With the Holiday Season approaching fast, this weekend promises to be an exciting one for the English Premier League. The two biggest matches will be played on Sunday – with Newcastle, who were chastened by a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal last week, taking on bitter rivals Sunderland, and Arsenal taking on a misfiring Liverpool.
The midweek action in the Capital One Cup saw no major upsets, but one would imagine that teams such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham would prefer not be too heavily involved in such minor cup competitions as that really takes the focus away from the main goal of doing well in the Premiership.
Chelsea and Man City have easy fixtures this Saturday and the high flying Red Devils should get a positive result as they visit Aston Villa. This weekend should be an excellent curtain raiser for an action packed Holiday Season which is to follow, and we expect the top -3 – Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United – to make their positions even stronger and get further away from the rest of the lot.
Man City v Crystal Palace
The serious injury to Sergio Aguero has been a major blow to Manuel Pellegrini’s plans of defending the title, and has come just when Man City were getting back to their best. So, this has forced Man City to change the way they way and cope with the loss of their best player. For the match against Crystal Palace, things are expected to be really hard as the other two strikers – Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic are also expected to miss out because of injuries. Unheralded striker Jose Pozo is expected to lead the attack. David Silva, City’s most creative player, will be back after a prolonged layoff. Man City have struggled in their last few matches, but still, have managed to win. We expect another hard fought win for them against Crystal Palace as well, who are just above the relegation zone.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Man City 2 Crystal Palace 0
Aston Villa v Man Utd
Manchester United have been without doubt the best team in the EPL over the last couple of months, having won all 6 of their matches. The confidence is back, so is the wining attitude, and although it’s not as high as it was during the Sir Alex Ferguson days, it comes pretty close. Louis Van Gaal began with a tame start to the season, struggling to get anything right,and now, he simply can’t get anything wrong. The signing of Angel Di Maria was perhaps the turning point as Man United desperately wanted a truly world class player to lead them from the front, and hold nothing back. The other signings – Van Gaal has made many – were smart as well. Aston Villa wouldn’t expect to do much in this match and would not be too upset at a loss. Also, they are likely to be without regular starters Hutton, Baker, Westwood and Cleverley. An easy win for Man United.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Aston Villa 1 Man United 3
Southampton v Everton
Southampton have had a horrible, horrible month, to say the least. After playing spectacularly well for much of the season, Ronald Koeman’s side were beginning to dream of the Champions League. But 4 straight losses have ended those hopes. The defeats at the hands of Arsenal, Man City and Man United could have been excused and were expected, but not last week’s loss to Burnley. They have faded, and badly at that. Everton’s Roberto Martinez is a clever manager and he would sense a terrific opportunity to turn his team’s season around and go for the kill against Southampton. Everton players Lukaku, Naismith and Barkeley are just about beginning to click together and that’s bad news for any opposition.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Southampton 0 Everton 1
Tottenham v Burnley
This is a match between two sides that are in decent current form. Burnley had a torrid start to the season and looked down and out, but have turned things around, having lost just 1 match in their last 6 and having won 3 of them. They are even out of the relegation zone, which was completely unexpected. Can they survive this season? It would be a minor miracle, but they have given themselves an excellent shot at it. Spurs have other goals – qualifying for the Champions League. The top 3 spots look impregnable, but there is a real contest on for the 4th spot on the league standing. Can Spurs beat rivals Arsenal to it? Well, they need to start becoming more consistent and beat teams such as Burnley if they are to do it.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Tottenham 2 Burnley 1
West Ham v Leicester
West Ham have been the surprise package of the season. Southampton may have fallen behind, but Sam Allardyce’s team still look strong and are still sitting pretty at the 4th spot in the league table. Big Sam has never been in the UEFA Champion’s League before in his decades long managerial career. Hard to blame him for that as he has only managed sides such as Bolton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle and now West Ham, and his main goal has always been to avoid relegation. This season could be his crowning glory and if West Ham do as well in the rest of the season as they’ve done so far, we will see them in Europe next year. Leicester City? Well, after a surprise win against Manchester United – many months ago – they have nothing at all this season, and are justifiably at the bottom of the league.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: West Ham 3 Leicester City 0
QPR v West Brom
Well, we pity the match reporters sent to cover this clash, as this match would look more appropriate in the Sky Bet Championship than in the Barclays Premier League. QPR are in the relegation zone, and while West Brom are in the 14th spot in the league table, they are only 3 points ahead of QPR. Neither side would get a better opportunity to pick up 3 points and should go for the kill. So, while both sides are short on talent, we do expect a plenty of action in this match. QPR to win.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: QPR 2 West Brom 1
Hull v Swansea
Swansea, just like Southampton, have faltered after a great start to the season and it’s a minor miracle that they still hold a position in the top 10. Hull City are deep in the relegation zone and for them this match should be seen as the last chance to stay in the Premiership, especially considering that this is a home game for them. These are the sort of matces Hull have to win if they are to have any hopes of staying in the league. But with Wilfried Bony in such good form, having scored goals in his last 5 games, we expect Swansea to just about get a good result.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Hull 1 Swansea 2
Newcastle v Sunderland
The Tyne-side Derby has always been an exciting, hard fought affair, which means the world to supporters of both sides. We expect Newcastle and Sunderland to give it their all in what promises to be the best match this weekend in the EPL. But Newcastle have serious injury woes and are running out of goal keepers. In addition to the main goalkeeper Tim Krul, even the second and third choice goalkeepers are also out because of injuries. So, a 17-year old junior team goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman may well get the shock of his life as he gets to start in the match considered to be the most important of the season by the Newcastle supporters. Can’t imagine the pressure he would be under! We expect a high scoring draw or a Sunderland win, because of Newcastle’s injury troubles.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Newcastle 2 Sunderland 2
Liverpool v Arsenal
Liverpool are out of the Champions League, possibly out of contention for the Top-4 spots, but at least they beat Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup and have reached the semi finals! Haha, yes, we are being facetious, but that’s the way Liverpool’s season has been this year. Perhaps their decline began last season itself, when Steven Gerrard made that terrible defensive error against Chelsea, which led to them giving away a golden opportunity to win the Premiership for the first ever time. Brandan Rodgers’ side have never recovered from that, and the loss of Luis Suarez has made it worse. Arsene Wenger would be smelling an easy win here and would really want all 3 points in this clash. And should get them, with Alexis Sanchez and Santi Carzola in such good form.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2
Stoke v Chelsea
Well, we will keep the preview of this clash short, because there really isn’t much to talk about. Stoke would “park the bus” in front of the goal, defend with all 10 men, Jose Mourinho’s men would go on an all out attack, struggle to get the first goal, but after getting one, which they most certainly will, will get another and win another typical clash for Chelsea against a lower ranking side. Expect the talented Andre Schurrle to get a start in this match, and perhaps feature on the scoring chart as well.
The IndiaBet.org Team Prediction: Stoke 0 Chelsea 2
