.

Salford City are having a wobble at the top of League Two ahead of their 5-mile journey south to the Etihad. A 1-0 defeat at Accrington Stanley last weekend bumped them down from third to sixth in the table; it was their second defeat in three League games, following a run which had seen them go unbeaten since the 22nd November.

They’ve already won three ties to get this far, having already beaten League One promotion-chasing Lincoln City on penalties in the First Round, another League One side, Leyton Orient, 4-0 in the Second Round, and Swindon Town in the Third.

There are few good omens ahead of this match for Salford City

Two key numbers stand out when considering this tie. Firstly, these two sides have only ever met once before, but this just happened to be in the Third Round of this competition last season, with Manchester City winning 8-0. And secondly, Manchester City have only played one game in this year’s FA Cup, but that was a 10-1 win against League One Exeter City. Neither of these offer a great deal of reason to be optimistic, from a Salford perspective.

This match could be an opportunity for Rayan Cherki to continue his recent goalscoring run

Manchester City’s starting XI for this match is difficult to predict, but we can probably expect an appearance from winger Rayan Cherki, at some point. Cherki has scored a couple relatively recently, against Spurs in the Premier League and Galatasaray in the Champions League. This match could be an opportunity for him to get some more on the board.

It’ll likely have to be all eyes on the Salford City goalkeeper Matty Young, for this match. 19-year-old Young joined Salford on a season-long loan in July 2024 from Sunderland, made 27 appearances for them last season, and has made the starting spot his own this season. He was also the goalkeeper on Salford’s visit here in January last year, so he’ll be hoping for an improvement on that particular night.

Expect sweeping changes from Manchester City

From a Manchester City perspective, it’s best to compare the team which started against Manchester City compared to the team that started their last Premier League match against Fulham, to get an idea of what we might expect, this time around:

Their team vs Exeter – Trafford, Lewis, Khusanov, Alleyne, Ake, Rodri, Reijnders, McAidoo, Cherki, Semenyo, Haaland.

Their team vs Fulham – Donnarumma, Nunes, Ruben Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, O’Reilly, Semenyo, Haaland, Foden.

Only three of those who started against Exeter, started against Fulham (Rodri, Antoine Semenyo and Erling Haaland), and we can expect their team to look more like the former than the latter, although Haaland went off at half-time against Fulham with a “niggle”, and can’t be considered to have any greater than a 50-50 chance of featuring in this match at all. John Stones could return from injury.

Salford also have some injury issues. Winger Kelly Nmai has been out since December and will miss the rest of the season, while midfielder Ossama Ashley is out until at least the end of the month, while Ben Woodburn, Dan Chesters, and Josh Austerfield are also on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

There’s nothing to suggest that Salford won’t be on the receiving end of another shellacking

FA Cup shocks of this nature have come around before. In 2015, for example, Bradford City won 4-2 at Chelsea in this round of the competition, while in 2019, Newport County beat Leicester City.

But it’s rare, and the gulf is massive. Salford City’s annual wage budget is an estimated £180,000 less than Manchester City’s weekly wage budget, and there’s little to suggest that there’s going to be a surprise on this occasion.

Manchester City have made a habit of obliterating small fry who stand to get in their way, and Salford themselves were on the receiving end of this as recently as last season. And we’ve already had one truly generational shock this season, with Macclesfield knocking out Crystal Palace. Salford haven’t even been in great form themselves, over the last couple of weeks.

There are the scenes we all want to see, and the scenes that we are vastly more likely to see. Manchester City are starting to build a head of steam again and struggling to overcome a team three divisions below them would hardly be the winning mentality they need to lock into right now, if they’re to chip away at Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League.

They didn’t take Exeter lightly in the last round, and they may not take Salford lightly either. So where does this end up? 6-1? 8-0 (again)? 10-1 (again)? I’ll go for 7-1 to Manchester City. If there’s a sprinkling of cup magic to be found anywhere this weekend, it’s highly unlikely to be here.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the FA Cup with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Liverpool meet Brighton in all-Premier League Cup tie

Premier League duo Liverpool and Brighton face off at Anfield on Saturday evening with a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup up for grabs.

