Premier League Predictions, Week 27
Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! It's been a hot minute since you heard from me last, thanks to the stilted fixture schedule in the last 10+ days. But we're back on track this weekend, and back with some Premier League action starting tomorrow morning.
In case you didn't remember my predictions from last time out...well, I sure hope you do, I'll put it that way. But I am all too happy to remind you that, not for the first time this season, YA BOI WENT 5 FOR 5. Unfortunately I wasn't able to exactly nail a single scoreline; Manchester City's two wins weren't as comfortable as I assumed they would be, and Liverpool's, Arsenal's, and Aston Villa's wins were even more comfortable than I imagined, But the important thing is that in each of last week's highlighted five matches, the team I picked to win did in fact win. My perfect 5/5 week brings me to 65.5/100, batting a nearly two-thirds' success rate at the century mark. I will take that!
Now, the matches are less than 12 hours from kicking back off, so let's not waste any more time with what cometh before the fall. Here are your 5 for Week 27!
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Crystal Palace
It's been two weeks since Tottenham's last match, thanks to their postponed tie against Chelsea last weekend, and in that time, Aston Villa widened the gap between 4th and 5th place. Spurs will get the first chance to fight back this weekend, and will simply need to beat a team that's pretty down and out to do so. Crystal Palace looked much improved in their first match under Oliver Glasner, a 3-0 rout of Burnley, but there's a gulk in quality between their last opponents and their next ones. Tottenham rolls at home.
The Pick: Tottenham, 3-1
Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool
We're nearing the home stretch of the season, which is traditionally when most teams see players recovering from injury. Liverpool, remarkably, seems to see their injury list grow ever longer these days, with some incredibly huge names missing this key stretch. But even more remarkably, they just keep winning! In a week stretch, they rallied to dominate Luton Town in the Premier League, won a trophy in the Carabao Cup against Chelsea, then progressed to the FA Cup quarterfinals with a commanding win over Southampton, all with an increasing number of backups and academy kids seeing major minutes. In such an unpredictable season, and with such a laundry list of absences, no game is to be taken for granted, but Liverpool have continued to find ways to win. I have no reason to expect that to change, especially with the rumored returns of Darwin Núñez, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endō.
The Pick: Liverpool, 2-1
Luton Town vs. Aston Villa
Everton's successful appeal to have their points deduction reduced to merely 6 points didn't just affect the Toffees, it had a ripple effect down the league. See: Luton Town, who now sit in a considerably more distant 18th place (i.e. in the relegation zone), albeit with one less match played than most teams. The Hatters have punched far above their weight in the Premier League, outdueling their fellow promoting sides and proving a thorn in many a major team's sides; but then again, so have Aston Villa, a steadily good side and surprise Top 4 contender (in fact, in the not-so-distant past, even a league leader). It's for that reason-- out of respect to both sides --that I'm going to go with the slight upset here and predict that the two share points on Kenilworth Road.
The Pick: Draw, 2-2
Sheffield United vs. Arsenal
Even against Newcastle, a team that has been all sorts of trouble for Arsenal in recent years, and the best opponent the Gunners had faced in a minute, the North Londoners' red-hot form continued. It's now six straight wins for Mikel Arteta's men, by a total goal differential of +22. They remain in a razor-thin 3rd place, though, and as such will need to keep it up to keep pace with Liverpool and Manchester City. No matter, a visit to the worst team in the Premier League should do little to stop the train.
The Pick: Arsenal, 5-0
Manchester City vs. Manchester United
While it's technically the last match of the weekend, Sheffield and Arsenal's Monday clash succeeding it, most eyes this weekend will be on the Manchester Derby on Sunday afternoon. Not just because it's an increasingly relevant crosstown derby, but this year, because of the dueling fates of two teams. Manchester United's aggressively Jekyll and Hyde season continued last weekend; right when they seemed to be figuring it out, their undefeated 2024 and six-match winning streak both came to an end with a stunning home loss to middling Fulham. The blue side of Manchester, meanwhile, is fully in the thick of their late-season thaw... you know, where, regardless of how inconsistent or lackluster they may have been in the first half of the season, they just sorta snap their fingers and decide they're ready to take the league over. The Cityzens continue to often win less-than-convincingly, as was the case with both wins last week against Brentford and Bournemouth, but they're winning just about all of them, and will expect to take this one, too. Because United always seem to pop up when everyone expects they are down for good, I half expect them to put up a good fight in this one. But the more logical part of my brain wins out; I just see no way even this less-invincible Manchester City team drops this one at home.
The Pick: Man City, 3-0
Comments