Gameweek 20 Predictions
Brighton 2-0 Bournemouth
Newcastle 1–1 Everton
Southampton 0-1 Crystal Palace
Watford 1-1 Aston Villa
Norwich 1-3 Tottenham
West Ham 0-2 Leicester
Burnley 1-1 Manchester United
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
Liverpool 3-1 Wolves
Manchester City 3-0 Sheffield Utd
Summary
We are halfway through the season is and we have no title race to speak of, as Liverpool are fully set to end their 30 year drought without a League title. The focus will now promptly shift to the Champions League positions and the relegation scrap, with several key games affecting both ends of the table taking place this weekend. The weekend begins with Brighton and Bournemouth, two teams looking to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle.
Manchester United and Tottenham will be looking to build on Boxing Day wins, to put some pressure on 4th place Chelsea. However, it may not just be Chelsea who relinquish their top 4 sanctuary, with Leicester now looking vulnerable after failing to win in three. They are coming off back-to-back drubbings of 3-1 and 4-0 to Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively. Foxes supporters will be desperate to get back to winning ways at West Ham, a victory that could subsequently spell the end of West Ham’s Manuel Pellegrini, who continues to massively under achieve as the Hammers’ Boss.
Games of the Week: Arsenal vs Chelsea
Mikel Arteta manages his first Arsenal home game, coming off a disappointing 1-1 draw at Bournemouth in his managerial opener. Arsenal have been dire as of late, with one of their last 11 Premier League matches, a run that has pushed them down to 11th in the table and eight points adrift of the top four. In fact, they’re closer to the relegation zone than they are to Champions League qualification; a stark reminder of how dire the situation is at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s home defeat to Southampton on Saturday was their 5th loss in their last 7 league games, rounding off a disappointing December for Chelsea, who had only just looked great in winning 2-0 at Spurs in their previous game. Chelsea seemingly struggle against teams who sit back and ask to be broken down, however, unless Arteta orchestrates a miraculous short-term overhaul, Arsenal are unlikely to be sitting back and implementing this tactic. Chelsea dominate the combined XI – despite being far from the finished article themselves – making this just one of many clear indicators that Mikel Arteta has a massive job on his hands as the new Arsenal Boss.
Prediction-
Everything seemingly points to goals, as Chelsea have scored two or more goals in six of their nine Premier League away games, but have kept just a single clean sheet, while Arsenal have conceded two or more goals in six of their last seven competitive home games, conceding an average of 1.67 goals per home game in the Premier League this season in total. While I certainly won’t be betting on Arsenal, I would lean on them putting forward a maximum effort here at home, and covering the Double Chance market at 4/6.