By Sam McGuire

Both teams have been fairly inconsistent.

Liverpool find themselves sixth in the Premier League despite winning their opening five matches. The reigning champions have struggled for form and even their 10-match unbeaten run in the English top-flight felt underwhelming, with four wins and six draws.

Their last four outings in the Premier League have seen them win two and lose two. They travelled to the North East on Wednesday evening and ended Sunderland’s unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Virgil van Dijk header. The Reds are now three points behind fourth placed Manchester United.

In truth, the FA Cup is probably an unwelcome distraction for Liverpool boss Arne Slot. The Reds are struggling with injuries right now and a number of his starting XI are in dire need of a rest. However, it is unlikely he’ll make wholesale changes to his team for the visit of the Seagulls. Momentum matters and he’ll want to make it two wins on the bounce all while protecting his key players. It’s a tricky one to balance but he’s paid to do just that.

For Brighton, the FA Cup is a welcome distraction.

The Seagulls have struggled this season and currently sit 14th in the Premier League table, just seven points clear of the drop zone.

On current form, Fabian Hürzeler’s side are joint bottom of the table with two points from their last five matches. In fact, they haven’t won a match in over a month. Their last victory arrived in the FA Cup when Brighton defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford. They’ve also drawn with Manchester City this season and beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They lost 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield in December but, in truth, deserved a lot more from the game.

The point is they can and do raise their game in the bigger matches. They just lack consistency and that’s why they find themselves in the bottom half of the table with a goal difference of zero at this point in February.

*Recent H2H results in all competitions*

Key Players

Identifying key players for an FA Cup game is always tricky. You never know what sort of XI the managers are going to select. Still, I do think Curtis Jones will make his first start for Liverpool since mid-January and he’s going to view it as an opportunity to force himself back into Slot’s thinking.

For the Seagulls, maybe Yankuba Minteh? He was a handful for Liverpool back in December and he’s been out of the team recently, meaning he could be fresh for this fixture. It is also a potential audition for the former Feyenoord man with the Reds in the market for a Mohamed Salah replacement this summer.

Team News

The hosts are without Giovanni Leoni, Alexander Isak, Wataru Endo and Conor Bradley. Joe Gomez made his return on Wednesday evening and could get a start here as he steps up his return from injury.

The visitors, meanwhile, are missing Adam Webster, Solly March and Stefanos Tzimas but Mats Wieffer and Yasin Ayari are back in contention.

Prediction

We’ll go with a narrow 2-1 win for Liverpool.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the FA Cup with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Chelsea head to Hull City in the FA Cup

Liam Rosenior returns to the MKM Stadium for the first time since Hull sacked him all the way back in 2024, we doubt even he would have predicted it would be as Cheslea manager. The FA Cup is back for the fourth round.

By Alex Roberts

Chelsea’s convincing 5-1 win over Charlton in the previous round was Rosenior’s first game in charge, and it gone well so far. Defeat to Arsenal in the League Cup semis means this tournament is their only realistic chance of domestic silverware.

Hull shouldn’t be underestimated, though. Flying high in the Championship under Sergej Jakirović, the East Yorkshire outfit could find themselves in the Premier League for the first time since 2016-17 come the end of the season.

*Rosenior had a 35% win percentage as boss of Hull*

A team of two halves

Do you remember the last time Chelsea put in an outstanding 90-minute performance? It was probably the 3-0 Champions League win over Barcelona, since then it feels like every single game has been so Jekyll and Hyde.

Their 2-2 draw with Leeds over the weekend was the latest. 2-0 up and comfortable 58 minutes in, it was hard to imagine Daniel Farke’s side getting back into it. Then, a daft penalty conceded by Moisés Caicedo and some awful defending for the second, and it’s all fallen apart.

