West Brom vs Arsenal
Saturday 18th March 2017, 12.30
West Brom lost their second successive Premier League match in a 3-0 defeat at Everton. Arsenal haven't played in the league since a 3-1 defeat at Anfield on March 4th.
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It's Pulis vs Wenger in Saturday's early kick-off (Getty Images)
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Tony Pulis' men were well in the game at Goodison Park until the 36th-minute when they allowed Kevin Mirallas space to put the Toffees ahead. Morgan Schneiderlin added another on the stroke of half-time and former Baggies forward Romelu Lukaku added a third in the second half in an unusually poor defensive display from the West Midlands club.
Arsenal were second best against Liverpool a fortnight ago and have since suffered another 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich, seeing them crash out of the Champions League, but progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals where they will face Manchester City after beating lowly Lincoln City 5-0 at the Emirates.
I think this could be a really close game. West Brom are strong at the Hawthorns but are on a bit of a bad run, so I fancy Arsene Wenger's men to pick up an important win in the race for a top four spot.
Prediction: 1-2
Crystal Palace vs Watford
Saturday 18th March 2017, 15.00
Palace last played two weeks ago, picking up an excellent 2-0 win at West Brom. Watford have also had a fortnight off, last playing in a 4-3 home defeat to Southampton.
Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend were the goalscorers as Sam Allardyce's Eagles picked up a massive three points at the Hawthorns. It was their second straight win and clean sheet which is no coincidence as loan signing Mamadou Sakho has started the last two matches at centre-back.
Watford played their part in a thrilling encounter against Southampton at Vicarage Road. Troy Deeney had them ahead after just four minutes and Stefano Okaka later made it 2-2, but two goals in the last ten minutes made it 4-2 to the Saints. Watford weren't finished, and Abdoulaye Doucoure scored a consolation four minutes into injury-time, but the Hornets couldn't find a dramatic late equaliser.
Palace are in really good form and a third straight win could see them climb as high as 15th if other results go their way. They've found a bit of character under Big Sam, and I think they'll get the win in front of their own fans at Selhurst Park.
Prediction: 3-1
Everton vs Hull
Saturday 18th March 2017, 15.00
Everton bounced straight back from defeat at Tottenham with a 3-0 win over WBA at Goodison Park. Hull won their six-pointer with Swansea, 2-1 at the KCOM Stadium.
Romelu Lukaku has been everywhere this week! He scored against former-club West Brom last Saturday in a comfortable 3-0 victory for Ronald Koeman's side, but has been in the headlines since after stating he will not be signing improved terms at the Merseyside club. I do believe that he is good enough to be playing in the Champions League, but he needs to focus on the rest of the season and leave all talk of exiting Goodison until the end of the season.
Hull needed an Everton player (albeit on loan) to earn three crucial points against Swansea. Oumar Niasse came off the bench to score twice for the Tigers, which was enough to beat the battling Swans despite a late consolation. Unfortunately for Marco Silva, Niasse is ineligible to play his parent club on Saturday.
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Oumar Niasse is unavailable against parent club Everton (Getty Images)
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Hull picked up a massive win last time out but Everton have won their last five league matches at home and should have far too much for the Tigers despite everything that's been said about Romelu Lukaku this week.
Prediction: 3-0
Stoke vs Chelsea
Saturday 18th March 2017, 15.00
Stoke have played twice recently, beating Middlesbrough 2-0 at the Bet365 Stadium on 4th March before drawing 0-0 at Manchester City four days later. Chelsea haven't played in the league since a 2-1 win at West Ham twelve days ago.
Marko Arnautovic scored twice as Stoke brushed Boro aside two weeks ago, before picking up an excellent 0-0 draw at the Etihad. Mark Hughes' men defended fantastically, and thoroughly deserved their draw.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa scored at the London Stadium as Chelsea won their second league match in a row and maintained their ten point lead at the top. They have since progressed to the FA Cup semi-final after beating Manchester United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Monday, N'golo Kante the unlikely goalscorer. They will face Tottenham at Wembley.
Stoke is a really tough place to go but Chelsea look so organised in every game I see them and I think Antonio Conte will be the happier of the two managers on Saturday evening.
Prediction: 0-1
Sunderland vs Burnley
Saturday 18th March 2017, 15.00
Sunderland are six points adrift of safety after a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City in their last league outing, a third straight defeat. Burnley played last weekend and were a little unlucky to lose 2-1 at Liverpool.
David Moyes' men are in big trouble. It's understandable that they couldn't live with Manchester City but they can't live with the teams around them either. The club did receive a bit of a boost with the news that Jermain Defoe has been called up to an England squad for the first time since 2013, but his focus has to be on Burnley this weekend; Defoe is going to have to score an awful lot of goals if he's going to save the Black Cats.
Burnley took the lead at Anfield thanks to Ashley Barnes' early goal, and the game might have been a whole lot different if Liverpool hadn't equalised on the stroke of half-time. Relentless Reds' pressure mounted in the second period, and Emre Can beat Tom Heaton from distance to condemn the Clarets to yet another away defeat.
