Dan’s EPL Predictions WK13 – Can Arteta fixed Arsenal’s tactics against the Saints?

EPL Predictions WK13 By Dan Smith

I thought I would give my midweek EPL predictions, but let me stress this is not part of the predictions League as I thought it wasn’t enough time to give warning.

Heads up though, we will be predicting all games for the Xmas period.

As I know, people, including the editor, will be busy over Xmas but feel free to email me via JustArsenal and they will forward it to me, or leave a reply to this post…

Get ready for a few weeks of Klopp moaning about how many games are being played …..

Wolves 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea hit the woodwork a few times at Goodison and it was just one of those nights, nothing to worry about. Frank Lampard saying the squad is not ready for a title challenge is just him trying to keep his team under the radar. Wolves are still not prolific enough.

Man City 4-0 West Bromwich
Yes, the Manchester Derby was hard to watch but I have never seen a City team get such a hard time getting a draw at Old Trafford. People are saying it doesn’t look like the old City. Maybe that’s because your Vincent Kompany’s and David Silva’s don’t grow on trees?

West Bromwich struggled defensively the moment Newcastle decided to attack, so can’t see how they will cope at the Etihad.

Arsenal 1-2 Saints
We were told that moving to the Emirates meant we would compete with Bayern Munich. As I write this is December 2020, we are the underdogs at home to Southampton! (and you wonder why I question our owner).

There’s a lack of confidence at the moment and the only way that returns is by scraping a win somewhere and building from there.

I felt so sorry for Arteta on Sunday. The moment that red card was shown he knew that could cost him his job. Xhaka cost us, but I don’t want it to overshadow how poor we were either.

I don’t want him to, but Arteta will get sacked if his tactics to solve this remain as aimlessly crossing the ball into the box. Those who wanted Arsene Wenger out, how green is your grass right now?

Leeds 1-1 Newcastle
Comparing Bielsa’s ethos to Steve Bruce is like comparing coca cola with coke zero. Yet Newcastle have this habit of staying in games and finding ways to get results, plus it’s not hard to score against Leeds. Basically Bruce is good at what he does.

Leicester 3-1 Everton
What did I say at the weekend? If one ground with minimal fans could make a difference it would be Goodison. On another day though Chelsea would have took their chances. Both have strong XIs but not great squads to cope with the Xmas schedule.

Fulham 2-0 Brighton
Not renowned for having the most vocal of fanbases, I felt the 2000 Fulham fans made a difference as they held the Champions. They realise they have a young manager and a squad punching above their weight, who need every bit of encouragement. The advantage is, they won’t turn on their team like others near the bottom.

Liverpool 2-0 Spurs
Jose’s tactics worked against Chelsea and even Man City but parking the bus at Anfield? Eventually a Salah and Mane will punish you. I can’t cope with Spurs being top of the table on Xmas day!

West Ham 0-1 Palace
I never fancy West Ham when they are faves at home. I think their big pitch will suit the visitors’ counter-attacking football. Even if there are only 2000 at the London Stadium won’t take a lot for fans to start moaning.

Villa 1-0 Burnley
Burnley didn’t even have to be that good to win at Arsenal for the first time ever in the Premiership. While Sean Dyche claims his team are looking like their old selves, they will face a team on Thursday who won’t just cross the ball. The likes of Jack Grealish will actually take on his man and be creative.

Sheffield United 1-3 Man United
Well after their performance on Sunday no longer can Sheffield United keep claiming to be unlucky. Ole clearly had the mindset of avoiding defeat against City, then there is a winnable fixture on Thursday. It’s still strange to see Man United reach the standards where they are playing for a 0-0 at Old Trafford.

Still feel free to enter your EPL predictions, but remember this won’t count towards the League.

Be Kind in the Comments

Dan

58 Comments

    1. Im not going to be afraid to mention Mr Wenger name just because some don’t want to admit the truth
      Just like some in summer said Arteta was a better manager and shock , you never said don’t mention Wenger then ?
      Yeah he signed Xakha ?
      Xakha’s not the sole reason we are 15th

      1. Wengers loooong overdue stay, is what put us in this position from the beginning! I feel truly sorry for Arteta and what he has inherited from Wenger & Emery. I think it was brilliant that he actually stated that he has to bring in 5-6 players in different positions- that’s a reality check!

        1. Yeah, 4-6 players:

          Willian, Mari, Cedric, Partey, Runnarson… I guess he has one more to complete the recommended number.

          Clowns!