Chelsea have now dropped 17 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. Add them to their current total of 44, they’d be top with a cushion of five. That’s all very ‘what if’, but it’s a clear problem. One thing we can say with a degree of certainty, Chelsea will be good for one half then not so good in the other against Hull.

Fulfilling potential

One of many players compared to the great Wayne Rooney as a youngster, Joe Gelhardt left Wigan for Leeds in 2020. He’s bounced around on loan since then, but now, in his second spell at Hull, he’s starting to look like a fantastic player.

Gelhardt has ten goals and three assists in his 24 Championship games so far this season, which is already his best ever return in front of goal. He missed out on the penalty win over Blackburn in their last game due to injury, so will want to make a mark in the World’s oldest cup competition.

He’s been playing in a number ten role rather than as a striker, which he is better known as, with Oli McBurnie and Kyle Joseph ahead of him. It’s a front three that has done well in the Championship, we’ll have to see how they do against Premier League opposition.

Team news

Expect plenty of rotation from Chelsea for this one. Rosenior has already confirmed that Mamadou Sarr will get some minutes, while the likes of Marc Guiu, Jorrel Hato, Alejandro Garnacho, and Josh Acheampong should feature.

They will of course be without several stars due to injury, though. Marc Cucurella (hamstring), Reece James (illness), Filip Jörgensen (knock), Tosin Adarabioyo (hamstring), Levi Colwill (ACL), Dário Essugo (thigh), and Jamie Gittens (hamstring) are all out.

Roméo Lavia has been back in training for the past few days, but it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing him anytime soon as the club continue to monitor.

Hull have their own issues too. Mohamed Belloumi (hamstring) is a major doubt, while Cody Drameh (hip), Darko Gyabi (groin), Eliot Matazo (ACL), Matt Crooks (hamstring), Semi Ajayi (hamstring) are all sidelined.

Prediction

Hull are a decent side, and while we certainly expect them to give Chelsea some problems, we think the Premier League side will have too much. So, we’re going with a 2-1 Chelsea win.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the FA Cup with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Arsenal out to defend their advantage away to Brentford

How fast pressure and possibility can swing in the Premier League. Last weekend Arsenal faced the prospect of a nine-point lead at the top; heading into their match at Brentford, it’s just a clench-inducing three.

By Karl Matchett

February and March has more than once been the Gunners’ undoing when it comes to fighting for recent titles, so given the routine-looking fixtures they face in the coming weeks, finding wins is all that matters. Job done against Sunderland, but Brentford have one of the better home records in the league this term.

Attacking variance

One massive boost for Arsenal’s hopes of powering their way through any lingering uncertainty will be over the timely return to fitness or form of a host of attacking talents.

Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have scored five goals between them in the past month after having had long-term injuries – both No. 9 options, but also both able to contribute from other areas when the Gunners need to go in full attack mode or are switching up their usual wide options. Viktor Gyökeres too, much maligned for a lack of clinical touch so far this term, has netted against each of Chelsea, Inter, Kairat, Leeds and Sunderland in that period. Whether it’s a flat-track bully style false start or the real deal for the Swedish striker, the fact he’s hitting the back of the net will raise confidence and competition for places alike – the latter likely most important when it comes to a three-month run-in for major honours.

Added to all this, Bukayo Saka should be back involved at Brentford, after missing the last three.

Home comforts

For Brentford, the prospect of points in this game comes in the fact they’ve been so strong at the Gtech Community Stadium – which makes the recent reversal to Nottingham Forest all the more surprising. Prior to that only Man City had won there this term, with Chelsea and Aston Villa held and each of Liverpool, Man United and Newcastle soundly beaten.

It’s unlikely to be a happy homecoming for Christian Nørgaard, meanwhile; the former Brentford midfielder has played only 32 minutes in the league for Arsenal since his £15m move, the lowest amount of any player other than Max Dowman, who was 15 when the season started.

