Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho, faces a make or mar tie as he welcomes Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Special one described his Merseyside counterpart as “one of the top managers in Europe”, but the German could likely deliver the final knockout punch to send the embattled Portuguese parking from London.
This mouth-watering heavyweight clash begins a weekend filled with exciting fixtures and rivalries in the Barclays Premier League.
- Chelsea vs. Liverpool
Kickoff: Saturday, 1:45pm
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Head-to-head: Chelsea 3, Drawn 3, Liverpool 4
Match facts
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last six Barclays Premier League meetings with Liverpool, winning three and drawing three.
The Blues have won one of their last five home league matches with Liverpool (D2 L2), although are they unbeaten in the last three (W1 D2).
Mourinho has only one of his previous four meetings with Jurgen Klopp, all in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League (D1 L2), including the semi-final where Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate.
- Crystal Palace vs. Man United
Kickoff: Saturday, 4pm
Venue: Selhurst Park
Head-to-head: Crystal Palace 0, Drawn 2, Manchester 8
Match facts
Crystal Palace have never won a Barclays Premier League match against Manchester United, drawing two and losing 10, including each of the last four.
Louis van Gaal’s Man Utd have lost just one of their last six league matches (W4 D1 L1), keeping three clean sheets in the process.
Palace’s last league victory against Man Utd was a 3-0 success on the last day of the 1990/91 campaign.
Crystal Palace have lost four of their last six BPL matches.
- Swansea vs. Arsenal
Kickoff: Saturday, 4pm
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Head-to-head: Swansea 4, Drawn 1, Arsenal 3
Match facts
Swansea City are unbeaten in their last three Barclays Premier League meetings with Arsenal (W2 D1), after losing three of the five before that (W2).
Arsenal have lost just one of their last 11 BPL away matches (2-0 v Chelsea), winning nine and drawing one.
The Gunners have scored 1999 goals in all competitions under manager Arsene Wenger.
Mesut Özil has the best matches per assist rate in BPL history, averaging an assist every 2.71 matches (minimum 20 assists).
- Man City vs. Norwich
Kickoff: Saturday, 4pm
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Head-to-head: Manchester City 6, Drawn 3, Norwich 1
Match facts
Manchester City have lost just two of their 14 Barclays Premier League meetings with Norwich City, winning seven and drawing five.
Norwich are the only side yet to keep a clean sheet in the top flight this season.
Joe Hart currently has 100 BPL clean sheets with Man City and is only the sixth goalkeeper to hit that milestone with a single club in the competition. Petr Cech at Chelsea (162), David Seaman at Arsenal (137), Pepe Reina at Liverpool (134), Everton’s Tim Howard (112) and Peter Schmeichel at Manchester United (112) are the others.
