Premier League Predictions, Week 34(ish)

Welcome back to your weekly predictions, Premier League fans! In just two days, it's gonna be May, which means just as Justin Timberlake is emerging from his slumber to see his shadow, we are rapidly approaching the end of the club season. We're in the home stretch now, with just 3-6 matches remaining for teams, contingent on how many of their matches have had to be rescheduled.

Last week, a cluttered schedule prevented me from publishing my picks on time, so you'll have to go all the way back two weeks to recall how I performed last time out. The answer? Not great! I whiffed on my first three of the week, thanks to Brighton, Southampton and Burnley stunning Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham, respectively. I was able to course-correct slightly by accurately picking the two title contenders to win, but even within that my analysis was off, as Liverpool and Manchester City had a far easier time with Man United and Brighton than I assumed they would. All in all, it was an ugly 2/5 week, which sinks me to 66/130 on the year. Not bad, but certainly not good.

But! The matches are less than 12 hours away from kicking back off, so let's not waste any more time flirting with the relegation zone. Here are your 5 for Week 33/34/35/36, depending on which team you cheer for!

Newcastle United vs. Liverpool

5 matches remain for Liverpool to stake their claim to the Premier League crown and hope that Manchester City slip up in the process. The Liverpool players and Jürgen Klopp, who just signed a two-year contract extension this week, have talked about how "every match is a title" from here on out. With two domestic wins over rivals in one week, a Champions League semifinal Leg 1 win, and the Klopp extension, it's all good times for Liverpool right now and it'd be foolish to pick against them here. But because I'm a Liverpool fan, I have to imagine the good times will end at some point, and of all the remaining matches, this seems like the most likely time for it to end. It's a short turnaround from their Wednesday match, thanks to the early kickoff, and it's against a tricky opponent who hasn't lost at home since November. I think the Premier League race, for all intents and purposes, might end this weekend.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1

Watford vs. Burnley

It won't get much attention, but tomorrow also sees a huge match at the bottom of the table between the 17th and 19th-placed teams. With a win, Burnley can officially relegate Watford and also take a serious step towards safety. I didn't think this would happen, but the Clarets have had a real rebound after sacking their legendary manager Sean Dyche, taking 10 points from their last 12. Watford, meanwhile, seem to have accepted their relegation fate - they might put up one last good fight at home, but once Burnley takes the lead in this one, it'll be over, I think.

The Pick: Burnley, 1-0

Leeds United vs. Manchester City

Just like Liverpool, every remaining match is a Final for Manchester City, too. And like Liverpool, they're tasked with a sneakily tricky away game on Saturday. Believe it or not, Leeds could be in real danger of relegation; with just 4 games remaining, if Everton wins their game in hand, Leeds are only 3 points clear.

They have seen an uptick in form under American manager Jesse Marsch, however, unbeaten in their last five matches. Both the USMNT fan and Liverpool fan in me want to believe that Marsch and the Peacocks can pull off the ultimate upset and come close to clinching safety in one fell swoop. But I just think if City are locked in, there's nobody in the league that can beat them, and I don't see how they can't be locked in with what's at stake.

The Pick: Manchester City, 3-1

Everton vs. Chelsea

Speaking of teams in heated relegation battles...Everton! It's almost hard to fathom, but if the season ended today, Everton would be relegated to Championship for first time since 1951. The good news is that they have a match in hand over their relegation-threatened peers. The bad news is their next match is against 3rd-place Chelsea. There's every reason to believe this matchup spells doom for the Toffees, and yet, I'm going to go with the upset pick here. Under Frank Lampard, they have actually performed quite well against good teams; they caused Liverpool a ton of trouble last Sunday before ultimately being undone by a couple moments of quality. Furthermore, you have to imagine Lampard would love to get one over his old club who sacked him just over a year ago. And while Chelsea is undoubtedly the far superior team, they don't have much left to play for, apart from the FA Cup Final in a couple weeks: they're not going to win the league, they're out of the Champions League, and they're also not (yet) in any real trouble of dropping out of the Top 4. It's hard to see them being as motivated for this one as their opponents.

The Pick: Everton, 2-0

West Ham United vs. Arsenal

Thanks to back-to-back huge (and frankly, unexpected) wins, as well as unexpected Tottenham point-dropping, Arsenal is back to controlling their own destiny in race for 4th place. There's still plenty of work to do, though, and a difficult stretch continues with a road trip to West Ham, who up until recently were in the thick of the Top 4 race. Despite having such a good season, after the 2-1 home loss to Frankfurt in Europa League yesterday, the Hammers face a very realistic chance of no European football. It remains to be seen how much is left in the tank for West Ham's Premier League season or if they're putting all eggs in the Europa League basket, but I think it's safe to say Mikel Arteta and co. would have preferred their compatriots to win the first leg semifinal comfortably in order to reduce their desperation for domestic results.

The Pick: Draw, 2-2