Manchester City vs Chelsea
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 12.30
It's third vs first in Saturday's early Premier League fixture, with both Manchester City and Chelsea entering the clash at the Etihad on the back of 2-1 victories in Gameweek 13. City were victorious at Burnley, whilst Chelsea became the first team to beat Tottenham in the league this season at Stamford Bridge.
Pep Guardiola's men had to come from behind at Turf Moor following Dean Marney's stunning opener last Saturday. It was no surprise to see Sergio Aguero net both goals for the Citizens as they turned the game on it's head, and the Argentine has now scored against 29 of the 30 teams he has faced in the Premier League - Bolton the unexpected exception. Aguero's brace made it two wins on the trot for City in the league, and moved the striker onto 10 goals this campaign; he is now the league's joint top-scorer with Diego Costa, who he faces on Saturday.
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| Former Atletico teammates Aguero and Costa meet on Saturday (Getty Images) |
Chelsea also had to come from a goal down in their match with Tottenham, after Christian Eriksen had given Spurs the lead with a fine strike - the first that Chelsea had conceded in their last six league games. Pedro equalised for the Blues with an equally impressive curling effort, before a great piece of work by Diego Costa allowed Victor Moses to net the winner, making it seven straight league wins for Antonio Conte's table toppers. Chelsea's two league defeats so far this season came against Liverpool and Arsenal, so I'm very interested to see how they play against the other side that makes up the current top four on Saturday.
This is a massive match for both sides; Manchester City will leap above their opponents with a win, but a victory for Chelsea will see them move four points clear of City. Although there's a lot riding on this one, we're not even at the halfway stage of the season yet, so I think both Guardiola and Conte would be content with a point on Saturday.
Prediction: 1-1
Crystal Palace vs Southampton
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 15.00
Crystal Palace are in a really bad way at the moment, with pressure mounting on Alan Pardew after their sixth straight league defeat, an incredible 5-4 loss at Swansea. Southampton returned to winning ways after four league matches without a win, a 1-0 victory over Everton at St Mary's.
Crystal Palace led 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium thanks to Wilfried Zaha's early goal, but found themselves 3-1 thanks to a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick and a brace from Leroy Fer for Swansea. The Eagles then produced what looked like the comeback of the season so far, James Tomkins pulling one back before Jack Cork's own goal made it 3-3. Christian Benteke then netted what should have been the winner for Palace in the 82nd minute. Pardew will have been furious with his side in the dressing after they allowed Fernando Llorente to tap home twice in the dying seconds to secure the unlikeliest of wins for the Swans.
Charlie Austin's first-minute goal was enough to give Saints all three points against Everton on Sunday. He was found by debutant Josh Sims on 41 seconds to nod home from point-blank range to set Claude Puel's men on the way to victory over former manager Ronald Koeman. 19-year-old Sims enjoyed a fantastic debut, running Everton ragged at times, and looks like being another great product of Southampton's youth academy, alongside Sam McQueen who has been given opportunities to impress by Puel this season.
Southampton were also in action in midweek in the EFL Cup quarter-finals, securing a phenomenal 2-0 victory at Arsenal courtesy of goals from Jordy Clasie and Ryan Bertrand. They now face Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool for a place in the final at Wembley. All in all, it's been a good week for Southampton, and I can see them piling further pressure on former manager Alan Pardew on Saturday.
Prediction: 1-2
Stoke vs Burnley
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 15.00
Stoke won for the first time in three matches last weekend, a 1-0 victory at Watford, whilst Burnley's defeat to Man City was their second defeat in a row.
Stoke became the first team to win at Vicarage Road since August, and deservedly so, courtesy of Huerelho Gomes' own goal. There was a slice of fortune about the goal, as Charlie Adam's header from Xherdan Shaqiri's corner hit the Watford post before bouncing off the Brazilian goalkeeper and trickling into the net. Mark Hughes will be happy at how his side reacted following a disappointing home defeat to Bournemouth a fortnight ago, and will be hoping for a better result at the Bet365 Stadium this weekend.
