EPL Bites - Week 10

Rock-bottom Southampton have been knocking on the door for a big win lately and I believe they are prime to get one this weekend. How they lost to Leicester a fortnight ago remains a mystery as they looked really good for a full 3 points in that match. They were then beaten by the narrowest of margins against Man City in their next match, which can be considered a small victory coming out of the Eithad Stadium. I think the Saints can still beat the drop as they are far from rubbish but they just need the rub of the green at the moment. Visiting Everton have been on a good run lately after a dreadful start. They don't score much but they keep their matches close. If the Saints are not as profligate in front of goal as they were against Leicester, they can inflict damage to the visitors. They look good value for the win at current odds.

Win: Southampton

EPL 2022/23 - Week 30

 Aston Villa v Newcastle - Draw

Chelsea v Brighton - Away

Everton v Fulham - Home

Southampton v Crystal Palace - Home

Tottenham v Bournemouth - Home

Wolves v Brentford - Draw

Man City v Leicester - Home

West Ham v Arsenal - Away

Nott Forest v Man Utd - Away

Leeds v Liverpool - Away

Arsenal can make a big statement on the title this week-end as they travel to fellow Londoners West Ham. The Gunners haven't shown many signs of weakness lately as many thought they would capitulate in the title run-in. Last week's point at Liverpool can be seen as either gained or lost, depending on how you view the match. But one point at Anfield is always a good point to have. Against West Ham, the Gunners should have it easier and with the Hammers struggling for any consistency this season, an in-form Arsenal should bag the 3 all-important points and put it up to Man City to keep pace.

Win: Arsenal

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 12

 Nott Forest v Liverpool - Away

Everton v Crystal Palace - Draw

Man City v Brighton - Home

Chelsea v Man Utd - Home

Aston Villa v Brentford - Home

Leeds v Fulham - Away

Southampton v Arsenal - Home

Wolves v Leicester - Home

Tottenham v Newcastle - Draw

West Ham v Bournemouth - Home

Is Arsenal for real this year? The Gunners are certainly surprising leaders for many (including me) and are currently riding some fantastic form. The team is young and motivated and Arteta is pulling the right strings at the moment. Who knows how long this will last but they look to be the main threat to Man City's dominance of the league. Going to Southampton is not going to be an easy stroll for the Gunners. I persist into thinking that Southampton are worth better than their current14th position. They have a young team too and they often need that clinical last touch to make the difference in their matches. I wouldn't be surprised if they overcome the Gunners, who at some point in the coming weeks, will falter in my opinion. 

Win: Southampton

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

EPL 22/23 - Week 5

 Crystal Palace v Brentford - Home

Fulham v Brighton - Draw

Soton - Chelsea - Home

Leeds v Everton - Home

Bournemouth v Wolves - Away

Arsenal v Aston Villa - Home

Man City v Nott Forest - Home

West Ham v Tottenham - Draw

Liverpool v Newcastle - Home

Leicester v Man Utd - Home

West Ham have started the season poorly but their last away win at Aston Villa (previewed last week here) seems to have put them back on track. Surely, beating Villa is nothing to crow about these days but anything other than a win could have dampened confidence in Moyes' camp. On the other side, Spurs have started brightly and are still undefeated although they had a rather lucky draw at Chelsea a couple of weeks back. I think this match is heading towards a draw and if there is to be a winner, it will be the home team. So backing West Ham as a draw-no-bet or going for the draw look reasonable options.

I think the value this mid-week is Wolves as they visit Bournemouth. The latter have sacked manager Parker today, presumably off comments he made after their 0-9 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool on the week-end. With no-one to steer the ship, Bournemouth look vulnerable and are to be taken on. Wolves have shown great disposition of late and I liked their last away outing at Spurs where they were really on top for most of the match but lost to the decisiveness of the hosts. I see them as great value to beat the Cherries on Thursday.

