Premier League preview: Sterling needs a goal for City; Traore vs. Shaw will be ugly

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The winter transfer window is closing but ahead of a big weekend in the Premier League, here’s what to watch for:

THE WEEKEND’S BIG QUESTIONS

Will Jose Mourinho play proper football against Manchester City?

The time for arguing about Jose Mourinho’s tactics during Tottenham’s game against Liverpool a few weeks ago has gone, but for those who objected to his approach it was less that he was being negative in an individual game, more that this was still normal for him. Against a big team he was always going to be at best reactive, at worst cowardly.

It will be interesting to see how he approaches their game against Manchester City on Sunday. He will still be without Harry Kane, so still has a selection of excuses about being unable to play as he’d like, but reinforcements have arrived and he might have new signing Steven Bergwijn available. City are more vulnerable than Liverpool, so will Mourinho attack them a bit more, or will he revert to type? For almost everyone’s sake, hopefully it’s the former.

Should we be worried about Sterling’s form?

Raheem Sterling has scored 20 goals this season for Manchester City. He’s five away from matching last term’s total, and thus the best ever in his career. But in the last few weeks, something has not been quite right with the England forward: he hasn’t scored since mid-December, a seven-game barren spell that’s his longest goalless run in nearly three years.

But more than that is the wobbly confidence, the uncertainty that seems to have crept into his game in recent weeks: the chance he missed against Manchester United on Wednesday seemed to be a classic example of Sterling at his worst: dithering, indecisive and ultimately impotent. The evidence of the last couple of seasons suggests this is just a brief dip, but a goal, or even just a convincing performance against Tottenham on Sunday would be extremely welcome.

Will Leicester vs. Chelsea befit a game between Champions League contenders?

In theory, as this is a game between the third and fourth-best teams in the Premier League, it should be a relatively high-quality encounter. But Chelsea and Leicester have been slipping in recent weeks, Frank Lampard’s side have been unable to find any consistency and Brendan Rodgers’ men have lost two of their last three league games while passing up a terrific opportunity to reach a Wembley final when they fell to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup semis.

Neither side are in prime form, to say the least, so you’re left to wonder how good this game will actually be. In theory it should be excellent, two attacking young teams going at it for the glory of the top four, but in reality both have been stumbling. It could turn out to be a pretty low-quality affair.

MAN TO WATCH

Jack Grealish

Aston Villa’s Carabao Cup semifinal win over Leicester City this week was surprising on some levels, but perhaps not if you’ve been watching Jack Grealish recently. A man who was once a talented but rather flighty playmaker has become the hub around which his team has been built. He is a huge reason for their trip to Wembley but the team have come through a minor injury crisis to be on top in their survival scrap, so credit is due all round.

Villa’s game against Bournemouth is one of the biggest this weekend, arguably the biggest, and a win for Villa would put them five points clear of their opponents and the bottom three. If Grealish continues his recent form, the Cherries will have to do something pretty special to stop him.

THE GAME YOU’RE NOT PLANNING TO WATCH…BUT SHOULD

West Ham vs. Brighton

The general vibe after West Ham’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday was relatively positive: after all, if you’re West Ham and you keep this Liverpool side down to just two goals, that’s a success of sorts. But the facts are that it represented West Ham’s third defeat in the last four, and they are only outside the bottom three on goal difference.

Brighton aren’t doing much better, having won just one of their last 12, and sit only two points above their opponents. This game won’t be decisive in the relegation scrap, but it could give a good indication of which team has the stones to compete in high-stakes encounters.

THE TEAM THAT NEEDS A BIT OF LUCK

Southampton

Under normal circumstances, a team that had won five of their last seven and their last four away games, would be worth a decent bet going into their weekend fixture. If Southampton were travelling to play a normal team, they would almost certainly be favourites.

But Southampton are playing Liverpool, a side so good that after their win over West Ham, Jurgen Klopp said their biggest problem was losing concentration as they dominated the game. Who knows: maybe Southampton are the team to finally stop this juggernaut, but they will not only need to be good, they’ll need to be lucky too.

STATS OF THE WEEKEND

Provided by ESPN Stats & Information

– Danny Ings can become the third player to score both home and away against Liverpool in a Premier League season having previously represented the Reds in the competition, after Dean Saunders and Jonjo Shelvey.

– Norwich City are the only team yet to score from a free kick in the Premier League this season, while Newcastle United have netted more such goals than any other side, with six.

– Sheffield United are looking for their first win in 20 Premier League trips to London. They have come from behind to draw all four of their fixtures in the capital this season.

– Wolves seek to become the third team in Premier League history to win at both Manchester clubs in the same season.

ONE THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN

Adama Traore vs. Luke Shaw will be ugly

The only unconvincing thing about Adama Traore in the last few months has been his claim that he doesn’t lift weights. The beefcake Spaniard’s development has been exceptional, and he has turned into one of the most potent weapons in the Premier League.

The winger looked like one of the few players who genuinely scared Liverpool when he faced them last week, and was almost used as a probe against Southampton before that, moved around the pitch by Nuno Espirito Santo to find their weakness before eventually punching through it. So you might wince when you wonder what Traore will do if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer picks Luke Shaw to mark him on Saturday: whatever happens, you can bet it won’t be pretty.