        2. This whole thing about.Arteta having to work with the old regimes players
          It’s just an issue our fan base has made up
          Unless your City or Chelsea your not going to get 23 new players
          Expecting a manager to work with players from a previous regime isn’t unique
          Let’s play a game
          Think of a manager and I bet you can list names he’s inherited and had to work with
          Top of my head ……Ole
          Grant , Henderson , De Gea , Jones , linderlof, Baily , Rojo, Shaw , Williams , Taunzbi, mata matic , pogba, lingard , Perreria, rashford , Martial
          And others
          So idea that you blame previous manager 2 years late r is odd

    2. Ferguson signed Anderson, Forlan
      Mourinho signed Sanchez, Baily, Lindelof, etc
      Guardiola signed Stones, Danilo, Nolito
      Klopp signed Loris Karius, Keita, Chamberlin

      Why do people always point at Wenger’s signings that did not work out as reasons he has to be blamed for arsenal’s present epic failure? No top coach has made more good (and ridiculously cheap) signings than Wenger. Tell us who signed William, Mari and Cedric or Pepe, Torreira, Sokratis and Luiz (It’s just only two and a half seasons and the number is already longer than “Wenger’s misfits”).

  1. We are losing but not getting hammered or battered like the Wenger years. I write so as the writer asked a question. Like to inform him that the seeds of downfall were sowed by Wenger. Xhaka, Ozil & his contract (no offence to Ozil, the boy was pampered by Wenger), Laca, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Elneny, Mavro seeds were sowed in the Wenger era , bloomed in the Unai era and the fruits are cultivated in Mikel era. With them i though we were playing Burnley Munich last weekend. How ironic we take S’ton’s Cedric and end up 15th, they sign our ex Theo and are 4th. Hats off to Ralph.

    1. The Gooners have forgotten how we played at the end of Wenger’s tenure. Our so-called creative playmakers recycled passes like a carousel without any guts to make defense-splitting through balls, to get to the byline and to cross

      Ozil broke the assist record at Arsenal by making plenty of crosses, but we tend to wait for through balls after that season. We are defensively better and able to make more incisive crosses/ through balls now, so we just need to fix our attackers’ problems

      1. Sorry it’s not a debate , it’s factual
        We have gone backwards since he left
        Sorry it’s not what you want to read

        1. I agree with you Dan to a degree, but I do believe if Wenger had stayed longer things would have got worse. He had to go. the results and the football were suffering!

          The biggest problem we had after Wenger left was the way the club went about rebuilding. It was all wrong. Wrong manager, bad contract situations and new the signings were either cheap or just plain wrong! Most of our signings just don’t have the right character, passion or belief to wear the shirt!

          Arsene Wenger will probably go down as the best manager in EPL history for what he done for modern football. Unfortunately, what he gave was learnt from the rest and his ideas faded as other teams improved. It was only natural that his success would ultimately become his demise. The sooner we all realise that Wenger can never be replaced the better though. We just need to hope and pray that the people pulling the strings at our beloved Arsenal know what they are doing. Even though it looks like they don’t! 🙁

          1. From 2015, Three teams improved – Leicester, Liverpool and Tottenham while other top dogs like Man U and Chelsea and Europa level teams like New Castle.

            This whole narrative that the leaugue is stronger is bullsh*t. Today’s Wolves is yesterday’s top 4 Everto, or Aston Villa. Shelfield was being used as evidence of the small teams becoming stronger, have they not reveresed to type? Their will always be “small teams” who have periods of good league position. It is nothing new.

            What has actually happened is a weakening of top 4 contestants. This explains why the Top 2 pull away while 66 points is enough to be 3rd. We forget that a “declining Arsenal” during a “less competitive EPL period” missed top 4 despite finishing the season with 75 points.

      2. This is complete lies and revisionism. Arsenal still played better football bar Man City (Liverpool were only more efficient). At home, Arsenal outclassed every team that visited the Emirates except City (15 wins, 2 draws and 2 loses – one of the loses being the battering of Man U that the final result defied logic). Arsenal were only poor away and even at that they were better than the opponents in many of the defeats, e.g. away at Stoke City where Arsenal outplayed them, scored and the goal was disallowed (that game was Arsenal’s highest possession (77.3%) since 2004).

        After the game the BBC wrote:

        “In truth, Arsenal could have already been well in command after a dominant first-half performance in which they had over 70% possession.

        Still without the injured Alexis Sanchez, the visitors forced Potters keeper Jack Butland into a string of a splendid saves, particularly from angled drives by Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck, while Arsenal’s players felt they should have been given a penalty when Bellerin burst into the penalty area.”

        There is no way Wenger stayed for a season or two more that he would not have sorted Arsenal’s midfield which was the area Arsenal got weaker rather than the defence ignorant pundits always point at. Arsenal had Kos, Nacho, peak Bellerin in defence. Midfield skills and organisation wasn’t as good as before with the loss of Carzola to long term injury.