Win: Wolves

Draw-no-bet: West Ham

Draw: West Ham/Tottenham

EPL 21/22 - Week 31

 Everton v Man Utd - Away

Arsenal v Brighton - Home

Southampton v Chelsea - Home

Watford v Leeds - Home

Aston Villa v Tottenham - Draw

Brentford v West Ham - Away

Leicester v Crystal Palace - Away

Norwich v Burnley - Away

Man City v Liverpool - Home

This might not be the title decider but it is definitely a 6-pointer that will give a massive boost to the winner of the Man City v Liverpool match. The Citizens will have home advantage although that might be a double-edged sword as that might actually put a greater chip on their shoulders. Form-wise, there is no contest that Liverpool have the edge although I really think that the time has come to hit the skids. I was mentioning previously that the Kops have forged out recent wins out of sheer will and luck and I don't think they will be able to maintain such cadence until the end. City have shown to be consistently good although they haven't been racking wins at the same rate, so they look the likelier to eke out a win here. 

Tomorrow's match at Goodison Park will be a good litmus test to know whether Man Utd are able to sustain the winning run needed to secure the 4th UCL spot that is seeming more and more elusive. It will also show whether I have been wrong in my assessment that they are too good to miss out on that final spot. Everton have been out-of-sorts with or without Lampard and if the Red Devils cannot capitalize on the home side's shortcomings, they will struggle against other teams until the rest of the season. I still think value to side one more time with the visitors here.

Win: Man Utd, Man City

EPL 21/22 - Week 30

 Liverpool v Watford - Home

Brighton v Norwich - Home

Burnley v Man City - Away

Chelsea v Brentford - Home

Leeds v Southampton - Away

Wolves v Aston Villa - Draw

Man Utd v Leicester - Home

West Ham v Everton - Home

Tottenham v Newcastle - Home

The title race has amazingly tightened and many pundits are actually tipping Liverpool to win it all. If that were the case, it would have been a monumental collapse from Guardiola's men as they seemed miles ahead just a few weeks back. I don't think they will bottle it though. I love it that the Kops have bridged the gap as backing City for the title has been made more affordable. Liverpool have been on a terrific run of late but even the hardest Kop fan will admit that they had a few lucky run-ins along the way. I think their challenge will peter out sooner than later particularly that Salah and Mane will be feeling the effects of their recent exhausting trips back home. I say back City to beat Burnley and for the title as well.

The race for fourth place is becoming more and more interesting and if Man Utd don't win it, they will only have themselves to blame. I think they are ripe for a serious run-in for the fourth spot but they have to make the difference on the pitch. It all starts against Leicester on Saturday and a comprehensive win is needed to show their serious credentials. I think they will show it.

Win: Man Utd, Man City 

EPL 21/22 - Week 29

 

Brighton v Liverpool - Away

Brentford v Burnley - Away

Man Utd v Spurs - Draw

Chelsea v Newcastle - Draw

Everton v Wolves - Home

Leeds v Norwich - Draw

Southampton v Watford - Home

West Ham v Aston Villa - Home

Arsenal v Leicester - Home

Crystal Palace v Man City - Away

Although they lost their last match against Newcastle, Southampton have one of the best form of recent weeks. They cannot be opposed as they host Watford, who look decidedly set for the drop. This should be a simple home win here.

I think Chelsea will lose points against the afore-mentioned Newcastle as the Magpies are also in red-hot form and there is a big question mark with Chelsea at the moment. Not on the pitch, but rather off the pitch with the Ambramovich saga. While these players are professionals, they are bound to be somewhat affected by the events hitting the club this week and the questions revolving around the change in ownership and potential bankruptcy etc. This is a distraction the players could do without but as things stand, they also have a difficult match-up against a rejuvenated Newcastle side that is rapidly racking up wins of late. The finance from the Saudis seems to be paying dividends and the team has strengthened during the transfer window. This is going to be a tight match and a spoil of the results could very well be on the cards.

