Everton vs Crystal Palace
Friday 30th September 2016, 20.00
This promises to be a hugely entertaining fixture to kick off Gameweek 7. Both teams currently sit inside the top seven, with Everton winning four of their opening six fixtures. Palace have won three, and both teams have managed ten goals in their first six games this season.
The home side's unbeaten start to the season ended last Saturday, as the Toffees lost 1-0 away to Bournemouth. This was Everton's first league defeat under new manager Ronald Koeman, but they had won four in a row before that loss, and such defeats are to be expected in this highly unpredictable league.
Palace, on the other hand, have won their last three games in succession, having won just three games in their previous 25 matches beforehand. Last week's victory came against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Alan Pardew's men coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 via goals from Joe Ledley, James McArthur and a 94th minute winner from Christian Benteke. The Palace boss will be thrilled with how his team reacted to going two goals down; they replied 69 seconds later through Ledley, before Zeki Fryers set up McArthur's equaliser just 25 seconds after entering the fray. Another substitute, Lee Chung-Yong, then created the winner for Benteke a minute after he had been sent on by Pardew.
Ronald Koeman will expect his side to react immediately to last week's defeat, whilst Crystal Palace travel to Merseyside brimming with confidence. They will be wary of their former player Yannick Bolasie, however, whilst both defences have big Belgian strikers to worry about; I think Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke will both score tonight, but I fancy Everton to nick it in front of strong home support at Goodison.
 |
| It's a battle of the Belgians on Friday night (Getty Images) |
Prediction: 2-1
Swansea vs Liverpool
Saturday 1st October 2016, 12.30
These two sides meet at the Liberty Stadium in contrasting form. Swansea sit in 17th place in the Premier League following last Saturday's 3-1 defeat to leaders Manchester City, having suffered two defeats in a row and without a win in their last five games. Liverpool, however, have won their last three matches in a row and sit 4th in the table, having thumped Hull City 5-1 at Anfield a week ago.
The Swans improved during their match with City, but still ended up losing the game. Francesco Guidolin will have been happy to see Spaniard Fernando Llorente off the mark for the season, but pressure is mounting on the Italian manager, amid reports that chairman Huw Jenkins met former USA manager Bob Bradley at Bristol Airport this week.
Liverpool were scintillating in their victory over Hull last week. Two penalties from James Milner alongside goals from Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho earned Jurgen Klopp's team their third successive league victory, and they have scored an outstanding eleven goals in those three games alone. The Reds have managed sixteen league goals in their first six games this season, and the improvement under Klopp is unequivocal; after six games last season, just four league goals had been netted by Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool.
League Goals 2016/17:— Dinesh Hardayal (@DHardayal) September 28, 2016
Lallana 3
Coutinho 3
Milner 3
Mane 3
Firmino 2
Lovren 1
Henderson 1
This stage last ssn:
Benteke 2
Ings 1
Coutinho 1
Swansea are winless since the opening day, and there is a real tension surrounding the club at the moment, which could result in the sacking of their manager. Liverpool come here in fantastic form and mood, and I don't see anything other than an away win in Saturday's early kick-off.
Prediction: 0-2
Hull vs Chelsea
Saturday 1st October 2016, 15.00
Both sides go into this meeting on the back of two straight Premier League defeats. Hull's most recent loss was last Saturday's 5-1 battering at Anfield, whilst Chelsea were no better in their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates.
You have to feel a bit sorry for Hull. Their fixture list doesn't get any easier, having already faced Leicester, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool this season. They could do nothing to stop Jurgen Klopp's rampant Reds last weekend, and will be without Ahmed Elmohamady for the visit of Chelsea after his red card for deliberate handball last weekend.
Chelsea were poor themselves against Arsenal last weekend. Antonio Conte's men were two goals down inside the first quarter of an hour, and 3-0 down at half time. They are making too many defensive mistakes, and Gary Cahill made an absolute howler to allow Alexis Sanchez to nip in and give Arsenal the lead last weekend. Conte has received a real blow this week, finding out that skipper John Terry will be unavailable for the trip to the KC Stadium. The Blue's defence doesn't look the same without him in it, and you always feel that there is a mistake in both David Luiz and Cahill at the moment.
 |
| Chelsea are missing their influential captain (Getty Images) |
Despite Chelsea's defensive issues and recent form, however, there is a vast difference in quality between these two sides. If the likes of Diego Costa and Eden Hazard can get Chelsea ticking early on Saturday, they should have far too much for the Tigers.