Burnley gave a good account of themselves against Manchester City, but the class of Sergio Aguero was the difference on the day. Dean Marney opened the scoring with a long-range volley that Aguero would have been proud of, his first goal in the Premier League since 2009 (for Hull vs Everton). Although they ended up losing the game, Sean Dyche will have been happy at his team's response to their 4-0 hammering at West Brom a week previously, and will be looking to build on a positive performance with a positive result on Saturday.
Stoke have been beaten three times in six home league games this season, so the Clarets will definitely fancy their chances of earning the win on Saturday. However, the Potters are now sitting comfortably in 11th after a tough start to the season, and I think that home advantage will prove to be the difference this weekend.
Prediction: 2-1
Sunderland vs Leicester
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 15.00
Sunderland lost 2-0 at Anfield, having won their previous two matches against Bournemouth and Hull. That defeat to Liverpool saw them drop back to the bottom of the Premier League. They face last season's champions at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, who arrive on the back of a 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland's rivals, Middlesbrough.
The Black Cats came to defend against Liverpool last weekend, with Jurgen Klopp calling Sunderland "the most defensive team I ever saw." Liverpool had 77% possession and 27 attempts on goal, but for a while it looked like Sunderland might hold on. It took until the 75th minute for Divock Origi to find the opener, before James Milner wrapped up the three points with a 91st-minute penalty following Didier Ndong's trip on Sadio Mane. David Moyes will be proud at how his team defended and refused to roll over on Merseyside; 2-0 isn't a bad scoreline when you consider that Leicester lost 4-1 at Anfield in September.
Leicester needed two spot-kicks to earn a point against Boro at the King Power last week, the second of which was a 94th-minute equaliser from Islam Slimani. Leicester twice trailed courtesy of goals from Alvaro Negredo - Riyad Mahrez levelling in the first half before Slimani's last-gasp conversion. It's now no win in four for the Foxes, though, and Claudio Ranieri's men are really struggling to live up to their form last season. They already trail table-topping Chelsea by 18 points, and still have more wins from five Champions League games than they do in 13 on Premier League duty.
It hasn't been a great start to the league campaign by either side, and I can this being a tight affair on Saturday. Leicester need to start picking up wins in order to prevent their season becoming solely about the Champions League, while Sunderland are desperate to build on their two wins in November. The Black Cat's have improved drastically of late, and I see them holding Leicester this weekend.
Prediction: 0-0
Tottenham vs Swansea
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 15.00
Spurs lost for the first time in the 2016/17 Premier League season last time out, 2-1 to leaders Chelsea. Swansea won for the first time since the opening day in the game of the season so far, a 5-4 thriller against Crystal Palace.
The match at Stamford Bridge last weekend swung hugely in Chelsea's favour when Pedro curled home an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Mauricio Pochettinho's Tottenham had largely dominated proceedings until that point, and had led for just over an hour thanks to Christian Eriksen's goal-of-the-month contender. Tottenham fell back following the equaliser, allowing Victor Moses to net the winner six minutes after the restart for their first league defeat of the season. The defeat also made it 30 games without a win at Stamford Bridge for Spurs, dating back to 1990.
Swansea won their first game under Bob Bradley in some style. The Swans' led 3-1 before finding themselves 4-3 down when Christian Benteke smashed home for Palace with six minutes left to play. What followed next was truly extraordinary! Substitute Fernando Llorente poked home for 4-4 a minute into injury-time, before finding the ball at his feet again in the 93rd to stab past Wayne Hennessey and secure an incredible first victory at the Liberty Stadium for Bradley. The contribution of Leroy Fer must not be forgotten; he scored a brace of his own earlier in the second-half to put Swansea into a 3-1 lead following Gylfi Sigurddson's first-half equaliser.
