Here is this week’s Premier League predictions from Dan. See what you think of them and leave your thoughts in the comments. Can Arsenal continue to move up the table while the Spuds drop further?
Fulham 3-2 Watford (12.30)
An exciting game to kick off the weekend. Two teams who play football the right way, both with a feel good factor around their clubs. I simply can’t see this being a 0-0…
Burnley 1-2 Cherries
Sean Dyche doesn’t get carried away when things are going well so won’t panic so early on in the season . He has a group of men he trusts and who have proved how good they can be. Nonetheless confidence can be a fragile thing.
The longer they go without a win, the more it effects them mentally. It could be a good time for Eddie Howe to take his men to Turf Moor
Crystal Palace 1-0 Newcastle
Rafa played into our hands last weekend the moment he handed his team sheet in. The world knows you can bully our defense yet he left Rondon and Shelvey on the bench. If your not going to show ambition at home, no guarantees you will on your travels either. I’m disapointed Zaha is complaining about a lack of protection from refs. The games very best get kicked all the time but get on with it. No need for the sense of entitlement.
Manchester United 2-1 Wolves
Not often I would suggest a newly promoted side should go to Old Trafford with no fear. Yet given their squad, there is no need for Wolves to have a negative approach. Enough investment has taken place where they have the individuals to give this ago.
Cardiff 0-2 a Man City
Recent history shows that Champions struggle to defend their title. You imagine if any manager has the obsessive attention to avoid complacency it would be Pep Guardiola. Yet that’s what happened against Lyon which is only going to refocus the Spaniard. He would rather them be complacent in the Champions League then the Premiership.
In Europe he has five games to make up for midweek, domestically he won’t want to give any more encouragement to Liverpool. If he thought Neil Warnock’s men were over-physical in a cup tie I can imagine what they will be like when battling for survival.
Leicester 3-0 Huddersfield
Huddersfield were so unlucky not to score last weekend that you have to wonder have they lost their beleif from last season? There won’t be many matches where the Terriers make so many chances. This Saturday they might only get a couple but who can they rely on to put them away?
Liverpool 3-0 Saints
Biggest threat to Liverpool this weekend is themselves. There’s such a momentumn round Anfield at the moment , the only danger is taking the Saints lightly. What’s so impressive about Klopp at the moment is you can see his players have all brought into his tactics.Yes they have a world class front 3 but none play like they are bigger then the team.
Brighton 2-2 Spurs (5.30)
Sir Alex Ferguson used to say the sign of a great manager was not when things were going well but when they were facing adversity. It’s a bad sign then, having lost 3 games on the trot for the first time, Pochettino reacted by attacking the media. Having charmed journalists for years, people are finally reporting on Spurs’s flaws. At this level, it’s not unusual to have to explain why you would leave two key defenders out of your squad, any top boss would expect the question to be asked. After a Champions Leauge loss, this is a nightmare game. An away trip, with questions being asked, which they are expected to win if serious about a title bid. Another big test of their mentality.
Sunday
West Ham 2-2 Chelsea
Apart from Hazard getting a rest, I’m surprised how strong Chelsea went in the Europa League, suggesting they havn’t got the depth of squad we have. This is not the fixture the Blues want after an away trip in Europe, especially given how West Ham performed last weekend. If they play like that again they can get a result but need to remain positive
Arsenal 2-1 Everton
Like last season we had a squad where we can field seperate elevens in Europe and the League, meaning Thursday -Sunday should not be an issue. Starting Aubameyang was a smart decision, as it will help his confidence in front of goal. Statistics suggest we are more effective when Torreira is on the pitch, leaving Gooners campaigning for him to get a start against the Toffees. He’s been good against opposition he should be good against, which is how to sum up Emery’s start. He’s won the fixtures he should win. The nature of Everton’s defeat to West Ham means their visit falls at a good time. They have the individuals to hurt us but can Silva get them to respond to a setback, something they didn’t do under previous regimes?
Some interesting predictions there Dan.. I’d love Brighton, Wolves & West Ham to win! And obviously us of course ? COYG
Interesting the Poch manages the spuds and also looks like a spud. For that reason I can see Brighton winning.
Arsenal struggled against Newcastle’s direct balls to their runners in the first half and I bet Everton would implement similar tactic
Therefore it would depend on whether Emery has a plan to contain Everton’s runners (Walcott and Richarlison) and set-piece scorers (e.g. Yerry Mina) or not
SO WALCOTT’S A RUNNER IS HE? PITY HE SPENT TWELVE YEARS WITH US WALKING, MUCH OF THE TIME, THEN!
He tried to run, Jon ?
But unfortunately Wenger did not instruct his team to play like a mediocre English team. Hence Walcott struggled, because he is pacey but lousy with the other skills
Luckily his successor, Nelson, seems to be better with dribbling and touches. Waiting to see the loan effect on him
He tried to run? I must have been blinking a lot in those twelve years then! I saw him walking a lot and hiding from the game and THAT is my abiding memory of this miserable coward. The most obnoxious con man ever to steal wages for nowt on return, who has ever worn our shirt. There have been many others but no one else who hung around(mostly injured) for twelve cheating(the fans and club) years. I loathe this man/boy, whom I have called Weed all his time at Arsenal.
He’ll likely score against us though, you know that!
For me, not unlike Ramsey, Walcott had one decent season when he was one of the main guys setting up RVP and he scored some as well. For the other seasons, he was a letdown.
I see no reason of us going un defeated till we face Liverpool. Our defense is weak but to compensate for it it we need to make sure to score lots of goals.
haha… Jon fox, nice bit of sarcasm with that walcott comment. Hoping for another winning performance from the lads on sunday, there’s a huge chance mhiki and torreira won’t feature but we can still win. COYG.
Pauladonis, Thanks for the comment BUT I call it plain truth, not sarcasm at all. Just could not stand even the sight of WEED WALCOTT WEARING OUR SHIRT AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS THAT. He was a coward and a cheat.
Seeing Liv on the rise makes me hate the Emirates move with Kroenke getting the keys. Wish we could of added more seats to Highbury instead.
But that was impossible, as we were crammed in by houses we had never had the foresight to buy , way back when house prices were cheap, in the seventies. There is a long standing myth about Arsenal ALWAYS being the first to innovate. It was true in Herbert Chapmans time and some time after too, but has long since vanished with the old buffer and intellectual pygmy directors we have had since the 1970’s. Long before Kroenke, who to be fair, would have had the foresight to have done just that, had he been around then. That is why HE is a multi billionaire and the other directors, over the last 45 years or so, just old school tie types. And if anyone EVER sees me praising Kronke again, you have my permission to shoot me as a mad dog!
Chelsea had emirate for years and they were mediocres until they changed the name. We might need to change from emirate to some other sponsor.