The Bees sit a thoroughly impressive seventh in the table but Europe has to be a target now.

*Brentford’s home and away points breakdown*

Recent form

Five wins in the last seven in all competitions highlights how strong Brentford remain but this is still a new type of challenge – Arsenal have seven wins from the last nine and only one defeat since early December.

Team news

Reiss Nelson is ineligible as he’s on loan from the Gunners, while Kevin Schade is suspended. Martin Ødegaard should be back but Mikel Merino is out.

Key player

Caoimhin Kelleher has a 67% save rate, the same as David Raya, though is at -2.5 goals prevented versus his shots faced xG…again, like Raya (-2.6). His three penalty saves is a league high.

Prediction

Tough one to call given the Bees’ home form, but a title is a mighty motivator: Brentford 1-2 Arsenal.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Liverpool head to the Stadium of Light for Sunderland clash

Liverpool travel to Wearside on Wednesday knowing a defeat would see the hosts join the Reds on 39 points. Yes, with 12 games left to play this season, Sunderland could find themselves on par with the reigning Premier League champions.

By Sam McGuire

The story so far

It really has been feast or famine for Liverpool this season.

They started out with a five match winning streak in the Premier League before losing nine of 12. Arne Slot got their season back on track by masterminding a 13-match unbeaten run across all competitions prior to the 3-2 loss to Bournemouth. The Reds bounced back with an emphatic 4-1 win over Newcastle United before another injury time defeat to Manchester City last time out.

This inconsistency in the Premier League is the reason they find themselves closer to the relegation zone (13 points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United) than they do to league leaders Arsenal (17 points).

The Reds have struggled against teams who like to sit deep this term. Slot has referenced it in a number of press conferences and the numbers tally up with it too. Liverpool rank top for possession (62%), but are sixth for goals, seventh for Expected Goals, and seventh for Big Chances Created. The Premier League champions have a lot of the ball but don’t really know what to do with it.

And that, like it or not, is a coaching issue.

By comparison, Sunderland are having an unbelievable season. Plenty tipped them to return to the Championship but with 25 games played, they find themselves in ninth position, just seven points behind fifth placed Chelsea.

The Black Cats lost last time out, suffering a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal, but they’ve had a number of decent results recently, including a draw with Everton and wins over Burnley and Crystal Palace. At home this term, Régis Le Bris’ side rank fourth in the English top flight having claimed 26 points from their 12 matches.

Only Manchester United (27), Manchester City (29) and Arsenal (32) have picked up more points in front of home fans this season.

In fact, Sunderland are the only undefeated team at home. They’ve only given up nine goals across their 12 outings. The Stadium of Light is a fortress for the Black Cats. For a little more context here, Liverpool have won just four of their 12 away fixtures this season.

Key Players

For the hosts, the key man could well be Habib Diarra. He was the most fouled player (four) in the loss to Arsenal and he caught the eye in the win over Burnley with a goal.

The 22-year-old will likely start on the right and he’ll come up against one of Milos Kerkez or Andrew Robertson. His direct style and aggressive nature will see him cause problems for whoever starts at left-back for the Reds.

For the visitors, all eyes will be on their attackers. Slot will likely name an unchanged front four of Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike. The Dutchman doesn’t have any other options really with Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong out injured and Dominik Szoboszlai suspended. One of that quartet is going to have to step up and dominate if Liverpool are going to get anything from this game. They did it against Newcastle but struggled against Man City.

Team News

Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are ruled out for the season for Liverpool while Stefan Bajčetić, Frimpiong and Isak are out for the foreseeable future. Joe Gomez is back in training after a stint on the sidelines while Szobioszlai is ruled out for this game following his dismissal against City at Anfield.

For Sunderland, Le Bris is without skipper Granit Xhaka until later in the month while Bertrand Traoré is also missing. Other than that though, the hosts have a full squad to choose from.

