(All kickoff times are AEST)
Aston Villa v Norwich
Kickoff: 10.45pm Saturday October 27th at Villa Park
This could be an early relegation playoff match, with Aston Villa and Norwich both fighting to stay above the bottom three. Villa’s wretched run of form continued last weekend with a poor 0-1 loss to Fulham. That meant five losses in eight games to start the season for Villa.
Norwich got off the mark last weekend when Grant Holt’s 19th minute goal stunned Arsenal at Carrow Road. The Canaries looked hard to break down, and keeping a clean sheet against Arsenal would have been really pleasing for Chris Houghton.
Adding spice to this clash is that the architect of Norwich’s rise to the Premier League, Paul Lambert, left the Canaries in the summer to take charge of Aston Villa. I’m not sure he’ll be able to mastermind a victory against his former troops, and may have to settle for a draw.
Aston Villa 1-1 Norwich
Arsenal v QPR
Kickoff: 1.00am Sunday October 28th at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal has had a shocking week. First, they went down to lowly Norwich in the league, before succumbing to Schalke at home in the Champions League. In both games, they lacked cohesion and they were really poor defensively. Any talk of a Premier League challenge could be soon be thrown out the window as they slipped 10 points off top spot.
QPR is still glued to the bottom of the table, however a 1-1 draw with Everton last weekend was a positive result. Although they’ve only picked up three points from their opening eight games, they’ve only lost by two or more goals on two occasions this season, so they’re showing they can be competitive.
Arsene Wenger will be desperate for his side to rebound this weekend, and they should have enough quality to see off QPR.
Arsenal 3-1 QPR
Reading v Fulham
Kickoff: 1.00am Sunday October 28th at the Madejski Stadium
Reading may only be off the bottom of the table on goal difference, but their results suggest a different story. In their last three games they’ve managed draws with Newcastle and Swansea, before only going down to Liverpool by the slenderest of margins. Brian McDermott is remaining positive, and with some luck the results should come.
Fulham’s fine start to the season has them just two points outside the top four. They ground out a win against Aston Villa last weekend, with Chris Baird scoring late to secure all three points. Martin Jol would be ecstatic with the way his side is going, and he’ll be hoping to take advantage of playing a side within the relegation zone this weekend.
With their backs to the wall, Reading should come out of this game with at least a point.
Reading 1-1 Fulham
Stoke v Sunderland
Kickoff: 1.00am Sunday October 28th at the Britannia Stadium
I felt Stoke deserved more at Manchester United last weekend. They took the lead through a fortunate own goal, and really tested a nervous-looking United defence. They played some nice, free flowing football, which is very un-Tony Pulis like, and they’ll be hoping to build on that this weekend.
Sunderland is coming off a ferocious Tyne-Wear derby. A late own goal scored by Newcastle’s Demba Ba gifted them a point, but I’m not sure they deserved much more. The problem remains that they’ve only scored five goals themselves this season, and that one player has scored all of them (Steven Fletcher). If Fletcher has an off day, who’s going to put the ball in the back of the net?
Both sides are evenly matched right across the park, and a draw is the likely result.
Stoke 0-0 Sunderland
Wigan v West Ham
Kickoff: 1.00am Sunday October 28th at the DW Stadium
Wigan’s poor start to the season continued last weekend when they went down to Swansea. The result could have been a lot worse, if not for a remarkable goal from Emmerson Boyce midway through the second half. Roberto Martinez seems a very frustrated man in charge, and he’ll need to rally his troops ahead of a crucial game this weekend.
Four second-half goals sparked West Ham into life against Southampton last weekend. The Hammers looked unstoppable, and the win sent them to seventh on the table. Sam Allardyce cops some flak for the way his side plays football, but as long as the results are coming he should be given credit.
This match is winnable for both teams. I can see both sets of players fancying their chances, however I can’t split them.
Wigan 1-1 West Ham
Manchester City v Swansea
Kickoff: 3.30am Sunday October 28th at the Etihad Stadium
Manchester City can thank Eden Dzeko for his amazing performance off the bench last weekend against West Brom. Dzeko scored twice to pull the 10-man City back from the brink, however their form will still be worrying Roberto Mancini. They were horrible midweek against Ajax in the Champions League, and haven’t looked the side that won the title last season. Perhaps they’re suffering from a premiership hangover?
