Premier League Predictions, Week 9

Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! Last weekend saw the return of the Premier League from an international break, and this week saw the return of European football after a few weeks away. With the last PL week ending on Monday and beginning again tomorrow, that means 7 straight days of top league football! No complaints from me.

Last time out, I did a very poor job at defending one of my strongest performances yet. One week after going 4.5/5, I dropped three whole matches, completely whiffing on the wins by Leicester City, West Ham and even Chelsea. I did accurately forecast Liverpool and Manchester City's wins (the two easiest selections of the bunch), which salvaged a 2/5 outing. Still, that dropped my season total to a less-than-stellar 21.5/35.

But, the matches are less than 24 hours away from kicking back off, so let's not waste time preemptively panicking. Here are your 5 for Week 9!

Chelsea vs. Norwich City

Chelsea did well to avoid defeat at Brentford last week, and they largely have Eduard Mendy to thank. The goalkeeper’s Herculean effort in the 2nd half saw Chelsea escape with a victory against a team that has already taken points from Liverpool, Arsenal and West Ham. That was significant, as it keeps them in first place, and their job will be markedly easier this weekend. Last-place Norwich is showing signs of improvement, but having two different strikers (Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent) struggling to find the net is a disaster waiting to happen against this vaunted Chelsea back line.

The Pick: Chelsea, 3-0

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Manchester City

Manchester United’s loss at Leicester last weekend inspired many a headline about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future at the club, but the news that surprisingly got lost in the coverage of that match is that Brighton— BRIGHTON! —has supplanted United in the Top 4 race. It’s positively blissful days for the Gulls, and it’s no fluke, either; their 4th place standing is a testament to how solid the mental turnaround has been from this season to last under Graham Potter. All that being said…you have to imagine the road hits a serious speed bump (if not ending altogether) at this point. Manchester City have been a different level entirely since the end of September, taking points from both Chelsea and Liverpool away, and cruising to dominant wins against Burnley and Club Brugge in the last week. I absolutely think Brighton have it in them to put up a tough fight, but the difference in talent and depth can only be overcome for so long.

The Pick: Manchester City, 2-0

West Ham United vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham’s schizophrenic season continued dramatically over the last couple weeks. Off the back of their loss to Arsenal, people (including yours truly) were hemming and hawing over the fact that something seemed seriously wrong with Spurs. So what do Nuno Espirito Santo’s men do? Rattle off 4 straight wins, 3 of them in the Premier League, to get back to knocking on the door of the Top 4. West Ham, meanwhile, haven’t exactly been a picture of consistency themselves. Following a 3-win stretch, they blew a lead at home against Brentford…only to turn around and get a massive win away at Everton the very next weekend. So who comes out on top in this matchup of exciting, unpredictable, inconsistent London teams? Your guess is as good as mine, but the Hammers seem to have a little better idea of who they are at this point, plus will be in front of home fans.

The Pick: West Ham, 2-1

Brentford vs. Leicester City

Leicester’s the plucky underdogs of yesteryear, who may have righted the course of their disappointing season with a wild, massive win against Man United last weekend. Brentford’s the plucky underdogs of this year who may have come back down to Earth after a tough loss at home against Chelsea last weekend. There’s a lot to admire about both these sides, and a little to be nervous about when it comes to predicting who will win. At this point, I’m actually still more of a believer in Brentford’s consistency and quality than I am in Leicester’s. But under Brendan Rodgers, the Foxes have been extremely streaky, and last weekend might have just been the confidence boost needed to see them on an unbeaten run. I think spoils will be shared in London.

The Pick: Draw, 2-2

Manchester United vs. Liverpool

The North West Derby plays its 171st league edition on Sunday, and as is seemingly always the case, stakes will be very high. Liverpool is in the heat of a title race, and Manchester United will be not only eager to get back into the Top 4, but hopefully throw themselves back into title contention. At halftime of United’s Champions League match on Tuesday, you could practically hear newspapers putting the finishing touches on their “Solskjaer Out” headlines. There were calls for the manager’s head already, after the 4-2 loss at Leicester last weekend, and trailing 0-2 at home to Atalanta was not helping things. But then the Red Devils rallied to win in dramatic fashion, changing the context for not only their manager’s tenure, but this match specifically. United will never NOT be motivated to play against Liverpool, but the fact that they likely aren’t playing to save their manager’s job now could play a real part. There’s also the reality that as of right now, Liverpool’s just flat out a better team than them. But that doesn’t change two realities: one, as good as they’ve looked so far this season, the Reds are actually yet to beat a ‘Big Six’ club this season. And two, no matter how good or bad the two teams are, Liverpool never seems to win at Old Trafford. Sure, they snapped that duck last season, but they did so in a match they needed much more than their opponents, and with zero fans present. So, as much as I think Liverpool can win this weekend, put me firmly in the camp of “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

The Pick: Draw, 1-1