    2. So we got battered every time? We must be the luckiest team to get to top four/top six every season by being battered. Oh wait, as far as I remeber, we didnt get scared by Watford and concede over 20 shots against them, or have 4 consecutive losses at home, did we?

    3. They were not 15th
      Were not losing games at home so much
      Were better to watch
      Also this argument that its Wengers players
      That’s not unusual for a manager to have to work with players from previous regimes , quite common in fact
      But equally
      Leno , Cedric , Sokertise. , Mari, Luiz , Guendozi, Torreria, Pepe, Suarez, Gabriel , Partey , Martinelli, Runnarson , Ceballos have all contributed to Arsenals worst prem finish and start …..none were brought by Mr Wenger

  2. Arteta’s 4-2-3-1 created many big chances at the Burnley game, but I think he assigned the wrong personnel. If I were him, I would’ve tried Nketiah/ Lacazette upfront, Ceballos/ Willian behind the center forward and Aubameyang on the left wing

    Wenger had his chances, but I believe he’s figured out his mistakes now. He unfortunately didn’t get any managerial job after leaving Arsenal, otherwise he could’ve gotten new ideas at another club

    Having said that, Arteta’s 4-2-3-1 would most likely be highly effective against Soton, if there’s no brain fart moment from the Gunners. Xhaka is crucial for his double-pivot formation, but Xhaka is obviously forcing to leave us in January

  3. I’ve never had believe in Arteta since the day of appointment. Experienced managers like Wenger and Emery were struggling to win the league, but they put Arsenal in better position. Then you expect a rookie to solve all these problems? It’s not all about tactics, but managing players on and off the field. Selection of starting 11 being based on merit. Playing the kind of style that Arsenal is used to. So, Arteta is not up to those challenges. In a nutshell, Arteta is on the verge of vacating the big seat and only time will tell

  4. Happy holidays to everyone!
    I hope the Gunners have better fortunes in the on field as well as off field issues, and come the New Year, we turn over a new leaf.
    My predictions-
    Wolves 0-2 Chelsea
    Man City 3-0 West Brom
    Arsenal 2-1 Southampton
    Sheffield 1-3 ManU
    Westham 0-2 Crystal Palace
    Aston Villa 2-2 Burnley

    Leeds 2-1 Newcastle
    Leicester 1-1 Everton
    Fulham 0-0 Brighton
    Liverpool 1-2 Spurs

        1. How depressing
          We used to moan about ‘only finishing 4th’
          Now fans are saying they have a weird feeling we might beat Southampton

        2. Me too. Like something will click. Seems most of our good runs have been broken by Southampton in recent years. I hope, for once that they be the team which break our bad spell this time.

        3. Lenohappy 🙂 Funnily enough I felt exactly the same way about Burnley, who knows maybe I jinxed it, so now I’ll keep schtum!!

  5. Dan, seeing as the fixtures are coming thick and fast, is this the only one that won’t be part of the predictions league? You’ll be kicking yourself if you score over 10 points this week!!

    1. I think so Sue
      My thought process was use today and weekend predictions to announce yes we are covering Xmas and then everyone had fair warning
      If I counted this one , would have given peeps less time/ some don’t read it , etc ( would have had complaints lol.)
      I never seen you get so angry sue as the weekend lol.

        1. Not really Sue
          I just accepted along time ago we won’t ever win title under current owner
          I was very much in the camp of when Wenger left , we will regret this
          If you remember in the summer I was trying to downplay fans who were getting carried away so maybe I just have become immune to disappointment
          Also though ( and this might be naive ) times like this we need to support the team and players
          Key to anything
          Don’t get carried away when things are going well
          Don’t get carried away when things are going bad
          I promise you Sue ,bad times don’t last forever

          1. Maybe Sue is right, Dan? Maybe we should take a leaf out of your book!👍🤔

            Historically speaking, these owners have no relevance to Arsenal other than being a sports franchise. As we all know though, franchises are purely about profit!!! 😭

          2. Trouble is Dan, I’m no good at hiding my anger or disappointment 😂 Although, believe it or not I’m not as bad as I used to be!!
            You’re such a calming influence – please be around tomorrow if we drop more points 😉 hahaha!!
            We have to take the rough with the smooth, just a bummer it’s all rough and no smooth right now… but as you rightly say – it won’t last forever!
            Thanks Dan 😊

  6. Wolves 0-2 Chavs
    City 3-0 Baggies
    Arsenal 2-2 Saints
    Blades 0-2 Mancs
    Hammers 2-2 Palace
    Villa 2-0 World-beaters
    Leeds 2-1 Barcodes
    Leicester 1-2 Toffees
    Fulham 1-0 Brighton
    Scousers 2-1 Spuds

  7. Merry Xmas all! 🙂

    After my flamboyant predictions last week (and not doing so well), I’m going for something a little more realistic (I hope)!