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| Fernando Llorente and Leroy Fer were Swansea heroes last weekend (Getty Images) |
Tottenham have only won one match of their last six in the league, and find themselves seven points adrift of Chelsea. Swansea will be on a massive high after their triumph over Palace, but I feel that Spurs will have a bit too much for Swansea at White Hart Lane this weekend.
Prediction: 3-1
West Brom vs Watford
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 15.00
West Brom are unbeaten in three following a 1-1 draw at Hull last Saturday, and they face a Watford side who sit just a point and a place above the Baggies in the table despite a 1-0 home defeat to Stoke last Sunday.
Gareth McAuley became the first defender to score three goals in the Premier League this season, heading home Matt Phillips' first-half corner. Tony Pulis' side dominated the early proceedings, enjoying 82% possession in the opening quarter of an hour and restricting Hull to having zero shots on target in the first half. Naturally, West Brom dropped a little deeper in the second period to protect their lead, and faced a much-improved Hull side after the break. Michael Dawson nodded home an equaliser for the Tigers as the match ended all-square, a result I'm sure Pulis would have taken before the start of play.
Watford have been a little inconsistent this season, but will see it as a great achievement to be sat in 8th in the table in Walter Mazzarri's first season as a Premier League manager. They were deserved losers at Vicarage Road, goalkeeper Gomes' own-goal gifting the Potters the three points, but the Hornets have tended to bounce back well from defeats this season, and Mazzarri will be hoping for a similar response at the Hawthorns.
West Brom won 4-0 in their last home match, against Burnley, and Pulis will be hoping his side can dominate Watford in the same manner on Saturday. Watford should carry a bit more of an attacking threat than Burnley managed in that game and I see them scoring at the Hawthorns, but I think that WBA's good form will see them through to another victory in this one.
Prediction: 2-1
West Ham vs Arsenal
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 17.30
West Ham met Manchester United twice this week, securing a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last Sunday before losing 4-1, also at Old Trafford, in the EFL Cup quarter-final on Wednesday. Arsenal beat Bournemouth 3-1 at the Emirates, their 19th match without defeat, before that spell came to a disappointing end in their 2-0 defeat at home to Southampton in the cup.
West Ham led inside two minutes at United last weekend, courtesy of Diafra Sakho's header from Dimitri Payet's free-kick. That was the second-fastest goal that Manchester United have conceded at home in the Premier League (after Edin Dzeko for Manchester City in 2013), and was Sakho's third in four league clashes against the Red Devils. That point was enough to see West Ham up to 16th following Palace's loss at Swansea. They will have been disappointed by their performance in the EFL Cup, but Slaven Bilic will have been pleased to see young striker Ashley Fletcher net his first goal for the Hammers, against his former side.
Arsenal were too strong in the end for Bournemouth last weekend, Alexis Sanchez doing the business again for the Gunners. His brace, along with Theo Walcott's header, ended a run of three straight draws for Arsene Wenger's men (all competitions). It was less comfortable for them on Wednesday night as they crashed out of the EFL Cup at the Emirates to Southampton, a defeat which ended a run of 19 matches unbeaten. Wenger will be hoping his players can bounce straight back in this London Derby on Saturday.
Both sides exited the cup in midweek, but both enjoyed good results last weekend in the league and will be hoping to earn another one on Saturday. West Ham are too close to the relegation zone for comfort at the moment, and although I see them eventually finishing in mid-table, I fear Arsenal will prove too tough a test this weekend.
Prediction: 0-3
Bournemouth vs Liverpool
Sunday 4th December 2016, 13.30
Bournemouth have lost three of their last four in the league after their 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, whilst Liverpool made it eleven league games without defeat with a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Anfield.
Bournemouth gave a good account of themselves at Arsenal, playing some really nice football, but the quality of Arsenal and in particular Alexis Sanchez proved too much in the end for the Cherries. Callum Wilson got Bournemouth's goal from the penalty spot, and Eddie Howe's men had a couple of good opportunities to take the lead before Arsenal eventually put the game to bed. Howe will be pleased with how his side are playing, but they need to start picking up wins again, with only one in their last five in the league.
