WHO WILL WIN THE LONDON BATTLES? This is a very tricky week to call for a lot of the games. Not as many seemingly one sided affairs as you would see most weeks. That usually makes for excellent viewing, but can make it extremely difficult to make some money! But that is what we are here to do, try and make a bit of money, so here’s my picks for this weekend.
CHELSEA’S DEFENSE TOO WEAK
As you may expect, Arsenal against Chelsea is not the easiest to call, but I am going to call Arsenal this time out. I think even with Hiddink at the helm there are some obvious issues with this Chelsea team. What is the main issue? Cesc Fabregas. This might seem harsh for one of the best midfielders to play in the Premier League era, but with the way he has been this year he really has been creating problems. You are forced to play a Matic or Mikel type player, and with Fabregas’ lack of work ethic Chelsea are being over run in midfield.
This has a direct effect on the defense. They have been very leaky this year in comparison to how they were last season and other years past. And that is why I see Arsenal getting a win this weekend. There are few teams in the world that are better than Arsenal going forward. Going up against this Chelsea defense spell some serious trouble. Just look at last week against Everton, the Chelsea defense was incredibly poor in the first half of the game. Play like that again and Arsenal will not allow them back into the game the same way Everton did.
Arsenal are slowly getting some players back, not just any players either, two of their top players! Ozil will be back in the side after missing out last weekend and Sanchez should be able to give them 20 minutes from the bench. That is some serious attacking power for the Chelsea defense to handle. Add the two of these to the goal scoring form Giroud has been in lately and any defense would be stricken with fear. I don’t see Chelsea being able to score enough goals to make up for what they will concede against this Arsenal side.
Arsenal are at a great price if you were to think about as team at the top of the table playing a team near the bottom of the table. Of course this is no ordinary situation with last year’s champions being near the bottom of the league, but there is reason for them being where they are. I think Arsenal will be too much for a struggling Chelsea in this one. Prediction – Arsenal Win
NORWICH PERFECT OPPONENT FOR LIVERPOOL
Liverpool should win this one easily. They obviously are a far superior side than this Norwich one. Not only that, but the type of football Norwich plays suits Liverpool perfectly. Klopp knows his team will be able to disturb the Canaries defense with their pressing style of football. There is not enough technical players around the Norwich team to be able to play their way out of defense against a pressing team. They will hand a lot of possession over to Liverpool who will have enough fire power to grab a couple of goals.
Norwich don’t have much in their team to truly threaten this Liverpool defense. I know last week I said that the Liverpool centre back partnerships are among the worst in the league, and I still believe this to be true, but where their true weakness lies Norwich don’t have an abundance of quality. These Liverpool defenders struggle with crosses into the box, we saw this last week against Man United. Only problem is, I don’t see Norwich with any players who possess a particular threat in finishing off crosses into the box.
Liverpool had a tough loss last weekend, they didn’t deserve to lose that game. They will be determined to get back on the winning trail after such a painful defeat to an enemy. They played a mostly weakened side in the FA Cup during the week so they should be fresh and determined to really go out all guns blazing in this one. We know that Liverpool have been up and down a lot under Klopp, I would certainly bank on this weekend being one of their ups. Norwich are beginning to realise that they are in danger of going down at the end of the season, and I think Liverpool will give them another bitter pill to swallow with an easy victory this weekend. Prediction –Liverpool Win
ANOTHER WIN FOR NORTH LONDON
I really like this Spurs side under Pochettino. I think they have the best squad in the Premier League from top to bottom. There really isn’t any glaring weaknesses in their first team, or even their replacements. They have such a depth of quality here and they are playing as a team. They have some excellent players who are gaining a lot of attention like Harry Kane and Del Alli, but this side isn’t relying on superstars the way they were when Gareth Bale was in town.
They are coming up against a Crystal Palace team who have been excellent over the first half of the season, but they have hit a bit of a rough patch lately. They are struggling to find goals, and with some key players out I don’t see that changing in the very near future. Bolasie is a big loss for Palace. He is one of those players who becomes a better player when he is not in the side. By that I mean that he is very effective in the side, but when he is not you can really notice the void he has left behind. They rely on so much from him in terms of general play as well as relieving pressure from his defense.
I think Palace have also gotten a little bit shaky in defense, their keeper has had a couple of very questionable moments in recent weeks and Pardew hasn’t exactly backed him. As a team Palalce always came out with a bundle of energy in the earlier stages of this year, but that is wearing off now. I think more than any side they have stagnated after an impressive start. They should really consider freshening up the squad in this transfer window if they would like to kick on from an impressive start to the season.
As things stand this weekend however, I don’t see Palace coming out of this current slump. Not against the quality of this Spurs side. Spurs have at least one goal in them this weekend, I’m not convinced Palace do. Spurs have an exciting attack but they are also very steady at the back, with some excellent leaders in Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen. Prediction –Spurs Win
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