Invenire Football analyst George Crossfield returns with his predictions for this week’s set of Premier League fixtures, ahead of the huge Arsenal-Manchester United game. Chelsea are also fighting for a Champions League space. But who is George backing this week?
Crystal Palace vs Brighton and Hove Albion (Saturday 12:30)
Crystal Palace are in the middle of a great run of form right now, and I expect it to show here. Even though Brighton got that much-needed win against Huddersfield last week, I don’t think that they can get anything from this match, given that they are not currently in the relegation battle, and they have a game in hand.
George predicts: 2-0 to Crystal Palace
Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur (Saturday 15:00)
Tottenham will be happy with their result in the North London Derby, given that Arsenal missed a last-minute penalty, and that their own penalty was arguably not a penalty. I am expecting them to go and win here, but Southampton will push them all the way. We saw that when they visited Old Trafford: Southampton have got nothing to lose, they’re not expected to win. So they’ll give it a real go, but I don’t think they have it in them to stop Spurs.
George predicts: 2-3 to Tottenham Hotspur
Cardiff City vs West Ham United (Saturday 15:00)
Cardiff were absolutely destroyed by Wolves, but they’ll be looking to get back to winning ways after a recent spell of poor form. They need to start winning games very quickly, because there are only 9 games left, and if they keep losing games that they should win, they will definitely go down. But I don’t think they can beat West Ham. Beating Newcastle was a great achievement for them, and I expect them to do well here.
George predicts: 3-1 to West Ham United
Huddersfield Town vs Bournemouth (Saturday 15:00)
This is a tough one because Bournemouth’s away form is absolutely dreadful, but Huddersfield just can’t seem to get going. They win one game, then they lose the next one. Their belief of survival is slipping away. But they’ll keep going until the very end.
Personally, I don’t think that the Terriers can avoid the drop, but they’ll try. They’ll give it their all on Saturday. But I can see Bournemouth just edging this one.
George predicts: 0-1 to Bournemouth
Leicester City vs Fulham (Saturday 15:00)
Leicester and Brendan Rodgers especially were really unlucky against Watford last Sunday. But there’s no way they’re losing this one. With their home support behind them, they can move on from that disappointing loss and grab all 3 points today.
Fulham did much better than I thought they would against Chelsea. Their defence was much more organised to restrict Chelsea to only two goals, and they were creating some good chances that they maybe should have scored. But against Leicester away from home I can’t see them getting anything.
George predicts: 2-1 to Leicester City
Newcastle United vs Everton (Saturday 15:00)
Everton’s defence did well to keep out Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby, but most of that was just Liverpool’s wastefulness of chances. They had quite a few chances in that game as well, chances that they maybe should have scored. Newcastle will be looking to recover their form, and this is a tough one to predict. I think that home advantage will be the difference, but Everton will hold firm and not lose.
George predicts: 1-1
Manchester City vs Watford (Saturday 17:30)
City keep winning these games 1-0, and it makes it look like they played badly. But they didn’t! If you look at some of the stats from the Bournemouth match, it reflects City’s dominance: City had 82% possession. City had 23 shots (7 on target) while Bournemouth had 0 shots in the whole match. City had 14 corners, while Bournemouth had 0. It really shows how dominant they are against the smaller teams like Watford, and I expect them to win comfortably and keep the pressure on Liverpool in the title race.
George predicts: 3-0 to Manchester City
Liverpool vs Burnley (Sunday 12:00)
Liverpool really need to win this match. As we saw earlier in the season, they did much better when they were behind City, chasing them, than when they were in front of City, being chased. Burnley were doing well, but now they’ve lost two games on the bounce, and their confidence has been massively affected, as has Liverpool’s after slipping behind City. Liverpool should win this one comfortably, but you never know what’s going to happen!
George predicts: 2-0 to Liverpool
Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (Sunday 14:05)
If you look at Wolves’ home games, they do really well. Notably they drew with Man City, and they beat their opponents, Chelsea. But they are only quite good away from home. Chelsea are on a great run of form and I expect them to edge past Wolves here.
There is another factor in this match, and that’s the Europa League match: Chelsea will have only had two days’ rest before the match, while Wolves will have had one week to recover. Chelsea put out quite a strong team against Dynamo Kiev, so their team will be quite tired for this clash. But I still think they’ll narrowly win.
George predicts: 2-1 to Chelsea
Arsenal vs Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)
This is a crucial match in the top four race, but momentum is with Manchester united: what a win that was for them. They definitely did not deserve it, but they won’t care one bit, and it’ll have given them a huge boost going into this game. Arsenal were poor against Rennes, even if the hosts did have a numerical advantage. For me I can’t see anything but a Manchester United win, I would be very surprised if Arsenal get anything from this game, even if they do have the home advantage.
George predicts: 1-2 to Manchester United
Liverpool vs Burnley (Sunday 12:00)
Liverpool really need to win this match. As we saw earlier in the season, they did much better when they were behind City, chasing them, than when they were in front of City, being chased. Burnley were doing well, but now they’ve lost two games on the bounce, and their confidence has been massively affected, as has Liverpool’s after slipping behind City. Liverpool should win this one comfortably, but you never know what’s going to happen!
George predicts: 2-0 to Liverpool
Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (Sunday 14:05)
If you look at Wolves’ home games, they do really well. Notably they drew with Man City, and they beat their opponents, Chelsea. But they are only quite good away from home. Chelsea are on a great run of form and I expect them to edge past Wolves here.
There is another factor in this match, and that’s the Europa League match: Chelsea will have only had two days’ rest before the match, while Wolves will have had one week to recover. Chelsea put out quite a strong team against Dynamo Kiev, so their team will be quite tired for this clash. But I still think they’ll narrowly win.
George predicts: 2-1 to Chelsea
Arsenal vs Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)
This is a crucial match in the top four race, but momentum is with Manchester united: what a win that was for them. They definitely did not deserve it, but they won’t care one bit, and it’ll have given them a huge boost going into this game. Arsenal were poor against Rennes, even if the hosts did have a numerical advantage. For me I can’t see anything but a Manchester United win, I would be very surprised if Arsenal get anything from this game, even if they do have the home advantage.
George predicts: 1-2 to Manchester United
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