Last week of the English Premier League saw the unthinkable happen. Chelsea got beaten – for the very first time this season. By Newcastle United, a team led by a manager who could do nothing right for much of the season, till November. Since November, Newcastle simple can’t stop winning, and are a creditable seventh in the league.
The midweek saw Liverpool being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League and a plenty of questions being asked of manager Brendan Rodgers, for some bizarre decisions. The departure of Luis Suarez has been a far bigger blow than earlier thought. Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea march on to the final 16 of the UEFA Champions League, with Manchester City in particular winning a remarkable victory at Rome against Francesco Totti’s Roma.
So that brings us to the Round 16 of EPL, and the biggest clash of this time around is on Sunday, when a rejuvenated Manchester United led brilliantly by Louis Van Gaal take on a broken down Liverpool. No prize for the guessing the winner of that clash. Anyway, read on for the previews and predictions of all the matches of Round 16 of the EPL.
Burnley vs Southampton
Southampton’s amazing run in the EPL have come to a halt with 3 successsive losses against the Big Guns – Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Clearly, while the Saints do remarkably well against the lower ranking teams in the EPL, against the top sides, they still have a long way to go before they can be taken seriously. Nobody expects them to compete for a top-4 finish anymore. However, the hard matches are over, and this weekend sees the Saints take on the sort of opponents they would really like – Burnley. While Burnley have done reasonably well in their last 5 matches, to expect them to do well against Southampton, a team that really knows how to play sides like Burnley, would be expected too much out of them. We expect the Saints to win and Graziano Pelle to get back to his goal scoring ways.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Burnley 0 Southampton 2
Crystal Palace vs Stoke City
Stoke City’s remarkable win last week against Arsenal will have done a word of good to their confidence. Nobody would have expected the Potters to go 3 – 0 ahead in just 45 minutes against a team of Arsenal’s calibre. But Mark Hughes has been getting a lot of things right, and the up front combination of Peter Crouch and the young Spanish import Bojan has been more than effective. Bojan in particular seems to be enjoying getting regular starts in top level football. Crystal Palace are a team that is in the same mini-league as Stoke, but at the moment, the Potters are the team in form and they should have no problem winning this one as well.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Crystal Palace 0 Stoke City 2
Chelsea vs Hull
Well, that Chelsea lost last week against Newcastle was unpredictable. But it wasn’t exactly a shock as Newcastle are playing brilliant football and for Chelsea to lose to them at the St. James Park wasn’t really that difficult to envisage. But against Hull City at the Stanford Bridge this Saturday, there won’t be any surprises. We expect a really easy win for Jose Mourinho’s team and goals for Diego Costa. It’s been a while since he has scored a goal (by his high standards). We also expect a goal for Chelsea legend Didier Drogba after he comes on as a substitute in the second half – now that’s very specific!
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Chelsea 4 Hull 1
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Manchester City did win last weekend, but sadly, lost Sergio “Kun” Aguero to a bad injury. Aguero has been the talisman for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, and his absence – expected to last four to five weeks – could prove to be the difference between successfully defending the title and coming second. But against Leicester City, Pellegrini’s men should not really have any issue winning whatsoever. Leicester did have their moments this season – their 5-3 win against Manchester United was remarkable – but have done little other than that. They are at the bottom of the league with only 10 points, and look destined to go down in their first season back in the EPL.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Leicester City 0 Manchester City 3
Sunderland vs West Ham
West Ham continue to do remarkably well, and have been boosted by the return from injury of centre forward Andy Carroll. Carroll has remarkable prowess in the air, and it’s to think of another player in the league who is a better header of the ball. It’s not unthinkable anymore to predict a top-4 finish for West Ham, but it won’t be easy either. Sam Allardyce (“Big Sam”) has been a manager for several decades now, and he has never finished in the top-4 of the EPL. He will never get a better opportunity than what he has been given this season. As for Sunderland, they have faltered. Gus Poyet showed so much promise last season, but his team have been quite poor. Sunderland did well enough to pick up two draws against Chelsea and Liverpool – but those were matches they never looked like winning. This match – we expect an away win for Big Sam.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Sunderland 0 West Ham 1
West Brom vs Aston Villa
The Midlands derby is always an exciting, hard fought affair. Usually in these matches, form goes out of the window and whoever fights harder on the day of the match, wins. We expect tackles to fly in this match, and at least one sending off. There won’t be too many goals in this match, but Aston Villa have been doing reasonably well over the last 4 weeks, and we expect them to get one more than their local rivals. Christian Benteke is back after a particularly long injury layoff and his presence may prove to be critical. The Midlands bragging rights will be won by the Aston Villa fans.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: West Brom 0 Aston Villa 1
Arsenal vs Newcastle
Newcastle have been the most surprising team of this season. It wasn’t so long back when they were at the bottom of the league, not able to win even one match. “Pardew Out!” was the cry in and around St. James Park. Nobody gave Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager any chance whatsoever. But, they won one match, won two, won three, won four and won five on a trot. A team that couldn’t win, suddenly couldn’t stop winning. There was a brief lull for a couple of matches and now, with the win against Chelsea, Newcastle look remarkable yet again. Arsenal, on the other hand, have faltered. Their supporters believe that Arsene Wenger has outlived his welcome, and it’s time for fresh blood. The loss to Stoke City last week was brutal, and Wenger would like to hold on for dear life by not losing this match. We expect a high scoring draw.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Arsenal 2 Newcastle 2
Manchester United vs Liverpool
Well, there’s no question about it. Good times are back at Old Trafford. Manager Louis Van Gaal looks in total command and has been remarkably good, after a poor start to the season. It’s hard to think of Manchester United as title contenders as Chelsea are too far ahead of them, but a top-3 finish looks an absolute certainty. They are the form team of the EPL, and are definitely the biggest entertainers. Liverpool, on the other hand, have seen better times. Manager Brendan Rodgers sees himself under tremendous pressure as his team have bowed out of the Champions League, and only rank ninth on the league table. Liverpool are wounded and low on confidence and we predict a continuation of their misfortunes at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Manchester United 3 Liverpool 1
Swansea vs Tottenham Hotspur
We are not too excited by this match as both Swansea and Tottenham look destined for a mid table finish already. Neither side is likely to get to Europe next season, and we certainly don’t expect either to be relegated. So, this match doesn’t really interest us. For Swansea keep an eye out for in form striker Wilfried Bony. For Tottenham, young striker Harry Kane has been brilliant – it’s so good to see a young English striker doing well for a top team. We expect a low scoring draw, though.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Swansea 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Everton vs QPR
It’s hard to make sense of Everton’s poor performance this season. They haven’t really performed badly at all in any of the matches, the players look good, nobody has been found to be lacking in commitment, there is plenty of talent in the side and manager Roberto Martinez has made all the right moves and said all the right things – yet, Everton are only 12th in the league standings. Any other season, with the same level of performance, they would perhaps be in the top 6. QPR under Harry Redknapp, have a manager who knows how to make the best of his limited resources. QPR have done well to get a good run of results to get out of the relegation zone. But they will be without their best player Charlie Austin, and one can’t see them getting 3 points at Goodison Park. Roberto Martinez would be going all out for a win, and he should get one.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Everton 2 QPR 1
All the best this weekend ahead of all your betting.
The IndiaBet.org Team
Odds correct at time of writing – 14:30 GMT+1
