Barclays Predictions League 4

Man City v Everton (12:45pm)

Fair play to Manuel Pellegrini for admitting that Manchester City were poor in their home loss against the impressive Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

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

Everton 3-2 Newcastle

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Everton climbed to fourth in the Premier League with an edgy win over a determined Newcastle.

Lukaku netted the first and third goals as well as feeding Ross Barkley for the second as the home side completely bossed the opening 45 minutes.

Substitute Yohan Cabaye superbly pulled one back at the start of the second period and on-loan QPR striker Loic Remy poked in a second to give the away supporters a slight hope of claiming a point.

Magpies boss Alan Pardew described his side's defending as "disturbing" and "unacceptable" and he has a case after the three Everton goals will ask serious questions of his back four.

Pardew will be ruing his side's first-half display where they were completely pinned back and ran riot but will take heart from their second-half display ahead of their visit to newcomers Cardiff on Saturday.

Toffees boss Roberto Martinez, in contrast, will be delighted with Everton's first-half performance and even more so that they scored three goals after losing at Fulham in the Capital One Cup in midweek when they created hosts of chances.

The result leaves Newcastle in 16th but they are currently three points off the drop zone and are only behind Manchester United, Swansea, Norwich and Stoke on goal difference.

In what was literally a game of two halves, Everton's intentions were immediately in place as they were on the front foot from the first whistle.

Lukaku had the ball in the back of the net early on but the offside flag correctly saved Newcastle. The reprieve, however, did not last much longer.

Two Belgians combined to give Everton the lead as Kevin Mirallas eased past Davide Santon and found his international team-mate. The on-loan Chelsea striker struck just outside the six-yard area as the ball bounced through Tim Krul and into the net to give Martinez' men the perfect start.

While the Belgian international put in a man-of-the-match performance, Barkley justifies England boss Roy Hodgson's decision to recall him into the national side as he almost doubled his team's lead after his snap-shot just flew past the left-hand side.

Newcastle rarely troubled Tim Howard in the first half and the hosts looked much more likely to get a second than the visitors of getting an equaliser.

And indeed they did find a second goal with Lukaku and Barkley at the heart of it. Lukaku fed the ball to Barkley who beat Yanga-M'Biwa and kept his composure to slot past Krul.

And it then went from bad to worse just seven minutes before half-time as Lukaku capitalised on some  more awful defending to seemingly give the Toon a mountain to climb.

Newcastle gave themselves some hope at the start of the second-half when an unmarked Cabaye struck the ball brilliantly into the top right corner and made more of a game after a one-sided first period.

The match then became scrappy for most of the second-half but Newcastle never gave up hope and deservedly pulled a second goal back after Remy, similar to Lukaku's second, poked the ball home from close range.

But there was no big fightback as Everton held on to go above Chelsea and Manchester City.

Barclays Predictions League 3

Tottenham v Chelsea (Saturday, 12:45pm)

This is now the third meeting for Andre Villas-Boas against the club who sacked him in March 2012. He only managed one point from his previous two meetings with Chelsea, with a 4-2 home defeat followed by a creditable 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Spurs have been on great form in the league this season so far, only losing at their North London rivals Arsenal. But they have won every other game and sit second in the table only behind the Gunners.

Chelsea's start to the season before their 2-0 win over West London rivals Fulham was claimed to be poor by Jose Mourinho but I stated one or two results go in your favour and it can change everything.

But this is going to be a tough test for them, especially at White-Hart Lane. I still back Chelsea to win the league as it is only five games in but Tottenham's confidence will be on a high and it should set up an entertaining game.

Score: 1-1

Aston Villa v Man City

Both sides got much needed wins at the weekend, with Paul Lambert's men gaining three points at Norwich while Manuel Pellegrini experienced victory in his first Manchester derby.

The only negative for Aston Villa fans is influential striker Christian Benteke is ruled out for up to six weeks. They do have others who can score goals but he will be a big miss.

Man City, unlike Villa, set themselves up for a trip to St James' Park as a result of thrashing Wigan 5-0 in Tuesday's Capital One Cup tie.

This match should be tight but I am sure Villa will want to be more tight in defence after conceding four goals against Tottenham on Tuesday.