Liverpool enjoyed two 2-0 victories at Anfield this week. They beat Sunderland in the Premier League to stay 2nd in the table thanks to a goal from Divock Origi and James Milner's penalty. Origi came on for the injured Philippe Coutinho to find the breakthrough for the Reds, in what was looking like a game where the goal was never going to come for Liverpool. Origi will be hoping to see more minutes in Coutinho's absence, with the Brazilian expected to return in Januray; Origi also scored the opener against Leeds in the EFL Cup, before 17-year-old Ben Woodburn became the club's youngest-ever scorer.
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| Ben Woodburn made history at Anfield on Tuesday (Getty Images) |
I'm a big fan of Eddie Howe and Bournemouth, and I'm expecting them to give Liverpool a really good game on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp's men are flying in the league though, and also have a good record at the Vitality Stadium, and I see the visitors leaving with the three points.
Prediction: 0-2
Everton vs Manchester United
Sunday 4th December 2016, 16.00
Everton are without a win in three following their 1-0 defeat at Southampton a week ago, whilst Manchester United drew 1-1 with West Ham last Sunday before beating the same opponents at Old Trafford on Wednesday to progress to the EFL Cup semi-finals, where they will face Hull.
Ronald Koeman will have been disappointed by the performance as much as he will have been by the defeat to his former side. Charlie Austin's goal inside a minute was the only goal of the game, and always looked like being enough for the Saints. The Toffees carried very little attacking threat at St Mary's, and now have just one victory in their last eight league games. They also managed just one shot on target in that game, and Koeman has admitted to being 'worried' about his side's performances.
United's draw with West Ham ended up becoming all about Jose Mourinho, who was sent to the stands after Paul Pogba was booked for a dive. He was missing from his sides victory over the same opponents on Wednesday, with a brace apiece from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial seeing the Red Devils progress in the cup. Zlatan looks back to himself in recent weeks; he also scored in the league match with the Hammers, cancelling out Diafra Sakho's early goal.
I don't think there's too much between these two at the moment. United will be bolstered by their cup success, but Everton will be determined not to lose again, and I see this one ending up a draw at Goodison Park.
Prediction: 1-1
Middlesbrough vs Hull
Monday 5th December 2016, 20.00
Middlesbrough have lost just once in their last five in the league following their 2-2 draw at Leicester last weekend. They face Hull on Monday night at the Riverside, who also drew in Gameweek 13, 1-1 with West Brom. Mike Phelan's side also played in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, beating Championship leaders' Newcastle on penalties to set up a semi-final clash with Manchester United.
Alvaro Negredo scored with two brilliant finishes at the King Power Stadium, the second of which looked like being the winner until the 94th-minute when Marten de Roon fouled Wes Morgan, allowing Islam Slimani to snatch a draw with virtually the last kick of the game. Aitor Karanka will be pleased with how his side played, though, as not many teams have left the King Power with a point in recent months.
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| Alvaro Negredo will be looking to build on his brace at Leicester (Getty Images) |
Hull have gained 4 points from the last 9 on offer in the league, a potential sign that they're on the up under Phelan, after a run of six straight defeats between September and October. Michael Dawson was the hero last Saturday, heading an equaliser against in-form West Brom, and the Tigers had a great night in midweek as they progressed in the cup. It finished 0-0 after 90 minutes, before former Hull man Mohamed Diame gave the Magpies the lead. Robert Snodgrass equalised a minute later, and 10-man Hull progressed to the semis after Eldin Jakupovic saved two Newcastle penalties.
Middlesbrough are a tough nut to crack at the moment, and I think Hull might struggle at the Riverside. I can see Alvaro Negredo continuing his good form in a Boro victory.
Prediction: 2-0
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