Premier League players to watch in GW13: More Kelleher heroics in giant Liverpool vs Man City clash? | OneFootball

With some massive fixtures to come, week 13 of the 2024/25 Premier League season may prove to be one we look back on as vitally important.

Liverpool now have an eight-point lead at the top of the table and host defending champions Manchester City, who are on an inexplicable five-game winless run across all competitions, losing four and letting a 3-0 lead slip in the final 15 minutes in the Champions League against Feyenoord to draw 3-3.

Elsewhere, West Ham and Arsenal meet in a feisty London derby, top-four rivals Chelsea and Aston Villa lock horns at Stamford Bridge, and Ruben Amorim takes charge of his first home game as Manchester United manager against Everton.

With all that in mind, here are five players you should keep an eye on.

1. Mateta to punish Newcastle again and get back among the goals?

Jean-Philippe Mateta has struggled to replicate the excellent form he showed at the end of last season and now has just one goal in his last eight Premier League appearances. However, that hasn’t stopped him from being linked with a move away from Crystal Palace this winter, with Fenerbahce and even Liverpool rumoured as potential suitors.

The Frenchman will need to get his form back on track to make that materialise but he may just have the perfect opponent to do that against this weekend in Newcastle United. Mateta scored twice in a 2-0 win for Palace the last time these two sides met at Selhurst Park, helping Palace extend their home unbeaten run against the Magpies to nine games.

Should Mateta get back on the scoresheet, he would become just the second player after Wilfried Zaha (32) to score 20+ home Premier League goals for the Eagles.

With Palace 19th and winning just once so far this season, they need their star man back in form pronto.

2. More heroics from Kelleher?

With Alisson still a major doubt, there’s a good chance Caoimhin Kelleher will retain his spot between the sticks for Liverpool against Manchester City this weekend. Given his recent heroics, it’d be incredibly harsh for the Irishman to be dropped even if Alisson is back.

Kelleher produced a stunning display to help Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, denying Kylian Mbappe from the penalty spot amid a bunch of other heroics.

That’s the 26-year-old’s second penalty save in as many games and means he’s saved three of the four penalties he’s faced for Liverpool across all competitions. He also holds the club record for most saves in shootouts.

Since Pep Guardiola became manager (July 2016), no side has taken (71) or scored (53) more Premier League penalties than Manchester City. However, that obviously means they’ve also missed 18 of them and if anyone can add to that total, it’s Kelleher.

3. Chris Wood chasing Nottingham Forest landmark

Since making his Nottingham Forest debut in the competition on 21st January 2023, only eight players have scored more goals in the Premier League than Chris Wood (23), and there are some impressive names in that list including Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka. Eight of those goals have come this season alone, placing him behind only Haaland (12) and Salah (10) in the Golden Boot race.

It’s been a stunning run for Wood that, despite his obvious qualities, nobody could have seen coming. And it’s one he’ll hope to continue when Ipswich Town come to the City Ground this weekend.

Forest will look to bounce back from their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend and if they can win and results go their way, they will end the weekend inside the top four.

And if Wood can score, he’ll draw level with Bryan Roy as Nottingham Forest’s record Premier League goalscorer (24). Score twice and he’ll be the first-ever player in club history to hit 25.

4. Can James Tarkowski help stubborn Toffees stifle Man Utd?

The pressure is once again growing on Sean Dyche at Everton, thanks mainly to his side’s inability to score goals. The Toffees are the Premier League’s second-lowest scorers this season with just 10, one ahead of Southampton. What’s more, they’ve now gone three games without a goal in the competition — last scoring in a 1-1 draw against Fulham on October 26th — have scored just one in four and have failed to score in four of their last six.

And yet, Everton have lost just one of their last eight Premier League games, grinding out results thanks to the resolute defence Dyche has crafted.

Central to that rearguard effort has been James Tarkwoski, who figures in the Premier League’s top six this season for clearances (69), headed clearances (36) and aerial duels won (39). Since the start of Everton’s unbeaten run, Tarkowski ranks third for headed clearances (32), second for aerial duels won (32) and first for clearances (61).

This weekend sees Everton travel to Old Trafford as Ruben Amorim’s first home opposition as Manchester United manager. The Toffees have lost each of their last four against the Red Devils and have won just one of their last 31 Premier League away games at Old Trafford, drawing eight and losing 22 during that time.

With the odds stacked against Everton, Dyche will need another huge performance from Tarkowski.

5. Matheus Cunha to continue hot streak?

According to the FPL’s reckoning, Matheus Cunha is the Premier League’s second-most-in-form player right now behind only Mohamed Salah. In his last four games alone, the Brazilian has registered four goals and three assists, while his season total stands at seven goals, only behind Bryan Mbeumo (8), Wood, Salah and Haaland.

Cunha’s most recent exploits have inspired Wolves to a four-game unbeaten run, taking eight points to lift them to 17th having only managed a single point from their first eight matches.

Up next is a Bournemouth side who have lost their last two games, 2-1 to Brighton and 3-2 to Brentford. That will be a huge source of frustration for the Cherries who, before this slump, took seven points from three games against Arsenal (2-0), Aston Villa (1-1) and Manchester City (2-1).

Cunha scored in a 2-1 comeback win for Wolves against Bournemouth last season and you’d be a fool to bet against him doing something like that again given the almost unstoppable form he finds himself in.

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