Premier League Match Day: Saturday, Week 26

Friends, Fellow travelers . . . It's Saturday game day, the one we have waited for all week long while planning and adjusting our rosters and our thinking. All our hopes, fears, joys and sorrows begin at 7:45 EDT in the USA when Manchester United kick off at Sunderland's Stadium of Light. It's always fun to have players in the first match, it gets the blood circulating early.

Wayne Rooney has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts since being placed at the sole striker in Louis Van Gaal's 4-2-3-1 formation. Juan Mata appears to have claimed the spot behind him in the hole and the Red Devils have seemed to have discovered their goal scoring boots. Sunderland, of course, have an entirely different agenda as they struggle to escape relegation. Can Patrick Van Aanholt create chances, marauding down the flanks? Can the Tunisian playmaker, Wahbi Khazri, deliver the goods for the Black Cats, that he was brought in to do during the January transfer period? The drama will unfold along with the hopes of both teams and yea, even both cities.

The other Saturday games are:

AFC Bournemouth vs Stoke City: Can Eddie Howe continue to produce results for the Cherries as Stoke struggles to keep the wheels from coming off?

Crystal Palace vs Watford FC: Goal challenged Palace face a team that has also slipped a bit, recently.

Everton vs West Bromwich Albion: The high flying Toffees with an arsenal of weapons may be set to feast upon West Brom, who are having to cobble a defensive group together.

Norwich City vs West Ham United: The Canaries, who have been shut out three of their last four matches face the powerful Hammers who are bound to be excited coming off an FA cup win over Liverpool

Swansea City vs Southampton: The Saints have enjoyed a resurgence since Fraser Forster recovered from his injury. Can the Swans continue their forward progress in the face of this defensive wall?

Chelsea vs Newcastle: On paper this appears a mismatch. Diego Costa, completely in character, will be wearing a mask. The Toons, will they have something to say? Another team with defensive woes, with only one goal and no wins in their last 5 road games.

My own squads:

Fantrax 100
Courtois, Wimmer, Cissokho, Byram (yes, I like those cheap defenders!)Payet,Ali, Mata, Sigurdsson, Costa, Aguero, Sanchez

The Official Game
Butland,Dier, Williams, Sahko, Payet, Ozil, Firmino, Antonio, Ali, Kane,Rooney, Aguero (c) I thought about Rooney as a differential captain but decided to go with the herd.

So, what do your teams look like? What is your thinking about the matches? Let's get the match day discussion rolling.

Best wishes to all,

Charles