Queens Park Rangers

There is no doubting that Mark Hughes is one of the managers who is under the most pressure to keep hold of his job in the top flight, with the Hoops spending big bucks over the summer to strengthen the squad at Loftus Road.

Hughes has had the backing of the chairman recently, which is always a worrying development for a man in his position.

With three defeats on the bounce, Rangers’ clash at home to Everton on Sunday is a massive game, even though the London outfit are just two points off safety (QPR 11/5, draw 9/4, Everton 6/5 – Match Betting).

Six goals in seven matches show that finding the back of the net has been difficult for Hughes’ men.

But, with the likes of Bobby Zamora, David Hoilett, Jamie Mackie and Djibril Cisse in their ranks and the ability spend money on a striker in January, it should not be long before QPR start bagging goals and climb out the relegation zone.

Having seen manager Paul Lambert make the switch to Aston Villa over the summer, Norwich (8/13 – Premier League relegation) are really struggling, with what appears to be that classic ’second season syndrome’.

The Canaries finished comfortably in mid-table last season and could have been placed higher had they not had a sloppy end to the campaign, as they knew their Premier League status was secure.

Chris Hughton has struggled to build on the work done by his predecessor and, with 17 goals conceded in their first seven games, the problems in defence have been clear at Carrow Road.

A 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in their last outing will not have done Norwich’s confidence any good and things won’t get any easier when they host Arsenal on Saturday (Norwich 11/8, draw 9/4, Arsenal 15/8 – Match Betting).

Unless Norwich can cause some major upsets in the coming weeks then it could well be a long old season for the Canaries.

Reading (8/11 – Premier League relegation) make up the last of the trio still searching for their first thee points and, like Hughes and Hughton, Brian McDermott has been somewhat unlucky not to have guided his side to a victory.

In Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, the Royals have a man who can get goals and, although he has made a relatively slow start to the season, he is likely end up as the top goalscorer at the Madejski this term.

Reading will have a job on their hands to stay up this season but if they can get their home form sorted they should have a good chance of survival, although hosting a resurgent Liverpool this weekend will be tough (Reading 8/11, draw 7/2, Liverpool 17/2 Match Betting).

With Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool the next opponents for the struggling trio at the bottom of the table, they might have to wait beyond this weekend for their first win in the Premier League but the battle to avoid the drop is really just beginning.

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Chelsea

The Blues boss was remaining calm after witnessing his double-winning side crash to a 3-1 defeat against Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday. It was the fourth successive defeat for the west Londoners in pre-season and raised some question marks about their chances of retaining the Premier League title ahead of their opening game against West Brom (Chelsea 1/7, West Brom 11/1, draw 11/2 – 90 Minutes) this Saturday evening.

However Ancelotti, who is thought to be close to snapping up Ramires, has so far only signed Yossi Benayoun this summer. And, despite calls his squad could do with further strengthening, the Italian tactician is happy with his lot and just feels the players who returned to training late following their World Cup exploits are still slightly short of fitness.

“Fortunately, it’s pre-season,” he said. “I think that there is time to come back to win.”

He added: “It was not a good pre-season for results. We lost four games but I think we did our best.

“We need for the players who came back on July 26 to have more time to train.”

Ancelotti is pleased that the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard will feature in England’s international friendly against Hungary to help boost their fitness levels.

“The England players are very close to being fit,” he said.

“It’s good for them to play an international game. They could play 70 minutes without a problem.”

In the meantime Ancelotti felt his side did need to improve on their display against United at Wembley on Sunday ahead of the big kick-off this weekend.

He added: “We have to have more time in possession.”

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