The weekend approaches and here are the EPL predictions from the resident Just Arsenal tipster, Mr Dan Smith. He was unhappily correct that the Gunners would lose at West Ham last week, but he is a little more positive this week…..
Wolves 1-2 Leicester
Puel looks like a man on the ropes, like someone accepting that his worst case is another big payoff. Once at that stage it’s when and not if you are sacked and it could happen if beaten here. It’s strange though that the Foxes always pull a result out of the bag when they need to. I maintain Wolves struggle when favourites.
AFC Bournemouth 2-2 West Ham
2-0 flattered Everton last Sunday, if the Cherries play at those levels most weeks, they will win more then they lose. Talk of 50 million for Wilson? It would be financially irresponsible to turn that down, a fee which safeguards your future. Did anyone else think on paper West Ham had a better midfield then us? Arnautovic seemed to be saying goodbye to the London Stadium when subbed off last Saturday but he’s the type of character who will be doing that to force the move. The Hammers are in a position where they can wait until a deal suits them. Even if the Austrian wants to sulk till the summer it’s not like they will get relegated.
Liverpool 1-0 Palace
If Liverpool win the title, they will look back at last weekend as one of the critical moments. Having lost to City all that mattered was bouncing back to get a win. 0-0 at half time at a physically hard Brighton, they grinded out 3 points in a manner which will help them in the run in. If they win this Saturday and then they can take a two week break to have a breather. Palace have individual talent so you like to see them have a go at Anfield and treat this as a free swing.
Man United 3-0 Brighton
David De Gea produced the goal-keeping performance of the season at Wembley. As expected, this week the talk is of Solskjaer getting the job permanently. I still think you need to assume the United board would have discussed what would happen if the interim manager does well? Do they let that cloud their long-term viewpoint, say, for example, Pochettino? Being caretaker boss is a different job criterion to the gig full time. I make the Red Devils the favourites to get top 4 now, their momentum is going in the opposite direction to us.
Newcastle 0- 1 Cardiff
Nightmare game for the Toon. The city is so passionate about football just to see their name under that red line will make Saint James Park apprehensive and hard for the players to play in front of. Credit to Rafa for refusing to talk anymore about the ownership issues, realising it’s not lifting the mood. Neil Warnock can use the negativity to his advantage.
Southampton 2 -1 Everton
I know they won but there was something quite worrying about Everton last weekend. They treated Bournemouth at home like it was a cup final. Whether it be Silva being warned on the bench, 5 yellow cards or the crowd, it is clear the pressure is getting to them. Silva is hardly giving off the impression of a man in control or confident he will achieve the club’s ambition. Be interesting if they concede the first goal, if they had last Sunday you felt they would have sunk.
Watford 2-1 Burnley
Burnley somehow won their last game without having a shot on target. They will need to play better to get a result here, but Sean Dyche will be pleased to see his men showing some resilience again, you feel they have gone back to basics. Watford are currently the best of the rest, but the next step is to cope with expectation of winning these games
Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea
Strangely I get least concerned about these types of games then us playing at West Ham.
It would be very Arsenal-like to play well this weekend but ultimately, I don’t think we will finish in the top 4, we always have that random away performance in us. By the time we kick off, Man United could be ahead of us and only 3 points behind Chelsea, meaning a nervous atmosphere round the Emirates. We need a defender, they need a striker in the last week of January. Sarri seems to be demanding signings, Emery just looks like a yes man.
Sunday
Huddersfield 0-4 Man City
City could kick off 7 points behind Liverpool but if they could have picked an away fixture for today it would be this one now that Huddersfield have no manager. The task for Pep is to ensure his players don’t assume this will be too easy. Wagner leaving affects Huddersfield is devastating more than just the short term. In an era where managers are strictly coaches, Wagner’s personality meant he had a massive input on the day to day running of the club. It’s a blow as they were set up where relegation was prepared for only as a worst-case scenario, believing they had the man to take them straight back up. Players would have stayed under him in the Championship.
Fulham 1-3 Spurs
Harry Kane is out till March, Son must go to the Asia Cup. That will affect Spurs but probably not this Sunday. It will encourage the Cottagers and give them hope but defensively it will be asking too much. I didn’t see Spurs as title contenders anyway but not having Kane will cost them in the other cups.
Dan Smith
I believe Arsenal players would be more motivated to beat Chelsea, compared to when playing against teams like West Ham, Brighton, Southampton, etc
They are usually pumped up when facing a top team like Tottenham, Liverpool and Man United, but they seem to be demotivated when facing a low or mid-table team
It might be because the lack of prestige/ excitement in those types of games or maybe because they tend to underestimate the poorer teams. Arsenal should force their players out of their comfort zone
I hope you guys won’t hit the floor hard if we lose that game….I’m not in any way excited about any league match, to me now the excitement only comes when it’s a competitive Europa league game or the FA cup.. Top four seems dead and gone to me long ago, so sorry I ain’t excited about the game, and I have no expectations either, if we win the cool, if we lose, still cool
Top four is difficult to achieve due to Arsenal’s unstability, but it is definitely still possible, if Arsenal keep winning in the rest of their EPL games
gotanidea I know it’s possible but the chances of that happening is equivalent to the chances of Ned Stark coming back from the dead.. Not with the first 3 teams on the above us delivering good games weekly and then you have Chelsea who keep trying not to drop points, and a resurgent Man Utd beating playing good football and on same points with us, and then you have us, who seem to have no style of football or know what we’re doing
how would we manage to do that??
I see Arsenal can win this game for sure??
Normally I’d be satisfied with a draw with Chelsea even at Home. They are a top side
But with our recent loss, I want to win this badly.
And I think we can
We will win. spurs will loose with Son, Kane and Moura out.