I think City will win this one, but Villa will still be in for a good campaign.

Score: 1-2

Fulham v Cardiff

Martin Jol and Malky Mackay's sides experienced contrasting fortunes in the Capital One Cup in midweek. Fulham are through after beating Everton at Craven Cottage while Cardiff despite a spirited comeback from 2-0 down lost 3-2 at West Ham.

In the league, Cardiff are getting to grips with life in the top flight and Fulham haven't particularly made a great start with only four points but at the risk of sounding repetitive, it is still very early.

Cardiff only have one away point this year and I think it will continue into this game as I see Fulham easing the pressure on Martin Jol.

Score: 3-1

Hull v West Ham

With both teams having secured passage to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night, both Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce return to improve their respective points tallies.

Hull are also on the back of a creditable away win at Newcastle and will be arguably the more confident of the two. Another thing which works in their favour is that West Ham's away record isn't usually that good.

But what will be a concern to Sam Allardyce is the Hammers haven't won since their opening day win over Cardiff as their most recent league outing was a 3-2 home defeat to Everton.

I could be wrong, but I the best I see them getting here is a draw, if that.

Score: 2-1

Man Utd v West Brom

Well, what a week David Moyes has had! Very mixed fortunes, after being thrashed in his first Manchester derby there was a bit of redemption after they beat Liverpool at Old Trafford in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night.

Moyes has also said that it was always going to be difficult to follow in Sir Alex Ferguson's footsteps and it will take time for everything to fall into place. I think this is the case as the squad there is not strong enough at the moment without Ferguson to seriously challenge for the title.

But that will come in time. As I said in my table predictions in August, if they finish in a Champions League place and win a cup then that is a good first season in my book but feel free to have your own opinion.

West Brom finally got their campaign started with a much deserved and needed win over Sunderland and they continue their run of costing opposition managers their jobs after beating their respective teams, such as Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea and Mick McCarthy at Wolves.

Score: 3-0

Southampton v Crystal Palce

Southampton got what was one of their best results in their history by beating Liverpool at Anfield. It impresses me the strides they have made considering just three years ago they were a League One club and now look where they are.

That is mainly thanks to former boss Nigel Adkins but Mauricio Pochettino has done just as good a job with the squad he has inherited.

Crystal Palace at home is a game you would normally expect the Saints to win and I think they will. Palace were very poor in their home defeat by Swansea last week and seem drained at the moment.

But for the millionth time, it is still too early in the season to say they will definitively go down.

Score: 2-1

Swansea v Arsenal (Saturday, 5:30pm)

Two teams who are on great runs at the moment. Swansea having drawn with Liverpool, beat Valencia in the Europa League and followed that up by comfortably beating Crystal Palace.

Arsenal since the opening day loss to Aston Villa have won their following four fixtures and currently sit top of the table.

Michael Laudrup and Arsene Wenger each experienced an away win last season in the Premier League, but Arsenal won 1-0 in a third round FA Cup replay.

Arsenal are likely to be favourites for this game but Swansea are a hard place to go and get a result so I think they will have to make do with a point to take back to North London.

Score: 1-1

Stoke v Norwich (Sunday, 1:30pm)

Mark Hughes has got Stoke playing better football which I am sure the fans will be enjoying. Under Tony Pulis they kept on playing counter attacking football which if you get results, it is fine but if you don't it gets noticed in a negative way.

To be fair to Pulis, they did give it a good go at the big teams at the Britannia Stadium and Hughes has already done that against Manchester City.

They have beaten Norwich here in the previous two seasons and they should be in for a hat-trick of home wins.

Chris Hughton's team have made a so-so start to the season and even though they created chances against Aston Villa they still lost. But, in time, I think they will get better.

Score: 2-1

Sunderland v Liverpool (Sunday, 4:00pm)

Sunderland will have made the headlines all week since the sacking of Paolo Di Canio on Sunday after the players complained about him to the club.

I still believe Sunderland were going in a better direction under Di Canio than when Martin O'Neill was in charge simply because they were at least having a go at teams which the fans constantly wanted last season.

