Dan’s EPL Predictions WK18 – Arsenal to get back to winning ways? | OneFootball

It feels like it has been a while since we have done any EPL Predictions, so I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and is keeping well.

2021- when we crown the inaugural JustArsenal EPL Predictions Champion as well as the European Champion.

I’m sitting on the fence this weekend with my EPL predictions …….

Wolves 1-1 West Bromwich It’s almost like Nuno Santos has seen the script by warning his team have to be better at defending set pieces, seeing as they are playing a Sam Allardyce team.

Not that Big Sam will be worrying about free kicks and corners just yet. I can imagine everything in training is defensive drills. History shows the longer he has to work on the training pitch, the more he can organise a side.

They need a result though to get confidence and build on it. They got a draw at Anfield but since the they have conceded 11 goals in three games.

Leeds 1-0 Brighton Two managers who were given a lot of praise for their ethos but recently even their own fans are starting to have doubts.

Whereas Bielsa will stick by his principles no matter what, Graham Potter needs to now show he has the courage to stay true to his convictions. We don’t know if that’s the case given Potter’s lack of experience.

I’ll go for a home win due to Brighton’s injuries.

West Ham 1-1 Burnley Out of all the sides at the bottom, if Burnley stay up it will be due to the fantastic man management of Sean Dyche.

Repeating that his team look like the Burnley of old is deliberate. It maximises the confidence of your squad, telling them to ignore the fact that they didn’t win till late November because that was based on various factors.

I have long maintained that West Ham’s style means they struggle in games where they are favourites. The Hammers are looking for a striker this January so this may be a good time to play them?

Fulham 2-2 Chelsea Fulham have drawn their last 5 which you can read two things into. They are competing at this level better than they were at the start of the season, especially from a defensive point of view.

Alternatively you could also say that when a side near the bottom is playing well, they need to have turned some of those draws into wins.

I’m a fan of Scott Parker but was disappointed by his complaining about the short notice that they would be playing midweek. Too many managers are moaning about their treatment during this pandemic and it could drive fans away.

There are supporters who have lost jobs, been away from family at Xmas, etc, yet here’s football bosses crying about schedules. Go to a hospital and tell staff there that ‘it’s scandalous’ that a team only got two days warning that they will be playing.

My advice to Football?

If you’re not happy, stop the season.

Remember in the first Lockdown it were the clubs who were adamant they wanted to carry on playing and were going to take legal action if not. They got their way so can now not suddenly play the small violin.

Leicester 2-1 Saints Vardy didn’t play in the FA Cup so Leicester’s star man has had a two-week rest which was the last weekend the Saints played, so everyone should be fresh for this.

This should be a fascinating tactical battle. The Saints like the high press but will that play into Vardy’s hands?

I’ll just go for the Foxes due to Ings being in isolation.

Sheffield United 1-2 Spurs I wrote for a while Sheffield United haven’ t been playing like a side competing with Derby for the worse Prem outfit of all time. I always said they just needed that one win, but 4 out of their next 5 league fixtures are against last season’s top 6.

Spurs should have too much firepower, but they have dropped silly points recently for not killing off the game.

Liverpool 3-0 Man United Don’t get me wrong if there is ever a season where a team can become champions without being amazing it’s this one.

Yet I maintain Liverpool are superior to United and will be determined to prove a point this Sunday. Klopp is such a winner that he will be angry how his side have let themselves down over Xmas and will use it as fire to inspire them.

Man City 2-0 Palace It’s a different kind of City compared to recent years in terms of they still dominate games but are not as high scoring. That’s due to a combination of a lack of fire power and also saving energy.

Palace have enough experience to make sure this doesn’t get messy.

Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle Given where we were before Xmas, the only thing that mattered was results not performances. While there is nothing wrong with not playing well and getting results, our games remain hard to watch. We are slow and don’t create lots of chances. With respect that’s been against the poorest teams in the League.

It again shows the fickleness of our fanbase that the same gooners who were predicting relegation were talking about challenging for the top 6 after beating Brighton and West Bromwich.

The positive thing about winning without playing great is you know there will be zero complacency in the following fixture.

Let’s just take it one game at a time.

Updated EPL Predictions table

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