Premier League Predictions, Week 30(ish)

Welcome back to your weekly predictions, Premier League fans! I know it's been a while since you've heard from me. The last weekend of Premier League action we had featured most of the heavy hitters in the FA Cup instead, so I decided to take a week off, and then came a long, eventful international break. I hope, like me, that you and your favorite club found this break entertaining and rejuvenating! But it's time to get back to some domestic action.

In case you can't remember all the way back to 2021, when I last made my predictions, I had a promising start turn very sour in my predictions. My optimism with correctly predicting Liverpool and Manchester United's victories over their opponents was quickly flouted by incorrectly forecasting draws for Chelsea (who beat Newcastle) and Arsenal (who lost to Liverpool), as well as a win for Manchester City (who drew Crystal Palace). My 2/5 outing brings me to 59.5/115 on the year, which is...well, above .500 is the nicest thing I can think to say about it.

But! The matches are less than 12 hours away from kicking back off, so let's not waste time mourning lost potential. Here are your 5 for Week 28/29/30/31, depending on which team you cheer for!

Liverpool vs. Watford

It's always difficult to predict a team's form coming back from international break, and Liverpool could be forgiven for looking past this match at the murderers' row of Benfica-Man City-Benfica-Man City-Man United that comprises the following weeks. But, tricky as Watford has proven to be against some bigger clubs, Liverpool wholeheartedly has the Hornets' number, and isn't going to be troubled with them at Anfield.

The Pick: Liverpool, 3-0

Burnley vs. Manchester City

It's easy to forget, in all the praising of Liverpool's impeccable form this calendar year, and excitement over their charge to make this a real title race, that Manchester City are in fact still the league leaders. They're also the reigning champions, and are no strangers to needing to deliver results in crunch time. That said, this is one of the only remaining matchweeks in which they probably have a tougher game in front of them than Liverpool does, and they'll be hard-pressed to not overlook Burnley ahead of the Reds' visit next weekend. The Clarets are always tough to play anyway, but especially in their unforgiving home ground as they attempt to climb out of the relegation zone. Sean Dyche's men will be especially desperate for a big result after dropping their last three matches. Ultimately, I expect City to do enough to gut this one out, but I doubt it will be easy.

The Pick: Man City, 1-0

Chelsea vs. Brentford

Between the media essentially declaring them out of the title race (not without reason, to be fair) and the very public removal of their Russian owner Roman Abramovich, one might think Chelsea's season is officially a lost one. On the contrary, credit must be given to Thomas Tuchel and the Blues for keeping their heads down and quietly continuing to get results. They will enter this match on a 13-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, including 5 straight Premier League victories. Normally, I would predict that coming off a long break against a tricky team who is looking to stop flirting with the relegation zone is a recipe for dropped points. However, their form coupled with the fact that I've errantly predicted them dropping points three weeks in a row now leads me to believe that will not be the case this time.

The Pick: Chelsea, 3-2

Manchester United vs. Leicester City

Manchester United, despite their ups and downs this season, are still very much in the thick of a Top 4 race. Leicester City, despite their lofty preseason ambitions, are very much out of the Top 4 race at this point. Yet, because both teams have been so unpredictable, and still possess great amounts of talent despite underwhelming results, this could still make for a entertaining, eventful matchup. United started to drop points right at the worst time, as they were jostling for position with three other opponents, but recovered form nicely before the International Break, earning a crucial win against Top 4 competitors Tottenham. Because Leicester embarrassed them in the first fixture back in October, and the Foxes have so much less to play for this time, I have to imagine it's United's game this time around.

The Pick: Man United, 3-1

Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal

Arsenal's home loss to Liverpool brought an end to their six-match unbeaten streak, and ran the risk of getting a much-maligned club and fanbase emotionally down. Instead, they recovered right away, getting a massive 3 points before the break on the road at a very solid Aston Villa side. Crystal Palace have looked sharp, if not consistently great under Patrick Vieira and this will not be easy for the Gunners in the least. But I continue to be a believer in this side's turnaround and Mikel Arteta's ability to keep them focused on the goal at hand. I think they win a tight one.

The Pick: Arsenal, 2-1