Premier League Predictions, Week 20

Welcome back to your Premier League predictions! Fútbol is back, and it feels like it's been a strangely long time. Unless you're a fan of Manchester United, Tottenham, Wolverhampton or Middlesbrough, who all played FA Cup replays. this was likely the first week in over a month where your team didn't have a midweek match. It's a bummer for us fans, but probably a good thing for the players and coaches themselves that they were back to having at least 6 days to prepare for their next match.

I know it's been SEVEN WHOLE DAYS since you've seen this space, so you may not remember this, but last week, I expressed a deep need to bounce back from a woeful 1/5 week. I'm relieved to report that I did marginally better last weekend, correctly predicting three matches. Though I incorrectly projected that Spurs would split points with Liverpool and that Leicester would defeat Southampton, I did get the Crystal Palace-Arsenal scoreline dead on. I'll give myself a 3.5/5 for the week, bringing my season total to 42/65. A little prettier than last time, but still not great.

Now, the matches have begun, so let's not waste any more time mired in mediocrity. Here are your 5 for Week 20!

Watford vs. Tottenham Hotspur

The early match tomorrow is one of the more intriguing ones of the weekend. Tottenham were flying high in the first several matches with new manager Jose Mourinho, but suddenly are looking for their first league win since Boxing Day. They even struggled to put away Championship side Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, barely eking out a 3-2 win over two legs. Watford, conversely were firmly in the relegation zone less than a month ago, but since bringing on new manager Nigel Pearson, have rattled off 4 wins and 1 draw, and for now are out of danger. I'm tempted to pick a Watford victory tomorrow; they'll be at home at Vicarage Road, and it feels like amidst key injuries Tottenham is reverting to pre-Mourinho form. However, given that the Spurs are desperate not to drop another match, I think they might snag a late equalizer.

The Pick: Draw, 2-2

Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace

Liverpool fans should be relieved their side have opened up such a lead in the Premier League (14 points, with a match in hand). Because in the wake of two routs in the domestic cups, and the 6-1 riot over Aston Villa last weekend, it feels like Manchester City are rounding into their annual "be afraid, be very afraid" form. It may be too little, too late for the Citizens this year, but regardless, it's likely comforting for their fans to see them both finally playing up to their absurd potential, and finally in the top 2 in the table. This weekend's opponent is no cakewalk, as Palace, perennially a thorn in major clubs' sides, is a top half of the table team, sandwiched between Tottenham and Arsenal. But would you really bet against City at this juncture?

The Pick: Manchester City, 2-0

Newcastle United vs. Chelsea

The never-ending rollercoaster that is Chelsea's 2019-20 season went back up last week, with a commanding 3-0 victory over Burnley. Newcastle, meanwhile, started the new year off with a shellacking by Leicester City, but since then have scored two decent results: a comfortable FA Cup win in the 3rd round, and a 1-1 draw on the road at a really tough Wolverhampton side. This is still a team in search of an identity, though, and even given Chelsea's struggles against mid-to-low-table teams this season, it's tough to see Newcastle getting points off of a team with such superior talent. I wouldn't be shocked to see a draw in this fixture, but I'll say the Blues win a nervy one.

The Pick: Chelsea, 1-0

Burnley vs. Leicester

The first match on Sunday pits against each other two clubs desperate for a win. Leicester, who were it not for Liverpool's historic form would be the success story of this season, are in their first run of bad form all year. To be fair, losing to Manchester City and Liverpool aren't actually shameful results, and I think any Leicester fan would be pleased with the fact that they're still 6 points clear of 4th place at this point in the season. But not too long ago, they were comfortably 2nd place and playing the best football in the league; now, on top of the two aforementioned losses, they're likely headed out of the League Cup, and have just lost at home to Southampton, a club they beat 9-0 in their first matchup. Meanwhile, Burnley just wants a positive result, period. They started this season looking like the overachieving 2017-18 version of themselves, but thanks to 7 losses from their last 9, including a current 4-loss streak, they are somewhat shockingly just a few points clear of the relegation zone. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Sean Dyche's men grab a much-needed result in this one, especially playing at home. However, the hungry Foxes aren't going to drop two in a row to inferior opponents, methinks. If they do, alarm bells may well and truly be ringing for Brendan Rogers and co.

The Pick: Leicester, 3-1

Liverpool vs. Manchester United

This match got primetime billing from the Premier League for a reason. It's the league's best derby; it doesn't matter where these two clubs are situated in the table, you know both sides will be amped for this match. But of course, it became such an anticipated fixture because the two clubs are typically near the top of the table, and that's no different this time. Though many have hemmed and hawed over the fact that this United side is a far cry from the dominant Alex Ferguson-era sides, the truth is, they've shown an uptick in form, and sit in a threatening 5th place. What's more, they're yet to lose to a Big Six club so far, which includes being the only team all season to take points off of Liverpool, a point that the Merseysiders absolutely hate to concede. Their rivals? Only the first-placed team in the league, who have broken all sorts of European records by winning 20 of their first 21 matches, haven't lost in 379 days, and are a de facto 17 points clear at the top of the table. But there's always something to this fixture: whether it was Louis Van Gaal, or Jose Mourinho, or now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United have perpetually been the club to neutralize, if not downright bamboozle Jürgen Klopp. Klopp's only Premier League win against this side in 8 tries was in this very fixture last year, and it came by virtue of late heroics by substitute Xherdan Shaqiri, in a match that ultimately got Mourinho fired. Still, you'd be a fool for putting money on anything but a Liverpool victory this weekend. They're in shocking form, historically good, they'll be playing with the raucous backing of Anfield, they're receiving Fabinho and Joel Matip back from inury, and constant antagonizer Marcus Rashford may well be absent for United. Yet I can't shake this feeling that the Red Devils will get their rivals' goat yet again. Solskjaer has left the door open for a Rashford return, which inevitably means he'll play, and United's draw against Liverpool in fixture 1 wasn't a fluke; they genuinely were the better organized and prepared team on the day. Besides, their good form hasn't just been against Liverpool, it has been present for just about every "big" match they've played this season. As foolish as I have sounded in retrospect every time this season that I have predicted Liverpool dropping points, I'm going to stick with my prediction that they don't emerge from this Tottenham-Man U-Wolves stretch with 3 wins.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1

Premier League Predictions, Week 20

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