Saturday 2 November 2013

Barclays Predictions League 7

Newcastle v Chelsea (Saturday, 12:45pm)

When I saw Newcastle's team that started against Sunderland, I expected them to cause all sorts of problems for the Black Cats' back four. Yohan Cabaye, Check Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa and Loic Remy are players that can organise the play and score goals.

While I think it is more credit to how well Sunderland defended, they were all lacklustre as Alan Pardew's side were restricted to long range efforts so they will need to work on their shooting.

I was also at St James' Park on Wednesday when their performance against Manchester City was much better and I thought they deserved to win in ordinary time but they just ran out of energy. So the team and the fans can take heart from that and carry it into this game.

I think it would be very unfair if Pardew lost his job just because of the last two derby results. I think he has done pretty well with the team he has got and if they can produce a performance here he may get some fans back on his side.

Interesting fact, Newcastle have always taken at least two points off the Blues since they were promoted back to the top flight in 2010 and in the last two seasons they have beaten Chelsea.

Chelsea deservedly won at Arsenal in the Capital One Cup as well as scoring in stoppage time to beat Manchester City so they will be obviously confident going to St James' Park.

If I was betting on a team to win this game I would back Chelsea because the home side had to play 120 minutes of football on Wednesday.

But Jose Mourinho will know that it is one of those grounds where you should get a tough ride and I expect Newcastle will respond so I am going for a draw.

Score: 1-1 
Fulham v Man Utd

I am not going to judge Fulham so early yet but if they don't pick up points in the next few games they will be in trouble.

In fairness to them, losing to Southampton is not a disgrace as Liverpool and Manchester United failed to beat them. And Leicester are high flying at the moment so that was always going to be a hard cup game, especially at the King Power Stadium.

I am pretty sure that a cup run was not a priority for Martin Jol anyway. Victory against David Moyes' side would definitely help his situation though.

Man Utd were extremely lucky to beat Stoke, who deserved at least a point from Old Trafford. But, as it has been said a thousand times before, that is the Ferguson trait which the players need to maintain. Not to mention face Stoke again in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup after beating Norwich on Tuesday.

Here, I cannot see anything other than a Man Utd win. They have the quality and even the Cottagers do have some good players, they generally do not play well in games and their mentality is usually not very good.

Score: 1-3 
Hull v Sunderland

Sunderland's 2-1 derby win over Newcastle was much needed to give the players some belief and confidence and the fans will hope this can kick-start their season.

They closed down as much space as possible and even though it was not a game full of memorable chances, they battled hard as a team and scored an absolute screamer of a goal from Fabio Borini.

The on-loan Liverpool striker showed how much it meant to him to score the winning goal on derby day and I could not have been happier for the bloke.

So while Gus Poyet will be delighted to beat Newcastle, everyone knows that it is merely a step in the right direction and they still have to win more games in order to get out of the bottom three.

Hull, meanwhile, have had contrasting fortunes, losing twice to Tottenham in the space of a week and former Black Cats boss Steve Bruce will feel aggrieved by both games.

While he insists there is no revenge mission against the club which sacked him in November 2011, he will want to get one over on Sunderland.

Hull, like Newcastle, played 120 minutes in midweek, where Sunderland will be fresher. So it gives the visitors more chance of a second win in a row but Hull are still strong at home.

Score: 1-1 
Man City v Norwich

The scoreline at Old Trafford on Tuesday was harsh on Norwich as they played ok for much of the game. But Man Utd had too much quality for them in the end.

Despite winning here on the final day of last season I think Manuel Pellegrini's talent will overpower Chris Hughton's canaries.

I expect City's performance will be improved here because, even though they though they played ok at Chelsea, they were poor at Newcastle in the Capital One Cup and it took extra-time to beat the Magpies.

Lots of teams in the bottom half of the table will be backing City to beat Norwich, who usually do not look like scoring goals.

Score: 4-1
Stoke v Southampton

Southampton really do play some lovely football don't they? They outclassed Fulham last weekend and they also have the chance to go into the quarter-finals of the League Cup when they travel to Sunderland on Wednesday.

Mauricio Pochettino deserves tremendous credit as the big difference between this season and last season was that Southampton are much tighter at the back.

They have only conceded three goals this season whereas last year they by far conceded the most goals in the division.

So they should beat Stoke as they cannot usually score goals but I think Mark Hughes would take a point here if he was offered it.

Score: 1-1



West Brom v Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace put in a brave showing against Arsenal last week and were probably unlucky to lose, let alone by a 2-0 scoreline.

But they have realised how tough it will be in the top flight and they need to produce those performances week in, week out and getting results to go with them.

West Brom away is not the ideal fixture when you need points. They were, of course, outclassed last week at Liverpool but they are a good team and they have done ok this year.

I still think they miss Romelu Lukaku but they have scored goals without him and they should be fine. I certainly don't bet against them here.

Score: 2-0  
West Ham v Aston Villa

Sam Allardyce should be pleased with a 0-0 draw at free-scoring Swansea last week and they will think this is a game they can get more points on the board.

Aston Villa, likewise have been inconsistent this season but they could think they were slightly unfortunate to lose against Everton considering they missed a penalty.

Still though, the home team won in the games last season and I see it happening again. Villa lost narrowly last season and I see West Ham just shading it here.

Score: 2-1
Arsenal v Liverpool (Saturday, 5:30pm)

This is a massive game for both teams, especially for Arsenal as they will want to bounce back from their disappointing performance on Tuesday against Chelsea.

But Juan Mata's goal was top quality and Arsene Wenger, you could argue, will have seen this game as more important.

Liverpool, like Arsenal have made a very good start to the season and recently outclassed West Brom last Saturday with Suarez getting a hat-trick and Sturridge getting on the scoresheet again.

This one should be close, but Arsenal with the home fans should give them enough to see it through so I back the Gunners to edge Brendan Rodger's side. Just!

Score: 2-1
Everton v Tottenham (Sunday, 1:30pm)

The other half of Merseyside against another North London side. Roberto Martinez v Andre Villas-Boas.

Once again, Everton have proved what a brilliant move is what to sign Romelu Lukaku as he found the net yet again at Aston Villa and they continue to go from strength to strength.

Tottenham effectively needed penalties to overcome Hull in both the league and the cup over the last week and this game is no easy one that is for sure.

Everton, at home, have won their previous two matches here against Spurs but I see this one ending all square.

Score: 2-2
Cardiff v Swansea (Sunday, 4:00pm)

We have had the North London derby, the Manchester derby, the Wear-Tyne derby and now the derby heads to South Wales.

Malky Mackay and Michael Laudrup seemed to be mates when on Match of the Day covering Sir Alex Ferguson's final home game in charge of Manchester United, ironically against Swansea in May,  but they will want their own team to get a win.

Like any derby, the important thing is if you don't win it, you have to make sure you do not lose it.

Cardiff and Swansea are only settled by two points in the league so it should be end-to-end.

Swansea have the better players on paper but I see Cardiff getting a point here as it is at the Cardiff City ground and the atmosphere may have an impact on their team to go and get a result.

Score: 1-1

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