Quite often I find myself driving home from football on a Saturday afternoon listening to descriptions of the day's events on the field at various matches, including the inevitable rants against referees by the managers involved, or long-winded whinges from fans who it turns out haven't even been to the games they are complaining about. On a surprisingly high number of occasions, when I have the chance to watch the highlights of the matches in question, they bear little or no relation to the biased descriptions I have heard earlier, and that was certainly the case on Saturday with the incident that resulted in terrible injury for Aaron Ramsey.

Listening to Arsene Wenger and various Arsenal fans, I thought I was about to witness a violent and malicious assault, but I don't believe that the tackle was anything other than a fully committed 50/50 challenge in which circumstances conspired to cause serious injury to one of the players, who had the misfortune to have got to the ball slightly earlier than his opponent. It is purely by chance that similar injuries haven't been sustained on at least a dozen occasions this season when we have witnessed far more vicious challenges with more intent than Shawcross's that have either resulted in just a yellow card or even no card at all. Remember Steven Pienaar in the last Merseyside derby, or (are you listening Arsene?) William Gallas's over the top challenge on Bolton's Mark Davies? I do agree with Mr.Wenger on the point that some teams have decided that the best way to disrupt Arsenal is to adopt a more physical, even bullying, approach, but did Ryan Shawcross or indeed Martin Taylor in the incident that resulted in Eduardo's broken leg deliberately try to injure their opponents? Of course not. Are Arsenal just as capable of roughing up their opponents? Of course they are, as Gallas, Diaby and others have proved in the recent past. So, while wishing Ramsey a full and speedy recovery, let's not get carried away with knee-jerk reactions that demonise another young player whose only crime was to be a bit too slow going into a tackle.

I didn't expect to be previewing League games for Arsenal, Liverpool and Man.United on the weekend of the FA Cup quarter-finals, but early exits for them mean we have the following five fixtures to look forward to this weekend:

1) Arsenal v Burnley: This looks set to be one of the most one-sided matches of the season as Arsenal look to take advantage of the relative kindness of their run-in compared to their title rivals, and Burnley try to rediscover how to defend. An embarrassing display from Clarke Carlisle in particular last weekend resulted in a costly defeat to the only side below the Clarets in the table, and the 43 goals they have conceded in just 14 away games could easily approach 50 by the final whistle here.

2) West Ham v Bolton: This promises to be an ugly but fully committed battle as two strugglers aim to pull away from danger, and West Ham will need to improve on a disappointing recent record at home to Bolton, as they have won just one of the last five League meetings at Upton Park. Their survival hopes have, however, been given a real boost by their home form, with three wins and a draw from their last four fixtures, so this remains a tricky match to call. Bolton just about held on for a 1-0 win against Wolves last weekend to end their recent winless (and scoreless) run, so the match may well hinge on one piece of luck, one costly mistake, one dodgy decision, or one outrageous piece of skill (actually, scrap that last suggestion), and I wouldn’t be surprised by any of the three possible outcomes.

3) Wolves v Man.U.: Mick McCarthy will have no choice but to field his strongest side for this one following the suspended fine his club were given for resting 10 players in the reverse fixture, but will it make any difference? United will be fully aware that they have to take every chance to keep the pressure on Chelsea while the Blues are suffering defensive jitters, but the problem is that United have also been prone to a lack of concentration at the back on occasions this season, particularly away from home, where they have already recorded five defeats. It is also worth remembering that on Wolves’ last Premier League adventure, they beat a full strength United side 1-0, so while I expect United to win well, best odds of 1/3 are far from attractive.

4) Everton v Hull: Despite a midweek hammering in Portugal, Everton put up a reasonable fightback in their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday, and could even have snatched a draw if Landon Donovan had managed a simple tap-in from very close range. Having won their last five home League games, I think the only thing that can prevent them making it six in a row is over-confidence as they welcome one of the bottom three who are without an away win so far, and who have scored just seven times on the road all season. Hull were easily brushed aside in this fixture last season, and despite being well-rested compared to their hosts, it is difficult to imagine anything other than a similar outcome this time around.

5) Wigan v Liverpool: Monday night’s fixture sees Wigan host their first match on their brand new pitch, but I have doubts as to whether it will see an upturn in their fortunes. Last season’s late penalty, which gave them a 1-1 draw, is the only time that Wigan have even managed to score at home to Liverpool, and the fact that they have now failed to score in each of their last three matches is a real concern. The scoring return of Fernando Torres also adds to my feeling that an away win will be the outcome, leaving Wigan to rely on the few teams below them doing them a favour.

Five matches catch the eye for this week’s suggested accumulator, and a successful £10 five-timer on Arsenal, Rochdale, Alloa, Stranraer and Liverpool would return £64.20 at skybet.com.

Good luck!