Epl Matchday 10 review and predictions

Written by Ziko Ezekiel

With the first quarter of the season’s fixtures more or less played, the Premier League goes into Matchday 10 in what has so far been an interesting season with so many memorable games already. Heading into the week 10, we bring you a preview of the 10 matches and also give you our predictions on how we feel each match might turn out.

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Brighton will be going into this game in good form following their back to back wins against West Ham and Newcastle and will be looking to continue the good run as they host Wolves at the Amex. Chris Hughton’s side could be without their star man Glenn Murray, who is a major doubt following his head injury that saw him stretchered off against Newcastle. Wolves on the other hand will be looking to bounce back from their loss at home to Watford in the last fixtures. So far Wolves have made the best start of a season by a newly promoted team since Hull city 10 years ago and the Portuguese flavoured team will be looking to put the last match behind them with a win or at least a draw in this fixture.

Predictions: Brighton 2 – 3 Wolves

Fulham vs AFC Bournemouth

Newly promoted Fulham have looked to be on their way back to the Championship as they have only won once in the 9 league matches played this season much thanks to their abysmal defensive record this season. In the 9 league games played, Fulham have the worse defensive record, conceding 25 goals, which is at least 6goals conceded more than any other team in the league. Bournemouth on the other hand have enjoyed a great start to their season, sitting sixth in the league standings. They have also done well going forward, scoring the same number of goals (16) with the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham so far. The host will be looking to end a three match losing streak but they must sort their defensive issues if they hope to get anything against this high flying Bournemouth side.

Predictions: Fulham 2 – 1 Bournemouth

Liverpool vs Cardiff City

Liverpool, one of the favorites to win the league this season have so far lived up to the expectation as they remain unbeaten and are joint league leaders alongside Man City. They will love to come back to their rather usual high scoring ways after scoring only two goals in their last three matches, although two of those matches have come against top of the table rivals, Chelsea and Man city and this a good match to do so as they host a Cardiff side with the second worse defensive record this season in terms of goals conceded. Cardiff this season have struggled to get points, registering only 5 points in the 9 matches played. They are only outside of the bottom three on goal difference and it looks likely they might go further down the table as they go to Anfield which has been a fortress for a high flying Liverpool side that have their first choice front three available again and also in form as they all scored in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Prediction: Liverpool 3 – 0 Cardiff City

Southampton vs Newcastle United

A bottom of the table clash between no.16 and no.20 in the log. Two teams that have struggled to get points this season, Newcastle especially have failed to win any match this season and have only gotten two draws in their nine matches this season. 2 points out of a possible 27 shows how bad Newcastle’s season has been as they have now recorded their worse ever start to a premier league season. They will now look to turn their season’s fortune around against a Southampton side that has only been slightly better than Newcastle this season. The Saints are just a point above the relegation zone and will be looking to build on the away point they earned in the last fixture at Bournemouth. A win for Southampton could take them up to 13th place from their current 16th place while a win for Newcastle could take them off the relegation zone depending on results from Fulham, Cardiff and Huddersfield.

Prediction: Southampton 2 – 1 Newcastle United

Watford vs Huddersfield

Watford, currently in 7th place after 9 matches, has been one of the surprises of the season with a brilliant start. They got back to winning away in the last fixture away to Wolves as they bounced back from a thumping loss to Bournemouth in the Vicarage home and this time they will want to make sure their home fans leave happy as they host Huddersfield town. Huddersfield on the other hand have started the season poorly as they sit 19th on the log. They have also found it difficult getting goals as they have the lowest goals (4) in the premier league. While form might favour Watford in this fixture, the records between these two sides favours Huddersfield who have won four of the last five meetings between them, two of those wins were at the Vicarage road with 4-1 score line in both games.

Prediction: Watford 2 – 2 Huddersfield Town

Leicester City vs West Ham United

Leicester City have been more or less a proper mid table team this season, winning four and losing five of the nine matches, conceding 15 and scoring 15 goals so far this season., as they sit 11th on the log. West Ham on the other hand have bounced back from a poor start of the season that saw them lose their first four matches and they have gained all their seven points this season in the matches least expected with wins against Manchester United and away to Everton followed by a draw against high flying Chelsea. Both teams come into this fixture following defeats to both north London teams and will look to get back to winning ways. If Leicester can play as well as they did in the first half against Arsenal and with better luck, they should see this one off.

Prediction: Leicester City 2 – 1 West Ham United

Burnley vs Chelsea

Coming from a 5-0 thrashing from the hands of the Champions, Burnley will be looking to restore some pride as they host Chelsea. They will definitely need to improve from their last performance if they want to get something from this match. One obvious key to stopping Chelsea is stopping or at least minimizing the influence of Eden Hazard as the Belgian has been the major figure in Chelsea’s goals this season. Chelsea on the other hand will look to come back to winning ways after the 2-2 draw against Manchester United the last time out. In order to do this, Chelsea will need other players to take goal scoring and playmaking responsibilities as Eden Hazard has become a target for opponents in trying to stop Chelsea.

Prediction: Burnley 1 – 3 Chelsea

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal

Crystal Palace come into this game on a three game losing streak and it doesn’t look likely to get any better as they host an in form Arsenal side that are on an impressive 11 games winning streak in all competitions. Palace are just two points above the relegation zone and could find themselves in the bottom three if they lose this London derby. Palace can take some positives going into this game from the last defeat where luck stood against them as they missed a penalty and hit the woodwork before losing the match to Everton in the dying minutes. With better luck this time they could surprise an Arsenal side that has been slow starters having won all their league matches in the second half.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 1 – 3 Arsenal

Manchester United vs Everton

After an interesting clash last week at Stamford Bridge, United return to Old Trafford to host Everton in a match that promises to be a tough one. One point separates both teams coming into this game and United will look to build on their last two performance that has seen them come back twice, first against Newcastle after going two goals down in the first half and then against Chelsea last week but were denied all three points by Ross Barkley’s 96th minutes equalizer. Everton have been in form recently and are on a three match winning streak and will look to at least salvage a point at Old Trafford. Romelu Lukaku faces his former team and will look to regain his image as he has faced great criticism recently for his performances with report stating that United are looking to hand Marcus Rashford a run of games as centre forward. This fixture last season ended 4 nil in favour of United but they are on a much different form now compared to when the hosted Everton last season.

Prediction: Manchester United 2 – 2 Everton

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

Premier league Monday night football will host a great match up as week 10 fixtures saved the best for the last. Arguably the toughest match in week 10 as Spurs host league leaders Man City. Only two points separates both teams as Spurs could go above City with a win. Tottenham will be without some key players as the likes of Vertonghen, Wanyama, Alli and Rose are out injured while City are without Delph, Bravo, Danilo and Gundogan a doubt after limping off in their Champions league victory against Hoffenheim. This fixture last season saw City come out as 3-1 winners in their brilliant run that saw them become Champions. City, unbeaten in the league this season, have not looked any less dangerous and remain favorites to win this.

Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 3 Manchester City

Edited by aderinwaledavid