Soccer Saturdate: Week 27

Hi all! Hope you having a great week. This week we see the League Cup final happening tomorrow between Spurs and Chelsea, the 2 big games on Sunday between Liverpool and Manchester City, and Arsenal taking on Everton. Today sees 7 games happening. 

As usual, I will be predicting the scores and my take on the games. Do leave a comment and share your views. Have a great weekend!

West Ham (8^th) vs Crystal Palace (13^th) SingTel TV Ch 102, StarHub TV Ch 227, 2045pm

Form
West Ham (10-9-7)	Crystal Palace (6-9-11)
Last 5 games: WLDDD Last 5 home games: LDDWD	Last 5 games: WLWDL Last 5 away games: DWWWW

Injuries/Suspensions
West Ham	Crystal Palace
Injuries: Carroll (knee), Cole (hamstring) Suspended: Amalfitano	Injuries: Thomas (muscualar injury), Campbell, Sanogo, Chamakh (all hamstring), Williams (groin)

Nene should make his West ham debut.

Mile Jedinak could make his first start under Alan Pardew; James McArthur has recovered from thigh problem.

Given Palace’s decent away form thus far under Alan Pardew, and West Ham’s stuttering form of late, this could well be an upset. Alan Pardew will be returning to either a chorus of cheers or jeers given his stint as manager from 2003 to 2006, and would hope to get 3 points from this fixture to move away from the relegation dogfight. West Ham have been punching above their weight far too long, and I sensed an upset on the cards. A Crystal Palace win here.

Prediction: 2-1 win to Palace

Key Men: Diafra Sakho, Mile Jedinak

Burnley (18^th) vs Swansea (9^th), SingTel TV 105, StarHub TV 230, 2300pm

Form
Burnley (4-10-12)	Swansea (10-7-9)
Last 5 games: LLDLD Last 5 home games: LDWLD	Last 5 games: LWDLW Last 5 away games: DWLWL

Injuries/Suspensions
Burnley	Swansea
Injuries: Marney, Long (cruciate ligament)

 

Burnley’s Matt Taylor is making a slow recovery but wont be ready to make the squad.

Swansea has not new injury concerns.

Amidst the controversies surrounding the Chelsea-Burnley game, many people have been impressed with the work the Sean Dyche has been doing for the team heavily favoured for relegation this season. I sense Danny Ings would be once again the key men, and Ashely Barnes could be the talking point for this game after avoiding suspension from his horrific tackle at Nemanja Matic that got the latter sent off. As for Swansea, while I was doing up this article I have realized that they do lack consistency in terms of stringing a few good results, and after having won at home against Man Utd, I am predicting that they will drop points here, and Burnley will once again be clinching a crucial point.

Prediction: 2-2 draw

Key men: Danny Ings, Gylfi Sigurdsson

 Manchester United (4^th) vs Sunderland (16^th), SingTel TV 102, StarHub TV 227, 2300pm

Form
Manchester United (13-8-5)	Sunderland (4-13-9)
Last 5 games: WWDWL Last 5 home games: WLWWW	Last 5 games: LWDLD Last 5 away games: LLWDL

Injuries/Suspensions
Manchester United	Sunderland
Injuries: van Persie (ankle)	Injuries: Giaccherini (ankle)

 

Michael Carrick is fully fit after a muscle problem, while James Wilson will be in contention as a result of RVP’s injury

Jack Rodwell and Billy Jones will both not be featuring in the matchday squad depite returning to injury. Emanuele Giaccherini will miss the rest of the season after undergoing ankle surgery.

Manchester United shouldn’t be throwing this away. I do expect Wayne Rooney to fire all cylinders here, and with Sunderland in free falling mode as of late, I don’t expect an upset here. Even though I really disliked/hated Man Utd, one thing I’m sure of if Man Utd wins (and it’s really quite a weird thing) would be that the critics will be sharpening their knifes and saying once again an insipid display from them. WHO CARES? A win is a win. Im sure Man Utd fans wont give a damn, as long as they qualify for Champions League next season. Gus Poyet is a man walking on a tightrope. There have already been similarities made to them with Norwich of last season, who didn’t look like relegation candidates until they decide to “embark” on a wretched run of games.  Man Utd to win comfortably here.

