Premier League Predictions, Week 21

Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! The timing of these pieces are getting weird, I know. Last time you heard from me was a couple weeks ago, and that was the first time in nearly two months. Blame the Winter World Cup, the holiday schedule, random FA CUP weekends, and my selfish self for multiple European travels.

But we back! And picking up right where we left off! Which, unfortunately for me, means watching my favorite club (Liverpool) repeatedly drop points while I myself start to tank in my predictions season. Last time out, I laid an all-time dud, going 1 for 5 on my predictions. I correctly got the safest bet of them all, that Brentford would edge relegation-threatened Bournemouth. But Manchester United and Arsenal's derby wins went against my expectations, as did Brighton's stunning dominance of Liverpool and Newcastle's narrow victory over Fulham. That drops my season total to 28/55, barely above .500.

But hey, the games are less than 24 hours away from resuming, so no time for spiralling. Here are your 5 for Week 21!

Chelsea vs. Fulham

Maybe I just haven't been paying attention, but it feels like this is the first "Friday Night Lights" match in a while, and it's a good one, a local derby between two solid teams, to kick off our weekend! Who would have thought at this point in the season, Fulham would be faring better of the two West London clubs. Not only that, when these two faced off in the first league match-- just 3 weeks ago!! --Fulham took home the W, 1-0. However, it's started to go poorly for the Cottagers since then; back-to-back losses to Newcastle and Tottenham were followed by an uninspiring FA Cup draw vs. Championship side Sunderland. It hasn't gone much better for 10th-place Chelsea, to be fair, but they showed promise and chutzpah in a sloppy-but-lively draw at Liverpool two weeks ago. Fulham needs a win to keep hanging around the big boys, but Chelsea needs one even more to get back to the level they want to be at, and I have to imagine that ridiculous January transfer window will start paying off dividends for them soon, right?

The Pick: Chelsea, 2-1

Everton vs. Arsenal

The last Premier League weekend, wherein Arsenal gutted out a crucial victory over Manchester United (the only side to beat them this season) and opened a 5-point lead over title rivals Manchester City with a game in hand, was the first time all season I allowed myself to believe the Gunners might actually do this thing. And next up was miserable Everton...what could go wrong? Then Everton had to go and actually do a sensible thing, and replace manager Frank Lampard with Sean Dyche. Dyche isn't going to turn the Toffees into a top contender, mind you, but his "Brexit ball," dark arts style will absolutely keep them out of the relegation zone this season. Most of me thinks surely unflappable Arsenal wins this one, but I can't shake this feeling that the new manager bounce + that new manager's style being a nightmare to play against will result in Gunner frustration.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1

Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace

It's easy to forget that Manchester United hasn't actually won a Premier League match in 3 weeks, because the vibes around Old Trafford are so good right now. Their last league win came against their favored crosstown rivals, they're comfortably in the Top 4, and just yesterday they booked their spot in their first cup final in nearly 6 years. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, are mired in a slump of sorts, with just 1 win in their last 7, although they might draw inspiration from their recent punching-up draw against....*checks notes*... Manchester United?!? That's right, we've got yet another return leg of a match that was played just a couple weeks ago. There's trap game potential here for United, to be sure, but I've got to imagine the home crowd and recency of their frustrating draw against this opponent will put them over the edge.

The Pick: Man United, 3-1

Newcastle United vs. West Ham United

Newcastle's undoing, from a title race perspective, has been settling for draws instead of wins, but they still only have a stunning one loss on the season (and oh-so-close to zero losses, were it not for Fabio Carvalho's winner on the last kick of the match at Anfield). The Magpies' impressive Top 4 push should continue with ease as they host a West Ham team that looks a shell of its highly competitive 2021-22 side.

The Pick: Newcastle, 3-0

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City

The definite blockbuster of this Premier League weekend is a showdown that just took place... you guessed it, just a couple weeks ago! In the match at the Etihad, Tottenham jumped out to a stunning 2-0 halftime lead, only for my stupid little brother to crow about how "they live rent free in City's mind," obviously inspiring the Mancurians to unleash a torrent of goals in the 2nd half and cruise to a 4-2 victory. It ended up being more a relief than celebration for City fans (all three of them), as their team were in real danger of falling out of title contention. That danger remains, though, on what could be a pivotal weekend in the trophy race. To atone for calling my brother stupid, I'm now going to put myself in the line of fire and make a bold prediction: Tottenham wins this one. In fairness, he was right that there's something about this club, regardless of who their manager is, that seems to wreak all kind of havoc on Pep Guardiola's gameplan. I have to imagine if there's any fight left in this Spurs team, that collapse in Manchester still feels fresh in their mind and angers them. Hungry for a win, revenge on the mind, home crowd... this is the rare instance in which I wouldn't love to be Man City coming into this one.

The Pick: Tottenham, 2-1