And the following are my views on the major games this weekend.
Liverpool will play host to Everton in a match that they will need to win to boost their confidence. The only consolation going into this match is this game is being played at home. The last 2 EPL matches for Liverpool were losses as they were beaten by West Ham [3-1] and Aston Villa [1-0]. Liverpool holds a slight edge over Everton and this might be in their favour too. Doubts for Liverpool for this game would be Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge while long term absentees are Joe Allen, Emre Can, Glen Johnson and John Flanagan. Liverpool is lacking in their creativity and I believe Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge are badly missed. For Everton, both Seamus Coleman and Steven Pienaar will undergo late fitness tests to check if they are match fit.
My prediction for this match is Liverpool squeezing a win against their rivals. Liverpool 2 Everton 1. It's going to be a hard fought match and somehow Liverpool might win this one.
The Blues will be playing at home to their very own Stamford Bridge. The visitors were beaten by Arsenal 3-0 last week and they look to pick up themselves against the Premier league leaders. Chelsea has enjoyed a near perfect start to the EPL as they slipped away 2 points against Manchester City last week. Chelsea has a near full squad with Ramires injured. If Diego Costa recovers from the hamstring injury which he was rumoured to have during mid week, Chelsea would be an unstoppable force at home. Aston Villa has 6 players down with illness but they are suppose to be fit for this weekend's game.
My prediction for this match is Chelsea winning comfortably at home if Diego Costa starts. I'm going for Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0.
Hull City has been struggling to find a WIN recently and their opponents for this weekend might make that task even more difficult. Steve Bruce will have almost the full team for selection with injury to Robert Snodgrass, David Meyler and Gastón Ramírez. Manchester City on the hand might be boosted by the return of David Silva and Sergio Agüero who will need to undergo late fitness tests to ensure they are in good physical shape. Samir Nasri, Stevan Jovetic and Fernando are injured and definitely will sit out of this match.
Manchester City managed to win comfortably last year for this fixture with a scoreline of 4-0 and I believe Hull City would not be troubling them this time around. I predict a comfortable win for Manchester City with a scoreline of Hull City 0 Manchester City 3.
And finally the match that I would be looking forward to. The Gunners will play at the Emirates Stadium and host the Spurs. Arsenal played well last weekend against Aston Villa in their away game. Danny Welbeck and Mesut Özil both scored and proved to their critics that they still have what it takes to play at the highest level. Arsenal have won 4 in a row against Tottenham Hotspur and I believe playing at home will give them a bigger advantage. Spurs played and defended poorly the last game against West Brom and they were worthy losers.
Arsenal do have a long list of injured players like Mathieu Flamini, Yaya Sanogo, Nacho Monreal, Mathieu Debuchy, Olivier Giroud, Serge Gnabry and Theo Walcott. However with their squad strength, they should be able to win this North London derby. Although Tottenham's squad only has one long term injury to Kyle Walker, the way the squad players played and their reaction on the pitch isn't very positive. I predict this game to be won by Arsenal and the scoreline would be Arsenal 3 Tottenham 1. Looking forward to this match which will be played around midnight later. Good luck to your team and may the best team win this weekend!
