Double derby day in the Premier League

All the drama of derby day will be on show this weekend as football fans prepare for some potentially explosive match ups. First up is the Merseyside derby, traditionally known as the friendly derby, it has been anything but friendly since the inception of the Premier League, since when it has had the most red cards of any fixture and is one of the most ill-disciplined matches in the league calendar. Both teams have had a poor start to the season, plagued by early inconsistencies, Liverpool go in to the fixture in 11th place, while Everton are a few places behind in 14th. Despite this, form guides go out of the window when it comes to the derby, and both managers will have briefed the teams on just how important this fixture could be to help relaunch the season for the victors. Liverpool, who are desperately short in the attacking department, will hope to welcome back Daniel Sturridge from a troublesome thigh injury and will go in to the match as slight favourites against an Everton team which has had a crammed early season calendar and could be suffering from the fixture congestion fatigue.

In the capital, meanwhile, Arsenal will welcome Tottenham to the Emirates for what is always a tasty confrontation between two of London's biggest clubs. Arsenal are in red hot form domestically and will look to build upon last weekend when they gained some valuable ground on Chelsea and Manchester City whilst distancing themselves from the defeated Liverpool and Tottenham. Tottenham will need to bounce back quickly from their 1-0 reversal to West Brom if they are to get anything from this match. Having won only twice in the league at Arsenal in almost thirty years, Spurs will need to be at their absolute best and will be second favourites to get the points here. (BM)