However I say going in a better direction but it may not have been the most enjoyable one. Premier League players have too big egos and power these days. Di Canio was brought in for the immediate new-manager impact in order to keep Sunderland up which, to be fair, did work.

But Di Canio's regime didn't work with the players and Kevin Ball will be in charge for this game after guiding them to a comfortable Capital One Cup win over Peterborough in midweek.

Sunderland's recent home record against Liverpool is not that bad. They have only lost one out of the last four visits from the Reds but they will not be underestimated.

Liverpool have now lost their last two games in all competitions and they will be determined to not have a third straight loss.

It will also be an emotional and interesting day for former Black Cat Simon Mignolet who joined Liverpool in the summer.

It should be an interesting atmosphere on Sunday and I think Sunderland could get a point out of this game if they turn up - the fans deserve a good performance and a good result.

Score: 1-1

Everton v Newcastle (Monday, 8:00pm)

There has been loads of debate over who should play at left-back for England: Leighton Baines or Ashley Cole?

Personally, I would choose Baines because he offers a little more in an attacking sense and he is particularly masterful and deadly when it comes to set-pieces.

Cole has been great for England over the years but he is not getting any younger and Baines could be a good replacement for him. I would even go as far, also, to say Southampton's Luke Shaw could be one for the future.

But in the immediate future, Everton have to play Newcastle, who lost at home to Hull last weekend which came over as a surprise to me.

Leading twice in that game and then throwing it away was a setback but they can still have a good season.

Here they will have a difficult job keeping Romelu Lukaku quiet as Roberto Martinez has got a good team on his hands here.

Alan Pardew has a good team as well and if key players such as Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye perform then a result here is not out of the question.

Score: 2-1

Paolo Di Canio Sacked From Sunderland: Thoughts?

As I am sure many of you will be aware by this point, Sunderland AFC have 'parted company' with head coach Paolo Di Canio just five games into the new Premier League season. Here I am going to give my thoughts on the sacking and who should replace Di Canio as manager.

Few football fans will be surprised that this is what happens in the modern game. There have been many cases where managers have been surprisingly dismissed such as Chris Hughton at Newcastle or Nigel Adkins from Southampton to name a few.

Southampton had been beaten twice in Adkins' last 12 Premier League matches, the last of which was a deserved 2-2 draw from 2-0 down at then Champions League winners Chelsea.

Newcastle were 11th at that point in the 2010-11 season in December which was not long after Hughton delivered Newcastle's famous 5-1 victory over Sunderland at St James Park, something which would have likely put him in legendary status.

The same can be said with Di Canio who guided Sunderland to a 3-0 win at St James Park last season.

I believe in that moment when Martin O'Neill was dismissed, owner Ellis Short brought in Di Canio in an emergency bid to avoid relegation which, to be fair, worked at the time. That is not to say he isn't a good manager but it seems the jump from League One to the Premier League was too big a jump too quickly.

As many of you already know, I gave up my season card in a bid to show the team and the club how let down I felt by last season and felt that I didn't want to experience that again. Instead of going to the Stadium of Light to enjoy myself watching some good football, I was  dreading each visit, wondering which Sunderland would turn up today! I kept on seeing negative, defensive and honestly boring showings on the pitch and I didn't feel I got my money's worth.

Compare the Norwich and Stoke home games last year and you will see what I mean.

But with Di Canio, I saw more attacking and entertaining football, something which I constantly moaned and pined for last season. But one thing always seems to go wrong and in this case, we are letting in FAR too many goals.

I have gotten into football only in the last three years, but my family's team was always Sunderland so I, of course, follow in their footsteps.

The 2010-11 season was when I really started to get the game and had a season card for the next two seasons.

When Steve Bruce was sacked, Martin O'Neill was the popular choice, a confessed SAFC fan as a boy and someone who as a manager guided Aston Villa to challenge for European places and won trophies with Celtic.

O'Neill started brilliantly and last year was meant to be a good one for the club. Not for the first time, the fans have been disappointed.

Sunderland have always been known as a yo-yo club between the first and second tiers of English football and as a fan I want the club to be doing better than this.

