Gameweek 19 was a rare week in which there were not any major FPL shocks to note. The most notable game has to be the dramatic 4-3 encounter at Goodison Park which saw Stoke run out winners against Everton. Gameweek 20 is the start of the reverse fixtures this season in the Barclays Premier League. In those reverse fixtures there were some peculiar results so this week does have the potential to be an interesting gameweek.
West Ham vs Liverpool
West Ham ended their long run of draws with a decent win at home to a Southampton side who eased to a 4-0 win against Arsenal. In the reverse fixture West Ham came out on top. They convincingly beat Liverpool 3-0 but are without some crucial players that played in that game. Liverpool are coming off the back of a 1-0 win away at relegation threatened Sunderland. However they haven’t improved improved much points wise since the appointment of Jürgen Klopp.
Star Man – Andy Carroll (6.4m)
Back from injury (again) and has already started scoring, also against his former club.
Prediction – West Ham 1-1 Liverpool
Arsenal vs Newcastle
Arsenal are the table toppers going in to 2016 however they should have been top weeks ago. They have bottled many opportunities at claiming top spot but, with Leicester playing later in the week, they needed a win at home against Bournemouth to take top spot this time. They delivered that with a 2-0 victory. Newcastle are still stuck in the relegation zone and are odds on to be relegated. They had a couple of good wins at Tottenham and against Liverpool but since then have dropped back to their usual form.
Star Man – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (5.5m)
Played just his 2nd 90 minutes against Bournemouth and looked dangerous at times.
Prediction – Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Leicester City vs Bournemouth
Unfortunately for Leicester fans they are no longer top as they only gained 1 point from their games against Liverpool and Manchester City. However they are still joint on points with the Gunners and weren’t visibly hurt by the 2 results. Bournemouth are still enduring the long run of tough games they’ve had recently and a trip away at Leicester is certainly not going to be an easy visit.
Star Man – Marc Albrighton (4.9m)
Has played well all season and looked very dangerous against Manchester City.
Prediction – Leicester City 2-1 Bournemouth
Manchester United vs Swansea
Manchester United despite having a lot of criticism thrown at them find themselves 6th and just 5 points off the Champions League places. A 0-0 draw at home to a rejuvenated Chelsea team isn’t a bad result considering they lost 2-0 to Stoke just 2 days earlier. Since Swansea sacked Garry Monk they haven’t really had a bad result. Their only loss coming in an unlucky encounter away at Manchester City. After that they have won at home to West Brom and most recently a well fought for draw away at 5th placed Crystal Palace.
Star Man – Ander Herrera (6.5m)
Has played well recently and was very unlucky not to score against Chelsea.
Prediction – Manchester United 2-1 Swansea
Norwich vs Southampton
Norwich relieved a lot of pressure upon them on Monday with a comfortable 2-0 win at relegation bound Aston Villa. This result means the Canaries are now 3 points outside the relegation zone and sit 15th in the table. Southampton thought they had turned a corner after their win against Arsenal but just 2 days later were given a reality check away at West Ham.
Star Man – Dieumerci Mbokani (5.2m)
Good physical presence up top and played well on Monday against Aston Villa.
Prediction – Norwich 1-1 Southampton
Sunderland vs Aston Villa
Sunderland and Aston Villa are 2 teams almost destined for relegation if they don’t turn their season around quickly. Sunderland have shown some glimmers of fight. In their last game Sam Allardyce saw his side lose to Liverpool 1-0 but they showed great character. Although they put in a gutsy performance, Big Sam did see Jack Rodwell go off which may be the start of another long term injury. Aston Villa look dead and buried now. They had a six pointer against Norwich on Monday but slumped to a 2-0 defeat. This fixture is also very much a six pointer.
Star Man – Fabio Borini (5.4m)
Another player who has looked on form. Scored consolations against Chelsea and Man City.
Prediction – Sunderland 0-0 Aston Villa
West Brom vs Stoke City
West Bromwich Albion were another team involved in a crucial game on Monday which saw them win against Newcastle at the Hawthorns. However 2 days earlier they did lose to struggling Swansea. The visit of Stoke will be a different challenge all together for Stoke & Tony Pulis who comes up against his former employers. Stoke are the in form team in the league at the moment. They played out the game of the weekend with Everton which saw them eventually win 4-3 in a great game for the neutral.
Star Man – Bojan (5.1m)
Arnautovic and Shaqiri have been overshadowing the Spanish youngster who’s played well.
Prediction – West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Stoke
Watford vs Manchester City
Watford are on a tough run of games recently. Their last 2 games were Chelsea and Tottenham which saw them more than make a name for themselves. However they only grabbed 1 point, which was away to the reigning champions. Manchester City despite being 3rd are still title favourites as they are looking very strong recently. They drew 0-0 with Leicester which is a good result in context as other ‘big’ teams have slipped up at the King Power.
Star Man – Raheem Sterling (8.8m)
Caused the Leicester defence many problems and also scored against Sunderland.
Prediction – Watford 1-1 Manchester City
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Crystal Palace have been making their way up the league with not many people realising because of Leicester’s magnificent performances this season. Alan Pardew sees his side sit in 5th place meaning the Eagles’ fans could be seeing their side playing in Europe come the end of the season. Chelsea’s most recent result was an away draw to Manchester United. Before hand they drew 2-2 to Watford which was a decent result considering Watford have taken points off some other big teams.
Star Man – Wilfried Zaha (5.3m)
He caused Chelsea a lot of problems in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge.
Prediction – Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea
Everton vs Tottenham
Everton’s form has been a bit shaky recently as they’ve played some teams at the wrong time. Their last result was at home to an in form Stoke side where they endured a 4-3 defeat. Tottenham are now strong contenders for Champions League as they are now 4 points clear of Crystal Palace in 5th place. Tottenham’s last result was a 2-1 win away at Watford which like Chelsea’s result, wasn’t half bad.
Star Man – Tom Carroll (4.7m)
Very cheap midfielder and has recently broke in Pochettino’s first team after some injuries.
Prediction – Everton 1-2 Tottenham
Written by Harry Clark
