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Premier League Predictions | Solskjaer's 100th game, Jose's anger and Antonio injury

After a couple of crazy weeks of Premier League, sides are starting to settle and a return to nor...



Soccer

Premier League Predictions | Solskjaer's 100th game, Jose's anger and Antonio injury

After a couple of crazy weeks of Premier League, sides are starting to settle and a return to normality in scorelines is occurring.

OTB Sports' own Enda Coll looks ahead to Gameweek 7 of the Premier League.

Wolves v. Crystal Palace

After two brilliant seasons in the Premier League, it seems like Wolves are undergoing a little bit of settling. Results have been mixed, goals have been few and performances have lacked the excitement that we have been known to associate with Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.

Crystal Palace, the other hand, is giving us exactly what we expect - hard to beat, very few goals and dangerous on the counter-attack.

Don’t expect that to change this Friday evening either; this will be a tight affair. Both teams have very obvious dangermen in Wilfried Zaha and Raul Jimenez respectively. So, if either side can isolate and keep them quiet, that’ll be half the battle.

Prediction: Draw

aguero

Sheffield United v. Manchester City

Sergio Aguero was back for Manchester City and then he was gone again. Pep Guardiola highlighted his importance last week when he said they couldn’t afford to buy a replacement for him.

The key issue for Man City is that Aguero is getting older, the injuries are becoming more common and it looks like his lifespan at the club might be drawing to a close... similar to his manager's, perhaps.

This is a game they can take advantage of, though. Sheffield United have been in bad form this season, with just one point on the board so far. Their issue last season was scoring goals and that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that they have started conceding a lot more without Jack O’Connell and Dean Henderson.

Last season, they conceded just 39 goals. They have conceded nine already this year.

This could be a tight game for 60 minutes or so, but once Man City take the lead, they could cruise to victory in this one.

Prediction: Manchester City

Premier League

Burnley v. Chelsea

It just hasn’t gone right at all for Sean Dyche with Burnley this year, has it? It is hardly surprising though and there has always been the potential for this to happen with the lack of investment.

Investment is certainly something Dyche’s counterpart in this fixture has lacked. Frank Lampard’s new boys are finally starting to click and we’re seeing some good displays lately.

Despite attracting some of the most promising attacking talents in Europe, it will probably be the new man behind the sticks that will go down as the best signing for the Blues this year.

Burnley showed they can still get in and rough up the big boys as they held Arsenal to just one goal last week. This weekend coming will be something similar. They might win the physical battle but Chelsea will win the game.

Prediction: Chelsea

david moyes

Liverpool v. West Ham United

Last week, we successfully predicted West Ham to pull off a result against Man City. Not only did they get the draw, but they were also good value for it.

This week will be a little bit tougher for David Moyes with starman Michail Antonio missing through injury, which will be key.

West Ham will miss his unpredictability and quality up front against what would have been the perfectly weakened Liverpool defence for him to run riot.

Despite the injuries to Thiago, Virgil van Dijk, and Fabinho, as well as players missing weeks due to positive tests, Liverpool have been getting the job done again this year.

A special mention to Mo Salah, who has been in brilliant form in the opening weeks of the season and who would have wrapped up the goal of the season last week had his improvised volley not been ruled out for offside.

Liverpool just edge this one for me.

Prediction: Liverpool

dean smith

Aston Villa v. Southampton

It gets mentioned in almost every conversation related to Southampton, but what a job Ralph Hasenhuttl has done with them since the infamous 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City last season.

Southampton have been in flying form so far and the key to that has been finding someone other than Danny Ings to score goals for them.

Che Adams scored again last week in their 2-0 win against Everton and there is every chance he could grab a few this weekend as they face an Aston Villa side looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat to Leeds United.

Strangely, Aston Villa looked quite good in the first 45 minutes of that game but were torn to shreds in the second half by newly-promoted Leeds.

Villa do look much improved this year and if star players like Ollie Watkins, Jack Grealish, and co. can grab an early goal, they could well win this.

Prediction: Draw

Newcastle v. Everton

Some chinks are starting to show in this Everton team. With Richarlison suspended last week and James Rodriguez not fully fit, they never really threatened against Southampton.

This week, they’re missing Richarlison again, add Lucas Digne into that and Seamus Coleman still, this may not be so straightforward for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

St James’ Park isn’t the easiest place in the world to go to but oddly enough, it’s somewhere Everton pick up results with eight straight wins in the stadium against Newcastle.

Steve Bruce's team have added some adding threat this year and could catch Everton on the hop here.

Everton have only drawn one away game under Ancelotti, so while a draw seems like the logical outcome, it may end with either side picking up a win.

Prediction: Draw

solskjaer

Manchester United v. Arsenal

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take charge of his 100th Manchester United game this weekend when they face an Arsenal side in mixed form.

What has changed under Solskjaer? There is a notable alteration in the starting line-up, youth is very much at the forefront and the mood is clearly better at the club. However, are they any closer to a title? Probably not.

For all of Solskjaer’s faults, the one thing you can’t fault him for is his ability to pull off big wins when he needs them and this game may be no different.

United were exceptional against RB Leipzig in midweek and if they play like that against Arsenal, they should expect to win.

Arsenal, on the other hand, were poor against Leicester last week and their early form has dipped slightly.

There’s clear progress under Mikel Arteta but the defence still needs a lot of work. United just about edge this one on form but it could be a cagey one.

Prediction: Draw

Tottenham Hotspur v. Brighton & Hove Albion

It all seemed so rosy in the garden of Jose before their game against Antwerp during the week.

Dele Alli came back into the starting line-up for Mourinho and it will likely be the last time for a while after a pretty obvious dig post-defeat.

“Before matches, you always ask me why this player is not playing, why this player is not playing, why this player is not selected. Maybe now for a few weeks, you don’t ask me that because you have the answer”, Mourinho said post-match.

This game is almost perfect for Tottenham, however. While Brighton pass the ball around nicely, they lack the cutting edge to actually do anything with it.

Graham Potter’s men were on top for the entirety of the opening 45 minutes against West Bromwich Albion but failed to take advantage and were punished for it in the second half.

With Tottenham’s quality on the break, Brighton could play right into their hands in this.

Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur

Fulham v. West Bromwich Albion

Isn’t it amazing how Sky’s supercomputer has become so advanced it can select at random the two worst teams in the league and put them in the biggest dead spot for ratings?

This isn’t going to be an exciting one to watch as both sides struggle to cope with life back in the top division.

West Brom have at least looked threatening at times, whereas Fulham have just been awful and it won’t be long before Scott Parker is out of a job.

With Fulham coming through the Championship play-offs ahead of a Brentford side that were exceptional at times last year, I’m reminded of a Kent Brockman line, “Democracy simply does not work”... “the Championship play-offs simply do not work”

Prediction: Draw

Leeds United v. Leicester City

Has there been a better second-half performance this season than Leeds against Aston Villa last week?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side were relentless, ruthless and an absolute joy to watch as they tore Aston Villa from limb-to-limb.

They have a good chance to take a top-six scalp this weekend as well, as Leicester enter this game without some key players; most notably Timothy Castagne and Jonny Evans.

Leicester did manage to make a few changes for their midweek game against AEK Athens in the Europa League but these next few weeks will be a true test of their depth.

Leeds’ dynamic brand of football under the maverick Bielsa may actually be perfect for Leicester who, despite some changes under Brendan Rodges, still look like more of a counter-attacking side than possession based.

Either way, there should be goals in this. (*Stands by awaiting a nil-all draw!)

Prediction: Draw

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