It would appear that there is a Premier League title race on again, so with this week’s fixtures starting tonight, here The Big Kick Off brings you our Matchweek 27 Premier League match predictions..
Yes, Tottenham’s unexpected 3-2 win over Manchester City last Saturday – along with Liverpool’s six match winning run – has seen City’s gap reduced to just 3 points.
The Reds have no Premier league match this weekend, they face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
This gives Pep’s City the chance to re-establish a 6 points gap when they visit Goodison Park to face Everton in the Saturday evening kick-off.
With the matches starting tonight, let’s not waste any more time and get onto our Premier League predictions for Matchweek 27.
Southampton v Norwich – Friday 8pm
The Saints are in decent form at the moment. At home they’ve suffered only one defeat this season, and this has helped them maintain a mid table position for most of the campaign.
As for Norwich, they are now bottom of the table after Burnley’s remarkable week.
The Canaries had a real go at Liverpool last Saturday, Dean Smith has really got them fighting for their Premier League survival.
I can’t see them getting anything at Southampton though.
- Verdict – SOUTHAMPTON WIN
Leeds v Spurs – Saturday 12.30pm
Despite beating Man City at the Etihad, it ended up another bad week for Spurs. After losing to Burnley on Wednesday, manager Antonio Conte cut a downbeat figure, almost resigned to having failed at the club.
The loss was the fourth suffered by Spurs in their last five matches.
As for Leeds, well, where do we start? On the opening day of the season at Old Trafford they looked defensively all over the place.
Absolutely nothing has changed since that day, and they got completely spanked at Liverpool on Wednesday. In their last two games, Leeds have conceded 10 times!
As bad as Spurs have been, surely a visit to Elland Road is just what the doctor ordered.
- Verdict – TOTTENHAM WIN
Brentford v Newcastle – Saturday 3pm
The first of three very hard to call fixtures. Newcastle obviously have the form going in their favour here, but this the sort of match Brentford will be well up for, and will see as winnable.
Brentford did end their losing run when they drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace two weeks back. But they were back to losing ways away to Arsenal last weekend.
Newcastle’s three match winning run came to an end at West Ham last Saturday, although a point at West Ham has to be seen as a positive for Eddie Howe.
- Verdict – DRAW
Brighton v Aston Villa – Saturday 3pm
Both these teams suffered unexpected losses last weekend. Brighton went down 3-0 at home to Burnley, while Villa lost 1-0 at home to Watford.
For Brighton, they had played two games in a week prior to the defeat, and they played a large part of one of those matches with 10 men (at Old Trafford against Man Utd).
As for Villa, the performances are still there, and I don’t think it will be long before the results come back.
This match could go any way here. So I’m sitting on that fence again.
- Verdict – DRAW
Crystal Palace v Burnley – Saturday 3pm
Palace finally got the win their recent performances had been meriting, when they won 4-1 away to Watford on Wednesday night.
The Eagles cashed in on a struggling Watford, but they shouldn’t find Burnley as easy to knock over on Saturday.
What about Burnley! Who would have seen those two results coming last week? Not me, that’s for sure!
They’d previously had one win all season, and then from nowhere they beat Brighton 3-0 away, and Spurs 1-0 at home. In the space of 4 days they picked up 6 points and moved off the bottom of the table.
And now, do the Clarets win three matches in a week? Possibly.
I just don’t see it though, so it has to be another draw for me.
- Verdict – DRAW
Man Utd v Watford – Saturday 3pm
As awful as Manchester United have been this season, they surely can’t fail to beat Watford? I may well have written something similar when they played at Vicarage Road last November!
The Hornets were routed by Palace midweek, and United also owe them a beating after that 4-1 loss at Vicarage Road, that cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.
Watford will do what Man Utd hate at Old Trafford though. They will sit back and make United break them down.
As bad as United have been at breaking teams down lately, I don’t see the Hornets being able to hold out.
It won’t be pretty, but it has to be a home win.
- Verdict – MAN UTD WIN
Everton v Man City – Saturday 5.30pm
Man City may feel unlucky not to have beaten Spurs last weekend, but they didn’t defend well enough, and sometimes these things happen.
Everton haven’t got the attacking players to hurt City like Spurs, and I don’t see the Toffees troubling the light blues.
I’m not sure if Everton are going to be okay this season. If results go against them, they could be in the bottom three on Saturday night.
As for Man City, with Liverpool only 3 points behind now, they can’t afford any more slip ups. Will they handle the pressure? Eitherway, I’m sure they will be fine this Saturday.
- Verdict – MAN CITY
West Ham v Wolves – Sunday 2pm
The Hammers will regard last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle as 2 dropped points, and points they can ill afford to drop if they are serious about finishing in the top 4.
They are now two games without a win, and have just one victory in their last five.
As for Wolves, they lost in the dying seconds against Arsenal on Thursday night, in a match they led 1-0 up until the 82nd minute.
How much will that defeat have taken out of them, both physically and mentally?
They have picked up 9 points from their last five matches, so overall Wolves’ form is decent.
This is a big match in the battle for a top 4 finish, and I’m going for the Hammers to just edge this one.
- Verdict – WEST HAM WIN
Our Matchweek 27 Premier League Match Predictions article is written by Dean Etheridge. You contact him on LinkedIn, or see more of his work on his football betting website.