    Wolves 1-1 Chelsea
    Man City 4-0 West Brom
    Arsenal 1-1 Southampton
    Sheffield 0-2 ManU
    Westham 2-1 Crystal Palace
    Aston Villa 2-1 Burnley
    Leeds 2-2 Newcastle
    Leicester 2-0 Everton
    Fulham 1-0 Brighton
    Liverpool 3-2 Spurs

    Stay safe Gooners!!

    1. Wolves 1-1 Chelsea
      City 3-0 West brom
      Arsenal 1-0 Southampton
      Sheffield 0-2 United
      West Ham2-0 Palace
      Villa 2-0 Burnley
      Leeds 0-1 Newcastle
      Leicester 1-2 Everton
      Liverpool 1-2 spurs
      Fulham 1-0 Brighton

  8. Note to self. I won’t let Arsenal ruin Christmas for me. On that note, Happy Christmas everyone, if we lose to Soton tomorrow, better stay away from the games at Christmas then just for your own peace of mind. Hopefully things change quickly and on a positive note, xhaka and bellerin are forcibly out of the team, we just might see some improvements if Arteta grew a pair and dropped willian as well. Without further ado, my predictions are;
    Wolves 0-2 Chelsea
    Man City 2-0 West Brom
    Arsenal 2-1 Southampton
    Sheffield 0-3 ManU
    Westham 1-1 Crystal Palace
    Aston Villa 2-1 Burnley
    Leeds 1-1 Newcastle
    Leicester 2-1 Everton
    Fulham 1-0 Brighton
    Liverpool 2-1 Spurs

  9. Wolves 0 Chelsea 2
    Man City 3 West Brom 0
    ARSENAL 4 Southampton 1
    Sheffield 0 ManU 2
    Westham 0 Crystal Palace 0
    Aston Villa 2 Burnley 0
    Leeds 2 Newcastle 1
    Leicester 1 Everton 1
    Fulham 2 Brighton 1
    Liverpool 1 Spurs 0
    MERRY XMASS!!!

  10. Happy christmas everyone,disappointed that today’s prediction won’t count because i was hoping to make up ground on the pace-setters but lets see how the christmas season games goes&i realy hopes that Arteta have learnt some lessons from his past mistakes by dropping the under-performing players if not we are doomed because i don’t see the board sacking him so soon

  11. My predictions:Wolves 2-1 Chelsea Man cipy 3-1 West brom Arsenal 2-1 Southampton Sheffield united 1-0 Man u West ham 1-1 Crystal palace Aston villa 3-1 Burnley Leeds united 0-0 Newcastle Leicester 1-2 Everton Fulham 2-0 Brighton Liverpool 2-2 Tottemham

    1. Yeah soz mate
      I wanted to be fair
      Would only have given peeps a day and I think some readers only interact at weekends so would have been unfair

      1. I told you dan,i just got the chelsea score prediction correctly,maybe during the next round of matches i may struggle to get even 3points

  12. Wolves game(team sheets out so i wont predict😔)
    City 3-0 WestBrom
    Arsenal 3-2 Southampton
    Shf utd 0-2 Manutd
    Westham 2-1 Crystal palace
    Aston Villa 3-1Burnley
    Leeds 3-1 Newcastle
    Leicester 1-2 Everton
    Fulham 2-1 Brighton
    Liverpool 1-2 Spurs

  13. Pardon me to drop my predictions though Chelsea is currently playing. Arsenal 2 vs 0 Saints City 3 vs 0 West brom. Leicester 2 vs 1 Everton. Westham 1 vs 1 Palace. Leeds 2 vs 1 Newcastle. Aston villa 2 vs 1 Burnley. Sheffield 0 vs 2 Man-u. Fulham 1 vs 2 Brighton. Liverpool 2 vs 1 Spurs

  14. Hi missing the Tuesday match !
    Arsenal 3-0 Southampton
    Sheffield 0-2 United
    West Ham 1-2 Palace
    Villa 3-1 Burnley
    Leeds 1-3 Newcastle
    Leicester 3-2 Everton
    Liverpool 1-1 spurs
    Fulham 3-1 Brighton

  15. Arsenal 2-1 Southampton
    Sheffield 1-3 ManU
    Westham 1-2 Crystal Palace
    Aston Villa 3-0 Burnley
    Leeds 2-1 Newcastle
    Leicester 1-0 Everton
    Fulham 1-1 Brighton
    Liverpool 2-1 Spurs

  16. Arsenal 2-1 Southampton
    Sheffield 1-3 ManU
    Westham 2-1 Crystal Palace
    Aston Villa 2-1 Burnley

    Leeds 1-1 Newcastle
    Leicester 1-1 Everton
    Fulham 0-0 Brighton
    Liverpool 1-1 Spurs

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