West Ham vs Man Utd, Fulham vs Chelsea & Man City vs Wigan: Open Thread

After yesterday’s nil-nil draw between Arsenal and Everton, we have three Premier League matches scheduled today to complete the mid-week fixtures.

At 2:45pm ET, West Ham United plays Manchester United at Upton Park. This will be a stern test for Hammers boss Sam Allardyce. While the Hammers should be safe enough to stay in the league this season, Big Sam will want his team to put in a good performance against a quality side in order to help his chances of getting a contract renewal. Manchester United, meanwhile, will be hoping to get all three points in order to take a big step closer to wrapping up the Premier League title.

At the same time, Manchester City plays at home against Wigan Athletic in a preview between the two teams who will be battling each other in the FA Cup final next month. Roberto Martinez has been quoted that this match today is bigger than the FA Cup final, and that if Wigan gets relegated, the season will be considered a disaster no matter what the Latics do in the final. Roberto Martinez’s team will want to get a point, for sure.

Last but not least is the west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea (3pm ET kick-off). With a win, Chelsea will move back into second place in the league, which will help take the pressure off the manager and players. A draw or defeat against Fulham will be disappointing to say the least since the Blues have Tottenham Hotspur hot on their heels.

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West Ham starting XI: Jaaskelainen, Reid, Nolan, Jarvis, Carroll, Vaz Te, O’Brien, Collins, Demel, Diame, O’Neil.

Manchester United starting XI: De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Jones, Kagawa, Rooney, Van Persie.

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Fulham starting XI: Schwarzer, Riether, Senderos, Hangeland, Riise, Ruiz, Enoh, Karagounis, Emanuelson, Berbatov, Petric.

Chelsea starting XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry (c), Bertrand; Ramires, Lampard; Moses, Mata, Hazard; Torres.

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Manchester City starting XI: Hart, Richards, Kolarov, Lescott, Kompany (C), Barry, Garcia, Yaya Toure, Nasri, Aguero, Tevez.

Wigan starting XI: Robles, Kone, Alcaraz, McCarthy, Di Santo, Maloney, Gomez, Boyce, Beausejour, Figueroa, Scharner.

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For TV and Internet times for all of these matches and for the remainder of the season, view our Premier League TV guide.

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