Prediction: Man Utd to win 3-0

Key Men: Wayne Rooney

Newcastle (11^th) vs Aston Villa (19^th) SingTel TV 103, StarHub TV 228, 2300pm

Form
Newcastle (8-8-10)	Aston Villa (5-7-14)
Last 5 games: LWDDL Last 5 home games: LWDLD	Last 5 games: LLLLL Last 5 away games: LLLLL

Injuries/Suspensions
Newcastle	Aston Villa
Injuries: Dummett (knee), Taylor (Achilles), Cabella (knee), de Jong (collapsed lung), Tiote (knee) Suspended: Colback	Injuries: Richardson (calf), Senderos (calf) Suspended: Vlaar

 

Jonas Gutierrez could make his first Newcastle appearance since October 2013. He has managed and fought a successful battle against testicular cancer. Daryl Janmaat has recovered from the know he picked up against Manchester City last week, but Cheick Tiote will most likely miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery.

Tim Sherwood once again has a defensive crisis with nearly his entire backline either suspended or carrying an injury. Alan Hutton and Aly Cissokho are doubts for this game, joining the likes of Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson who will definitely miss this game.

Both teams are in some sort of a crisis, although Villa would definitely not mind being in the postion of Newcastle. John Carver simply looks out of his depth, and as I was watching the City-Newcastle game, there were so many calls that he made wrong (Abeid starting ahead of Anita? Sissoko playing on the wings?) that exposed his lack of tactical nous. Tim Sherwood surely didn’t had the start he was hoping for, losing to Stoke 2-1 in a comeback defeat. I am predicting Newcastle to further prolong Villa’s misery, but only just.

Prediction: Newcastle to win 1-0

Key Men: Mohamed Sissoko, Christian Benteke

Stoke (10^th) vs Hull City (15^th) SingTel TV 106, StarHub TV 231, 2300pm

Form
Stoke (10-6-10)	Hull City (6-8-12)
Last 5 games: LWWDL Last 5 home games: WDWWL	Last 5 games: LLDWW Last 5 away games: WLLLD

Injuries/Suspensions
Stoke	Hull City
Injuries: Shawcross (back), Bojan (knee)	Injuries: Diame (knee), Chester (shoulder), Rosenior (hamstring), Snodgrass (knee)

Stoke welcomes back Geoff Cameron from suspension, having missed the win over Aston Villa.

Jon Walters, Erik Pieters, Marc Wilson and Stephen Ireland should feature after all returned from injury.

Stoke is one of those teams where you never know what kind of performance they will put up. Wins over Arsenal and Man City have also seen them have slightly disappointing results the game after. Hull City have now successfully climb out of the relegation battle, though not fully out of it, after 2 consecutive wins, and both done against teams that are also in the relegation dogfight; Villa and QPR. However, both games were won at home. I predict that Stoke should win this comfortably, with Hull not being able to come up with the goods away.

Prediction: Stoke to win 2-0

Key men: Jon Walters, Nikica Jelavic

West Bromwich (14^th) vs Southampton (5^th), SingTel TV 104, StarHub TV 229

Form
West Bromwich (6-9-11)	Southampton (14-4-8)
Last 5 games: DLDWD Last 5 home games: WWLWW	Last 5 games: WLWDL Last 5 away games: WWWWW

Injuries/Suspensions
West Bromwich	Southampton
Injuries: Morrison (hamstring), Anichebe (groin)	Injuries: Alderweireld (hamstring), Rodriguez (knee), Mayuka (groin)

 

West Brom will be assessing Saido Berahino after he suffered a knock in last week’s game against Sunderland. James Morrison and Victor Anichebe are both doubts for this game

Sadio Mane could start for Southampton after he was dropped last week for discipline issues. Toby Alderweireld is nearing a return but would not be available for this game.

This game sees 2 teams with near flawless home and away form meeting head to head. Tony Pulis is truly a master in keeping teams up, and I sense that this game could be a cracker. Ronald Koeman will seek to improve his team’s fortune in the battle for that elusive Champions League spot, and this is a game that I find it really hard to predict. I will go out on a limb and say that Tony Pulis’ team will pile on the misery for Koeman by upsetting the high flying Saints here with a smash and grab victory.

Prediction: 1-0 win to West Brom

Key Men: Saido Berahino (if he starts), Sadio Mane