Gameweek 18 didn’t disappoint for more shock results in a very unpredictable season. Stoke beat the other Manchester club (United) 2-0 at home while Southampton thrashed Arsenal 4-0 at home which the Gunners needed a win to top the table as Leicester lost for just the second time this season away to Liverpool. Gameweek 19 includes a lot of very tasty fixtures and more possibilities for some big fantasy premier league points…
Crystal Palace vs Swansea
Crystal Palace are on a decent unbeaten run recently. On Boxing Day they played out a boring 0-0 draw away at in form Bournemouth. Swansea have still not appointed a permanent manager but they are looking dangerous in recent times. They unluckily lost away at Man City but bounced back with a 1-0 home win to West Bromwich Albion. Do they need a new manager?
Star Man – Fraizer Campbell (5.4m)
Crystal Palace’s new main man up top and with Bolasie out he needs to step up.
Prediction – Crystal Palace 2-1 Swansea
Everton vs Stoke City
Everton are bouncing off a very late Tom Cleverley winner away at struggling Newcastle. They made a few changes which made them look a lot less dangerous especially without Spanish u21 winger Gerard Deulofeu. Stoke’s win on Boxing Day was more comfortable. They eased to a 2-0 home win to Louis Van gaal’s Manchester United side. Stoke seem to up their game at harder opponents.
Star Man – Marko Arnautovic (6.2m)
Caused Man United many problems and could have quite easily bagged himself a hattrick.
Prediction – Everton 1-1 Stoke City
Norwich vs Aston Villa
Norwich will look like a contender to get relegated if they don’t pick up points in these type of fixtures to fellow strugglers. They are coming off a 3-0 away thrashing to high flying Tottenham. However they did snatch a 2-1 away win to Manchester United. Aston Villa have been involved in 1-1 draws in both of their last 2 games and this one looks like it can be the same.
Star Man – Rudy Gestede (5.6m)
Norwich struggle in the air and Gestede thrives in those situations.
Prediction – Norwich 1-1 Aston Villa
Watford vs Tottenham
Watford are very much a team in form. After recently convincingly beating Liverpool 3-0 at home they earned a 2-2 draw away at Gus Hiddink’s Chelsea side. Spurs are another team in form. Most recently they thrashed Norwich at home 3-0 which kept them in the Champions League spots. Watford at home are very strong however so this will be a hard encounter for Tottenham.
Star Man – Jurado (5.3m)
Played really well away at Chelsea. Plays on the left side and can cause Walker problems.
Prediction – Watford 1-2 Tottenham
West Brom vs Newcastle
West Brom haven’t been at their best recently. Their away draw to Liverpool looks like a big dent in their form as they conceded a very late equaliser. Since then they have lost to 2 struggling sides in Bournemouth and Swansea respectively. Newcastle after being unbeaten in 3, also conceded a late goal which inevitably decided the game at home to Everton, but hey did look very dangerous in the counter attack
Star Man – Moussa Sissoko (5.7m)
Quick and powerful on the counter and against a slow West Brok defence, should thrive.
Prediction – West Brom 1-1 Newcastle
Arsenal vs Bournemouth
On Boxing Day Arsenal had the chance to go to the top of the Barclays Premier League table as their games was a 7:45 rather than the normal 3:00. However, their trip to Southampton turned out a lot more difficult than they thought and they got thumped 4-0 by the saints. Bournemouth are now unbeaten in 4 after they played out a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace where they could have quite easily won the game.
Star Man – Mesut Ozil (9.9m)
In decent form and arguably the most creative player in the Premier League
Prediction – Arsenal 2-1 Bournemouth
Manchester United vs Chelsea
Manchester United and Louis van Gaal are very much under pressure and the Boxing Day loss to Stoke away from home certainly didn’t help van Gaal’s cause. Chelsea have already ‘parted company’ with their manager and the appointment of Gus Hiddink may not be the right decision to turn around Chelsea’s season. Chelsea drew 2-2 with Watford on Boxing Day, but should have won if it wasn’t for an Oscar missing a penalty late on.
Star Man – Remy (7.1m)
With Costa being suspended, Remy needs to step up against a decent Man United defence.
Prediction – Manchester United 1-2 Chelsea
West Ham vs Southampton
After their electric start to the season, away from home especially, West Ham have slowed down considerably. This was particularly shown in their 1-1 away draw to bottom of the league Aston Villa. Southampton were on a bad run of form as well until they met Arsenal on Boxing Day. Southampton eased to a 4-0 win against the Gunners and with an away fixture at West Ham, this could be the start of the Saints’ surge up the table.
Star Man – Shane Long (5.7m)
Tore Koscielny and Mertesacker apart with his pace against the Gunners and scored twice.
Prediction – West Ham 1-2 Southampton
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Leicester fell to just their second defeat against Liverpool on Boxing Day and may have just lost their ‘swazz’ in their team and teams may be sussing out their tactics and plans. Manchester City on Boxing Day in contrast, thrashed struggling Sunderland 4-1 at the Etihad but saw their team captain Vincent Kompany, come on but then come off 9 minutes later after a possible reoccurrence of his calf injury.
Star Man – Wilfried Bony (8.0m)
Played well against Sunderland despite missing a penalty and is good in the air.
Prediction – Leicester 1-2 Manchester City
Sunderland vs Liverpool
Sunderland look like a certainty for relegation if they don’t step up their game soon. Their most recent result coming at the hands of Manchester City where they were thumped 4-1 and never really looked like they were in the game. Liverpool have just beaten the league leaders in Leicester at home, and may have just turned a corner under Jürgen Klopp and against a team in Sunderland this should be a comfortable win.
Star Man – Christian Benteke (8.2m)
Scored the winner against Leicester and has given Klopp something to think about up front.
Prediction – Sunderland 0-3 Liverpool
Written by Harry Clark