Win: Southampton

Draw: Chelsea/Newcastle

EPL 21/22 - Week 26

 

West Ham v Newcastle - Away

Arsenal v Brentford - Home

Aston Villa v Watford - Home

Brighton v Burnley - Draw

Crystal Palace v Chelsea - Away

Liverpool v Norwich - Home

Southampton v Everton - Home

Man City v Tottenham - Home

Leeds v Man Utd - Away

Wolves v Leicester - Home

For this week, let's stick with Man Utd, shall we? It is a matter of time before the Red Devils are ignited and become the beast the talent in their squad is heralded to be. Ronaldo is back on the score-sheet and should have had a hat-trick in their last match against Brighton. Granted, his goal itself was sensational, I believe and I don't think world-class strikers could have triggered as quick in the same position. Love him or hate him, the Portuguese deserves his title of being the greatest goalscorer of all time. That said, Man Utd have created clear chances to indicate that their offensive machine is on the march, although their defence is as suspect as ever. Given they are going to Leeds should be comforting to the Mancunians as the hosts are one of most vulnerable in the league. Biesla has somehow lost the plot with his team this year and I wouldn't be surprised if he does not come back next year. It seems the Argentinian has brought the team to its max in the past season and they are no longer responding to his tactics. Given their system, the Peacocks have the ability to score but they also can concede by the bucket load as well. I see a high-scoring affair in this one and can't see anything past a convincing Man Utd win in the end.

Win: Man Utd

EPL 2021/22 - Week 6

 Chelsea v Man Ciy - H

Man Utd v Aston Villa - H

Everton v Norwich - H

Leeds v West Ham - A

Leicester v Burnley - H

Watford v Newcastle - D

Brentford v Liverpool - A

Southampton v Wolves - H

Arsenal v Tottenham - D

Crystal Palace v Brighton - A

It's still early dibs but I've mentioned this before that I don't think that Man City will retain their title this year. Winning the Champions League will be their priority but more importantly, they don't have a No 9, having missed on one of the brightest of them all in Harry Kane. Getting Grealish was an excellent piece of business but he won't give you 20 goals in one season. And I believe we can have a good glimpse of how City's season will unfold in the coming weeks as they play Chelsea, PSG and Liverpool in succession. Without a striker, they look very vulnerable indeed.

Chelsea are currently favourites to take the baton from City and they have started the season in tremendous style and in an expected fashion. A Lukaku up-front that the Blues are enjoying is what Guardiola needs for the Citizens. No more reliance on Timo Werner and his misses. Tuchel is unbeaten in 4 matches against Guardiola since arriving at Stamford Bridge and I expect the unbeaten run to continue on Saturday. How the market is equally divided among the 2 just amazes me. At home, the Blues hold no fear and I see it worth going for the outright win in their favour.

EPL 21/22 - Week 4

Crystal Palace v Spurs - D

Arsenal v Norwich - H

Brentford v Brighton - D

Leicester v Man City - A

Man Utd v Newcastle - H

Southampton v West Ham - H

Watford v Wolves - A

Chelsea v Aston Villa - H

Leeds v Liverpool - A

Everton v Burnley - H

Amazing that Wolves haven't yet scored a league goal so far. They could easily have had at least 2 against Man Utd in their last match, including a miracle double-save from de Gea. The problem with the Wolves attack is that Jimenez has yet to regain his goal scoring touch before his accident, Trincao is full of trickery except scoring goals and Fabio Silva is just not good enough for this league. Adama Traore can bulldoze his way through everything but goal scoring is not yet his forte. That said, I find it hard to believe that they won't score against lowly Watford. All the ingredients are there for Wolves to get their first goal to get their season started. At current odds, I find them value to outright win this match although Watford might hold this match tight.

