Bournemouth v Leicester
I’ll begin with the stat that Bournemouth have never beaten Leicester in their history (admittedly there have only been 4 fixtures between the two).
Bournemouth have failed to score only once at home this season, winning 4 of their 7 home fixtures and averaging 2 goals per game. Although Bournemouth have kept 3 clean sheets at home this season, I expect Leicester to breach the Bournemouth back line with them having scored in 6 of their 7 away matches. Additionally the home side have conceded 3 goals in each of their last 3 premier league games.
Wilson will again pose the main threat to Leicester, with the Bournemouth striker scoring 2 goals in his last 3 matches. Vardy’s hat-rick against Man City last weekend will guarantee him a start tomorrow, with Slimani and Mahrez providing a further threat from elsewhere on the pitch. In his previous 4 matches, Slimani has scored 2 and assisted 2. I would not be surprised to see him extend this run of form and to end up on the score-sheet Tuesday night.
Leicester have not won away all season, losing 6 of their 7 matches. With Bournemouth scoring 2 goals per home match on average and Leicester averaging less than one away goal I expect this fixture to follow the trend, allowing Bournemouth to clinch their first ever victory against their opponents.
Prediction: 2-1
Key Players: Wilson, Slimani.
Everton v Arsenal
Everton have not won a Premier League match in 5 attempts. Hosting an Arsenal team unbeaten in their last 14, winning 10 will not be an easy fixture. Arsenal have won 5 of their last 6 matches away matches and were last beaten away in February by Manchester United. Additionally, the last 4 meetings between the sides have all been won by Arsenal.
Everton will be confident of scoring on Tuesday night having scored in each of their 7 home games so far this season. With Arsenal failing to score in just one of their 7 away matches I expect both teams to score with it being wise to rest your defence.
The home side will again rely on the quality of Lukaku to provide them with the breakthrough. The Belgian has scored 9 goals so far this campaign, 7 more than any other Everton player and will be high in confidence following his brace against Watford at the weekend.
The Gunners enter this fixture having averaged 2.57 goals in each away match so far this season. Facing an Everton defence without a clean sheet in 5 matches I anticipate the Arsenal attack to score points in some capacity. Sanchez’s 5 goals and 2 assists in the last 4 games make him the likely goal scorer, but with Walcott and Ozil both scoring 2 goals in the last 3 matches and Oxlade-Chamberlain getting his name on the scoresheet all look exciting options for this tie.
I expect Arsenal to continue their excellent away form and leave Goodison Park with all three points on Tuesday.
Prediction: 1-2
Key Players: Lukaku, Sanchez.
West Ham v Burnley
West Ham failed to win in their last 7 matches, but will gain confidence from having beaten their opponents at the last 3 attempts. Burnley go into Wednesday’s fixture without an away win this season, losing 6 of their 7 matches, scoring just a single goal.
Burnley’s hopes will rest on their top goalscorer Vokes who has netted 4 times this season, with Hendrick the only other player to have surpassed one goal. However, I believe that this fixture will be the perfect opportunity for West Ham to put a stop to their poor run of form. Consequently, with West Ham facing a goalshy Burnley I see this as an opportunity to take advantage of a West Ham defence who are likely to pick up a clean sheet here. Cresswell appears to be a great option with the individual’s attacking play down the left providing the opportunity for further points.
Away from home Burnley have been conceding an average of 2.5 goals per game, indicating that the likes of Payet and Antonio could all score highly. Although yet to rediscover his form of last season, Payet has 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 3 matches, whilst Antonio looks set to beat his tally of 8 goals from last season having already achieved 7, 2 of which coming in the previous 3 fixtures.
Key Players: Antonio, Payet.
Prediction: 2-0
Sunderland v Chelsea
Bottom of the table Sunderland host high flying Chelsea at the Stadium of Light who seek to extend their winning run to 10 Premier League games.
Sunderland have kept just the one clean sheet so far this campaign, a figure which is unlikely to increase after Wednesday’s fixture. Chelsea have won 5 of their 7 away matches this season keeping 3 clean sheets. Although it will be a tough ask for the home side, a Chelsea clean sheet is not a given by any means with Sunderland having scored in 6 of their 7 home matches so far this season. Interestingly Chelsea on average have conceded one goal per away match, providing the opportunity for Defoe to improve on his current tally of 8 Premier League goals. However, with 7 clean sheets in the last 9 matches since Conte switched to a 3-5-2 formation I would encourage those fortunate enough to possess a Chelsea defender to start them in gameweek 16.
