Friday 4 October 2013

Barclays Predictions League 4

Man City v Everton (12:45pm)


The Champions of Europe were very impressive but it is only two games into the Champions League group stages and anything can still happen.

Man City's form in the Premier League has been up and down in recent games for me. They have not won away from home in the league so far this season but their home form is excellent.

Joe Hart never seems to hear the end of all this stick does he? Whether he was at fault for Munich's first goal or not, people need to stick by him especially as he has once again been called up to the England squad.

But at the same time, maybe Roy Hodgson dropping him and playing either Norwich's John Ruddy or Celtic's Fraser Forster could improve his form.

Roberto Martinez' team are not exactly who you want to come up against either. Lukaku's double against Newcastle on Monday night proves what a genius move it was by Martinez to sign him and all the more baffling why Chelsea let him go out on loan again.

I still think City will win this one. Not many teams have got results here, although it is worth pointing out Everton took four points of Man City last season.

Score: 2-1
Cardiff v Newcastle

Cardiff were outstanding in their 2-1 win at Fulham last week. Not only did they deservedly take the lead but they did not drop their heads when Fulham levelled and got a spectacular late winner.

In contrast, Newcastle were 50-50 in their loss at Everton where in the first half they were outplayed in every aspect. To be fair they did make a game of it in the second half but Alan Pardew will be annoyed at their first half display otherwise they could have easily got a point.

Malky Mackay has done very well to get Cardiff in the Premier League and they have made a better start than I expected. They can win this game for sure but Newcastle are not a bad side and I think this could be a close match to call.

Score: 1-1
Fulham v Stoke

Martin Jol is really under pressure at this point. Losing at home to a newly promoted team, irrespective of how good Cardiff were on the day, is not usually a good sign for your season.

They have to win here otherwise they could be in trouble. I say could be as, again, it is still early in the season to tell but they could do with three points.

They haven't won a game since the opening weekend of the season and this could mean Mark Hughes could take advantage of this on his return to West London.

Stoke were poor in their home defeat to Norwich on Sunday but they have at least made a decent start to the season.

Stoke are adapting to a different style under Hughes, who admitted it he may have made the wrong decision to leave the Cottagers in 2011, but they are showing signs of improvement.

Score: 2-1
Hull v Aston Villa

Who would have thought this would happen? Hull City higher in the Premier League than Manchester United?!

It probably won't last but they have started this campaign really well and I think Steve Bruce could not have expected this kind of start.

They have taken seven points out of a possible nine from their games at the KC Stadium, beating Norwich and West Ham and drawing with Cardiff.

Paul Lambert's side sit just below them in the league table by one place and one point and they are on the back of a 3-2 shock but impressive home win against Manchester City.

You remember when I said Hull had taken seven points from a possible nine? Well, make that 10 out of a possible 12.

Score: 2-1
Liverpool v Crystal Palace

After beating Sunderland 3-1 Liverpool have seemingly got themselves back on track. Brendan Rodgers will have been happy with the response shown by his players after losing against Southampton and Manchester United both 1-0.

Defensively they have been very good this year and as I have stated before, Rodgers has strengthened the team and they are definitely contenders for at least a top six finish this season.

Ian Holloway, meanwhile, will want his side to tighten up defensively after adding two more to the collection of conceded goals at Southampton.

They have added to their squad in the summer and while they have one or two players arguably Premier League quality, their squad as a whole screams out Championship quality to me. I hope they stay up but I just don't feel their squad is strong enough.

Score: 2-0
Sunderland v Man Utd (Saturday, 5:30pm)

Sunderland were rather unlucky in their game against Liverpool as they did actually start brilliantly in the first 20 minutes. The problem they encountered as the game went on is they didn't really trouble the Reds that much.

Apart from the goal they scored, which was in some respects was a tap in, they didn't look much like scoring, especially in the second-half.

Manchester United's fortunes as hardly any better as they lost at home to West Brom which followed a Manchester derby defeat.

I still think David Moyes is a very good manager and deserves the chance for success at Old Trafford. It will just take time to develop the squad and adapt things to his style which, in fairness, is going to be hard for them to do considering they have had Sir Alex Ferguson for the past 27 years.

Look at Liverpool last season, it took a while to adapt to Brendan Rodgers' style of play but they are now used to it.

I honestly do not see why Sunderland cannot get a point here. I am not saying it because of recent form but because they can turn things up a notch when they want to. The question is; if or when will they turn up?

Score: 1-1
Norwich v Chelsea (Sunday, 1:30pm)

Winning at Stoke provided some much needed breathing space for manager Chris Houghton as Norwich's start to the season has been mixed.

But the positives he will take out of that game is that the Canaries dominated most of the game and that is saying something considering they were playing away from home.

But this game will be tough in itself for obvious reasons; it is Chelsea they are playing. Norwich do have players who can hurt the Blues such as Gary Hooper, Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Nathan Redmond to name a few.

But Chelsea also have the quality to potentially stroll past Norwich and Jose Mourinho will expect the best from his players.

Score: 1-2

Southampton v Swansea (Sunday, 1:30pm)

With Michael Laudrup's team making it two wins out of two in the Europa League, Southampton may have their work cut out for them at St Mary's.

The advantage they may have is the fixtures taking their toll on Swansea and not to mention the Saints always play attractive attacking football.

Southampton will also be full of confidence after their terrific start to the season.

I fancy the home side to edge this one simply for that reason. It should still be tight but Mauricio's Pochettino's team will definitely be the fresher going into this.

Score: 2-1
Tottenham v West Ham (Sunday, 4:00pm)

Winning at Anzhi in the Europa League should set a nice platform for Andre Villas-Boas' team to get another Premier League win here. Their start to the season has been really good so far but they were held to a draw last time around by Chelsea at White Hart Lane.

West Ham's start to the new season has been somewhat underwhelming compared to how they started last season. Their most recent outing was a 1-0 defeat at Hull where, to be fair to Sam Allardyce, some crazy decisions did not go their way.

But their away days blues are very likely to continue here as Tottenham have been very good this year and are starting to prove to me they can live without the world's most expensive player - Gareth Bale.

Score: 2-0

West Brom v Arsenal (Sunday, 4:00pm)

Round two at the Hawthorns after the game in the Capital One Cup. Arsenal won that game on penalties and will be confident of winning there again after the start they have made to the season, sitting top of the league.

But playing West Brom seems a much harder prospect than it did a few weeks ago. Back-to-back wins against Sunderland and Manchester United will give Steve Clarke's side much more confidence. Problem for them is Arsene Wenger will be equally full of confidence.

Ex-Sunderland man Stephane Sessegnon in particular has had a good start to his midlands career and ran riot at Old Trafford last week.

But another man currently having a good time in the Premier League is Aaron Ramsey who seems to be the form player at the moment.

He pretty much scored the winner at Swansea and is playing really well but I fancy Arsenal to just edge this one because of the quality they have got on the field and when they play well they are unstoppable.

Score: 1-2

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