Ronaldo makes his first re-appearance as a Red Devil after 12 years and as mentioned before, he will improve them immensely. Once the goals start coming and the floodgates are opened, Man Utd will be a hard nut to crack. Their undoing last year was their poor form at Old Trafford but I expect them to rectify this record this season. Newcastle will be the first to feel the brunt of their new powerhouse attack on Saturday. I see this match as the first of many punts on the Red Devils this season.

EPL 21/22 Predictions

Man Utd v Leeds - Home

Burnley v Brighton - Away

Chelsea v Crystal Palace - Home

Everton v Southampton - Away

Leicester v Wolves - Home

Watford v Aston Villa - Draw

Norwich v Liverpool - Away

Newcastle v West Ham - Draw

Tottenham v Man City - Draw

Welcome back to a new season of EPL that promises to be even better than the last one. The big teams have loaded up, it won't be a shoe-in for Man City as last season. Here are my thoughts on the main protagonists.

Man City are favourites to retain their title and have added Grealish to their arsenal. They are still gunning for Harry Kane and whether they succeed in that endeavour will determine their chances of trophies this year. There is no doubt that the Champions League will be the main objective together with the league, having come agonizingly close to capturing Europe's biggest club prize in May. They will play a leading role in the league again but I have a feeling they will not come out on top.

Man Utd have beefed up with the arrivals of Sancho and Varane during the off-season. Sancho is an amazing addition and the England winger adds potency and verve to an already talented attack. I am not so sure about Varane; sure, the French stalwart has won a lot of silverware but the jury will be out whether he can master the physical challenges of the Premier League. If he can form a formidable partnership with McGuire at the back, Man Utd will play a major role this season. Solksjaer needs some silverware to keep his job and the Red Devils better start strong orelse he could be gone prematurely.

Chelsea have done a fantastic business grabbing Lukaku this week. He assures them at least 20 goals this season and after the debacle with Werner, makes them a complete team. If Kante stays healthy, the Blues will be feared. In fact, I can only see them doing better than last year and at the present, make them my favourites to win the title. Tuchel has proven he can handle the EPL and will get this team in even better prosition this year. Watch for the Blues.

Liverpool are contenders again this year with a fully-fit backline. Their season tapered away last year after injuries decimated Van Dyke and his fellow defenders. My concern for them is that they haven't reinforced adequately during the off-season and are bound to lose some stalwarts. Wijnaldum is already gone. The Kops should finish in the top 4 but I think they will miss out winning the title.

Leicester will start strong and fade as usual.. Arsenal and Tottenham won't make the Champions League.

Win Title: Chelsea

EPL 2020/21 - Week 31

Newcastle v West Ham - Away

Southampton v Crystal Palace - Home

Wolves v Sheffield Utd - Home

Arsenal v Fulham - Home

Man Utd v Burnley - Home

Leeds v Liverpool - Home

Chelsea v Brighton - Home

Tottenham v Southampton - Home

Aston Villa v Man City - Away

The relegation battle is heating up and the one thing for sure is that Sheffield Utd are going down. Not yet mathematically but it is a question of time. This team is longing to start the new season already; they are totally dreadful. Wolves will eat them this week-end. Nuno's team are not in great form but it's been getting better since the afterdays of losing striker Jimenez when the team started to fall apart. Losing their goalscorer has had the expected dramatic impact on the Molyneux side as they had to learn scoring with makeshift forwards. Their defence is solid enough to keep them in their matches and they should have enough firepower to overcome the league table laggards. This should end up in a home win.

I expect the Leeds against Liverpool match to be a high-scoring affair. Both teams can be adventurous and have major firepower at the front end of the pitch. The Kops have all to play for to secure a UCL spot next year at the end of the season after having been dumped out by Real Madrid in mid-week. Got to say that Klopp's men played with a lot of swagger in that match and deserved at least a couple of goals. The problem is that they haven't been able to replicate that kind of play consistently all year long. Leeds won an unbelievable match at Man City last week-end while playing with 10 men. Biesla's men play like they have that belief in them that they can go toe to toe with any team in the league. I think they will expose the weakened Liverpool back four in a gun slinging match. I see the home team edging this one.