Costa and Hazard will continue to provide the main goal threat for this Chelsea side. Costa has only failed to score in 2 of the last 7 fixtures, scoring 7 goals and contributing to 4 assists. Meanwhile, having been in scintillating form just a weeks ago, Hazard’s form appears to have halted slightly with the individual contributing only a single goal in his last 4 appearances. However, even with that said I expect to see the duo linking together in a Chelsea win.
Prediction: 0-2
Key Players: Hazard, Costa.
Middlesbrough v Liverpool
The midweek fixture sees the leagues lowest scorers with just 13 goals, host the free scoring Liverpool who have scored almost three times that of Middlesbrough, with 37 goals.
Middlesbrough have scored a mere 6 goals in their 7 home matches so far this season, but entertain a Liverpool side who do concede. Over the course of the season so far Liverpool have conceded 1.75 goals in each away match, however I expect to see Liverpool come away from the Riverside with a clean sheet . Negredo missed last weekends fixture with a hamstring scare and continues to be a doubt for Wednesday along with Ramirez who Middlesbrough have relied on for both goals and assists this season.
Liverpool have scored at least 2 goals in 6 of their last 7 matches and I expect for this to continue. Since the loss of Coutinho, Liverpool have failed to win a game, but it has not put a halt to their goal scoring form. Origi has 3 goals in 3 appearances since coming in to replace the Brazilian. Mane continues to score points, having scored 1 and assisted 4 times in the last 3 matches. However, one player who appears to be suffering from the loss of Coutinho is his Brazilian partner Firmono, who since being pushed out to the left hand side has failed to find the back of the net.
Prediciton: 0-3
Key Players: Mane, Origi.
West Brom v Swansea
West Brom host a Swansea side who are without an away Premier League win in 6 attempts. Of late West Brom have been in impressive form climbing the table up to 8th with 3 wins in their last 5 games.
The home side will be looking to add to their 20 goals scored so far this season against a Swansea side with the second leakiest defence in the league, conceding 31 goals in 15 matches. Rondon will once again lead the Albion line, but with only 1 goal in his last 9 appearances the Venezuelan striker is certainly not in the best of form. Albion’s most dangerous threat of late has come through the summer signing Phillips, who has scored 3 goals in his last 5 appearances, assisting to a further 3 goals.
Sigurdsson will be a certain starter for Swansea, having scored 3 in his last 4 games, twice achieving double figure points. Another individual who looks certain to start following recent performances in Llorente who with just a single start in the last 3 games has contributed 4 goals and an assist. If the Icelandic midfielder is still available in your league he will be a valuable asset in the coming weeks, along with Llorente, with Swansea having a run of favourable fixtures.
Prediction: 2-1
Key Players: Phillips, Sigurdsson, Llorente.
Man City v Watford
Manchester City look to put an end to a run of poor form which has seen them win just once in 4 Premier League matches. They host Watford on Wednesday, a team they have beaten on each of the last four occasions.
City will again be without top goalscorer Aguero who faces the second of his four match ban. Although he was withdrawn after 58 minutes on the weekend, Iheanacho looks set to continue filling the void. With an average of 10 points each match that he played during Aguero’s last absence, he continues to look an exciting option with Hull still to come fot City. City have scored in each of their home games so far this season, scoring just short of 2 goals per match on average. This season Watford have conceded an average of 2 goals per away fixture and I expect for this to continue in what will be a tough match for the away side. Another player to blossom under Aguero’s absence previously in the season was De Bruyne who I expect will continue to offer a threat going forwards. Although he has scored just 2 goals so far this season, he has provided 9 assists, one less than his total in the 15/16 season.
The continued worry for Man City is the inability to keep a clean sheet. In the 7 home matches so far this season they have been able to keep just one. The return of Otamendi to partner Stones will provide more solidity to the city defence, but do not be surprised if Watford find a breakthrough.
Following on from his brace last weekend against Everton Okaka looks a guaranteed start alongside captain Deeney. Deeney is yet to replicate his form of the previous campaign in which he scored 13 goals, having only managed 3 so far this season. However, with the Birmingham born striker a 90 minute regular and penalty taker he can not be overlooked.