Prediction

We’re going with a score draw.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Manchester City keen to preserve impeccable record against Fulham

Pep Guardiola has gotten the better of Fulham in each of his previous 14 meetings with them. Manchester City will need to keep that streak going as they look to stay in touch with Arsenal in the title race.

By Neel Shelat

City’s head-to-head dominance

Manchester City’s winning streak against Fulham spans beyond Pep Guardiola’s tenure. They have won each of the last 19 matches between the two teams, going back all the way to 2011. In fact, this is the longest winning run by a team against any opposition in English football history.

City’s attack has a particularly great time against the Cottagers, as they have scored 59 goals at an average of over 3.1 per game in this streak. This match should be no different, as the hosts have the best attack in the league to go up against one of the worse defences in the division.

Fulham’s slump after a successful festive period

Fulham shot up into the top half of the Premier League table with an excellent run of results around Christmas and the New Year. They picked up 11 points in five matches over 16 days, remaining unbeaten despite facing the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea.

So congested are the standings that Marco Silva’s side would have been in the mix for the top six had they preserved that momentum, but that was not to be. Instead, they have lost three of their last four games by giving up very late goals on each occasion, thus dropping back to the cusp of the bottom half.

Team news

Manchester City’s defensive injury crisis is showing no signs of easing up. Rúben Dias’ return in the last match was offset by Abdukodir Khusanov suffering a concussion, which is expected to keep him out for this game. Fellow centre-backs John Stones and Joško Gvardiol won’t feature either, while Mateo Kovačić, Jérémy Doku and Savinho also remain unavailable.

Fulham will only have a couple of absences to contend with. Saša Lukić’s hamstring injury keeps him out, while captain Tom Cairney is listed as doubtful.

Key players

Erling Haaland has yet to score an open-play goal in domestic competitions 10 matches into 2026, but he could well end the drought against Fulham. The Norwegian striker has seven goals in as many appearances against the Cottagers, including a hat-trick at home a couple of seasons ago.

Bernardo Silva has been on the scoresheet in each of City’s last three league games, so he will definitely be one to watch. Guardiola’s side have only kept one league clean sheet since New Year’s Day, so January signing Marc Guéhi could play a pivotal role in getting a second.

Jorge Cuenca will have the unenviable task of dealing with Haaland, so he will need to put in a big shift if Fulham are to get anything from this game. Silva will look to his wingers to make an impact at the other end, as Samuel Chukwueze’s dribbling and Harry Wilson’s long shooting are capable of causing problems for any opponent.

*Wilson’s shot map in the Premier League*

Prediction

Although it has not been all smooth sailing for Manchester City in recent weeks, they should be able to extend their winning streak over Fulham to 20 games fairly comfortably.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Form teams West Ham and Man United meet in London

West Ham and Manchester United go head-to-head at the London Stadium on Tuesday evening, surprisingly as two of the most in-form sides in the Premier League.

By Matt Smith

That’s undoubtedly something both sets of supporters might not have expected to happen just a few weeks ago, but they’ve turned things around of late.

When these two sides met earlier in the season, West Ham secured a late equaliser to draw 1-1 thanks to a late Soungoutou Magassa equaliser.

Team news

Nuno Espírito Santo will be without Jean-Clair Todibo once again, after he remains suspended following his red card against Chelsea. Lukasz Fabianski will also miss out, while the West Ham boss confirmed he will be without multiple other players, but he refused to name them in his press conference.

Patrick Dorgu, Matthijs De Ligt, and Mason Mount are all likely to miss out once again for the away side, but Michael Carrick didn’t report any fresh injury concerns heading into this game.

Nuno has West Ham ticking

To be sat in fourth position in the Premier League form table when you’re fighting to stay in the division is a hugely positive sign for the Hammers. At one point, Nuno’s side looked down and out, but he’s starting to get a tune out of his players at an important time.

