Premier League Preview Game Week 7 October 5th
Manchester
City vs Everton
Manchester City have lost two games on
the bounce following their shock defeat by Aston Villa last weekend and being
torn apart by Bayern Munich last Wednesday in the Champions League.
City looked appalling against the
German champions, and coming up against Everton, a side who are unbeaten in the
league so far this season, will be a struggle to Pellegrini’s team.
Joe Hart has been criticised in the
media recently, and his performance Wednesday did not help him out at all. He needs
competition for his place, he is playing under no pressure for Manchester City
or England for that matter, that is why he isn’t playing to his full
capabilities.
Everton are on a bit of a roll. An
amazing first half display against a woeful Newcastle this week, showed us what
the Toffee’s really can be capable of.
The new signings from the summer are
paying off and have been fantastic for Roberto Martinez’s team and have taken
to the task of replacing former midfielder Marouanne Fellani brilliantly.
This is a tough game to call, I think
Everton may continue their unbeaten start to the season here, but it will
definitely be their hardest game so far this campaign.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-2 Everton
Cardiff
vs Newcastle
Cardiff had a very good result last
week at Fulham and are looking very comfortable at this level. They looked most
dangerous from their set pieces and Newcastle will have to be wary of that when
they make their trip to Wales.
Newcastle had a shocker in the first
45 minutes at Goodison Park on Monday night. Alan Pardew will be sweating a
bit, due to the vast amount of rumours flying around about the safety of his
job.
Their second half display brought them
some credibility back, mainly from the help of Yohann Cabaye’s introduction.
They cannot however always rely on him, after all he nearly left in the Summer.
I don’t think Pardew will get the
response from the team that he needs here. Cardiff will be dangerous at home in
this league and I don’t think Newcastle have got it in them to break them down.
Prediction:
Cardiff 2-1 Newcastle
Fulham vs Stoke
Fulham are under a bad spell not
helping Martin Jol’s job security. Losing at home to Cardiff last game really
has not helped the pressure being heaped on the manager, so he will be asking
for a response from his men against Stoke.
Berbatov and Bent need to start
showing their quality in front of goal and, once that happens, I think Fulham
will be able to push on and away from the relegation zone.
Stoke will be wanting to bounce back
from their home defeat against Norwich last weekend.
Mark Hughes’ team were lacklustre in
front of goal and he will be hoping that will change when they visit Craven
Cottage this weekend.
Prediction:
Fulham 2- 1 Stoke
Hull vs Aston
Villa
Hull will be without their key man
Robbie Brady for this clash against Villa, which will be a massive blow
considering how good he has been at the start of this season.
Steve Bruce has been the defining
factor to Hull’s form this season. Making the right changes at the right times
and getting the most out of his players. He is experienced at this level and it
is paying off no end for the Tigers.
Villa will be buoyed by their win
against Manchester City last weekend, albeit thanks to some very sloppy goals.
Paul Lambert’s men would like to build on this.
Without Benteke or Agbonlahor playing,
Villa proved that they could get a result. This however will be a very tight
game and I can only see one goal in it.
Prediction:
Hull 1-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool vs
Crystal Palace
Liverpool will have to be a lot better
than they were in their last home game if they are wanting anything from this
game against Palace.
They were however excellent against a
spirited Sunderland side, and with Suarez and Sturridge looking like a lethal
partnership in front of goal, things look on the up for Liverpool.
The only problem for Palace is that
they are, in my opinion, the weakest team in the league, despite making a host
of good signings in the transfer window.
Ian Holloway will be looking to use
his passion to drive the players into giving his side a chance at Anfield, but
it is going to be difficult.
Prediction:
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace
Sunderland
vs Manchester United
Sunderland
still have Kevin Ball in charge for this game against the champions. Although
he has tried to steady the ship since Di Canio’s departure, I don’t see them
winning this game.
They played
well against Liverpool last weekend, but lacked that cutting edge that divided
the two teams.
United were
poor last weekend, and did not help David Moyes by losing at home to West Brom.
They should
however bounce back in this game. They have more quality and a better team than
Sunderland.
Prediction:
Sunderland 1-3 Manchester United
Norwich vs
Chelsea
Norwich got
a good win at Stoke last weekend and Chris Hughton will be looking at his team
to push on from that result, although it will be tough coming up against
Chelsea.
They looked
very happy to keep the ball and a lot more comfortable than Stoke in their
play, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep that up against the
blues.
The only
problem for Chelsea at the moment and probably will be this season is their
striker shortage.
Letting
Lukaku go was a mistake, and now with Torres out, Mourinho will need to look to
Eto’o, Ba and his midfield to assure goals and I think they will do that.
Prediction:
Norwich 1-3 Chelsea
Southampton
vs Swansea
Southampton
have only lost one of their six games this season and are looking like a very
decent team.
Here they
are coming up against another very decent team in Swansea City, with both
focusing on securing their places and pushing on from there.
Swansea got
a good win in the Europa League this week and they will be hoping to develop
that into a good run in the Premier League.
This one
will be tough to call but I think Swansea could beat Southampton at St Mary’s
they have the quality but it is whether they will be tired from their exploits
in mid-week.
Prediction:
Southampton 1-2 Swansea
Tottenham
vs West Ham
Spurs were very good in the first half
against Chelsea last week. Their pressure waned in the second half, but in all
fairness to them, that was due to a spirited Chelsea performance.
They have so much depth in their squad
now and I think AVB will need to utilise it to challenge for the title and win
games like these.
West Ham cannot buy a goal at the
moment. They are missing Andy Carroll
tremendously, and I don’t think they will be able to cope with the amount of
goals Tottenham have in their side.
They do however have strong defensive
players, so although I think Spurs will win, the Hammers will be a hard team to
break down.
Prediction:
Tottenham 2-0 West Ham
West
Brom vs Arsenal
West Brom got a fantastic win at Old
Trafford last weekend and have already taken the Gunners to a penalty shoot-out
in the Capital One Cup this season, where even though they lost, they were
pretty decent.
Their new signings have made a good
impact and have really helped West Brom to climb out of the relegation places
in recent weeks.
Arsenal have won 12 away games on the
bounce and look like they are on top form coming into this one.
They played very well against Napoli
in mid-week and with the vast amount of talent that they have in midfield, they
should pose a very big threat for the Baggies in this game.
It will be a close contest, like it
was in the Carling Cup, but I think the result will be the same and I am going
to go for an Arsenal win.
Prediction: West
Brom 2-3 Arsenal
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