EPL Preview: Carrick's baptism of fire and Liam Rosenior's league debut

EPL preview: Carrick’s Man Utd caretaker debut vs City; Arsenal at Forest; Chelsea host Brentford for Rosenior’s league bow; Spurs vs West Ham.

Michael Carrick hopes to start his caretaker role at Old Trafford with a bang, how will this pan out? (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

The Africa Cup of Nations is still ongoing, with Morocco set to face the 2021 champions, Senegal, in the final on Sunday, while the Super Eagles of Nigeria will face Egypt in the third-place playoffs on Saturday. However, our focus today is the English Premier League and the twist we're expecting this weekend.

Arsenal leads the table with a comfortable six-point lead over both Manchester City and Aston Villa. The Gunners' trip to Nottingham Forest this weekend is expected to either extend their lead or retain the status quo with Manchester City away at Old Trafford.

Nottingham Forest is not the strongest of opponents at the moment, but Arsenal cannot afford to be careless against them. Sean Dyche knows how tough the relegation scrap will be this season; expect him to set up to defend deep. Arsenal must be prepared for the low block.

For the big one at Old Trafford, Michael Carrick will become the third Manchester United manager to sit in the dugout at Old Trafford when Manchester City visits on Saturday for the lunchtime kickoff after being named the interim manager until the end of the season.

The former United midfielder will also be auditioning for the role on a long-term basis. Carrick's first assignment is a tough one; the visit of City is never straightforward, but United has a rich history of shock success over City in recent seasons.

This is Carrick's second coming at Old Trafford; he hopes to make this one work, and it starts with this huge fixture. Manchester City needs the result to keep up with Arsenal at the top after three consecutive draws. Will United hurt them again?

Liam Rosenior suffered his first defeat as a Chelsea manager in their 3-2 cup loss to Arsenal on Wednesday; it was a learning curve for the new Chelsea manager, and now, he must chase his first league win at home to Brentford.

The Bees have been impressive. It's unheard of that Keith Andrews' side is above Chelsea on the log, and should Brentford beat Chelsea on Saturday, the Bees would climb above Liverpool and into the top four. How exciting is this?

Finally, Thomas Frank has a date with troubled Nuno Espirito Santo. Neither of them is in a good place following recent results; however, it is the former Spurs manager who needs a win more, as he's deeply rooted in the drop zone.

West Ham has too much quality to go down. Their players at AFCON aren't coming back until next week, so they must plan without them. Spurs have Connor Gallagher ready for this fixture; can West Ham earn anything at Tottenham?