Dan’s EPL Predictions WK17 – Man City regain Top Spot – Arsenal stay in touch?

Saturday

(12.30) Man City 2-1 Everton
All eyes are on City to see how they respond to a defeat. As good as they are, it’s not easy when weekly you are told how great you are and then suddenly things go against you. How did we respond when our ‘Untouchable’ sequence came to an end? They also have the pressure of all expectation being on them, knowing Liverpool seem to be the media’s darlings. Considering all of the above, Everton are not an ideal choice to be heading to the Etihad.

15.00

Crystal Palace 2-1 Leicester
Palace need to repeat their last home performance against Burnley, a level they have failed to match away. With the atmosphere generated at Selhurst Park they need to make the place a fortress. Leicester are starting to look like this year’s bag of revels. Which Foxes will show up? You wouldn’t be shocked if they won 3-0 or lost 3-0.

Huddersfield 1-0 Newcastle
Newcastle is like a movie we seen before. It was always a case of Mike Ashley only getting away with his annual announcement to sell the club if they beat Wolves. A loss and suddenly the Geordies are depressed again, no faith that their owner will invest In January if he is looking for a buyer. The irony in them playing Huddersfield is there is no excuse for the Terriers to have flexed their financial muscle more than the Toon, yet the reality is David Wagner’s club on and off the field are more organised.

Spurs 3-0 Burnley
Spurs are no doubt planning to release a DVD regarding their ‘historic’ DRAW in the Nou Camp. Sometimes you need luck and they were fortunate to face Barca at time when they had won the group. Still, zero sympathy for Inter Milan, the Italians only had to beat PSV at home and then wouldn’t have had to worry about results elsewhere. So again, the media are talking up our London rivals, making next week’s Derby intriguing. They will be too confident for Burnley. Anyone else noticing they are beginning to struggle to sell out Wembley?

Watford 3-1 Cardiff
Cardiff winning their last home games means they are on a points total Neil Warnock will view as ahead of schedule. That takes the pressure off this type of fixture, as it will be the form in Wales which will keep them up or not. Watford should have too much quality, but can they deal with the tag of favourites?

Wolves 3-1 Bournemouth
I thought Wolves were lucky to win at Newcastle, in general not making their man advantage count. So, they still need to prove that their attitude can be right for the lesser games and not just when they face the big boys. Eddie Howe plays in a way where it will allow the home side’s flair players to express themselves.

(5.30) Fulham 2-2 West Ham
Two sides better on the attack then at the other end who will identify each other as beatable. This is the type of game Fulham just need to go for, they have the talent to outscore the opposition. They are not good enough to park the bus like they did at Old Trafford which is why Claudio Ranieri was so angry, they set themselves up to lose with their approach. With the talent the Hammers have I still think they should be taking more initiative in these type of encounter

Sunday

(13.30) Brighton 0-1 Chelsea
Chelsea’s win against the champions was rightfully overshadowed by the behaviour of some of their fans, something which carried on In Europe in midweek. As for their players last weekend could be a turning point. People were watching to see if they would respond to Sarri after his first bad spell. It’s funny how one win and suddenly he’s a tactical genius for moving Kante foreword and not playing a striker when before he was being criticised for it.

(13.30) Southampton 1-2 Arsenal
Wish we had this trip two weeks ago when Mark Hughes was still in charge. Now there’s always the danger the Saints will benefit from the buzz of having a new manager. Their new coach has had a whole week to implement his ideas, but things have been so bad for so long at St Mary’s that it might take him a while to fix things.

(4.00) Liverpool 1-1 Man United
It’s Liverpool’s turn to play after Man City this weekend. Whatever people want to say about Man United they are not a side you want to face in a must win game. That this has become a fixture that the home side might take lightly underlines how far United have fallen. You wouldn’t put it past Jose to get a result out of nowhere. Fans will not accept parking the bus at Anfield and if their players can’t care enough to play for the shirt on Sunday, they never will.

Dan Smith