It might only be Tuesday, but it’s already Matchweek 14 in the Premier League, and here is our latest installment of match predictions for the midweek fixtures.
Here at The Big Kick Off we have previews of all 10 matches, and it promises to be a huge week in the Premier League for the likes of Newcastle, and dare I say Rafa Benitez.
Yes, Rafa looks set to become the new whipping boy now that Ole’s gone.
And what better a side to face when you’re team hasn’t won for seven matches, than Liverpool.
To add further insult to injury, Liverpool is your major rival and your former club. And your own fans who were never that keen on you in the first place, are now really starting to get sick of you.
So the last thing you need if you’re Rafa, is to lose this match!
Anyway, at least it’s not at Anfield. Although, that might have been better for Rafa, as no one would have expected Everton to win there!
What happened in Matchweek 13?
Well, thanks to an almighty miss from Antonio Rüdiger at the end of the Chelsea match, another of our predictions didn’t win, and Man City was cut in the betting to win the Premier League title.
Pep’s team are now 4/7 (1.57) to win the title, having been 8/11 (1.72) before Matchweek 13.
On the back of dropping 2 points against Man Utd, wasteful Chelsea – and it wasn’t just Rüdiger – are now 13/5 (3.6), having been 23/10 (3.30).
Liverpool has been slightly trimmed from 9/2 (5.50) to 4/1 (5.0). I don’t think it’s really worth mentioning any of the others!
- Man City 4/7 (1.57)
- Chelsea 13/5 (3.60)
- Liverpool 4/1 (5.00)
- Man Utd 150/1 (151.0)
- West Ham 150/1 (151.0)
- Arsenal 150/1 (151.0)
- Tottenham 250/1 (251.0)
Now, onto our match predictions!!
Matchweek 14 Premier League Predictions
Newcastle v Norwich – Tues 7.30pm
Starting at St James Park, and surely this has to be the moment Newcastle finally wins a match!
But wait, Norwich is now three matches unbeaten. They probably should have beaten Wolves last weekend and won three in a row!
They slightly conceded the possession to Wolves, but the Canaries had 14 attempts on goal, compared to Wolves 5.
Newcastle did put up a decent fight against Arsenal but ultimately fell short.
I’m far from convinced, but I feel I have to go for a Newcastle win tonight!
- Verdict – NEWCASTLE WIN
Leeds v Crystal Palace – Tues 8.15pm
Let’s be honest here, Leeds has been poor this season. They’ve simply never got going, and could well find themselves in a full-scale relegation scrap if they don’t start winning soon.
You could say they are already in a relegation dog fight.
Palace for their part, dominated the possession in their 2-1 defeat to Villa last Saturday. The Eagles had 64% of the ball, they just couldn’t do anything with it.
This is another of those matches that could have any of three results, so I’m going with the draw on the occasion.
- Verdict – DRAW
Southampton v Leicester – Wed 7.30pm
Right, moving onto Wednesday, and here we are again with Brendon Rodgers’ Leicester.
Have they turned the corner this time? If yes, I have no hesitation in predicting a win for them.
The difference this time around for Leicester (I thought they were on a roll after the back-to-back wins over Brentford and Man Utd) is that James Maddison now looks in form.
I don’t think that was the case earlier in the season.
But to throw further doubt on me backing Leicester, Watford were awful in their defeat to the Foxes on Sunday!
The Hornets really are a poor side in my opinion!
Even so, I’m giving Leicester the benefit of the doubt, and I’m taking them to sneak this one.
- Verdict – LEICESTER WIN
Watford v Chelsea – Wed 7.30pm
Right, if you’ve just read the above sentences, you will already be aware I don’t rate Watford.
Chelsea simply has to win this match!! Give City the trophy if Tuchel’s men drop points here!
- Verdict – CHELSEA WIN
West Ham v Brighton – Wed 7.30pm
The obvious call here is West Ham to win, but I don’t know what it is with Brighton, they look like a team well able to give anybody a game.
I feel Graham Potter’s team has been unlucky recently, and I really hope the fans stick by him during this sticky patch.
Brighton plays decent football, they just lack a cutting edge. When they get that cutting edge back, they will be fine.
Not sure it will be tonight though. The Hammers has lost their last two, but they’ve been away to Wolves and Man City
I think they will bounce back with a win against Brighton.
- Verdict – WEST HAM WIN
Wolves v Burnley – Wed 7.30pm
Another tricky match to call, would a Burnley win be a huge shock here?
Wolves have been on a good run lately but were disappointing against Norwich on Saturday.
They can’t afford a similar performance here, and I’m going for them to just edge this one.
- Verdict – WOLVES WIN
Villa v Man City – Wed 8.15pm
A couple of weeks ago this would have been a simple call to make.
But after back-to-back wins for new boss Steven Gerrard and his Villa side, now it’s not so clear cut.
In both of Villa’s wins under Gerrard, they have had significantly less possession than the teams they beat. Villa had 37% against Brighton and just 36% against Palace.
Concede that amount of possession against City – as I’m sure they will – and I can only see one outcome!
- Verdict – MAN CITY WIN
Everton v Liverpool – Wed 8.15pm
The 239th Merseyside Derby is one of the standout fixtures of the midweek matches, and it also represents a huge chance for Rafa Benitez to get the Everton fans back on his side.
The problem is, I just can’t see it happening.
Maybe if Goodison Park is rocking, as I’m sure it will be, Everton can pull off a shock victory, but Everton has just looked inept lately.
They dominated the possession and attempts on goal stats against Brentford on Sunday, but never looked like winning the match.
As for Liverpool, they just keep on churning out results, and I can only see the same thing happening here again.
- Verdict – LIVERPOOL WIN
Spurs v Brentford – Thurs 7.30pm
Right, Spurs will have been disappointed not to have got a chance to take on Burnley on Sunday, well, at least they should have been.
In a way, maybe Sunday’s postponement was a help for Conte’s men, as they avoided a potential banana skin and now have a more appealing match to try and win back-to-back Premier League matches and get some momentum into their season.
Brentford may have got back to winning ways last Sunday, but they beat a poor Everton side and I don’t see them getting anything against Spurs.
- Verdict – SPURS WIN
Man Utd v Arsenal – Thurs 8.15pm
All of a sudden after last Sunday’s match at Chelsea, this now looks like a different match.
Man Utd looked a far more compact outfit at Stamford Bridge, although if Chelsea had taken just a small fraction of the chances they created in the first half, they would have been out of sight.
Will United set up in such a defensive and compact way at home? I’m not so sure.
This fixture will be a test of how far Arsenal has come, and I think they can get a draw at Old Trafford against a bruised United side.
A result I believe would suit both managers!
- Verdict – DRAW
This article is written by Dean Etheridge, you can find him on LinkedIn if you wish to get in touch or follow him.