Tottenham vs Bournemouth
Saturday 15th April 2017, 12.30
Tottenham beat Watford 4-0 last Saturday, whilst Bournemouth lost 3-1 at home to Chelsea.
Dele Alli lit up Spurs' victory over the Hornets, and was this week nominated for the Young Player of the Year award alongside teammate Harry Kane, who is also nominated for the main prize. Alli opened the scoring at White Hart Lane with a fine curling strike which was followed with goals from Eric Dier and Son Heung-min (2) on a comfortable afternoon for Mauricio Pochettino's men.
 |
| Tottenham's PFA nominees (Getty Images) |
Bournemouth were always up against it versus Chelsea and found themselves 2-0 down in twenty minutes, Adam Smith's own-goal opening the scoring. Josh King continued his excellent form with another goal, but it was never enough for the Cherries who face another tough test on Saturday.
Tottenham are flying at the moment and are so strong at home. This has to be a home win.
Prediction: 3-1
Crystal Palace vs Leicester
Saturday 15th April 2017, 15.00
Palace stunned Arsenal on Monday night, winning 3-0 at Selhurst Park. Craig Shakespeare lost his first game in charge of Leicester, 4-2 at Everton.
Sam Allardyce has done a great job with the Eagles and they took a massive leap towards safety with a massive win over Arsenal. Wilfried Zaha was in fine form, and provided assists for Andros Townsend and Yohan Cabaye. Luka Milivijevic added a third from the spot.
 |
| Palace were magnificent against Arsenal (Getty Images) |
Leicester were 1-0 down inside thirty second at Goodison Park but rallied quickly and were 2-1 up ten minutes later thanks to goals from Islam Slimani and Marc Albrighton. It was a crazy game, though, and Everton were 3-2 ahead at half-time after a comeback of their own. The Foxes didn't create too much in the second period, and Everton added a fourth to down the reigning champions. A second defeat followed on Wednesday with Leicester losing 1-0 at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Leicester have lost twice in a week and both have been difficult games. After such a great performance over Arsenal, I'm backing Crystal Palace to win again.
Prediction: 2-1
Everton vs Burnley
Saturday 15th April 2017, 15.00
Everton won their seventh home match in a row in that 4-2 win over Leicester. Burnley drew 0-0 at Middlesbrough.
Everton's fine form continued thanks to goals from Tom Davies, Romelu Lukaku (2) and Phil Jagielka, who scored for the second consecutive match. It was a good performance in a thoroughly entertaining game from Ronald Koeman's team, who remain 7th in the table.
Burnley's away performances have been shocking this season, and the less said about the game at Boro the better. A 0-0 draw leaves the Clarets in 12th.
This should be an eighth home win on the spin for the Toffees. Burnley are poor away, and Everton are excellent at home.
Prediction: 3-0
Stoke vs Hull
Saturday 15th April 2017, 15.00
Stoke lost 2-1 at home to Liverpool last Saturday, whilst Hull lost 3-1 at Manchester City.
Stoke took the lead against the Reds thanks to Jon Walters, and dominated the first-half. They struggled to deal with Liverpool's half-time substitutes, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, though, who both scored as the visitors turned the game around.
Andrea Ranocchia's goal at the Etihad was a mere consolation for Hull, who were 3-0 down after 64 minutes. They were comfortably beaten away, but it will be their home form that saves them if they're to stay in the division.
Stoke is a tough place to go and Hull have struggled on the road. I fancy this to be a solid Potters victory.
Prediction: 2-0
Sunderland vs West Ham
Saturday 15th April 2017, 15.00
Sunderland lost 3-0 at home to Manchester United last Sunday. West Ham earned an important 1-0 home victory over Swansea.
Sunderland remain ten points from safety after they were comfortably beaten at the Stadium of Light as David Moyes faced his old side. It seems a matter of when, not if, Sunderland get relegated now.
West Ham ended their five-game losing run with victory over Swansea. Cheikhou Kouyate scored a fine goal as the Hammers created a gap of eight points between them and the drop zone.