Prediction: 1-3
Sunderland vs West Brom
Saturday 1st October 2016, 15.00
Saturday's hosts are still searching for their first home point this season, after throwing away a two-goal lead against Crystal Palace last weekend. The Black Cats have lost five of their opening six matches this campaign, and go into this game on the back of three defeats in a row. West Brom travel to the Stadium of Light two games unbeaten, after a 91st minute equaliser earned them a 1-1 draw against Stoke last Saturday.
David Moyes will have been furious at his side's last half an hour against Crystal Palace last week. A brace from Jermain Defoe had his side 2-0 up on the hour, but they allowed Palace back into the game 69 seconds later and eventually crumbled in the 94th minute, allowing Christian Benteke to earn Palace all three points. Moyes told BBC Sport: "For us to not have someone deal with Benteke at the death, to have a five-yard run and have no challenge, is just incredible," and admitted "We need our players to assume a level of responsibility that it's not all down to me and my staff." The Scot will surely have spent much of this week preparing his team defensively.
Salomon Rondon scored his third league goal of the season last week to earn Tony Pulis' men a point at Stoke, on what was the Welshman's 1000th career game as a manager. The big striker is starting to become a real talisman for the Baggies, and he'll be hoping to keep up his good form against Sunderland on Saturday.
You can expect West Brom to set up to defend at the Stadium of Light, something Pulis is so good at getting his team to do away from home. Sunderland always have a chance of winning when Defoe is on the pitch, but it's at the other end of the pitch that they are struggling, and I think West Brom will earn their second draw in a row away from home.
Prediction: 1-1
Watford vs Bournemouth
Saturday 1st October 2016, 15.00
Watford's two match winning streak came to an end at Turf Moor against Burnley on Monday night. The Hornets have made a decent start to the season, though, and currently sit 11th in the table. Saturday's visitors Bournemouth are 15th following last week's 1-0 success over Everton, their second league victory of the season.
Watford were deserved losers at Burnley, going down 2-0. Walter Mazzarri's side managed just two efforts on target in the 90 minutes, and his side were lacklustre in defence; Watford have now managed just one clean sheet in their last 17 league games, a problem which Mazzarri needs to rectify as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Bournemouth were deserved winners in Gameweek 6, beating high-flying Everton 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium. Junior Stanislas scored the only goal of the game with a fine strike, keeping up his good form against the Toffees; he scored 87th and 98th minute goals in a 3-3 draw against Roberto Martinez's Everton last season.
Eddie Howe has been linked heavily with the England manager's job this week following the controversy around Sam Allardyce's exit from the post after just one match in charge of the national team, but he has publicly stated his commitment to the cause at the South Coast club and he will have been pleased at how his team bounced back from a 4-0 defeat at Manchester City to beat a good Everton side. We know Watford can score goals at home, having stuck three past David de Gea in their last match at Vicarage Road. I can see there being lots of goals here again on Saturday.
Prediction: 2-2
West Ham vs Middlesbrough
Saturday 1st October 2016, 15.00
What is going on with West Ham? Last week's 3-0 defeat at home to Southampton means it's four defeats on the spin for Slaven Bilic's team, who have now conceded at least two goals in 13 of their last 16 Premier League games (36 goals in total). Middlesbrough themselves have lost three in a row, having started the season unbeaten in their first three games, following a 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham.
West Ham were shocking defensively against Saints last Sunday, and that's been the theme of their season so far. The Irons have now lost consecutive home league games by a margin of two goals or more for the first time since 2010, and the atmosphere and football at the London Stadium needs to drastically improve if the Hammers are to start climbing the table.
It's been a harsh for reminder of the difficulty of the Premier League for Aitor Karanka's 'Boro following such a positive start to the season. They gave Spurs a decent game last weekend, but it's results that count at this level, and the men from the Riverside need to stop the rot as quickly as they possibly can.
This is the game that West Ham will be hoping can kick-start their season. Middlesbrough are struggling, and I'd expect Bilic to set his team up to dominate possession and use the quality of Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio out wide to earn themselves a second league success of the season. I think that they'll get it on Saturday afternoon.
Prediction: 2-1
Manchester United vs Stoke
Sunday 2nd October 2016, 12.00
Manchester United's September began with three straight defeats, but they ended the month with a third successive victory following Thursday's 1-0 win over Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League. This followed last Saturday's 4-1 demolition of Leicester City at Old Trafford, and United will be confident of earning their second league victory on the bounce against 19th-placed Stoke, who conceded a 91st minute equaliser at home to West Brom last Gameweek.
