EPL 23/24 - Week 4

 Sheffield Utd v Everton - Home

Brentford v Bournemouth - Home

Burnley v Tottenham - Draw

Chelsea v Nott Forest - Away

Man City v Fulham - Home

Brighton v Newcastle - Draw

Crystal Palace v Wolves - Away

Liverpool v Aston Villa - Draw

Arsenal v Man Utd - Home

The current clashes between Arsenal v Man Utd will never match the intensity or heights of the Ferguson and Wenger era but the motivation is still well and alive for both teams as they try to usurp the title from Man City's grasp this year. Both have started the season rather tepidly while one would have thought they would be off the starting blocks with pomp. While they boast 2 wins out of 3 outings, the Gunners seem to lack the fluency and gusto that made them appealing as a team last season. They would then be going all guns blazing to overwhelm their adversaries. Struggling to beat so-called minows such as Nott Forest and Crystal Palace and not being able to overcome 10-men Fulham at home seem to indicate that something is amiss with the Gunners at the moment. Maybe the return of striker Jesus will help in the attacking department. Man Utd have been equally disappointing as they struggled to beat Nott Forest and Wolves at home and suffering a deserved defeat against Tottenham. While they overly counted on Rashford last season to bail them out, the England striker has started very quietly this time. Given the Red Devils' poor current form, I see it worthwhile going for a home win here; if the Gunners score early, the visitors could be in for a long day.

Win: Arsenal 

EPL 2022/23 - Week 28

 Man City v Liverpool - Home

Bournemouth v Fulham - Home

Arsenal v Leeds - Home

Brighton v Brentford - Draw

Crystal Palace v Leicester - Home

Nott Forest v Wolves - Home

Chelsea v Aston Villa - Draw

West Ham v Southampton - Home

Newcastle v Man Utd - Home

Everton v Tottenham - Draw

Roy Hodgson is back at the helm at Palace and like so often is the case, a win could very well be bestowed to the team playing under the manager's first outing. The Eagles were simply horrible to watch under Vieira lately and having only one shot on goal in their last 5 matches was simply atrocious to watch. You can be sure that they will have more than one shot on goal against the visiting Foxes. Although they haven't been playing badly, Leicester are on a poor run at the moment and manager Rodgers looks to be on his way out sooner than later. Gone are the days where the Foxes were a nuisance to any team in the league; they look set to fight in the relegation zone from now on, unless the squad gets a complete overhaul, which is unlikely to be the case. I see the home team edging this one.

Win: Crystal Palace

EPL 2022/23 - Week 22

 West Ham v Chelsea - Home

Arsenal v Brentford - Home

Crystal Palace v Brighton - Away

Fulham v Nott Forest - Away

Leicester v Tottenham - Home

Southampton v Wolves - Home

Bournemouth v Newcastle - Home

Leeds v Man Utd - Away

Man City v Aston Villa - Home

If there is a team right now with no danger of going down but whose manager is in a very precarious position right now, it is Chelsea. Harry Potter seems to have used all of his aces and if things don't improve for the Blues, there is no doubt that he is due for the sack not too long from now. The fact that the new owners have doled out a lot of cash to get new recruits but also have looked pretty trigger happy to effect changes are enough to suggest that they are most probably searching for Potter's replacement already. Let's face it as we saw it earlier in the season; the job was probably too big for the former Brighton manager and there is a mountain of difference and expectations between the 2 clubs. I have reservations seeing the Blues going as relatively strong favourites for their visit at West Ham. David Moyes' men have shown some resilient form in recent weeks and at their best will give the visitors all they can handle. Moyes has a good record against Chelsea and it would be no surprise at all if he can conjure up an upset this Saturday. At current odds, West Ham can be taken to win outright.

Win: West Ham

EPL 2022/23 - Week 19

 

Man Utd v Man City - Home

Brighton v Liverpool - Away

Everton v Southampton - Home

Nottingham Forest v Leicester - Home

Wolves v West Ham - Home

Brentford v Bournemouth - Home

Chelsea v Crystal Palace - Home

Newcastle v Fulham - Home

Tottenham v Arsenal - Draw

I mentioned a while back that Chelsea might have commited folly replacing a Champions League winning coach like Tuchel with the unproven Potter. Seems the results of the past few gameweeks are indeed showing that Chelsea have embarked on the wrong path and unless their results start improving drastically, he might be out the door sooner than later. The coming of Crystal Palace give the Blues a first-rate opportunity to get back to winning ways and I think they will. Against Fulham in mid-week, Chelsea seemed buoyed by new arrival Felix until the loanee got sent off in the second half which led to their defeat. Crystal Palace are a team playing with little confidence at the moment and this should end up in a much-needed 3 points in the bag for the home team.

