5 bold Premier League predictions: United at it again, Aguero gets loose
The first matchweek of the Premier League season was interesting, to say the least. What do this weekend’s game have in store for us? Here are five bold Premier League predictions.
We were pretty close on a few of our predictions from last week. Watford didn’t beat Liverpool, but they gave them a hell of a scare. And our prediction of a five goal thriller between Arsenal and Leicester was actually two goals too conservative. Let’s see how we do this week. Here are five bold predictions for matchweek 2 in the Premier League.
1. Manchester United win 4-0 for the second straight week
The Red Devils look absolutely terrifying at the moment. They hosted West Ham at Old Trafford last Sunday. They were very unkind to their guests, taking them out behind the woodshed to the tune of 4-0.
Summer signing Romelu Lukaku notched a brace in his United debut. The big Belgian enjoyed high quality service from the likes of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic (who was spectacular), and Marcus Rashford. Anthony Martial and Pogba rounded out the scoring.
Man United now travel to Wales to take on Swansea. The Swans came away with a point at Southampton last Saturday in what was a dull scoreless draw. They managed four shots, none on target, while conceding 60 percent possession to the Saints.
The Red Devils will have no problem winning this match. And they will do so by a scoreline of 4-0 once again.
2. Chelsea lose again
The defending Premier League champions had a nightmare start to their league season, losing 3-2 to Burnley. At Stamford Bridge. Burnley utilized the damn Christmas tree formation for crying out loud.
Gary Cahill, new Chelsea captain, was shown a straight red for a late challenge in the 14th minute. Burnley responded with three goals before the end of the first half. Oops. New striker Alvaro Morata and David Luiz tried to bring the Blues back with second half goals, but they couldn’t overcome another sending off. This time it was Cesc Fabregas picking up a soft red.
Chelsea face a significantly tougher challenge this weekend as they visit Wembley Stadium to take on Tottenham. After a stalemate of a first half, Spurs cruised to a 2-0 victory over Newcastle last Sunday. They have the horses to compete with any club in Europe. If Chelsea don’t find some of the mojo that led them to the title last season they will get crushed.
3. Huddersfield remain second in the Premier League table
The Terriers couldn’t have written a better start to their first ever Premier League season as they knocked off Crystal Palace 3-0 at Selhurst Park on Saturday. In addition to an own goal, Huddersfield got a brace from Steve Mounie, who arrived this summer from Montpellier. Their plus-three goal difference left them in second place in the table.
This Sunday Huddersfield will host Newcastle in what will be their first home match in the English top flight since 1972. The Magpies looked disjointed and very not dangerous against Spurs last weekend. I think the Terriers score at least two goals – one of them will definitely be scored by Mounie – which will be good enough to keep them in second behind red-hot United.
4. Stoke scare the crap out of Arsenal, still lose
Stoke put pressure on Everton last weekend even though they lost 1-0. Yes, they are the most boring team in the Premier League, and Arsenal knocked in four against Leicester, but the Potters seem like a particularity adept foil for the Gunners.
Stoke will sit back, conceding possession, and wait for Arsenal to make a mistake. Which, if you watched the Gunners last weekend, is bound to happen at least once. I think both Xherdan Shaqiri (best name in the PL) and my dude Peter Crouch both force saves from Old Man Cech towards the end of the match.
Unfortunately for the Potters, they will already have conceded a goal.
Next: Premier League interesting rankings: Stoke remain the worst
5. Sergio Aguero nets a hat-trick
The diminutive Argentinian opened his 2017-18 Premier League scoring account against Brighton last Saturday. Manchester City host Everton on Monday. Aguero will get buckets. Three of them, to be precise.
Everton began their match against Stoke with a three-man back line. They switched to a traditional four-defender formation for the second half. Regardless of how they come out against City on Monday they will not be able to contain Kun.
Pep Guardiola was surely happy to take all three points away from their meeting with Brighton last week, but he will want to make a statement about his side’s intentions for this Premier League season against Everton. Kevin De Bruyne provides at least two of the assists on Agureo’s three goals.