Premier League Gameweek 24: Preview, Predictions and Betting tips

Premier League Gameweek 24: Preview, Predictions & Betting tips

Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of our English Premier League predictions, first round for the year produced the result everyone has been waiting for, the fall of Manchester City, while it didn’t go as planned for Arsenal at Bournemouth, the Gunners can rule with their golden trophy for yet another year, and with City’s run cut short by Liverpool, the big question is: will another English team ever go unbeaten?

Chelsea laboured in vain at home to Leicester and could even have lost if the Foxes weren’t reduced to ten, Manchester United closed the gap at the top to twelve, still massive considering the obvious fact that the Red Devils will certainly still drop points; at the other end, big wins for the basement two as Westbrom recorded a fantastic win.

Swansea are rock bottom, they play Liverpool on Sunday at the Liberty Stadium while the Baggies are away to Everton, the Magpies had a better forgotten afternoon at Tottenham last weekend, it’s a good opportunity for them to respond.

Saturday 20th January

Brighton vs ChelseaFalmer1:30pm

Brighton are just three points off the drop zone and the earlier they rally the best for Chris Haughton’s side, from a comfortable mid table positioning just before Christmas, the new boys are only a loss away from being dropped into the bottom three, yes they play the defending champions, but a different Chelsea by all standards, short on confidence, lacking in that burst of excitements and energy and expect another frustrating sights of Eden Hazard who is likely to be deployed upfront in the absence of Alvaro Morata who saw red at the tail end of Chelsea’s penalty shootout FA Cup replay win over Norwich, interestingly, it broke out in the news just hours after dumping Norwich that the Blues are in for Peter crouch, huh? The champions are fifteen odd points off the pace following another stalemate at home to a very spirited Leicester side, if Brighton takes the fight to the visitors like Leicester did at Stamford Bridge, anything is possible, the will to stay in touch up there and the desire to steer clear of the drop zone at play here... who wants it more?
Verdict: Brighton to win or draw

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
Emirates
4:00pm

The first of the simultaneous fixtures are at the Emirates where the Gunners must respond to whatever happened late on at Bournemouth last weekend, the Cherries fought back to record a win over Arsenal for the first time in their long history, with distractions surrounding the imminent departure of Alexis Sanchez, speculations around the rumoured signings of Henrikh Mhikitaryan, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang as well as Bordeax winger Malcolm, Arsenal finds her way back to the hole of uncertainties and transfer heartaches, lying somewhere is the contract situations of Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere to name a few, with Manchester United already winning the race to sign the Chilean rebel, Arsenal can focus on watching Welbeck frustrate the fans and Maintland Niles struggle from being played outside position. Crystal Palace have dusted the terrible start that saw them rooted to the bottom for long and it’s another opportunity for them to rock the boat of the Gunners here, they lost narrowly at the first leg at Selhurst, who knows what will happen here?
Verdict: Arsenal to win

Burnley vs Manchester United
Turf Moor
4:00pm

Manchester United will not forget in a hurry how they were pushed to the wall, marauded and threatened early on by some spirited Burnley displays at Old Trafford on Boxing day; it took frantic and somewhat fortuitous Jesse Lingard response to avert a shocking home defeat on the day for the Red Devils, can Burnley do it again? Burnley would be disappointed at how they have dropped pints of late, from being defensively resolute to having to ship cheap goals, to think they were fourth at some points but they aren’t so far away still considering how much points Arsenal has dropped too, it’s going to be a cracker at Turf Moor by all regards, Burnley will give their all, but their arc nemesis, Alexis Sanchez who has a way of hurting them at the death at Arsenal might likely line up on Saturday against them if he completes his proposed move to Manchester United in time.
Verdict: United to win

Everton vs West Brom
Goodison Park
4:00pm

Everton have returned to their fearsome strides although Tottenham weren’t fazed when they squared up last weekend, ramming four past the Magpies with Harry Kane again at the heart of things, Westbrom on their parts won for the first time in a while and moved one place up, the big news for the hosts will be the opportunity to watch former Arsenal speedster Theo Walcott line up alongside England Legend Wayne Rooney for Sam Allardyce on Saturday, that could be huge for the fans and it might be a massive opportunity for Walcott as well to reignite his England career after falling off the radar in a world cup year. Westbrom are quite quiet in the transfer window, they are ambitious though, trying to snap up two players from Athletico Madrid, there are exciting prospects that could do the job for Alan Pardew around that one would wonder why he’s going so far for options.
Verdict: Everton to win or draw