Unfortunately for them, they face the most in-form side in the Premier League at the weekend. Despite their recent results, West Ham have struggled at home of late, with only Crystal Palace and Burnley picking up fewer points on their own turf in the last six matches.

Man Utd benefiting from Carrick alteration

Since Michael Carrick arrived through the door, the Red Devils have won every single game, and one big change the former Middlesbrough boss has made is to deploy Bruno Fernandes in his preferred number 10 position. The Portuguese international was enjoying an impressive season before that, but he’s stood up to be counted recently.

Fernandes has provided five goals and assists under Carrick, including crucial contributions against Premier League title-chasers Manchester City and Arsenal. The United squad appear to be enjoying themselves under Carrick, and they’ll be hoping that will continue this week.

Summerville in unstoppable form

Although Fernandes’ impact has been sensational this season, Crysencio Summerville could be the player to watch in this game. The Hammers have seen a recent upturn in form, and Summervile has played a crucial role in that.

*Summerville’s last five games for West Ham*

The former Leeds man has now scored in five consecutive games, despite failing to find the back of the net all season before that. The Hammers will likely rely on transitional moments, and Summerville could be key.

Prediction

Both sides are in strong form heading in to this one, and although Carrick’s men have looked the more impressive, their run has to come to an end at some point. We’re going for a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, physical metrics, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Spurs and Newcastle in meeting of two out of form sides

Spurs are sliding towards a relegation fight for which they seem ill-equipped, while Newcastle’s Eddie Howe is also coming under pressure. Perfect timing, then, for the two sides to meet at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

By Ian King

Panic on the streets of (North) London

Given their opponents’ recent upswing in form, Spurs’ 2-0 defeat at Manchester United wasn’t a surprise, but it does seem to have been a tipping point at which scales fell from a lot of eyes about the severity of their proximity to the Premier League’s relegation places. Spurs are now just six points above the dotted line, with Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and West Ham – essentially all of those below them apart from Burnley and Wolves – all having picked up points recently.

There are only four points between Spurs and Newcastle at the moment, and Newcastle’s manager Eddie Howe is also under a little pressure, with his team in 12th place in the table. His team has been inconsistent all season, but fans would probably rather see inconsistency than the sort of consistency that they’ve displayed recently, with three consecutive League defeats and a comfortable elimination from the Carabao Cup by Manchester City. Both clubs are still in the Champions League, though Newcastle have to compete in the play-offs for a place in the last 16.

When Spurs do lose to Newcastle, they tend to do so in style

There aren’t many positives to take from Spurs’ recent form against Newcastle; they’ve won just one of the clubs’ last eight meetings, and even though they drew 2-2 at St James’ Park at the start of December, the man who scored both of Spurs’ goals that evening will not be playing tonight. Newcastle also won 2-0 when they met in the Carabao Cup at the end of October.

Furthermore, when Spurs do lose to Newcastle, they have a tendency to do it in style; 5-1 in 2016, 6-1 in 1999 and 2023, 7-2 in 1950 and 7-1 in 1951 and 1996. The good news for them is that all of these defeats came at St James’ Park, and that they have dished out a few shellackings of their own too, over the years; 5-1 in 1959, 1985 and 2022, 5-0 in 2012, and 7-0 in 1950.

Newcastle’s defensive fragility has been their biggest recent problem

19-year-old left-back Souza made his debut from the bench for Spurs at Manchester United, having cost them €15 million from Santos on the 22nd January and may be required to make his first start for them following Destiny Udogie’s injury. It’s not ideal circumstances for a teenager to be making his full Premier League debut, but it should be character-building for him, at least.

Newcastle’s big issue in 2026 so far has been their defensive record. Since beating Crystal Palace 2-0 on the 4th January, they’ve played eight games and have conceded twenty goals in that time, which included a clean sheet at Wolves. Sven Botman returned from injury for the Leeds game in January, but was benched against Liverpool, returning to the centre of their defence to little positive defensive effect against Brentford, although he did score their opening goal.