Man Utd are in hot form and their Derby against Man City will put their title credentials to the test. Rashford is playing with supreme confidence, bagging goals from everywhere. Martial is due a goal soon and wouldn't surprise me if he is on the scoresheet (if he plays). Rivals Man City are still the favourites to land the league title again although the gap with Arsenal is starting to get worrying. They lost to Southampton in mid-week and I have a feeling that all is probably not right in their setup at the moment. Still, they never go beaten in advance particularly with striker Haaland leading the charge. I believe this will end in either a draw or the home team edging this.

Win: Man Utd, Chelsea

EPL 2022/23 - Week 18

Brentford v Liverpool - Home

Arsenal v Newcastle - Away

Everton v Brighton - Home

Leicester v Fulham - Home

Man Utd v Bournemouth - Home

Southampton v Nottingham Forest - Away

Leeds v West Ham - Home

Aston Villa v Wolves - Home

Crystal Palace v Tottenham - Home

Chelsea v Man City - Away

Arsenal have opened a 7-point gap at the top and the way they are playing, they will take some stopping. They have a huge nugget this week against upcoming powerhouse Newcastle. Although the Magpies fired blanks against Leeds, they are by no means push-overs; they have the team to frustrate the strongest teams particularly on their travels. This is going to be a major test for the young gunners and it will give them a world of confidence to keep striving at the top if they pass this. I believe this is going to be a close one and wouldn't be surprised if the visitors nick it in the end.

West Ham are on a bad losing streak and it wouldn't be a surprise if manager Moyes is given the boot to change the club's fortunes. Leeds will be buoyed by their excellent draw at Newcastle and can certainly compound the visitors' misery. The Peacocks have been involved in a few high-scoring matches and I can see them outscoring a Hammers team that has been mainly hurt by their inability to find the net consistenly of late.

Win: Newcastle, Leeds

EPL 22/23 - Week 8

 

Arsenal v Tottenham - Home

Bournemouth v Brentford - Away

Crystal Palace v Chelsea - Home

Fulham v Newcastle - Draw

Liverpool v Brighton - Home

Southampton v Everton - Home

West Ham v Wolves - Draw

Man City v Man Utd - Home

Leeds v Aston Villa - Away

Leicester v Nott Forest - Away

The jury is out on Graham Potter's move to Chelsea. For all the goodwill the ex-Brighton manager has accumulated in the past good years with the Seagulls, he has to convince his critics that he can manage a big team. I mean, the risks are enormous for Chelsea, dumping a proven UCL winner in Tuchel and replacing with an upcoming manager that has won nothing. Time will tell and Potter will definitely need time to settle in, so at this point, it might be worth going against Chelsea as well as Brighton, who will have to adapt to their new manager.

With that said, I think Crystal Palace look good value against visiting Chelsea. The Eagles have shown good form since the start of the season and Vieira seems to have some good managerial aptitudes. The hosts are certainly not easy to break down and they are bound to have chances against a team working on a new system. Looks worth going with an outright Crystal Palace win.

I like the way Southampton has risen from a difficult start as they are a young team playing some catching football. Obviously, results do matter and the Saints will do with some dose of efficiency from the chances they create. Everton are on the upside as well but they still lack quality in all areas. I give Southampton home advantage here and they should be able to secure full points against the Toffees.

Win: Crystal Palace, Southampton

EPL 22/23 - Week 6

Everton v Liverpool - Away

Brentford v Leeds - Draw

Chelsea v West Ham - Draw

Newcastle v Crystal Palace - Home

Nott Forest v Bournemouth - Home

Tottenham v Fulham - Draw

Wolves v Southampton - Away

Aston Villa v Man City - Away

Brighton v Leicester - Home

Man Utd v Arsenal - Home

The visit of Man City can certainly spell the end of Steven Gerrard's Villa career as it would be interesting to see how the American owners take in another loss for the Villains. The visitors have started the season brightly, led by their new striker Haaland. The EPL has seen dominant strikers like Shearer, Van Nistelrooy and Henry to name a few, but Haaland looks on a par or even higher level. He's only just 22 but it seems he's ready to destroy all in front of him. He might be the missing piece for the all-elusive Champions League for the Citizens. I cannot see anything other than a visitor win at Villa Park.

Liverpool was oh-so-lucky to get full points against Newcastle in mid-week. They certainly are staggering along at the moment and not playing their flowing football of recent past. They are missing Mane, Salah looks off-form and Milner and Henderson are hardly world-beaters in midfield. That said, Klopp's men have been relishing the Merseyside derbies of late and Everton simply have not had the team to match them in recent years. It's hard to see any change to that trend in Saturday's early kick-off and Everton will be hard-pressed to get a point from that match. I think the Kops will edge this by the odd goal.

I have been pleasantly surprised by Southampton's play of late. I mentioned they would beat Chelsea in mid-week which they duly obliged. I thought they had enough chances to snatch a draw in their defeat by Man Utd in the previous match. All in all, the team is young and looks on the ascendancy. They can surprise Wolves at the Molyneux. I thought the Wanderers were disappointing not to beat a diminished Bournemouth team on wednesday and they are having problems clicking up-front. Going for a Saints win could offer good value here.

Win: Liverpool, Man City, Southampton