Prediciton: 2-0
Key Players: De Bruyne, Iheanacho.
Stoke v Southampton
Stoke find themselves facing a Southampton side with the third best defensive record in the league on Wednesday night at The Bet365 Stadium. I expect to see a low scoring encounter between the two sides with Stoke averaging 1.13 goals per game compared to Southampton’s 0.93. It may be profitable to exploit the opportunity for the clean sheet in this fixture with any guaranteed starter being a wise move.
The home side look set to continue playing Arnautovic in the lone striker role, with Bony seemingly out of favour. Arnautovic has only the single goal and two assists to his name so far this season. Having scored double figures last season he appears to be a way off his form in the last campaign. With no standout goal scoring threat from Stoke, the most likely individual other than Arnautovic would have to be Shaqiri who has scored 3 goals for the Potters so far this season.
Southampton will be weakened by the loss of top goalscorer Austin for 3 to 4 months with a dislocated shoulder, but this opens up the door to new signing Boufal to impress. Boufal scored the winner against Middlesbrough last weekend and will surely continue to start in the Southampton attack. Registered as a midfielder, he may be worth keeping an eye on to see how he fares in Austin’s absence. Additionally, Redmond is the only fit Southampton player to have scored more than one Premier League goal so far this season. Southampton have failed to score in 3 of their 7 away matches so far this season but if they are to find a way through the Stoke defence expect it to come from either of the two.
Prediction: 0-0
Key Players: Defence
Tottenham v Hull
Spurs continue to be without Janssen or Lamela, but will fancy themselves in the midweek fixture against the leagues leakiest defence in Hull. Hull have conceded 32 goals in the opening 15 matches, keeping a disappointing one clean sheet.
Tottenham have scored 14 goals in their 7 home matches, with Kane leading the goal-scoring charts with 7, followed by Son with 5. Hull come up against a Spurs defence, strengthened with the return of Alderweireld and who have kept 4 home clean sheets so far this season conceding just 4 goals. Tottenham have scored in all of their home matches at White Hart Lane this season and I expect that to continue.
Kane is the obvious likely goalscorer for the home side with the Englishman scoring 7 goals in his previous 7 appearances. Son looks set to start alongside Kane, with Eriksen and Alli providing a further goal threat from just behind. After a slow start to the season Eriksen is beginning to show the form of old having scored 3 goals in the last 3 matches. Alli displays complimentary statistics having also scored 3 in the same time frame. With Hull the second lowest goalscorers in the league and only one fit recognised striker in Diomande, I would advise all those with a Tottenham defender to put them straight into your starting lineup.
Hull have scored just 5 goals in their 7 away matches this season, leading to me believe a goal at White Hart Lane is unlikely. However, if the men from Yorkshire are to find a way through I expect it to come from Snodgrass who bagged himself a goal and assist last weekend against Palace and is Hull’s top goalscorer so far this season with 5 goals.
Prediction: 3-0
Key Players: Alli, Eriksen, Kane.
Crystal Palace v Man Utd
Crystal Palace have had no problems scoring goals this season, predominantly thanks to the aid of Benteke, but their issues have come from their inability to keep a clean sheet. Palace, on average, score 1.8 goals per game, but with just one clean sheet all season, conceding 1.93 a match, they sit fourth in the leakiest defences in the league. With that in mind I very much expect to see Man Utd get on the scoresheet in this midweek fixture.
Apart from Benteke who has 8 goals this season, 4 of which coming in the previous 4 matches, Palace have been fortunate enough to benefit from an invigorated Zaha. Zaha has contributed 7 assists in his last 7 matches, scoring 2 goals in the last 3 matches. Should Palace break the United back line I would expect either of the duo to have had a role to play.
Manchester United have struggled to find their goal scoring form this season, sitting just 10th in terms of goals scored. United have scored 9 goals in their 7 away matches so far this season and will be relying heavily on the goal scoring abilities of Ibrahimovic. The Swede has scored 8 goals so far, 5 more than any other United player. Mourinho’s men will be weakened slightly with the loss of Mkhitaryan who will be out for a week or so just at the point he was beginning to find his form and prove himself in the Premier League.
Prediction: 1-2
Key Players: Benteke, Ibrahimovic.
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