Leicester vs Watford
King Power Stadium
4:00pm

If Leicester weren’t down to ten men at Stamford Bridge, Claude Puel and maybe most people believe they would have beaten Chelsea, they took the fight to the champions and were guilty of missing glitz edged chances in the opening stages, Watford were once again fortunate with another late goal to salvage a point against Southampton with Doucoure obviously bundling the ball home with both hands, whatever the linesman was seeing is left to be decided by appropriate authorities but Marco Silva will take the point. Like for like here, attack for attack, there seems to be no uncertainty around Mahrez anymore as Liverpool ended their interest and Arsenal aren’t talking about him either so he can stay focused with helping the Foxes to climb.
Verdict: Leicester to win or draw

Stoke City vs Huddersfield
Britannia Stadium
4:00pm

Stoke are struggling, they announced the signing of Paul Lambert on Tuesday as the replacement for the seemingly clueless Mark Hughes who had been at the helm for long, after some terribly poor results, leading to an unenviable eighteenth place on the log, the former Manchester United player, former Manchester City manager was handed the sack. Huddersfield are battling to stay up, they will with a point here and there and especially with surrounding teams dropping freely too, David Wagner, however, needs a bit more firepower up front and on the flanks, hence a need for him to make good use of the current window, Aaron Mooy has been a huge driver for the team, injury to him might be a big problem a readymade replacement doesn’t seem available.
Verdict: Stoke to win or draw

Westham vs Bournemouth
London Stadium
4:00pm

The last of the simultaneous fixtures sees Westham host Bournemouth, both in bogey forms, buoyed by big wins last weekend but Bournemouth has to be careful, they lost to Wigan emphatically at the fifth round FA Cup replay on Wednesday and must now relive whatever they had before enacting such showings against Arsenal on Sunday. Westham had Manuel Lanzini and Marco Aurnatovic to thank for their amazing displays over Huddersfield on Saturday, two goals each and the Hammers are completely off the drop zone and even steering up, one point separates the two at this stage however but it is quite healthy considering where they both were before Christmas. Eddie Howe is still without Benik Afobe but he can trust Jordon Ibe to do it again as well as Fraizer who always gives his best when called on to run at defenders.
Verdict: Westham to win

Manchester City vs Newcastle
Etihad
6:30pm

The final fixture of the day is at the Etihad, Manchester City will look to respond to the shock of last weekend at Anfield when they host Rafa Benitez’ Newcastle. The Magpies left it late at home to Swansea but managed a late Joselu equalizer, the former Stoke man latched on to a loose ball at the tail end to rescue a point after Jordan Ayew reacted first to a rebound to hand the visitors the lead. Newcastle laboured in vain at the first leg, with City having to come from behind to win, the Citizens are still twelve points ahead of closest rivals and not really in danger of being caught but how they respond here matters. The team doesn’t need new additions as plugs were already pulled on the Alexis Sanchez transfer, Newcastle haven’t announced anyone of note either so it’s as we were here.
Verdict: Manchester City to win

Sunday 21st January 

Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur
St. Mary’s Stadium
5:00pm

The only fixture on Sunday is an evening encounter at St. Mary’s stadium where Tottenham visits the Saints. Last weekend was hurtful for the hosts as two James Ward-Prowse’s goals were cancelled by Watford, the last being an obvious handball, for Tottenham, it was blissful, four goals past Everton at
Wembley and the surge up returns, Mauricio Pochetino is silent about transfers but PSG winger Lucas Moura is being touted to join. The Saints are goal shy, defensively questionable especially with the sale of Virgil Van Dijk to Liverpool, they made a whole lot of money that should be reinvested into the team but nothing is happening yet, they missed out on Theo Walcott who has joined Everton and really need to shore up their defence as well as help Charlie Austin up front.
Verdict: Tottenham to win or draw

Monday 22nd January

Swansea vs Liverpool
Liberty Stadium
9:00pm

The final fixture of the round sees Swansea host Liverpool, a team on fire, with the most prolific forward in the league, Mohammed Sallah as well as the most expensive defender in the world, Virgil Van Dijk- who however is out injured. Swansea were a goal up at Newcastle but conceded a late Joselu equalizer, something that would irk new manager Carlos Carvahal. The Welsh side are in danger of facing the drop this season, they lack firepower and can only beat teams that don’t attack, too many casual players but it’s left to be seen how the new manager shape his men. Liverpool are in buoyant mood after stopping the crazy train of Manchester City, they are probably going to be too good for Swansea who will have a lot to do to stop the front three of the Kops... good luck to them on that.
Verdict: Liverpool to win



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Written by @komptrolla