Premier League Preview: Game Week 9

Crystal Palace v Arsenal

Palace’s home defeat by Fulham on Monday night means that The Eagles are now five points from safety going into game week 9. Ian Holloway’s men have showed plenty of spirit, but have lacked the quality to unlock Premier League defences and to keep out Premier League attacks.

Arsenal’s flying start to the season continued as they thumped Norwich 4-1. The match also showcased what The Gunners can do when they get their passing game going as they scored one of the goals of the season, a free-flowing team goal finished by Jack Wilshere.

The two teams could hardly be any more different. Opposite ends of both the table and the form guide, Crystal Palace v Arsenal looks like a mismatch. Palace will give it a good go, as all Ian Holloway’s teams do, but I can’t see them getting a result on Saturday.

Prediction: 1-2

Aston Villa v Everton

Villa suffered their fourth defeat of the 2013/14 campaign at the hands of Spurs last weekend, but more worrying still for manager Paul Lambert is that three of those have come at Villa Park. The Villans will need to get their home form back on track if they are to enjoy a more comfortable season than the last one.

Everton under Roberto Martinez have been more fluent and attack-minded than they were under David Moyes, and have reaped the rewards for their extra endeavour after an unusually bright start, having lost just one of their opening eight fixtures.

The match pits an in-form side against a team struggling for confidence, particularly in front of their own fans, but both have unimpressive defensive records and plenty of goals in their sides, so I can see this being an exciting, and fairly even, game.

Prediction: 2-2

Liverpool v West Brom

Liverpool are looking a dangerous side so far this season, having won five of their opening eight games. The Reds sit third in the table and will want to put even more pressure on the early pace-setters with a win here.

West Brom have again started the season well under Steve Clarke. A creditable draw at home to Arsenal as well as that historic 2-1 win at Old Trafford has The Baggies sitting securely in mid table, though their stubborn defence will have to be at its best to stop the SAS.

Both sides are decent at the back and have plenty of attacking threat, but, while I think it will be close, Liverpool should have enough to grab the three points.

Prediction: 2-1

Manchester United v Stoke

Manchester United have made their worst start to a season in over twenty years, heaping early pressure onto their new manager David Moyes. Looking weak in every area of the pitch so far, the champions will need to improve rapidly if they are to avoid losing their crown before the new year.

The Potters have also endured a rather disappointing start to the season, having lost half of their eight games, and only scoring four goals in the process. Goals were a problem last season under Tony Pulis, but Mark Hughes’ new side has, as yet, been unable to solve the problem.

Given Manchester United’s superior ability and Stoke’s combination of poor away form and lack of goals makes anything less than a home win difficult to predict, but City may be inspired by West Brom’s heroics, and may well make it a good contest.

Prediction: 1-0

Norwich v Cardiff

Norwich spent big on attacking talent in the summer, signing both Gary Hooper and Ricky van Wolfswinkel for a combined fee of around £14 million, but have struggled to impose themselves on teams, winning only two and losing five of their games so far.

Newly-promoted Cardiff will be fairly satisfied with their start to the season. Malky Mackay’s men have bagged both their first home and away wins within the first ten games, which will take some media spotlight off of them for now, and their home ground is proving to be a challenging place for teams to play.

These two sides have not been blessed with goals this season and both seem to be adjusting to their respective styles and systems. This doesn’t look like being a classic, so I’m going for a stalemate.

Prediction: 0-0

Southampton v Fulham

Southampton’s excellent start to the season has seen them beat Liverpool and draw with Manchester United, as well as impressive performances in wins over West Brom, Crystal Palace and Swansea. Mauricio Pochettino’s team have found their feet in the Premier League and look to be on their way to establishing themselves at that level.

Fulham have bounced back from a miserable start to the season with back-to-back victories over Stoke and Crystal Palace. They needed some luck, and some magic, to do so but consecutive wins are not to be sniffed at in the Premier League, and Martin Jol is now in a more comfortable position than he was three weeks ago.