I kept on having the same thoughts about O'Neill in particular. At Villa, as I said, they were competing for Europe. Why didn't that happen at Sunderland? Where was OUR top seven push? Why did we have to be near the relegation zone while others had success?

Part of me feels like people wised up to O'Neill and forced him to use negative tactics as they learned how to play against him. But when he first came in, I do not remember Sunderland playing so defensively that it looked like they were playing for a draw rather than a win.

My point in all of this is we never seem to just have a good start followed by a consistently good season, there has always got to be disappointment and negativity. I am personally getting fed up of bad starts to each season and be set up for another year of missed opportunities.

While pundits have slated Sunderland across the board, we brought in 14 new players. That is arguably too many and the 'they need time to gel' argument is thrown in. But I have a question? Turn that UNDESERVED defeat on the opening day against Fulham and turn it into a win, turn the draw at Southampton into a win; would people still be saying these things? I am not so sure.

In the season, it only takes two or three good results to completely change people's perspectives on things. But looking at our next few games, including Liverpool and Manchester United, I just don't see where our first win is going to come from.

Do I think he deserved to be sacked? No. Am I surprised? No. But it is shame that no-one gets any time these days in the game. I think we are trying to avoid what happened to QPR but only time will tell.

Roberto Di Matteo, Gus Poyet and Tony Pulis have been shortlisted as potential candidates for the managers job. Personally I would like Di Matteo. Many have said Poyet isn't experienced in the Premier League but if he isn't given a first chance he will remain inexperienced. And as for Tony Pulis, he had Stoke playing counter attacking football and I do NOT want to go back to that again.

Tell me what you think and if you have managed to read all of this then thanks for taking your time to do so.

2013/2014 Barclays Predictions League 2

Norwich v Aston Villa (Saturday, 12:45pm)

Norwich were more or less outplayed by Tottenham last weekend but it was a result many were expecting but Aston Villa also suffered a loss at the hands of Newcastle. 

This is also significant for Paul Lambert who, of course, used to manage Norwich. Chris Hughton's team are usually tough to break down at Carrow Road and I see it ending all square.

But expect an open game.

Score: 1-1

Liverpool v Southampton

Even though Liverpool's 100% record was ended at Swansea on Monday night, they are still top of the pile and the fans must be so happy with their start to the season.

Daniel Sturridge in particular is in fine form although he did get a big slice of fortune thanks to Jonjo Shelvey. Nevertheless, he has scored in each of Liverpool's games this season.

But Southampton are a tough team to beat and I am sure Brendan Rodgers will not be underestimating Mauricio's Pochettino's men.

Southampton have a struggle of scoring goals at the moment and I do see them finding the back of the net, but conceding more at the back so home win for me here.

Score: 2-1

Newcastle v Hull

See what a couple good results makes for a team! People need to bear in mind that you get one or two wins and everything looks good again and Newcastle have proved this point.

After their goalless draw with West Ham people were giving them a hard time about scoring. Two wins later and there aren't as many critics for Alan Pardew's side.

Against Aston Villa in particular they were brilliant as they went for the win as the away team and got what they deserved.

As many have said previously, Hull can create chances but they cannot finish them off and goals along with wins keep you in the Premier League. I think in the long run Hull will be fine, but another away defeat should be on the cards for tomorrow.

Score: 2-1

West Brom v Sunderland

19th v 20th in the league! Relegation six pointer already? Of course not, it is still WAY too early in the season for that but these two do need their first win on the board.

West Brom only scored their first Premier League goal of the season last weekend to earn a somewhat fortunate point at Fulham. But that result, along the services of former Black Cat Stephane Sessegnon, could give the home fans confidence of receiving three points here.

However, I do not see Steve Clarke's side winning. Yes they are at home and yes Sunderland cannot keep a clean sheet to save their lives right now but at home they have been poor so far and the pressure of being at home with the expectation behind them could give Paolo Di Canio's team an advantage.

Sunderland should really have got a point last week against Arsenal but at the same time they started very slowly and even against the big teams you cannot do that because you give yourself a mountain to climb.

Referee Martin Atkinson's decision to somehow disallow Jozy Altidore's second-half goal arguably robbed them of a point and I think they could have got at least a draw had the goal stood.

