THREE things to look out for during this weekend's Premier League action

Christmas is nearly upon us which means it is time for turkey, presents, numerous alcoholic beverages and, of course, loads and loads of football.

In a week where Andre Villas Boas was relieved of his duties at Tottenham, both Manchester teams progressed to the semi finals of the Capital One Cup.

So, without further ado, here are the three things you should look out for during this weekend's Premier League action.

1) The Saints to pile the misery on

It has been a long and difficult week at Tottenham Hotspur. A 5-0 thumping at the hands of Liverpool led to the sacking of AVB. Was the decision a bit harsh? Probably but this is Daniel Levy and he is as ruthless as they get.

Throw in a midweek Capital One Cup defeat at home to West Ham after being 1-0 up and you can safely say that Spurs are desperate for someone (anyone!) to come in and steady the ship. There most like will not be a replacement secured by the time Sunday's trip to Southampton comes around but it is another difficult fixture and the week still may get worse.

2) West Ham to pull off another shock

The Hammers must wish they can play Spurs at White Hart Lane everything week. Following a 3-0 win a couple of months back, West Ham completed a remarkable comeback by defeating Spurs on Wednesday after scoring twice in the last ten minutes.

Sam Allardyce will want to use the momentum from the morale boosting victory to gain some much needed points in the league starting with Saturday's trip to Old Trafford. Normally, this would go down as a routine home win for United but with the way things have been going this season, West Ham will fancy themselves to get some points out of this clash.

3) Arsenal to prove their credentials

How good are Manchester City at home? Pretty bloody good and they flexed all their muscles in Saturday's 6-3 win over the league leaders Arsenal. Arsene Wenger cited tired legs and a demanding schedule for their lack of solidity in the latter stages of the game when mistakes handed City numerous opportunities to attack Arsenal's goal.

They should be well rested, however, by the time Chelsea arrive in north London on Monday night. This is a crucial game for Arsenal and if they are able to defeat Jose Mourinho's team than it will restore confidence after what was a emphatic beating at the hand of City.

Lose it, though, and Arsenal run the risk of dropping down the table as well as heads dropping amongst the ranks. It should be a cracker.

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