After being served up a Boxing Day feast the Premier League returns for seconds this weekend, with the race for the Predict360 league title certainly hotting up.
Defeats for Manchester City and Liverpool on Wednesday – and wrong predictions too from Obaydah and Darren – has allowed the chasing pack, including Moe’s Man Utd, to close the gap.
But how will they fare this weekend? Let’s find out our armchair experts predictions…
TED TOTSIDIS – @TedTots (Arsenal)
We played absolutely horrible football the entire match, yet managed to walk away from the DW with all three points. I then preceded to convince myself that that’s what all “good” teams do, right?
This week’s prediction: After two matches away, today we return to The Emirates to host our bogey team, Newcastle United. During the week Wenger came out and reassured everyone that even he feared Newcastle’s attack, which is a great way to go into this match. After the performance they put on at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, it would be hard to argue his point, however surely we should be able to contain them as a unit, no?
Too many rhetorical questions today. Anyway, what I know is that this fixture always delivers drama with a few goals and I think Giroud and Walcott will be amongst them, with Wilshere and Cazorla pulling all the right strings in the midfield. Arsenal 2-1 Newcastle
SHIVAM MANGHNANI – @ShivamLM (Chelsea)
What went wrong last week? The Norwich match was tighter than I expected but thankfully we got the vital three points needed. David Luiz once again excelled in midfield and playing him there could the best thing of Rafael Benitez’s Chelsea reign (only six months to go!).
Defensively we were solid and to win 1-0 after scoring eight the previous match shows that Benitez has instilled a lot of confidence into the side.
This week’s prediction: Onto the Everton game, Goodison Park is a difficult place to go to for any team but Chelsea haven’t won there away since 2008 when Shaun Wright-Philips started for the Blues so you wouldn’t blame me for being pessimistic.
But Benitez has a good record against Moyes and with Fellaini unavailable there is one less threat to our back four. With games coming thick and fast and still being without John Terry, this game will be a tough test for a squad that is very tired after globetrotting. I suspect it will go the same way as the Norwich game. But I am feeling optimistic. Everton 1-2 Chelsea
MARK SCHUMANN – @MarkSchuey (Everton)
What went wrong last week? Another three points for Everton to give us six in total over the festive period which is great. Thankfully this time around I at least got the result correct and missed out on a perfect score by one Everton goal!
This week’s prediction: A tough match this week against an in-form Chelsea team. With Fellaini still suspended I can’t see Everton winning, but wouldn’t it be great to get one over on the ex-Liverpool manager Benitez?! Everton 1-1 Chelsea
OBAYDAH AL-NAMER – @LFCArabia (Liverpool)
What went wrong last week? Poor defending cost us dearly and I was bemused by Rodgers’ unchanged line-up. I guess he was flattered by the display against Fulham, but when you play Stoke City you need warriors not primmadonnas. No one other than Suarez showed heart. I expect more from a Liverpool manager aiming for second!
This week’s prediction: We battered Fulham at the weekend, but on the other hand we get battered by Villa and Stoke either side. Liverpool need to improve quite dramatically. To be honest that transfer spree from last summer has set us back even further than I thought.
The team has no shape; defend deep and yet our attackers end up high up the pitch. Suarez works his socks off and no one follows suit or even supports him.
I’m not feeling too confident now but we have enough power to brush aside struggling and woeful QPR, don’t we Brendan? QPR 0-2 Liverpool
DARREN BALL – @AbuDhabiDaz (Man City)
What went wrong last week? Boxing Day was a disaster as we once again failed to beat Sunderland and lost to another controversial goal, which to make it harder to swallow was scored by Adam Johnson.
It was one of them days for City where we had plenty of chances to score but once again we decided the best tactic was to push the ball through the middle and look for those spaces that were simply not there. Width is needed in this team for us to generate the space in front of goal.
This week’s prediction: In this busy time for fixtures we go on another lengthy road trip to somewhere close to Holland and visit the Canaries.
A five hour road trip for the fans with inflated ticket prices is the talk surrounding this fixture rather than the actual game. City will welcome back Clichy and Nasri with Balotelli a possibility.
I think coming off a loss in the last game will fire up City to get the vehicle rolling again. So once again I have turned to the Fifa 13 game and played my son. He was City and I was Norwich. After 90 minute the result is he is much better than I am at that game! Norwich 0-3 Man City
MOHAMMED ANABTAWI – @MoeAnabtawi (Manchester United)
What went wrong last week? The most ultimate cliché applied to the 4-3 thriller at Old Trafford last week and that is it was truly a game of two halves. Michael Carrick and a 39-year old Ryan Giggs were immense. Cleverely changed the match upon his introduction into the second half and Valencia’s performance in the second half was a classic case of schizophrenia!
The hair dryer does miracles when Fergie fumes! Defensively, we were all over the place, no surprise there. The fact that we won, Man City lost and we are seven points clear will not hide anything. Fergie will want to bounce back defensively vs. West Brom.
This week’s prediction: Steve Clarke and West Brom have done a tremendous job this season hovering in the European places. West Brom are a very well organised side and it will be a tough one at Old Trafford.
With Rooney out for 2-3 weeks, we can only hope for the same sense of urgency we saw in that second half vs Newcastle to resurface. Fergie will be adamant to keep United at least seven points clear at top of the table by 9pm UAE time tonight.
With Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young back into the first-team, we can expect United to alternate attacks from the wings. We have the capabilities of coming out with a positive result. Ball possession is key and defensive concentration is vital. We need a clean sheet today. Nonetheless, I am hoping for a less stressful night at Old Trafford, but knowing Manchester United, we will never do things the easy way. Man Utd 2-0 West Brom
SIMON THURSTON – @SimonPThurston (Tottenham)
What went wrong last time out? I really thought following a thrashing in their previous outing, that Aston Villa would go out, make themselves difficult to beat, and try and frustrate Tottenham, hence my 2-1 prediction. But that didn’t happen.
Spurs dominated from the first minute to the last and ultimately the scoreline could have been far worse than 4-0. The Lilleywhites had to show a lot of patience on Wednesday. They dominated all phases of the game, but it wasn’t until the second half that they broke the deadlock.
And they’ll need a similar attitude against a workmanlike Sunderland team, who in the past month have become a different proposition entirely, and of course beat the champions and kept a clean sheet in their previous game.
This week’s prediction: Since the creation of the Premier League, Spurs have won 13 of the 22 meetings between the clubs, only suffering five defeats. After a shaky first quarter of the season, Martin O’Neill has instilled a renewed belief in his troops and I am sure Gareth Bale will not be afforded the amount of space he exploited three days ago.
Tottenham are likely to make some changes from the team that won at Villa to freshen things up, and Danny Rose won’t be eligible for Sunderland against his parent club. On a cold, wet afternoon in the North East it is not going to be easy. I expect a tight affair. Sunderland 0-1 Tottenham
CURRENT LEAGUE TABLE (after 14 rounds)
Liverpool (Obaydah) – 11pts
Man City (Darren) – 11
Man Utd (Moe) – 10
Everton (Mark) – 8
Tottenham (Simon) – 8
Arsenal (Ted) – 7*
Chelsea (Shivam) – 7*
*Game in hand
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