Win: Wolves/Leeds

EPL 20/21 - Week 30 (And the Clasico!)

Man City v Leeds - Home

Liverpool v Aston Villa - Away

Crystal Palace v Chelsea - Away

Burnley v Newcastle - Home

West Ham v Leicester - Home

Tottenham v Man Utd - Draw

Sheffield Utd v Arsenal - Away

West Brom v Southampton - Away

Brighton v Everton - Away

Real Madrid v Barcelona - Home

A fantastic week-end of sports coming up with the usual EPL, the Clasico in Spain and the Masters for golf aficionados. Liverpool look vulnerable to Aston Villa and I fancy taking a shot with the Villains here at over 6/1. The Kops have lost all aura of invicibility at home this season and Anfield is no longer the fortress it used to be the last couple of years. But more importantly, Liverpool have an important return UCL match against Real Madrid next week with the hope of overturning a 3-1 deficit. No doubt this will be floating on the team's mind and I wouldn't be surprised to see Klopp rotate his starting eleven a bit. Truth be told, the Kops were horrendous in Madrid and were lucky to come away with just a 2-goal margin. They are definitely lacking confidence at the moment and Villa can certainly pounce as they are very comfortable on their away matches and they have an in-form stopper in Martinez, although star playmaker Grealish will miss the match through injury. Villa can definitely cause an upset here.

The markets have Barcelona as favourites for the Clasico and I am definitely looking the other way. Real Madrid are finding serious form at the moment as witnessed by their demolishing of Liverpool in mid-week. The manner of their win was very convincing. Sure they will also be distracted at the prospsect of the return leg, something that Barcelona do not need to worry as they are out of the UCL, plus they will be missing the central defensive pair of Ramos and Varane. But Barcelona have hardly shown that they are the kind of force they were the past decade and their odds certainly look overly short. I am not convinced with their system of having Dembele in the striker role and look more to Ascensio, Benzema and Vicinius to do damage at the other end for the Whites. Might be worth going for the outright win for the home team.

Win: Aston Villa, Real Madrid 

EPL 20/21 - Week 29

Chelsea v West Brom - Home

Leeds v Sheffield Utd - Home

Leicester v Man City - Away

Arsenal v Liverpool - Home

Southampton v Burnley - Home

Newcastle v Spurs - Away

Aston Villa v Fulham - Away

Man Utd v Brighton - Home

Everton v Crystal Palace - Home

Wolves v West Ham - Draw

The gameweek following the international set of matches is always tricky and there are bound to be surprises this week-end. Man City look set to resume where they left off, i.e in winning ways, although they have a tough encounter at third place Leicester. The big news obviously coming out of the Etihaad this week has been the announcement of Aguero's departure at the end of the season. The guy has been a legend since his arrival at City but it has been plain clear this year that he was not part of Guardiola's future plans, particularly with the spate of injuries that he has had to deal with. It is quite possible that City already have lined up another big name striker to have made the departure overtly public. That bodes really well for the EPL. Back on Sunday's match, the return from injury of De Bryune has given the Citizen's new impetus in their quest for the quadruple. Leicester will put up a good fight but Guardiola has an abundance of quality at his disposal to tilt the match the visitors' way. 

Everton are on a 3-match losing streak and I expect them to show more tooth coming back from the break. The form of Calvert Lewin is pivotal to the success of the Toffees and the return of James Rodriguez to the line-up will certainly boost up their attacking front. I think they'll overwhelm Crystal Palace which is very much a one-dimensional team that relies too much on Zaha. The Eagles are enjoying a relatively good sequence, coming to this match, having lost only one of their last 5 matches but at current odds, it might be value to side outright with the home team.

