Premier League Predictions, Week 13
Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans, and Happy Thanksgiving! As the international break ends, and we continue to recover from our food comas, the Premier League returns to action tomorrow.
You may not remember, but two weeks ago before the holiday, I had another solid week in a year that, to brag a little bit, has been great for me. Sure, I bookended the first and last predictions of the weekend with incorrect predictions of Tottenham and Manchester City victories. But I at least got the scoreline right in the first one, and got the other three right, with Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool all winning. All in all, it was a 3.5/5 week for me, which takes me to a decent 31/40 mark overall.
Now, the matches are less than 12 hours from kicking off, so let's not waste any more time celebrating small wins. Here are your 5 for Week 15!
Manchester City vs. Liverpool
First of all, let’s just say it like it is- it’s a travesty that not only once again is the biggest match of the weekend the one with the earliest kickoff, this time it involves what might be the biggest game of the year(BOLD), and it involves Liverpool coming back from an international break to an early kickoff for the 93rd time in a year. With that out of the way… I’m still very excited to wake up in the wee hours for what should be an absolute cracker of a match. With two teams that have defined the league the last 5-6 years, two that look imperfect but at their best, like they could run the league again, it could go any which way. It wouldn’t surprise me if there isn’t a winner, as was the case in this fixture in both 2018 and 2021, both seasons in which City pipped Liverpool to the league title by 1 point. But I do think a slightly cleaner bill of health and homefield advantage, not to mention the drive to bounce back from lost points in their last fixture, will give Pep’s machine the slight edge over Klopp’s mentality monsters.
The Pick: Man City, 2-1
Newcastle United vs. Chelsea
In a weekend full of promising matchups, one that might fly under the radar is the “Spending Like European Dynasties, Playing Like Mid-Table Clubs” Derby (that name has not caught on yet, but I’m going to continue pitching it). It’s true that neither Newcastle nor Chelsea have had the start to the season that they wanted, but both have reason for optimism. Newcastle sputtered in their last few matches before the break, but they’re still in 7th place and the stretch immediately preceding involved consecutive wins over Dortmund, Manchester United and Arsenal. Chelsea, meanwhile, have only lost once in the last month and a half, and immediately before the break, took 4 points and 8 goals from previous league leaders Tottenham and current league leaders Manchester City. At this point, I think I honestly trust Chelsea more, but a home crowd at Newcastle offsets that. I expect honors even at St. James’ Park.
The Pick: Draw, 2-2
Brentford vs. Arsenal
Arsenal lost their first match earlier this month, but had righted the ship with wins over Sevilla and Burnley before the international break. Brentford has proven a tough out many a time before, especially when at home. But as Liverpool showed in the last matchweek, good teams can win (even easily) when they run with Brentford, and Arsenal's attack is more than capable of doing that.
The Pick: Arsenal, 3-2
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Aston Villa
After such a scintillating start to the season, Tottenham entered the international break in the worst possible form: first, an end to their unbeaten season with a 9-man, 1-4 capitulation to Chelsea at home. Then, two weeks ago, they followed that up with a second straight loss, this time despite leading at Wolves 1-0 before heading into stoppage time. Spurs have fallen all the way down to a tight 4th place, a mere 1 point ahead of Sunday's opponents, Aston Villa. Villa got back to winning ways against Fulham one week after a bizarre aberration at Nottingham Forest. This is a huge match for the Top 4 trajectories of both clubs, let alone any dreams of a title charge. I could see it going any way, but I'm going to guess that the break afforded Tottenham a necessary chance to regroup, and the home team will prevail.
The Pick: Tottenham, 3-1
Everton vs. Manchester United
The last showdown of the weekend is a matchup of two clubs who have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. For Manchester United, it's been a continuation of inconsistent results and fall-outs between manager Erik Ten Hag and various players, while the Toffees last week became the recipients of a 10-point punishment from the FA due to financial fair play violations, dropping them to 19th place in the league. Two sides that would love nothing more than to get a win to quiet the haters... I certainly think United are the less hapless team-- they are, after all, in a not-so-distant 6th place --but I think Everton and their frenzied home fans will be fired up in their first match since the announcement of the ban, and overperform accordingly.
The Pick: Draw, 1-1
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