Ugh… it’s December and I have to remember to update these picks during the middle of the week.
Manchester United are set to benefit from the December Crunch; however, Stoke are an organized and annoying team that I think will be organized and annoying and hold the Reds to a pretty non-satisfying tie. 1-1.
Swansea are one of those cusp teams that look good and play nice but can then lose any week. Any week that they’re not playing QPR, that is. 2-1
Liverpool are going to turn it around. No really, they will. There is all this talk of Gerrard being “past it” being “too old”. Well if Fat Frank can score goals for city there’s no reason that Stevie G can’t for Liverpool. I did a search to see how old he looks and was surprised to find he still looks quite youthful! 1-2
I’m not sure about Newcastle. Now that Alan Pardew has take his team away from the drop zone into a title chasing new position in just few weeks, it’s tough to know what they will do next..surely lose a few and here him talk about “the football club” and “this club’s fans” in the context of relegation and firing once again. It can be convenient to not name the club you’re managing on the off chance you end up somewhere else. But Newcastle can beat bottom team Burnely, despite their positive run.
The Wests are playing… the Brom and the Hammers. This has 2-2 written all over it.
Crystal Palace and Aston Villa had opposite runs last year. The Palace fighting off relegation and Aston Villa fighting for a win.Should be an engaging team but I’m continuing to put all my faith in Villa going down. 1-0
| 2-Dec-2014 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | 1-1 | Stoke City |
| Swansea City | 2-1 | Queens Park Rangers |
| Leicester City | 1-2 | Liverpool |
| Burnley | 1-2 | Newcastle United |
| West Bromwich Albion | 2-2 | West Ham United |
| Crystal Palace | 2-1 | Aston Villa |
Tough games for all but this is the second game in a treacherous run for the Arsenal Feeder team Southampton – I truly wonder where they will end up at the end of December. if they retain a position in the top 3? Chalk them in for Champions League.
A tough Sunderland team held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw so this is a great chance for Manchester City to pick up some points on the leaders. Ya Ya is running into some decent form, appearing in and out depending on who he has to try and carry. Aguero is always good for a goal – some real form from Navas, or a little more penetration in the final third and they should put in a hatful of goals. Will be tough to keep a clean sheet with Kompany out . This is not the high-flying city of last year – this is the barely good enough Chelsea version of City. 1-0
Everton a poor loss at the weekend to a struggling (but higher up the table than you’d think) Spuds. If you listened to the interview with Roberto Martinez you’d think it was down to them not playing their best, Spurs playing better, and just some mistakes here and there. Roberto – you’re not working as a TV analyst anymore! It’s actually quite refreshing to hear straight talk from the boss. Everton at home against a poor Hull side? Should be a win. Fully expect a “superlative” goal from Ross Barkley so we can continue in this believe that he’s a top international and future hope for England. 1-0.
Arsenal will come out on top this week on the simple basis that they can’t continue to not win. Southampton won’t drop too far..but this is going to be a rough patch for Ronald K and his boys.
Chelsea are too good for an average Spurs team though nothing would bring me more Premier league joy than the Y*d Army taking it to the Blues and crushing them. Never bet with your heart! My brain says it’s a no brainer which leaves me to wonder what I should be using to choose this result. 2-0
| 3-Dec-14 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sunderland | 0-1 | Manchester City |
| Everton | 1-0 | Hull City |
| Arsenal | 2-1 | Southampton |
| Chelsea | 2-0 | Tottenham Hotspur |