After a great week of Champions League action from some of the teams in the Premier League, it’s time to turn our attention to the EPL games on tap this weekend, and there are some pretty intriguing ones on the schedule. We’ve once again comprised our panel of Corey Chatelain, Clay Trainum, and myself to give you our predictions for the week, so let’s get right to the picks!
QUICK PICKS
Bolton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Corey: Tottenham Hotspur
Clay: Tottenham Hotspur
Blake: Tottenham Hotspur
Blackpool vs. Everton
Corey: Everton
Clay: Everton
Blake: DRAW
Blackburn Rovers vs. Wigan Athletic
Corey: DRAW
Clay: DRAW
Blake: Blackburn Rovers
Birmingham City vs. West Ham United
Corey: Birmingham City
Clay: West Ham United
Blake: DRAW
Manchester United vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Corey: Manchester United
Clay: Manchester United
Blake: Manchester United
Sunderland vs. Stoke City
Corey: DRAW
Clay: DRAW
Blake: Sunderland
Fulham vs. Aston Villa
Corey: Fulham
Clay: DRAW
Blake: Fulham
GAMES OF THE WEEK
West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester City
Corey: Suddenly Manchester’s Millionaires are misfiring. Pressure is mounting fast at City & they come up versus a West Brom team who played well & almost stole a point versus Blackpool despite the fact they played over an hour with only 9 men. This one’s tough to call but I think City may just steal it from West Brom.
Clay: I think this more of a gut pick than anything else. Man City has hit some rough times here in the past few weeks, and West Brom is still looking like a solid side. I think I’ll go with the home team here, but I don’t believe any result would surprise me here.
Blake: Well, Manchester City has started the downslide that most of us saw coming, and I think this is another spot for them to pick up no points. I’ve been on the West Brom bandwagon for a while now, and when people think they are gonna start falling down the league table, they get a big win. West Brom picks up the three here.
Arsenal vs. Newcastle United
Corey: I’m biased so I definitely like the Gunners in this one but after a lackluster performance against Shakhtar on Wednesday the Gunners may be a little nervy to start this one out but if Cesc plays they should be fine, if not they may have another spotty performance.
Clay: I’m going to go with the Gunners here. There’s a number of things to like about Newcastle this season, but even with the possible absence of Cesc Fabregas, it’s hard for me to see the Magpies coming in and knocking off Arsenal in front of the Emirates Stadium faithful.
Blake: Newcastle has played very well as of late, and even though I think Arsenal is the better team here, I just feel like the momentum is going to help Newcastle at least force a draw. Honestly, in this game, no result would surprise me, but a draw seems like the most possible result.
Liverpool vs. Chelsea
Corey: Liverpool are still all out of sorts & Chelsea should win this one easily but I don’t know…. something about this one being played at Anfield gives me a funny feeling that Liverpool may nick a draw.
Clay: Liverpool is definitely playing a bit better than they were just a few weeks ago, but make no mistake, they’re nowhere near the level of the defending champions. I’m an unabashed Liverpool hater, I won’t deny it, but it’s hard for me to see them putting up much of a fight against the defending champions.
Blake: I kinda want to pick Liverpool because of the great story it would be, but common sense says that Chelsea is overwhelmingly the better squad. Liverpool will probably keep it close early on, but there is simply too much scoring power on this Chelsea team. The reigning champs should win by a couple of goals.
There are our picks for the week. Who are you picking in this week’s matchups?