Spurs have fresh injury problems, while Newcastle are likely to shuffle

Thomas Frank has been given a fresh Cristian Romero-shaped problem following the captain’s sending off at Old Trafford on Saturday. He’ll now be missing the next four games – including the North London Derby on the 22nd February – suspended. Just what they needed.

Destiny Udogie lasted 55 minutes into his return from injury against Manchester United before limping off again and will be missing, and Djed Spence is also unlikely to return. Pedro Porro limped off at Burnley and won’t be ready for this match. Kevin Danso, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies, Richarlison James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus, João Palhinha and Dejan Kulusevski all remain out of action.

We can reasonably expect changes from Eddie Howe following Saturday’s home disaster against Brentford, with Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock, who were both hauled off at half-time, the most likely to be sacrificed. Lewis Miley, Anthony Gordon, Joelinton, Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth remain side-lined.

Newcastle can benefit from a lack of cheer at Spurs

With two wins from their last 16 Premier League matches, something needs to change at The Tottenham Hotspur stadium for Spurs to avoid a relegation battle for which they seem particularly ill-equipped; they really are starting to circle that drain.

The Champions League has provided some light relief, but league form has been atrocious, the injury situation isn’t improving at all, and each League match brings about a fresh round of apoplexy from a fan base who have clearly seen enough.

Things aren’t going so well for Newcastle United. A month ago today, they were 6th in the Premier League and still in both of the domestic cup competitions. They’re now 12th and out of both the cups. If they’re to play European football again next season, they need to end their run of three straight Premier League losses before the gap becomes too great to bridge.

But the lack of positive signs emanating from The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium make this a perfect venue for them to be visiting, so, in the absence of seeing reason to be optimistic on behalf of the home team, I’ll go for Doctor Tottenham to be very much on-call, and for a comfortable 3-0 win for Eddie Howe’s Inconsistent Army.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Feb

2026

Preview: Chelsea looking to continue form as Leeds visit the Bridge

Leeds United got the better of Chelsea at Elland Road in the reverse fixture. The game felt like the beginning of the end for Enzo Maresca, now, with Liam Rosenior in the dugout, the West London side will want revenge at Stamford Bridge.

By Alex Roberts

Daniel Farke deserves huge credit for recognising where it was going wrong for Leeds and switching to a back three before it was too late. Their 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest last time out was huge and could be the difference between survival and relegation.

Chelsea are enjoying life under Rosenior so far. The 3-1 win over Wolves meant the Englishman is just the fourth Blues boss in Premier League history to win their first four games. All he needs to do is keep that up and everything will be rosy.

Is Cole Palmer back?

It’s impossible to talk about Chelsea on matchday 26 and not mention what Palmer did in the previous. Another first half hat-trick makes him the first player in Premier League history to do it three times, and we wouldn’t bet against him doing it again at some point.

Palmer admitted to his frustrations about how this season has gone for him to reporters after the game. Consistent injury issues have seen him in and out of the side, of his 14 Premier League games, he’s only managed to play the full 90 minutes in four.

Still, the talismanic playmaker is Chelsea’s third highest league scorer with seven, one less than Enzo Fernández, and two behind João Pedro. Who knows where Chelsea would be if they had him fit all season.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin for England!

Only one Englishman has scored more goals than Calvert-Lewin across Europe’s top five divisions so far this season, Harry Kane. If you’d have told Leeds fans how successful he would be when they signed him, they wouldn’t believe you.

*Calvert-Lewin’s Premier League shot map this season*

Calvert-Lewin is the reason Leeds aren six points above the relegation zone right now, not three. Goals against Liverpool, Brentford and Nottingham Forest all earned crucial draws, while also scoring against Man City, and, of course, Chelsea last time out.