Win: Everton, Man City 

EPL 2020/21 - Week 24

 

Leicester v Liverpool - Home

Crystal Palace v Burnley - Away

Man City v Tottenham - Home

Brighton v Aston Villa - Away

Southampton v Wolves - Home

WBA v Man Utd - Away

Arsenal v Leeds - Home

Everton v Fulham - Home

West Ham v Sheffield Utd - Home

Chelsea - Newcastle - Home

After being totally wrong about Southampton the past couple of weeks, could the Saints finally end up in the right end of my predictions? Sure they stopped their rotten losing record this past week but that was in the FA Cup. If all is going back to normal for Ings and co, then they might be worth a punt against a visiting Wolves side that is also going through a nonchalant patch at the moment.  Truth be told, since they lost Jimenez in that horrifying injury at Arsenal, Wolves haven't been the same team at all. They just have no-one in their roster to terrify defences as their star Mexican striker. I expect a home win here.

Man Utd are, in my mind, overachieving at the moment. Their away record is absolutly ridiculously good and if it weren't for their home misfortunes, they would be running away at the top. They are just not the finished article but they can play any team in this league with no fear. They should have too much for West Brom and it looks like another away win on the cards for the Red Devils.

Win: Southampton, Man Utd

EP 2020/21 - Week 23

Aston Villa v Arsenal - Home

Burnley v Brighton - Draw

Newcastle v Southampton - Away

Fulham v West Ham - Draw

Man Utd v Everton - Home

Tottenham v West Brom - Home

Wolves v Leicester - Away

Liverpool v Man City - Away

Sheffield Utd v Chelsea - Away

Leeds v Crystal Palace - Home

Southampton got clobbered at Old Trafford in the last game week but they lost the match in the first minute after the expulsion of Jankewitz. They will certainly in a different disposition when they visit St James Park. Newcastle are one of the most favourable teams to play against these days and there does not seem to be any room for improvement for them with Steve Bruce at the helm. They look like a team devoid of any new ideas or spark. If the Saints of a few weeks shows up, it will be a cake walk for them. I see them winning this match convincingly.

What kind of Spurs will show up against West Brom will determine their chances against West Brom. It is clear that they are missing Kane but their last couple of matches have been mediocre at best. They need goals from Son to pick up the void left by Kane. There is a huge amount of pressure for Mourinho to deliver results at the moment and this is a make or break moment for him at Spurs; under similar circumstances in his career, his teams have engulfed themselves further eventually leading to his sacking. The match against West Brom is important for Spurs to stop the rot and given West Brom's current problems, I expect the home team to prevail.

Win: Southampton, Tottenham

EPL 2020/21 - Week 21

Everton v Newcastle - Home

Crystal Palace v Wolves - Draw

Man City v Sheffield Utd - Home

West Brom v Fulham - Home

Arsenal v Man Utd - Draw

Southampton v Aston Villa - Home

Chelsea v Burnley - Away

Leicester v Leeds - Home

West Ham v Liverpool - Home

Brighton v Tottenham - Home

The team with the worst form in the EPL right now is Newcastle and it is a terrific moment for any team playing them. Steve Bruce's team are winless in their last 11 matches and playing some dreadful football at the moment. The return of Saint Maximin back from the sidelines will help improve the team but one cannot do it all alone and the Frenchman will need a few matches to get back in the groove. Carlos Ancelloti and Calvert-Lewin are probably rubbing their hands for this encounter; any less than 3 points will be disappointing for the home team. Surely an easy home win.

I can see the Gunners and Red Devils playing a drab draw. The latter were oh-so-awful against Sheffield Utd in mid-week; they are not yet the finished article and rely heavily on Fernandes to be in inspired form. Arsenal is starting to pick up some form but are not yet at a level where they can dominate the leading teams. Typically this match would have been the highlight of the season in the Keane v Viera days but not anymore; I would not be surprised it ends in a goal-less draw.

Win: Everton

Draw: Arenal v Man Utd