The Saints boast the meanest defence in the Premier League, having conceded just three goals this season, something which cannot be said about their opponents. Fulham have a lot of quality in their side, but they seem unable to handle some of the physical hustle-bustle associated with English football. Even so, they have shown an ability to grind out results. They were dominated in their home match against Stoke, although they won, and they also pulled off a hard-fought 1-0 away win against Sunderland on the first day of the season. Southampton, however, simply look a better side, and I expect them to win here.

Prediction: 1-0

Sunderland v Newcastle

Gus Poyet was given a baptism of fire as he saw his new charges thrashed 4-0 by Swansea last week. He will have realised the size of the task at hand before that game though: Sunderland have made the joint worst start to a Premier League season, taking just one point from eight games.

Newcastle have been very hit-and-miss this season. Impressive performances against Cardiff and Liverpool have been equalled by collapses against Man City and Hull as well as a shambolic first half display against Everton. Alan Pardew does have quality at his disposal, however, which will probably see them through the season safely.

Already, this game is hugely significant for The Black Cats. If they were to lose against their local rivals, it would be a shattering blow to confidence and morale, not to mention the fact that they could easily get cut adrift with the wrong result. I think it will be a really old-fashioned derby game: blood and guts stuff, and a hard-fought point for each at the end.

Prediction: 1-1

Chelsea v Man City

Jose Mourinho’s return to West London signalled a massive increase in expectation amongst the Chelsea fans, and their strong start to the season has only strengthened their belief. Their flair players are performing, and so are their more defensive players, by and large.

Manuel Pellegrini’s new beginning hasn’t been quite as smoothly navigated as Jose’s, but after a dominant 3-1 win at Upton Park last weekend City are back in the top four and look a very dangerous side when their attacking players click.

The Blues are usually imperious at home, and will be under pressure in what is their second big test of the season, after that 0-0 snore draw at Old Trafford was safely passed. Manchester City have been very patchy away from home in general, but in a game of this size you would expect their players to stand up and be counted.

With so many flair players on the pitch, this game has the potential to be a real classic of the Premier League, and I certainly hope it delivers, given that a lot of games between the big guns usually end up as damp squibs.

Prediction: 2-2

Swansea v West Ham

The Swans have again been largely impressive in their build-up play this season, though they seem to be finding scoring goals a little more tricky this term than last. Their results have been steady though, and they sit just below the top ten with what they will view as a winnable home game coming up.

Sam Allardyce’s West Ham have been very up and down this season. They have found goals and indeed chances difficult to come by following Andy Carroll’s injury, though they showed signs of their ability when they won 3-0 at White Hart Lane a couple of weeks ago.

The two teams meet in similar veins of form, but West Ham don’t travel particularly well, and will probably set up quite negatively to avoid defeat. If they snatch a goal then the result may well be a different one, but if Swansea score first I can see this going only one way.

Prediction: 2-0

Tottenham v Hull

Spurs erased the memory of that 3-0 home defeat by West Ham when they created their own away victory last weekend at Villa Park. Andros Townsend was again in electric form, and Tottenham’s defence again looked impressive.

Hull have made a solid start to their first season back in the top flight since 2010, and Steve Bruce has got his team playing an attractive brand of football combined with stoic defending when needed. Most encouraging for The Tigers is that they have beaten the kind of mid-table teams they will need to in order to survive.

Andre Villas-Boas has turned Tottenham into a clean-sheet machine this season. Had they not conceded against West Ham at all they would have the best defensive record in the league and, in truth, they would have deserved it. They look a classy side, but goal-scoring has been a little more difficult for them, and they have struggled at times to get in behind defences. They will have another tough job of it here, as Hull, being the plucky and at times stubborn side they are, will make it difficult for them to score, but I can’t see past a home win on this occasion.

Prediction: 2-0

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