Reuters
ON A ROLL: Chelsea’s Diego Costa is congratulated by teammates Gary Cahill, left, and John Terry after scoring in a friendly against Real Sociedad.
I didn’t fair too well a couple of weeks ago as a few results didn’t seemingly go as they should have, depending on your point of view. But after the first international break, the EPL is back on this weekend with some more tasty matches.
Arsenal v Manchester City
Both teams are coming off rather disappointing round 3 results where Arsenal drew with Leicester away, and Man City suffered a shock loss to Stoke at home. Both teams are in need of a win to stay in touch of a seemingly well-oiled Chelsea attacking outfit.
This is a tough game to call. Despite City’s loss last round, they looked very good in their opening first two round wins. And Pellegrini is certainly going to want more from his players this time around. As will Arsene Wenger.
After three mediocre performances, this is definitely the game for Arsenal to start lifting their performance. Form suggests a City win. And that’s what I’m going to go for.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Arsenal (but i hope im wrong).
Chelsea v Swansea
A top of the early season table clash. Chelsea, off a once-in-a-season result against Everton (6-3), and Swansea, off a 3-nil wiping of West Brom, are leading the EPL with three wins each.
But we’re at Stamford Bridge this weekend, and Swansea hasn’t played a top five team from last season yet. This will certainly test them.
A win for Swansea will be simply awesome for the EPL in terms of teams outside the main five putting up some great results, but when you see who they’re playing you can see that Chelsea are on a mission, and they will not be looking to allow these Swansea upstarts to spoil it for them. Chelsea will win this comfortably.
Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Swansea
Crystal Palace v Burnley
From the top of the table, to the bottom. Only one point each for these two, and they are both struggling for different reasons. Palace seem to have the better scoring ability so far and I’m picking them to win at home.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 3-1 Burnley
Southampton v Newcastle
Newcastle are still struggling to register a win. Goals were not a problem last week against Palace, but staying in front was as they conceded a late equaliser to end with a 3-3 draw.
Southampton on the other hand, buoyed by their win in round 2, visited West Ham and walked away with a resounding 3-1 victory. So with Newcastle still struggling to find a winning way, I pick Southampton to claim 3 points.
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Prediction: Southampton 1-0 Newcastle
Stoke v Leicester
Another draw for Leicester against a top form team, and Stoke’s shock win against Manchester City at Emirates gives us a pretty good encounter here.
Stoke have been sub-par so far, but showed some grit in their away win last round. And Leicester showed that Arsenal still aren’t up to scratch yet, drawing 1-1.
With Stoke at home, they’ll be rapped with their win last round and Mark Hughes will be looking for another result this weekend. I think he’ll get it.
Prediction: Stoke 2-1 Leicester
Sunderland v Spurs
The two teams that performed disappointingly last round. Sunderland handed QPR their first win of the campaign, and Spurs were totally out-played by Liverpool.
Both teams are going to need to lift their game if they want to achieve their goals for the season.
Prediction: In terms of ability, I’ll give this game to Spurs by 2 or 3 goals.
West Brom v Everton
Again, we have two teams that lost in round 3. West Brom were beaten by Swansea, and Everton were the other team in an extremely memorable game against Chelsea, where five goals were scored in a blistering 10-minute period in the second half.
West Brom need to win to get their season rolling, and Everton need the win if they are to challenge for a top five spot again.
Prediction: Everton by a couple.
Liverpool v Aston Villa
After getting thumped by Manchester City, Liverpool came back with a vengeance, dealing to a sluggish Spurs in similar fashion. And with Balotelli back in the EPL for the merseysiders, expect more goals from them up front this season.
Villa have had a pretty good start to the season, with two wins and a draw, but the one thing that’s still worrying for them is their lack of goals. Three goals in three games. Although they have only conceded one so far, I doubt they’ll be able to contain this strong Liverpool unit.
Prediction: Liverpool by 2 or 3.
Man United v QPR
With the most expensive squad in EPL history, Van Gaal needs to start finding results. Di Maria looked sharp and very quick against Burnley, and is exactly what United need in terms of central midfield pace and go forward. And with Radamel Falcao from Monaco joining, they now have three international strikers on the books.
QPR will be the first team to tell you that their win over Sunderland was unexpected. But a win’s a win, and you need points to stay in the EPL, so good on them for getting it early this time around.
Man United NEED this win. If they don’t win, I suspect fans, including this one, are going to start questioning the money that’s being spent this season. To be fair, I already am.
Prediction: Man United to win by 2.
Hull v West Ham
Two more teams coming off losses in round 3. Hull to Villa 2-1, and West Ham at home against Southampton, 1-3. Both managers, especially old Sam, will be disappointed by those results and looking for a major lift this weekend.
Sam’s job still isn’t safe, and his team need to start showing some consistency. Hull, more of the same. Both teams have weakish midfields that allow oppositions through too easily at times and they need to tighten that area up.
On paper, I feel these are two evenly matched teams at the moment, so this result could go either way.
Prediction: I think that West Ham have slightly better finishing power than Hull, so I’ll give it to them by a goal.
And from that, I can only hope that my selections are better than they were last round. Enjoy your football.
STUFF NATION