Jose Mourinho's men were far too good for Leicester on Saturday, with goals from Chris Smalling, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and a first for the club from Paul Pogba giving the Red Devils the three points. Mourinho dropped captain Wayne Rooney from the starting lineup in that game, and United were seamless in his absence, taking a 4-0 lead into the half-time break. Pogba played with the most freedom that we've seen from him so far this season, and a hugely positive display will excite the Old Trafford faithful.
Stoke are still without a league win all season, but last weekend's draw at home to WBA did end a run of four straight league defeats. Mark Hughes will have been happy with the performance of summer signing Joe Allen, who scored his first goal for the Potters since arriving from Liverpool in July.
Despite a surprisingly tough game in midweek against Zorya, United will be full of optimism heading into this game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winning goal on Thursday, and he'll fancy his chances of adding to his six goals in all competitions this season against Stoke, who have already shipped 15 goals in the league this season. I can't see anything but a home victory for United on Sunday.
Prediction: 3-0
Leicester vs Southampton
Sunday 2nd October 2016, 14.15
Champions Leicester have already lost three games this season following last week's 4-1 humbling at Old Trafford, the same amount that they lost in the whole of their title winning campaign last season. Southampton are in fine form, unbeaten in five games in all competitions following Thursday's 0-0 draw at Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Europa League. Their last league fixture was a mightily impressive 3-0 victory away to West Ham.
Leicester defended so poorly at Old Trafford, conceding three goals from corners. The usually reliable back four of Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth and Christian Fuchs were caught out so many times, most notably for United's third goal, allowing a quick corner to find Marcus Rashford all alone inside the six yard box to tap home. However, the Foxes did manage another Champions League victory, beating Porto 1-0 at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night, becoming the first English side to win their first two matches of their debut Champions League Campaign.
Southampton travel to Leicestershire full of confidence following last Sunday's comfortable victory at West Ham, courtesy of goals from Dusan Tadic, James Ward-Prowse and Charlie Austin, who now has five goals in his last four in all competitions. He'll be intending to cause Leicester's struggling backline more problems this weekend.
I can see this being a close game. I don't think that there's a lot between these two sides, and so I'm going to call a draw here.
Prediction: 1-1
Tottenham vs Manchester City
Sunday 2nd October 2016, 14.15
The Premier League's top two meet at White Hart Lane on Sunday, and there is much to look forward to. Both of these sides are unbeaten after their first six games, and both are in great form going into this game.
Spurs were 2-1 winners at Middlesbrough last week, and earned themselves a midweek win in the Champions League, winning 1-0 at CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night. Son Heung-min scored the goals in both of these games, and he's flying at the moment; he now has five goals in five games, and has really stepped up for his team in the absence of star-man Harry Kane.
Manchester City's 10-match winning streak came to an end at the hands of Brendan Rodgers and Celtic on Wednesday, a thrilling 3-3 draw in Glasgow. However, Pep Guardiola is still unbeaten as City boss, and his team have won all six of their Premier League games this season following last Saturday's 3-1 success at Swansea. Sergio Aguero returned in that one and scored twice, whilst Raheem Sterling kept up his fine start to the season with a goal against both Swansea and Celtic.
 |
| Aguero was back with a brace last weekend (Getty Images) |
Prediction: 1-2
Burnley vs Arsenal
Sunday 2nd October 2016, 16.30
Turf Moor hosts the final match for the second successive matchweek in the last Premier League game before the international break. They were victors last time out, beating Watford 2-0 for their second league victory of the season. They now sit in 13th place on 7 points, with all of those games being earned at home so far.
Arsenal were fantastic against Chelsea last Saturday, and were not at all flattered by their 3-0 scoreline. Goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil provided Arsene Wenger with his fourth successive league victory. The Gunners also beat Basel on Wednesday in Europe, in-form Theo Walcott grabbing both goals in a 2-0 win.
Jeff Hendrick scored his first Burnley goal against Watford, and he looks to be a really good signing by Sean Dyche. However, he faces a tough test on Sunday evening, with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla in fine form in the middle of the park for the opposition.
Arsene Wenger this week admitted he is open to managing England in the future, but he is totally focussed on the league this season and his side are playing with a great freedom following a shaky start to the season. Burnley will work hard as usual, but I think they'll struggle to get near the likes of Sanchez and Ozil, and I can see the Gunners winning emphatically.
Prediction: 0-3