Swansea recorded a much-needed victory when they held off Wigan last weekend. Yet again Michu hit the back of the net, making him the joint-top scorer in the Premier League this season. However the Swans will face a much more difficult task when they travel to the Etihad Stadium this week.
Manchester City should have too much class for Swansea in Saturday’s evening kickoff.
Manchester City 2-0 Swansea
Everton v Liverpool
Kickoff: 12.30am Monday October 29th at Goodison Park
Merseyside derbies are known as one of the most fiercely contested rivalries in English football, and we’re set for another installment this weekend.
Everton’s magnificent early season form has wilted in the last couple of weeks, with both Wigan and QPR holding them to draws. David Moyes won’t panic, however, and will have his eyes squarely focused on getting the three points this weekend. Steven Pienaar picked up a red card last match, so will be suspended for the game, while Marouane Fellaini is unlikely to play with an injury.
Liverpool finally recorded their first victory at Anfield under Brendan Rodgers. It was fitting that the 17-year-old Raheem Sterling, who has flourished under Rodgers’ reign, was the man to score the only goal in the win against Reading. Pepe Reina is battling a hamstring injury, so Australia’s own Brad Jones could find himself playing in the hotly contested derby.
Expect a vicious, fiery encounter between Everton and Liverpool. The two sides should cancel each other out.
Everton 2-2 Liverpool
Newcastle v West Bromwich Albion
Kickoff: 2.00am Monday October 29th at St James’ Park
Newcastle was unlucky not to hold on to a 1-0 win against Sunderland last weekend. They played the majority of the match with 10 men following the dismissal of Chiek Tiote for a cynical challenge; he’ll now miss this weekend’s match. Alan Pardew praised Fabricio Coloccini after the match, labeling his herculean performance in defence ‘like watching Bobby Moore’.
Similarly, West Brom was also unlucky last weekend, and also couldn’t hold onto a lead. However in all fairness, they were up against the champions. Steve Clarke will be happy with where his side are at, sitting in sixth place on the table and looking in good stead for the remainder of the season.
At home, Newcastle should have enough about them to see off West Brom.
Newcastle 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Southampton v Tottenham
Kickoff: 2.00am Monday October 29th at St Mary’s Stadium
Last weekend I talked about Southampton’s poor defensive record since returning to the Premier League. That record went on to haunt them again against West Ham, when they conceded four goals in 41 minutes of football. They simply won’t survive in the top flight if they can’t batten down the hatches down back.
Tottenham was in a brilliant position to take the game to Chelsea last weekend, however relented to the Blues’ mounting pressure and also ended up conceding four goals. There are still positives for Andre Villas Boas though, in particular the scoring record of Jermain Defoe. Like Southampton, their defence must also tighten after some truly woeful performances from the likes of William Gallas and Kyle Walker.
Southampton can’t seem to find a win from anywhere at the moment, and they won’t get one this weekend.
Southampton 0-3 Tottenham
Chelsea v Manchester United
Kickoff: 3.00am Monday October 29th at Stamford Bridge
It’s a top-of-the-table clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, as second-placed Manchester United travel to league leaders Chelsea.
Chelsea wasn’t perfect, but they did enough to record a victory against Tottenham. It was a win that has seen them take maximum points in their opening games against title challengers (Arsenal and Tottenham), with both matches being away from home as well. They’ll be looking to do it again this weekend when they face Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
United’s only concern at the moment is their defence. They conceded two against Stoke last weekend, and two more at home to Braga in the Champions League midweek. Amazingly, their European victory over Braga was the eighth time in 11 games this season that they’ve had to come-from-behind to record the victory. If they concede the first goal again against Chelsea this weekend, alarm bells may start ringing for Alex Ferguson.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea has a great opportunity to stamp their authority on this Premier League season. I think they’ll do exactly that.
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United
Riley Beveridge is a first-year Bachelor of Sports Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can follow his Premier League views at his Twitter account: @RileyBev.
