Predictions
Crystal Palace 1-0 Bournemouth
Burnley 1-2 Manchester City
Chelsea 2-1 Aston Villa
Leicester 4-0 Watford
Southampton 3-2 Norwich
Wolves 1-1 West Ham
Manchester United 1-2 Tottenham
Liverpool 3-1 Everton
Sheffield United 1-0 Newcastle
Arsenal 3-2 Brighton
Summary
I don’t want to make this an advert for Amazon Prime, but it’s very exciting to now be able to now access every game on Amazon Prime Matchdays, as we introduce our very own EPL version of Redzone.
Clearly the most popular sports league in the world – and 200 hundred times more watched than the NFL – the EPL will now be carried by no less than three providers here in the UK, and they will all be paying fortunes for their slice of the Premier League pie.
Amazon’s first Matchday offers up some incredible matches, including the Merseyside Derby, John Terry’s return to Chelsea, Ljungberg’s first Arsenal home game in charge and Mourinho’s return to Old Trafford, which is our game of the week for this Matchday. While I expect Liverpool and Leicester to make light work of their opponents and remain in the top two places, Manchester City face a difficult trip to Burnley, where they could once again struggle without Sergio Aguero and a makeshift backline.
Elsewhere, I see Southampton grinding out a narrow win in their 6 pointer against Norwich, while Arsenal should be able to get their first win in 8 at home to Brighton. However, despite their favourable 4/6 odds and solid record at home against teams outside the top 6 in previous seasons, they won’t be a team I will personally be taking any action on.
Game of the Week: Manchester United Vs Tottenham
Ole Solskjaer is certainly in the hot seat now, as United haven’t won for three matches and look a million miles away from the Top 4. They now face their former Boss, as Jose Mourinho returns to Old Trafford, and will be desperately looking to become just the third manager to win a Premier League away game at Old Trafford with two different clubs.
Both Manchester United and Tottenham have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last nine Premier League games are guilty of being all over the place defensively this season. Both sides have also dropped 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. Despite the fact that Tottenham haven’t won a Premier League away game against Big Six opposition since August 2018 – when they beat none other than Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United 3-0 – I have more faith in Mourinho continuing his solid start with Spurs, than I do in Ole rejuvenating United. Mourinho also has a far better selection of players at his disposal, as outlined by the combined XI.
Prediction-
While Mourinho will eventually tighten up this Spurs backline, it won’t happen immediately, therefore, this game almost guarantees you Goals. I like BTTS in this one, with Spurs better quality and managerial tactics, edging out a win that will heap pressure onto Solskjaer. It would be a fitting irony for Mourinho to be sacked from United, get a result as the Spurs Manager, which would aid the sacking of Solskjaer and open the door for Pochettino – the former Spurs Manager – highlighting the merry-go-round that is modern day football management.
