As the fixtures in the English Premier League are heating up, Soccer Laduma took the time to preview the big teams' games of this weekend.

Manchester United – Newcastle

The early kick off on Saturday sees David Moyes’ Manchester United take on Alan Perdew’s high-flying Newcastle United. The Red Devils go into the game with no win in their last three league games and only three home wins this season.

Man United’s recent drop in results sees Newcastle go into the game one point and one place ahead of their opponents. Their 3-0 loss against Swansea was their first after four back-to-back victories. However, Alan Pardew’s side have not won at Old Trafford in the last 29 attempts, losing 21 of those games.

With Wayne Rooney suspended and Robin Van Persie on his way back to full fitness, David Moyes’ will be hoping Shinji Kagawa can come with a similar display as in Manu’s convincing 5-0 over Leverkusen in the Champions League. On the other side, Newcastle will be hoping Loic Remy can add his ninth goal of this season for the Magpies.

Liverpool – West Ham

After their brilliant 5-1 over Norwich on Wednesday, Liverpool will be hoping to continue their good form with another home victory. The Reds have won six out of their seven home games at Anfield this season with only Southampton taking three points away from them.

Sam Allardyce' West Ham will be hoping to get back on track after losing to Crystal Palace on Tuesday. Since their impressive 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane The Hammers have only picked up one win in their last seven games.

The one player everyone will be looking at in this fixture is Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan has been sensational since his return from suspension, scoring 13 goals in nine games. Ten out of these have come at Anfield and overall he averages a goal every 62 minutes.

Southampton – Man City

Cities 3-2 win over West Brom was only their second away win this season and Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping that his side can win back-to-back away games for the first time. Despite their outstanding home form, Man City has already lost four games on the road this season, but with Arsenal and Chelsea facing difficult fixtures The Citizens will be aiming to make up ground in the title race.

Southampton enjoyed a great start into the season, but have taken a slight downturn of late. They come into the game of three back-to-back defeats, having lost only one in the opening 11 game weeks. However, two of these defeats came against title contenders Arsenal and Chelsea.

City will be hoping that Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure will continue their current brilliant run in form and that their fit captain Vincent Kompany will give Pellegrini’s defence more stability.

Stoke City – Chelsea

Scoring three goals or more in their last three Premier League games has seen Chelsea begin to reach the form that will see them fighting for the tile this season. Jose Mourinho's side will be hoping to continue their upper form to at least maintain their four-point gap to log leaders Arsenal when they travel to Mark Hughes’ Stoke.

The Stoke motor this season is still stuttering a bit and The Potters are just four points above the relegation zone. They enter the match on a run of one win, three draws and one loss in the last five.

The key player for Stoke can only be Asimir Begovic. The keeper will have to be at his best to keep his goal clean. But on the other side an on-form Eden Hazard will want to re-produce his Wednesday display. His part in three out of the four away goals against The Baggies upped his overall tally to six goals and six assists.

Sunderland - Tottenham

Tottenham’s two long range strikes put them back in the race for a top four spot and Andre Villas-Boas will be hoping The Lilywhites can be more resilient in defence on Saturday evening. Whilst Hotspurs had only conceded five goals in their first ten, they conceded 10 in the last four games since.

Overall there has been a slight improvement in Sunderland’s performances, but they still only have two wins and two draws this season. After their recent 3-4 against Chelsea, Gus Poyet will be hoping his side will put in another brave performance at the Stadium of Light.

It’s difficult to point out the key players for this game, but surely Roberto Soldado and the likes have to improve on their devastating seven percent conversion rate.

Arsenal – Everton

League leaders Arsenal welcome on-form Everton on Sunday. Arsene Wenger will be hoping his side can continue their blistering start to the season which has them accumulate 34 points from 14 games. The Gunners are currently sitting four points clear at the top of the table.

Roberto Martinez’ Everton visit the Emirates on the back of their first win at Old Trafford in 21 years. The Toffees have already accumulated eight clean sheets this season and will be hoping to extend their impressive run of seven games unbeaten.

On-form Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil will try to set up Olivier Giroud for Arsenal, whilst Romelu Lukaku will try to unsettle a resilient Arsenal defence.

The other games of the weekend are:

West Brom – Norwich

Fulham – Aston Villa

Crystal Palace – Cardiff City

Swansea – Hull City

Who will keep on winning and which fixture will be the most discussed after the weekend? Please share your views in our comment section.