Sparks to fly in North London
Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal
I can’t recall Arsenal defending as well as they did in the FA Cup win over Manchester City. The 3-5-2 formation has plugged the holes in the Gunners defense, providing building blocks for two wins. I expect Arsene Wenger to adopt a similar formation to adopt with Tottenham Hotspurs’ formidable attack. A draw beckons.
Cry Palace 2-0 Burnley
If Christian Benteke can stop choosing his games, he has ability to develop into a Premier League elite striker. The Belgian was unplayable in putting the sword to his former paymasters. Burnley are poor travellers who are not equipped to cope with the form of Benteke, Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend. Home win.
Watford 1-2 Liverpool
If Liverpool are to regain their place as the benchmark of English football, they must stop sleep walking through the league. Jürgen Klopp’s 18-time champions are good at winning games when their backs are against the wall. I think that will be the situation when they travel to London to face Watford. I am backing the Reds to once again pull the rabbit out of hat.
Middlesbrough 1-3 Man City
Pep Guardiola is eating humble pie. For the decorated Catalan, this is a season of many negative firsts. Now that it’s confirmed he won’t win any silverware this season, qualifying for the Champions League is an absolute must. Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane are primed to put Boro to the sword.
Man United 2-1 Swansea
United would be title contenders if they hadn’t drawn too many home games. Swansea will be fighting for survival, so they will make it difficult. But Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils will continue to benefit from the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was slowing the team down. Speed demons Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford will provide a cutting edge.
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Everton have been very strong at Goodison Park where they are beating all comers. Chelsea suffered heartache on their last visit but they will be enamored by memories of a 6-3 victory in their title winning season of 2015. For sheer entertainment value, this match up should equal the North London derby. Though Chelsea will gun for three points, one point will not be considered a disaster.
Southampton 2-1 Hull City
Claude Puel deserves praise for the manner in which the Saints have coped with the loss of talismanic central defensive pair Jose Fonte and Virgil van Dirk. Their key advantage tonight is Hull City’s woeful away record. The Tigers are as strong at home as they are weak on their travels.
Sunderland 2-2 Bournemouth
David Moyes’ Black Cats are down and out but they can play the role of kingmakers. Bournemouth thrashed Boro 4-0 in their last outing to underline just how good they are going forward. Moyes has already started planning for life in the Championship and he will know which players have stomach for a fight in lower division football.
West Brom 1-1 Leicester City
Leicester City are one victory away from guaranteeing top flight status. But I don’t think they will get three points at the Hawthorns. West Brom rarely set a foot wrong at home, so I can see the two sides battling to a stalemate. This game has a draw written all over it.
Stoke City 1-1 West Ham.
Slaven Bilic tightened his side’s defending sufficiently enough for them to claim a goalless draw with Everton. The Croat is poised to deploy a 3-6-1 formation as he aims to stifle Stoke City’s potent attack of Marco Arnautovic, Peter Crouch and Xherdhan Shaqiri. Shared spoils propel both teams to safety.