His goals haven’t been pretty, but that doesn’t matter. Calvert-Lewin’s shot map tells the story of a striker who has a habit of showing up in the right place at the right time. With England’s lack of option beyond Kane in the nine, there is no reason the Leeds man shouldn’t get a call.

Team news

Rosenior has revealed that Reece James has recovered from the knock that saw him miss the games against Arsenal and Wolves, but now illness will likely keep n him out of this one. The Chelsea captain will have a late fitness test, however.

Andrey Santos is available despite limping off in the win over Wolves, while back-up ‘keeper Filip Jorgensen could return to the matchday squad. Roméo Lavia and Tosin Adarabioyo have both returned to first-team training, but this game will be too soon for either to feature.

Chelsea’s long-term injuries are Levi Colwill (ACL), Dário Essugo (thigh), and Jamie Gittens (hamstring).

Farke doesn’t have much to worry about in terms of team selection. Leeds didn’t pick any fresh injury concerns up from the win over Forest, meaning Anton Stach (hip), is their only missing player.

Prediction

Leeds are a hard side to play against at the moment, but Chelsea continue to impress under Rosenior, so we’re going with a 2-0 home win.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Feb

2026

Preview: Defending champions Liverpool out to dent Manchester City’s title hopes

Liverpool’s chances of defending their title look non-existent as we approach the final third of the season, but they could yet play a big part in the title race as they face rivals Manchester City this weekend.

By Neel Shelat

Liverpool getting back to their best at home

After a blockbuster start, optimism for Liverpool’s campaign quickly fizzled out as the team faced issues in different departments all over the pitch. The period between September and November was the toughest as they endured a run of nine losses in 12 matches, but they have been gradually recovering and have only tasted defeat once since then.

The last two matches have certainly restored a lot of positivity as Arne Slot’s side have scored 10 goals while conceding just one, notably putting Newcastle United to the sword last weekend. Having only been defeated by Manchester City at Anfield once in the last 22 years, the Reds will be confident of picking up some points from this match.

City’s second half struggles

Manchester City also enjoyed a big win over Newcastle in midweek, but their recent form has been far from encouraging. They have won just one of their last six Premier League fixtures, and that was against the bottom club. Last weekend, they failed to win despite holding a two-goal lead at half-time for the first time in almost eight years.

*The momentum chart from City’s draw at Spurs last weekend*

That was no one-off; it was a reflection of a concerning trend for Pep Guardiola’s side. 17 of the 23 goals they have conceded in the Premier League this season have come after the break, so Liverpool’s substitutes should certainly back themselves to make a telling impact.

Team news

Both sides will be without a fair few key players for this match.

Liverpool’s long-term absences include Alexander Isak, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley, with their defensive department particularly depleted as Joe Gomez and Jeremie Frimpong are also out. As a result, Dominik Szoboszlai will likely have to start at right back again. The good news for the Hungarian international is that two of Manchester City’s trickiest dribblers, Jérémy Doku and Savinho, won’t feature either.

Bernardo Silva’s doubtful status could pose the biggest challenge for Guardiola as his side have consistently had issues with their balance in midfield. Mateo Kovačić, John Stones and Joško Gvardiol remain unavailable.

Key players

With both defences depleted, attackers should be expected to shine in this game. Summer signings Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz have really been hitting their strides for Liverpool lately, having notched up a combined seven goal involvements in the last two games. At the other end, Alisson could well be asked to make some big saves.

Erling Haaland’s goals have rather dried up lately as he has just one in his last eight appearances, so Manchester City will look to their other stars to step up. January signing Antoine Semenyo has already scored four times for his new club, while Rayan Cherki has netted in three of his last four starts. In the absence of Silva, Nico O’Reilly might have to play a key role in midfield.

*For more graphics, follow @fotmobapp on Instagram*

Prediction

A high-scoring affair should be expected given the attacking quality on show, so something like a 2-2 draw could well be on the cards.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.