Sunderland simply have to win this game, and I fancy them to do it. Burnley have only picked up two away points all season and I fancy the Mackems to take the points.
Prediction: 2-0
West Ham vs Leicester
Saturday 18th March 2017, 15.00
West Ham lost 3-2 in a thrilling game at Bournemouth last weekend. Leicester haven't played in the league since a 3-1 home victory over Hull two weeks ago.
It was a crazy game at the Vitality Stadium, with Bournemouth missing two penalties but still beating the Hammers. Michail Antonio scored just 48 seconds after their first failure from the spot, and Andre Ayew later thought he'd earned a point with just seven minutes remaining. However, Josh King completed a Bournemouth hat-trick to leave Slaven Bilic a very frustrated manager.
Craig Shakespeare has won his first two league matches (both 3-1) in charge of Leicester, but his biggest achievement came on Tuesday night as his side beat Sevilla 2-0 (3-2 on aggregate) to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, where they will face Atletico Madrid. The mood at the club has changed completely since Claudio Ranieri's departure, as sad as that is.
Leicester haven't been good travellers this season, though, and West Ham have found themselves scoring more goals and performing much better despite not always collecting three points. However, I think they will on Saturday.
Prediction: 2-1
Bournemouth vs Swansea
Saturday 18th March 2017, 17.30
Bournemouth won that thrilling 3-2 encounter with West Ham, their first league win since New Year's Eve (against Swansea). The Swans are much improved since that encounter, but lost 2-1 at Hull last week.
Josh King bagged a hat-trick against West Ham despite missing a penalty at 0-0, and he's been in really good form. Benik Afobe also missed a penalty, but it didn't matter as King's 90th-minute strike won it for Eddie Howe's Cherries.
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Josh King scored a brilliant hat-trick against West Ham (Getty Images)
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Swansea were doing well at Hull and would have taken a point, but Oumar Niasse came off the bench and his pace in behind caused them all sorts of problems. His brace saw off Paul Clement's men, although Alfie Mawson scored another set-piece consolation.
Bournemouth really needed that win against West Ham, and I think they'll play well on Saturday evening with the pressure off a bit. Swansea will give them a game, but will leave empty-handed in my opinion.
Prediction: 3-1
Middlesbrough vs Manchester United
Sunday 19th March 2017, 12.00
Middlesbrough's last league game was their 2-0 defeat at Stoke two weeks ago. Manchester United's was a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth, also a fortnight ago.
That defeat at Stoke proved to be Aitor Karanka's last league game in charge of Boro, although the final nail in the coffin was a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup. Karanka leaves with the Teesiders sat 19th in the Premier League, without a league victory since December.
United have been busy lately. Since a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Bournemouth they've exited the FA Cup at the hands of Chelsea but progressed to the last sixteen of the Europa League after beating Rostov 2-1 on aggregate. Jose Mourinho has this week bemoaned the club's fixture list.
I fancy Middlesbrough to pick up a point on Sunday. Teams usually perform in the first game after a manager's departure, and Manchester United have played a lot of football of late. The Red Devils are also without the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Prediction: 1-1
Tottenham vs Southampton
Sunday 19th March 2017, 14.15
Spurs remain second in the league after beating Everton 3-2 at White Hart Lane a couple of weeks ago. Southampton were last in league action when they won 4-3 at Watford.
Harry Kane was the star of the show against Everton, but will be missing on Sunday after picking up an injury against Millwall in the FA Cup. Spurs went on to win that game 6-0 to set up a semi-final meeting with Chelsea, Son Heung-min scoring a treble. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start as striker in Kane's absence.
Southampton have won their last two league games and have had a couple of weeks off. They won a thriller at Watford, Nathan Redmond scoring a brace including a 86th-minute winner. They are making good progress under Claude Puel.
Mauricio Pochettino will be eager to get one over his old side, but knows he is in for a tough afternoon without talisman Kane. Having said that, I still fancy Spurs to get the job done.
Prediction: 2-0
Manchester City vs Liverpool
Sunday 19th March 2017, 16.30
The last match before the international break should be an absolute thriller. City drew their last league game, 0-0 at home to Stoke, whilst Liverpool beat Burnley 2-1 at Anfield last week.
Since that drab goalless draw, City have progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals after beating Middlesbrough 2-0 but crashed out of the Champions League after losing 3-1 in Monaco. They drew 6-6 on aggregate but lost on away goals, and Pep Guardiola will be absolutely gutted.
Liverpool battled back well to beat Burnley, something they've struggled to do against the lesser clubs this season. Gini Wijnaldum popped up with another goal and Emre Can fizzed in a beautiful strike from range as the Reds made it back-to-back league wins.
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| Emre Can celebrates scoring the winner against Burnley (Getty Images) |
City are really struggling defensively and I'm sure Jurgen Klopp will set his side up with a lot of pace. They won 4-1 at the Etihad last season, and I'm going to go for another away win on Sunday.
Prediction: 2-3
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