The Champions League matches held midweek were quite revealing because they really did reflect the current forms of the top four teams in the English Premier League. Liverpool were abject, and looked a shadow of the side that almost won the EPL last season, Chelsea are looking terrific, and there is a possibility of Jose Mourinho winning both the Champions League and EPL, Arsenal won as well and Manchester City could only get a draw. This Sunday has the biggest match of the entire season so far – Chelsea against the galacticos of Manchester United. Manchester United are clearly not title contenders, but they are by a fair distance the most attractive team in the league, which makes this clash a mouth watering prospect. Read on for our preview of all the matches this weekend in the English Premier League.
West Ham v Man City
The first match this Saturday sees the very much in form West Ham United take on defending champions, Manchester City. Sam Allardyce is one of the smartest managers in the EPL and he has suddenly transformed West Ham’s season after a poor early start. Nobody in West Ham now talks about replacing Allardyce, as they did earlier in the season. West Ham are an incredible fourth in the league standings – who would have imagined that? They have scored goals, kept clean sheets, played attractive football, did everything expected of them. But they run into their biggest challenge yet as they take on the champions, Manchester City, who would be smarting after another poor display in the Champions League, where they were held to a draw. This should be a match with plenty of goals, and nobody really has a clue which side would get more, as the strikers – Aguero and Dzeko for Manchester City and Sakho and Valencia for West Ham, have been in superb form.
Our Prediction: West Ham 3 Man City 3
Liverpool v Hull City
Liverpool have been frankly poor this season, and all the talk about them being contenders in Europe have been dismissed after their abject 3-0 loss to Real Madrid. Mario Balotelli has clearly not clicked for Liverpool and he is not much of a replacement for the brilliant Luis Suarez. The absence of Suarez in the Liverpool line-up has been the biggest difference from last season. Manager Brendan Rodgers is yet to find a single, consistent team formation, which is really holding Liverpool back. For Hull City’s manager Steve Bruce, this presents a golden opportunity after creditable shows by his side against Manchester City and Arsenal in their last couple of matches. Steve Bruce has the highly talented Ben Arfa, on loan from Newcastle United, and he is expected to find that creative edge for Hull City. Could this be an upset? We think so.
Our Prediction: Liverpool 0 Hull 1
Southampton v Stoke City
Southampton won 8-0 last week against Sunderland. How could you beat that? It was a special performance which saw this season’s best player in the entire EPL, Graziano Pelle at his very best. Pelle is an amazing player, strong, quick, menacing and almost perfect – so good that everybody’s wants to know where he’d been all these years. It is highly unlikely that Southamptom would hold him for long as we fully expect one of the big clubs in Europe to swoop for him sooner than later. Manager Ronald Koeman has built a perfect team out of players with average abilities, who are more than punching above their weight. Can Stoke City stop the rampaging Southampton? No chance of that. Expect a goal fest and expect Pelle to have a lot of fun. The only question is, will Southampton stay in this position by Christmas?
Our Prediction: Southampton 4 Stoke City 1
Sunderland v Arsenal
Sunderland’s season has gone from bad to worse. While they had been happy so far to have more than outperformed their regional rivals, Newcastle United, that is no longer good enough. What has gone unnoticed is that Newcastle are just 2 points behind Sunderland, and a loss in this match could potentially make Sunderland the worst team in the North-East. That would be the worst thing to happen to Gus Poyet. Even worse than the 8-0 mauling suffered at the hands of Southampton. Could Sunderland fare better against Arsene Wenger’s side? Highly unlikely. Wenger has a point to prove and determined not to be far behind Jose Mourinho in the title race. It is improbable to think that Arsenal wouldn’t be up for this clash. Lukas Podolski, the forgotten Arsenal striker, is likely to play this match. Sunderland’s only hope is that Arsenal have been really affected by a spate of injuries, with more than half their side out.
Our Prediction: Sunderland 0 Arsenal 2
West Brom v Crystal Palace
West Brom are doing surprisingly well after a slow start to the season, while Crystal Palace seem to be in a dangerous slide to the bottom. West Brom’s last match, where they managed to get a draw against Louis Van Gaal’s Man United was their best performance yet, and should mean that there would be a lot of confidence in the West Brom team. Crystal Palace have an edge over West Brom in recent matches between the two sides, having won 3 of the last 5 matches, but West Brom clearly look like the team in top form. Also, they are playing at home, so a win for West Brom seems to be the most expected result here.
Our Prediction: West Brom 2 Crystal Palace 1
Swansea v Leicester
Swansea’s manager Garry Monk wouldn’t know what to make of his side’s performance. Having won 3 straight matches at the start of the season, Swansea were already talked about as serious challengers for the top side in the league, and Monk was heralded as the best young manager. Since then, things have gone terribly for Swansea and Monk. They are still to get their first win after that, and have picked up only 1 point in their last 5 matches. This is clearly relegation form, and almost unthinkably, Garry Monk would be now worried about his job. But there is no better team to make a comeback against than Leicester. Leicester City have really struggled away from home and Monk would motivate his team to give it all against them. We expect a draw, though.
Our Prediction: Swansea 1 Leicester 1
Tottenham v Newcastle
Newcastle have historically struggled at Tottenham, and Newcastle fans often refer to Tottenham ground White Hart Lane as “Zero Points Lane”. One has to struggle to remember the last time Newcastle have won here, and they have been so terrible this season that it’s impossible to imagine them winning this time either. A loss looks a certainty, especially with the attacking duo of Christian Erikson and Roberto Soldado gelling so well up front for Tottenham Hotspur. Mauricio Pochettino is set to extend his great run as Tottenham manager.
Our Prediction: Tottenham 3 Newcastle 0
Burnley v Everton
There have been many poor teams in the EPL this season. But which team has been arguably the worst? Burnley. Not a single win yet, four draws, four losses, a negative goal difference of 9, and we are only into the ninth match of the season. Burnley can’t seem to score goals at all. They don’t really look like a Premiership club. They look almost certain to be relegated. Roberto Martinez, the Everton manager, should expect easy points here. The season has been a struggle for the talented team from Liverpool, but with a few easy points, the confidence should go up. Burnley have conceded 9 goals in their last 3 matches, and would struggle this time as well.
Our Prediction: Burnley 0 Everton 2
Man Utd v Chelsea
The match of the season. It comes just a day after the El Classico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. One would suggest that the El Classico is the bigger match, and nobody could argue with that, but this match comes close. Manchester United are rejuvenated after a terrible start to the season. The signing of Angel Di Maria in particular has transformed the club completely. Radamel Falcao has been good too, but it is Di Maria who has made all the difference. He looks positively world class, and it’s hard to believe Real Madrid would let such a great player leave. Chelsea have been unbeatable in this season, and with Diego Costa powering them on, the only question is “when” and not “if” they can win the English Premier League this season. Can Louis Van Gaal do something to upset Jose Mourinho’s so far perfect season? Well, it’s hard to predict this match as any of the three results are possible. One thing that can be predicted is that half the world will be watching this game, no matter where they are. You can catch it on Star Sports in India at 9:30 PM on Sunday.
Our Prediction: Manchester United 2 Chelsea 2
QPR v Aston Villa
Not too many people would be interested in this late Monday night clash. Aston Villa have been good in this season without being menacing, and QPR deservedly are placed 20th in the league standings. Can Harry Redknapp get something out of this match? A draw looks likely, as both teams would find it hard to get past each other. Less said about each team’s strikers, the better – they have been really quite ineffective. We predict a boring, really boring and completely unwatchable scoreless draw here.
Our Prediction: QPR 0 Aston Villa 0
