Last week had some tough results but we weren’t that far off from getting a few more over the line. Chris Wood had a goal disallowed, the Manchester Derby had everything you want from a Derby and you never know what Spurs side is going to turn up.
It’s the last match week before Christmas and Chelsea have a chance to overtake Liverpool at the top if they can take care of Everton and if the ‘good’ Spurs team shows up when they host Liverpool.
Everyone else may be checking out for the holidays but I’m locking in on the Premier League and hoping for some winners.
Both of these sides had a 1-0 lead on the weekend with less than five minutes to go. Once the full time whistle blew both Aston Villa and Man City were on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.
It’s this late drama that makes the Premier League so unpredictable but it’s also why we love it.
I’m waiting for City to climb out of this hole they’ve found themselves in but somehow it keeps getting deeper. With an aging squad and key players out they haven’t been able to play to the level we’ve come to know.
Aston Villa have struggled as well trying to keep up in both the Premier League and Champions League. Their form at home is what’s keeping them close to the top six, unbeaten their last four at Villa park.
Brighton dropped the ball at home last weekend and could easily have been mistaken for the 3rd Tier Croatian club, Jadran-Galeb who have the EXACT same logo.
West Ham were the helped to produce 85 minutes of boring football in their fixture with Bournemouth, until Lucas Paqueta netted his penalty and three minutes later Enes Unal scored a ripper of a 30 yard free kick.
Brighton are without a win in their last four Premier League games and have not been playing good football away from home either.
Nottingham’s Cinderella run continues on and the Trees proved me wrong. I’m happy about because I like seeing Chris Wood having a huge impact on a team that’s playing winning football.
Thomas Frank and his Brentford side will be frustrated with their continued poor form away from home. They didn’t create too many chances until the end but it was too little too late.
At home though they have been much better. I can see a 2-1 result happening either way at Gtech.
Ipswich Town got their second win of the campaign over Wolves taking the lead in the 94th minute, meanwhile Newcastle made lightwork of Leicester at St. James’ Park.
I said last week that Newcastle can’t defend but maybe that’s just against the lower level teams.
Both teams to score has hit in five of the last seven games Ipswich has been involved in but I’d rather back the over in the goals market, just in case the Tractor Boys can’t find some magic at home.
Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes hit another speed bump after they were held to a stalemate with Everton. With Jordan Pickford in fine form behind the sticks it was a frustrating outing for the Gunners.
Crystal Palace got the win over their rivals last week and moved four points clear of the drop zone.
These two meet in the Carabao Cup at the Emirates on Thursday before their league meeting on Sunday at Selhurst park.
I’m not sure the first of the two games will give much away as we’re not sure of the squads either team will line up. However if Arsenal are to keep pace at the top of the league they need a win on Sunday.
Everton have been are showing some life now that we’re a third of the way through the season and I expect them to make life difficult for Chelsea when they come to town this weekend.
Since their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, Chelsea are unbeaten in the Premier League in eight games, rattling off six wins in a row. They’re only two points off the pace and if Liverpool drop points again this week they could go level or jump them to lead the league at Christmas.
Chelsea have been goalscoring machines this year but Everton have been pretty solid at the back aside from their 4-0 loss to United.
Fulham have been sneaky all season, unbeaten in their last four games which include draws with Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal as well as a win over Brighton.
On the other hand, there is nothing sneaky about Southampton. They’re just playing terrible football. After their 5-0 defeat to Spurs, Russell Martin got the immediate sack. Simon Rusk the under-21’s manager will take over as interim.
Unfortunately for Rusk I don’t like his chances for a quick turnaround.
Another cellar-dweller fixture for your Monday morning. Leicester sit five points clear of their opponents this week and only two points from the drop zone. They desperately need a win.
Lucky for the Foxes, they’re at home. A place they are unbeaten at since Ruud van Nistelrooy took over.
The visitors have been terrible on the defensive side of things conceding 40 goals already. I’m expecting goals between these two in a battle that the Foxes come out on top of.
After a huge win in the Manchester Derby the Red Devils welcome Bournemouth to town. Ruben Amorim just went and did something not many others have been able to do, win at the Etihad.
Led by Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes United pulled together two late goals to steal three points from their Manchester rivals.
Bournemouth managed a draw thanks to a spectacular free kick in the 90th minute.
Bournemouth sit in 6th on the table while United are down in 13th, yet the Red Devils are favoured by a decent margin at home.
Old Trafford isn’t the same fortress it once was and it won’t scare the Cherries who I have taking a point or more from this one.
Spurs made quick work of Southampton on the weekend and so they should have.
You can never be sure what Spurs team is going to take the field, will it be the side that put four or more goals on Aston Villa, City and Southampton or the side that lost 2-1 to Ipswich.
Liverpool stumbled a little over the weekend and only managed a point thanks to Diogo Jota (cash the anytime goal scorer bet from last week!) If they don’t get a result here, Chelsea could leap frog them in the standings heading into Christmas.
I’m going to try my luck with Spurs this week, they tend to win games they shouldn’t and they probably ‘shouldn’t’ be beating Liverpool this weekend. But if we get the Spurs team that we know is there somewhere, they’re more than capable of knocking off the leaders.