Manchester City v Chelsea (12:30pm Saturday)
Well this is by a country mile the biggest game of the weekend. First and third in the Premier League, the two favourites for the title, separated by only one point. Chelsea are in hot form, with seven wins in a row, whilst City are unbeaten in two months since their defeat to Spurs. Tactically, we know exactly how Chelsea shape up, with their 3-4-3, but City are a bit of an unknown quantity in terms of formation and starting 11, although it's plausible they'll go with their 3-2-2-3. Either way, the crucial element is if City's wingers, probably Nolito and Sterling, can pin Chelsea's wingbacks. Whilst I suspect that Hazard and Costa will have more than enough quality on the counter-attack to really hurt City, I also think that City have the edge here. They have enough creative quality to unpick this Chelsea defence and they have the intensity to expose them too and dominate possession, starving Chelsea of opportunities to hurt City. Liverpool have showed already this season that intensity can be crucial to beating Chelsea, and Spurs will feel they did similarly despite the result and I expect City will put in a similar performance. And let's not forget the Aguero factor.
Prediction: 2-1 Man City
Palace v Southampton (3pm)
Palace are in a rut. They are reaching train-wreck levels of atrocious defending, whilst simultaneously being the 5th top scorers in the league, outscoring United, Spurs and Southampton themselves. With six straight defeats on the bounce and yet to keep a single clean sheet this season, this Palace side look in serious trouble. Southampton meanwhile, are starting to find a bit of a rhythm and despite a mixed bag of results in recent weeks, they look more than good enough to see off this Palace side.
Prediction: 2-0 Saints
Stoke v Burnley (3pm)
This one is a reasonably easy prediction to make (which doesn't mean it's more likely to be right). Burnley have scored just one goal and picked up just one point away from home, and their last game away from Turf Moor was a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of West Brom. West. Brom. Stoke meanwhile have lost just one of their last eight games, and are threatening to return to their position last season in the top half. With Joe Allen back, this one looks like a home banker.
Prediction: 2-0 Stoke
Sunderland v Leicester City (3pm)
This is actually quite a tough one to call. On the one hand, Leicester have been utterly turgid away from the King Power this season, and their league position of 14th reflects that. And Sunderland have been much better in recent weeks, picking up two wins and putting on a valiant display at Anfield in their last three games. However, on the flip side, Leicester didn't have a midweek game this week and their Champions League game in midweek next week is a dead rubber, so they can put their best team out, which should be good enough to see off a Sunderland side that are still bottom of the table. I'm going to fence sit for this one.
Prediction: 2-2
Spurs v Swansea (3pm)
Defensively, Swansea are a complete and utter shambles. Granted they beat Palace 5-4 last time out but Spurs are a much, much better defensive unit than Palace and won't concede five goals to Swansea, although it's entirely plausible that they score four. Simply put, Swansea should lose this game very comfortably, as Spurs are another team who had the week off and no longer have to worry about the Champions League (for entirely different reasons).
Prediction: 3-1 Spurs
West Brom v Watford (3pm)
Watford have had a bizarre season. Turn in three straight clean sheets, followed by conceding six at Anfield. Turn in an excellent performance to see of the Champions, followed by their worst performance of the season against Stoke. Beat United 3-1, lose 2-0 to Burnley, you get the picture. Watford have been erratic, and West Brom have been stoically solid, but will be disappointed to have only picked up a point against Hull last weekend. If Watford turn up they can win this game, play as badly as they did last weekend and they lose it. Again, going to throw my money in the middle and say a draw.
Prediction: 1-1
West Ham v Arsenal (5:30pm)
The Gunners returned to form last weekend with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth to cement their spot in the top four with Spurs losing. But realistically, draws to United and Spurs are not bad results and Arsenal still haven't lost in the league since Liverpool on the opening day, although they ended up almost throwing away their League Cup campaign in midweek. West Ham played out of their skins to snatch a draw at Old Trafford last weekend, but their midweek display demonstrated that they are another team with woeful defensive capabilities and simply put, Arsenal could well put them to the sword.
Prediction: 4-1 Arsenal
Bournemouth v Liverpool (1:30pm Sunday)
I'd be lying if I pretended that I wasn't a bit apprehensive for this one. Bournemouth are a tough nut to crack at home (unless you're Sunderland apparently...) and have played extremely well in big games this season, as Spurs and Everton found out to their cost. Moreover, without Coutinho and Sturridge, Liverpool could struggle for penetration. But on the other hand, even away from Anfield, this is still the sort of game that Liverpool need to win. Arsenal and Man City both swept Bournemouth aside and Liverpool have enough firepower, with Origi on fire and Lallana hopefully back, to do the same.
Prediction: 2-1 Liverpool
Everton v Man United (4pm)
This is a good time to play both of these teams, as they're both horribly out of form. United have won just two of their last ten games, Everton just one of their last eight. Neither team is playing terribly well and both have a lot of ground to make up, although one could reasonably argue that 6th and 7th is about as good as these two teams can hope for right now. It's hard to make a compelling argument for either team to win this game, so I'm going to settle for a draw, but it's harder to make a compelling argument for Everton so you sense United are probably going to edge it if anyone does.
Prediction: 0-0
Middlesbrough v Hull (8pm Monday)
Well not every game can be Man City v Chelsea. In all seriousness, Boro have been good defensively this season, whilst lacking in attacking penetration, making them the polar opposites of Crystal Palace. Their defending is as good as Man United or Everton, but in terms of goals, only Hull themselves have scored less. You would have to say though, with Hull the worst team in the league in terms of goals scored and goals conceded, that Boro will probably edge them out.
Prediction: 1-0 Boro
The Hard and Fast Section
- Hameed is a talent. End of.
- So how does it end between Hamilton and Rosberg?
- BEN WOODBURN.
- Southgate confirmed. Here we go again then.
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