Dan’s EPL Predictions – Arsenal have nothing to play for at Forest

Sorry Gooners, I can’t help you with this one.

There’s no brave face we can paint on, zero positive outlook, devoid of a creative spin.

This weekend is going to hurt and be miserable.

We just have to get through it together.

If we lose on Saturday night, Man City officially win a League that we were top of for the majority of the season.

Even if we win, the Champions the next day complete part 1 of a possible Treble by beating Chelsea.

We do have our own title race at JustArsenal which is juicy though ….

Cherries 0-2 Man United

Man United are capable of away performances where they just don’t show up.

Yet, there’s too much on the line for them not to be motivated here.

Ten Hag simply needs to remind them that win your next 2 games and your back in the Champions League.

That then allows him to play a weakened side against Fulham and rest players for the Cup Final.

If he had to pick an away fixture it might be on the South Coast, simply because the Cherries are going through the motions having secured survival.

It’s such an achievement that Gary O’Neil’s team can be forgiven for that.

Fulham 2-2 Palace

I give both these clubs credit for not being on the beach when they easily could have been.

One of the few games this weekend where there is no jeopardy.

It means this London Derby can be played with freedom which should result in an entertaining match?

Both sides will get the chance to celebrate Roy Hodgson, the man who took Fulham to a European Final and at the age of 75 has the Eagles paying some of the most exciting football in the country right now.

Liverpool 3-1 Villa

The likelihood is Liverpool are running out of games to catch either Newcastle or Man United?

If there were a few more left, I would fancy Liverpool as they are one of the in-form teams right now.

They will win on Saturday but then need favours elsewhere to take the top 4 race till the final day.

Wolves 0-2 Everton

Sean Dyche won’t publicly admit it, but out of the sides battling near the bottom, Everton have two winnable fixtures.

You want to be facing sides who don’t need the points as much as you do, and due to Wolves issues in the final third, Everton will always be in this match.

Sometimes you need luck you can’t control.

The TV companies have dictated that the Toffees play before the three sides around them.

Mentally that’s huge.

32 points might already be enough if Leeds and Leicester don’t get another result, but a win at Molineux means it must win for Big Sam on the Sunday and Dean Smith on the Monday.

Spurs 2-1 Brentford

You simply don’t know which Spurs will show up.

Increasingly, it’s a concern for them how they are starting matches.

Their last home game of the season and possibly a farewell to Harry Kane is why I see them nicking the points.

The strikers body language on the post-match walk around the pitch could be telling.

If Spurs don’t win, they might not even qualify for the UEFA Conference.

When you say that, you understand why Kane might want to leave?

Brentford won’t have Ivan Toney who starts his 8-month ban, a punishment that could cost him a lucrative move.

Credit to his club’s lawyers engineering sanctions to include 2 months when football is on hold anyway.

N Forest 2-1 Arsenal

If you recall Amazon’s All or Nothing Documentary, Mikel Arteta is at his angriest when we visited the City Ground in the FA Cup.

The Spaniard fumed he simply wouldn’t ‘accept those standards’.

I fear this time round will equally be a hard trip for our manager to motivate his players.

Confident that the three below might not catch them on 34 points, and perhaps boosted by the Everton result before they kick off, there will be a cup final like atmosphere.

We meanwhile have nothing to play for, so our campaign could filter out as we go through the motions.

Just like a certain Gary Neville warned would happen.

West Ham 1-2 Leeds

Big Sam would have been happy with West Ham’s win on Thursday.

Not because he’s happy for his former employers but he will now hope the Hammers are distracted by a European Final.

Why shouldn’t they be?

How often do West Ham get a chance to lift a trophy?

For many of those players it will be their only chance.

Leed’s goal difference means while not mathematically a fact, West Ham can’t be caught.

So, while the London Stadium will have an unusually upbeat enthusiasm, the visitors need the points more.

Brighton 3-1 Saints

Home banker simply based on how easily the Saints rolled over and died last weekend.

If that was their effort in a game they knew they had to win, God knows how they now play with relegation confirmed?

Defeat on Thursday mostly likely ended Brighton’s outside hopes of top 4, but they could qualify for Europe for the first time ever this weekend.

A sensational achievement.

Man City 3-1 Chelsea

Any other season I would say that City still have three tough fixtures left.

Not that it matters as our failure to put any pressure on means they only need to win one more time to regain their Championship.

Any other year you could trust Chelsea to at least put up a fight.

They used to have characters in their team who were too proud at the thought of a team lifting the title in front of them.

We waited all this time for the current version of Chelsea to show up, even if that meant relying on individual talent.

It’s barely happened under Lampard so isn’t suddenly going to happen at the Etihad.

Pep Guardiola will want to seal the Prem as quickly as possible, especially in front of his home crowd.

That then allows him to rest key personnel for the two Finals they have left to play.

Newcastle 3- 1 Leicester

For the third week in a row Leicester have to play on the Monday night, meaning again they have to watch their rivals play first, piling on the pressure.

They could be as many as 5 points from safety by the time they kick off on Tyneside.

In that scenario this becomes a must win.

Anyone who watched the Foxes last game will know they didn’t look like a side who believed they could win.

It’s hard to imagine they will have that self-confidence against the Toon Army, who know a win guarantees Champions League Football (Will already be secured by that time if Liverpool lose on Saturday)

Dan

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