Burnley v Sunderland (3pm)
Did someone say home banker? Burnley's home form against teams in and around them in particular is exceptional, whilst Sunderland have only won one game away this season, against Bournemouth. In Sunderland's defence they have had to play Man City, Man United, Liverpool, Spurs and Southampton all away, but were battered 3-0 by Swansea a couple of weeks ago. Burnley meanwhile beat Boro 1-0 last time out at Turf Moor, and only Man City have won at Burnley in the last two months. It won't help Sunderland's case one bit that they're missing key player Jordan Pickford, whose injury will keep him out for a couple of months, and it remains to be seen how destructive that injury will prove.
Prediction: 1-0 Burnley
Chelsea v Stoke (3pm)
Stoke didn't offer too much threat at Anfield on Tuesday night despite starting that game well, and you have to feel that there's little chance of them being the ones to stop the seemingly unstoppable Chelsea juggernaut. Only one team has picked up points at Stamford Bridge this season, and that's second place Liverpool, so you'd imagine that Chelsea will do what Chelsea have gotten very good at doing, and will win.
Prediction: 2-0 Chelsea
Leicester v West Ham (3pm)
This is a tough one to predict. Leicester have only lost twice at home this season, but one of those defeats was on Boxing Day to Everton, and they've only won one game at home in the last two months, against Man City. West Ham meanwhile, have been slinking up the table with wins over Burnley, Hull and Swansea. Right now I'm leaning towards the Hammers, who have the form behind them, but I think it'll be a close game.
Prediction: 2-1 West Ham
Man United v Boro (3pm)
United are a side building up a head of steam. Granted they haven't been overly tested, but four wins in a row is impressive, and they could easily make it six before Liverpool travel to Old Trafford. In fact they should make it six, given that Boro are simply not on United's level. I think it'll be a close game, since Boro have only lost by more than one goal once away this season, and have drawn over half of their nine away games, but United will be comfortably favourites.
Prediction: 2-0 United
Southampton v West Brom (3pm)
This game will be a tightly fought contest. Saints don't lose many games at home, and were unfortunate to get taken apart by Spurs on Wednesday night. West Brom meanwhile are plugging away nicely, and the last five games that they've lost have been against the top six. Right now, you'd have to say that neither team looks like losing this game, or winning it, so I'm plumping for a draw.
Prediction: 1-1
Swansea v Bournemouth (3pm)
Managerless Swansea have won just two home games this season, and a mid-table Bournemouth side have won just one game away from home. This is a tough one to predict, but I think it's hard to look beyond Bournemouth to cause Swansea all kinds of problems. Swansea are dire at the back and although they have beaten Sunderland and Palace here, they won't be expecting anything from this one.
Prediction: 2-1 Bournemouth
Liverpool v Man City (5:30pm)
The big one. Liverpool are missing Joel Matip and Phillipe Coutinho, with City welcoming back Sergio Aguero. Liverpool are one of the league's two unbeaten teams at home, whilst City have the second best away form in the division. Honestly, I think this could easily be a repeat of both Liverpool v City league games last season, where Liverpool just ran City off the park and destroyed them. We saw Spurs do it to them earlier in the season, and City have been far from their best in recent weeks. But really, this is a tough one to call and should be a goalfest.
Prediction: 3-1 Liverpool
Watford v Spurs (1:30pm Sunday)
Watford are proving difficult to predict at the moment, with their form as patchy as it has been all season. We're starting to see the table slide into place as to how it's going to look at the end of the season, with Watford truly entrenched in the mid-table now. Overall, it's hard to argue that they'll pose too much of a threat to a Spurs side that been back to somewhere near their best in recent weeks and are shaking the draws out of their system.
Prediction: 2-1 Spurs
Arsenal v Palace (4pm)
It should be very interesting to see how Big Sam's Palace line up at the Emirates, but given that Sam has neither made any signings, nor had a lot of time to change the squad mentality since Boxing Day, it seems to me that this is the sort of game that Arsenal should win comfortably, even if they're still looking to get back to form after scraping a 1-0 win over West Brom following back to back away defeats. The Gunners still haven't lost at home since the opening day of the season.
Prediction: 3-1 Arsenal
The Hard and Fast Section
- Sir Andy Murray and Sir Mo Farah. Legends.
- Ronda Rousey pummeled on return to UFC.
- Murray ends 2016 with a win. Form.
- Bob Bradley gone. Finally.
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