What baffles me about most pundits is that they seem to think Sunderland under Martin O'Neill will get better results when the football was too defensive and the tactics were too negative yet under Di Canio when they are having a go at teams they get slated. I don't get that.

But they are bottom of the league and need a win themselves. Because Di Canio will get his players ready for the game, I them taking three points back to the Stadium of Light.

Score: 1-2

West Ham v Everton

Jussi Jaaskelainen produced a man-of-the-match performance last week to singlehandedly earn West Ham a point at Southampton. I am sure Sam Allardyce felt relieved and indebted to him when the game reached full-time.

The Hammers are usually a tight team and seem to hit the opposition on the break really well but they are especially difficult to play against at Upton Park.

Roberto Martinez finally celebrated his first win against Chelsea last Saturday and there could be an opportunity to get back-to-back wins.

But these two teams should be up in the top half this season and I they are likely to spent a majority of this game cancelling each other out.

Score: 1-1

Chelsea v Fulham (Saturday, 5:30pm)

Jose Mourinho said this week that the reason for Chelsea's 'poor' form is because 'he is trying to change the style of play'. Firstly, I do not consider Chelsea's start to the season poor. They are only three points off the top spot so anything could happen. Secondly, while they got a surprise loss against Basel, Bayern Munich lost against Arsenal in last season's knockout round so every team experiences this.

They are up against a Fulham side who have had an average start to the season and given that it is at Stamford Bridge a Chelsea win is what is expected.

Despite this, Fulham have took a point from this fixture for the past two visits to this ground. So Chelsea fans know how difficult they can be to play against.

Score: 2-0

Arsenal v Stoke (Sunday, 1:30pm)

While I thought Arsenal got a big stoke of luck in their win at Sunderland, they were brilliant in the first half particularly. Arsene Wenger pulled off a masterstroke in signing Mesut Ozil as he looked very lively and he will do well for them this year.

The fans seem to have put their opening day defeat to Aston Villa behind them and can look forward to the rest of the season.

Stoke themselves lost on the opening day and after two wins back-to-back they dominated Mark Hughes' former club Manchester City last week. That shows how far they have come in the last year.

Although I sound like a broken record, home win here but Stoke's season looks very optimistic at the moment.

Score: 3-1

Crystal Palace v Swansea (Sunday, 1:30pm)

Ian Holloway stated that Swansea's style of play influenced the way Crystal Palace play. Palace do play attacking football and they have had a go at the teams they have played against and no doubt they will do so here.

Swansea got their Europa League campaign off and running with a deserved 3-0 victory at Valencia allbeit the early red card may have helped.

Michael Laudrup has stability at Swansea. After defeats to Manchester United and Tottenham, they deservedly beat West Brom and impressively drew against Liverpool.

As for this match, yet another home win but only because Palace will be the much fresher side going into the game.

Score: 2-1

Cardiff v Tottenham (Sunday, 4:00pm)

Although this point has been emphasised many times, newly-promoted teams are always difficult to beat, especially if you are going to one of their grounds.

Manchester City found that out in August when Cardiff beat them 3-2 and Everton drew there so it is a hard place to go.

Cardiff picked up yet another point last week at fellow newcomers Hull and have only lost once this season.

Tottenham have recovered well since the loss of Gareth Bale and responded with wins against Norwich and Tromso.

I see this one ending up as a draw as Cardiff will want to produce a good performance, similar to the performance against Man City.

Score: 2-2

Man City v Man Utd (Sunday, 4:00pm)

And so we move on to the game of the weekend, for neutrals anyway. Manuel Pellegrini v David Moyes. Manchester City v Manchester United.

People have really turned their attention to this game over the last couple of years and the games, including City's 6-1 thumping at Old Trafford in October 2011, have not disappointed.

Both teams have made ok starts to the season but I am surprised City are not nearer to top spot. They didn't demonstrate title qualities against Cardiff and Stoke; winning games when you aren't playing at your best.

As for David Moyes, I believe this game will be his biggest test yet. The good thing for Man Utd fans is that he has a personally good record against City but he has also failed to beat the top teams he has faced this year.

I back the home team to win what should be a tight, intense but also thrilling football match.

Score: 2-1