We can win this one if Emery plays the right players in the midfield. Players like Ozil, Torrera and Xhaka, and not those small boys Guendozi and Miles. Chelsea is a top side, and any mistake on our side, and they will bite us. Arsenal have been playing badly of recent, and this huge match is the right time to sit up. Maybe a 2-1 win for us ,but I am not very optimistic.
Please don’t play Ozil, we don’t want scape goat when we are thrashed by Chelsea.
Havana you beat me to it bro??…
Folks on here will murder Ozil if he plays and we end up losing that game without caring if it’s his first game back since Nov..
Any game Ozil plays, and we lose, automatically because he’s on 350k a week, it’s Ozil’s fault he didnt step up to Score, assist and defend, so we lost..
After all he’s a lazy player and the hardworking players have gotten us into the top 3, playing Ozil will be senseless
Well why exactly is he paid 350K a week then if not to turn up and make the difference? I see though you have your excuses ready and that is he has not played since Nov. If that is what will make him underperform as we most likely expect him to (including yourself) then by all means let him continue sitting on the bench and play him in the smaller, easier games he can manage.
PH it’s not been up to 30 minutes and there you’ve popped up with the miserable 350k tag.. this is exactly why I say no matter what you guys will no see good out of Mesut Ozil.
He should be sold, I have no problem with that but to tell you how bitterness has infected you lot, you can’t make a statement or critic without mentioning how much he’s earning. I suppose it’s Ozil’s fault his salary was raised to 350, I suppose it’s his fault Torreira wasn’t given 350k. Is is bitterness coming from the fact that this guy earns a lot compared to what any of us on here earn? Because seriously you can’t make any critic without adding 350k.
Like I’ve said according to you guys on here, since he earns that amount, he’s meant to step up and score, assist, defend on the whole pitch, he’s even expected to be the goal keeper in games..so any game we lose is his fault..
the match hasn’t started, I pointed out what exactly will happen if the match starts and before I say Jack Robinson you’ve already started it before it’s even Match day.. how pathetic can human beings be
Ok first of all, am not the bitter one, you are. Secondly, Ozil did not stumble upon his wage, he grabbed the board by it’s balls and extorted that contract out of them. So please spare me this “Ozil is holier than thou and is only a victim” nonsense. He demanded big boy wages and now must give back big boy performances. As for being pathetic, I see no point in trading insults with you Eddie so I’ll let that one slide, just for today though.
Quantic Dream, you are very bitter man indeed! Your bitterness will kill you.
Forget about the haters, Ozil will always prove them wrong. I want to remind them, his class earned him 350k per week. Or he bribed Kroenke, Gazidi, and Wenger to earn that? You lot have been complaining players being used out of positions but for Ozil he must play well every position, including defending and goalkeeping. Double standard!
Eddie, it is okay for Ozil to be forced out of the team for tactical reason even when the tactics are not working. In fact it is his fault that the tactics are not working. QD doesn’t have any other line to drive his argument home ref Ozil other than his 350k wages. The fact is that compare to what Chelsea put on Morata is nothing( 70m transfer fee plus over 200k in wages ). Assuming he was allowed to go free, the cost of replacing him will be much more than what he is earning. That had being said several times here but yet we won’t see the end of it.
Mobella, Ozil should be sold definitely I have no doubt about that, he has been forced out of the team for tactical reasons, and still yet our tactics ain’t working and we play like a clueless team and according to you again it’s Ozil’s fault our tactics ain’t working? or am I missing something?
and good thing you brought the Morata example, with how much Chelsea has invested in him and how they want new striker as we all know, I haven’t seen close to half of Chelsea fans saying stuffs like they spent 70million on a flop and he gets paid 200k weekly, but why is everything always different with Arsenal and its fans??
Like you said
“doesn’t have any other line to drive his argument home ref Ozil other than his 350k wages.”
Doesn’t seem to me like an argument if that’s the thing then, having nothing to drive at other than how much someone earns sounds like being unhappy someone is earning that much.. I couldn’t give a fück about how much Ozil or Iwobi earns as long as they both contribute and bring good play to the team, we don’t see people calling for Sanchez’s head every time because of his salary, controversy and negativity seems to be an Arsenal thing
“how pathetic can human beings be”
okay first of all I don’t intend to trade insult with you and I won’t, I don’t fancy doing that, most people know me on here…secondly term I used was not singular, there’s an ’S’ to the beings..
And thirdly last thing I am is bitter, I criticize Players when they play bad, but never in my life have I used their wages as an excuse, even all the while that criticized Litchsteiner, I have never pointed out as to why he’s earning 90k or Iwobi or any other player for that matter..
The issue here is how constantly each and everyone of you can’t make a critic or Straight point about Ozil without including ‘350k’ as if there’s some sort of vendetta just because he earns that amount, can’t we all discuss football and analyse our games without mentioning how much a player earns??
lastly, If Ozil demanded a big boy salary that’s because he’s a big boy, one of the footballers to have one of the biggest fan base on the planet on different social media platform who is not A model as the likes of Bellerin or Giroud, but who got his fans based on his abilities alone..
the likes of Puma, and Adidas ain’t paying us millions to have Guendouzi or Xhaka, Iwobi to model their kits, it’s players like Ozil and PEA alongside a few others…
why you folks cant make a point or straight argument without adding how much he earns is already getting tiring and annoying
Looking through the comments you were actually the first one to bring up the 350k on this article Eddie, then throw your toys out the pram when others mention it too. Relax, take a deep breath and remember we’re all just sharing opinions here, don’t make them true or set-in-stone facts just opinions, that includes yours and mine as well. I agree with you on one thing though, Ozil should get far away from Arsenal, I’m starting to hate what he’s doing to the fan base, same thing that wenger did. He’s certainly not worth the division he’s creating, especially not on the field lol I had to ?