I've been disappointed with West Ham this season and this is a game Sunderland know they need to turn up in. I think this will be a low-scoring draw.
Prediction: 1-1
Watford vs Swansea
Saturday 15th April 2017, 15.00
Two losers in Gameweek 32 meet here. Watford were beaten 4-0 at Tottenam and Swansea lost 1-0 at West Ham.
Watford couldn't live with Spurs' attack as Heurelho Gomes conceded four against his former side. Watford couldn't create anything up the other end and 4-0 did not flatter the hosts.
Swansea were beaten by that fine strike from West Ham's Kouyate. The Swans have lost some momentum under Paul Clement and are 18th, two points from safety.
Walter Mazzarri has done a decent job at Watford this season and I've been impressed by them at Vicarage Road. I'm going with the home side here because of that advantage.
Prediction: 2-0
Southampton vs Manchester City
Saturday 15th April 2017, 17.30
Southampton won 1-0 at West Brom last weekend and City beat Hull 3-1 at the Etihad.
Jordy Clasie scored the goal that was enough to give the Saints three points at the Hawthorns. Southampton are 9th in the league, now just four points adrift of West Brom in 8th.
Man City ended a run of four league games without a win thanks to goals from Ahmed Elmohamady (OG), Sergio Aguero and Fabian Delph. It was a routine victory for Pep Guardiola's charges, but the manager will be disappointed that they lost their clean sheet with five minutes left to play.
This should be a really enjoyable game. Both sides are playing good football, but I fancy City to pick up the points here.
Prediction: 1-3
West Brom vs Liverpool
Sunday 16th April 2017, 13.30
West Brom lost 1-0 at home to Southampton last weekend, and face a Liverpool side who came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Stoke.
West Brom have now lost four of their last six in the league and are on a bit of a slump in form. They didn't create too much against Southampton and were rightly defeated on the day.
Jurgen Klopp left Coutinho and Firmino on the bench at Stoke, but the Brazilian duo proved to be the difference at Stoke after scoring a goal apiece in the second-half. It was a massive victory for Liverpool in the race for the top-four.
 |
| Liverpool's Brazilian boys made all the difference (Getty Images) |
This is arguably Liverpool's toughest remaining fixture of the season, so a win here would put them in a great position to earn a Champions League spot. I think they'll be bolstered after beating Stoke, and will win again here.
Prediction: 1-2
Manchester United vs Chelsea
Sunday 16th April 2017, 16.00
United won 3-0 at Sunderland a week ago, and Chelsea won 3-1 at Bournemouth.
It was all too easy for Jose Mourinho's men at the Stadium of Light, who won thanks to goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford. The Red Devils also had a decent result in midweek, drawing 1-1 at Anderlecht in the Europa League and scoring a crucial away-goal in the process.
Chelsea were set on their way by Adam Smith's own-goal, which was quickly added to by Eden Hazard. Bournemouth halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time, but Chelsea's quality told in the second period and they scored a third courtesy of Marcos Alonso's stunning free-kick.
 |
| A clash of two managerial heavyweights (Getty Images) |
I can't wait for this game. I think both teams will have a go and we should be in for a really entertaining match at Old Trafford.
Prediction: 2-2
Middlesbrough vs Arsenal
Monday 17th April 2017, 20.00
Middlesbrough drew 0-0 at home to Burnley last time out, whilst Arsenal were battered 3-0 at Crystal Palace in last Monday's game.
As I've already alluded to, Boro's game against Burnley was another boring one at the Riverside Stadium. The hosts remain 19th, and look in big, big trouble.
Arsenal were humiliated at Selhurst Park and the calls for the sacking of Arsene Wenger will not stop. The Frenchman needs a win on Monday night.
There is a lot of unrest around the Gunners at the moment, but if they can't win at Middlesbrough then there is something majorly wrong. I have to go for the away side.
Prediction: 0-2
No comments:
Post a Comment