Premier League matchweek 12: Staff picks and predictions
By Staff
The FanSided soccer staff make their predictions for the weekend’s Premier League games, including Arsenal vs. Tottenham at the Emirates.
The Premier League returns from the international break this weekend with the north London derby, as third-place Tottenham travel to play Arsenal at the Emirates.
Spurs come into the match in good form, having won five of their last six in the league, not to mention their 3-1 demolition of Real Madrid in the Champions League. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are in third place in the table, but are level on points with second-place Manchester United. Both teams trail Manchester City by eight points.
The Gunners are in sixth place, but are only three points outside of the top four. They’ve been characteristically inconsistent so far in 2017-18, beating most of the teams below them and struggling against the rest of the big six.
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They were thrashed by Liverpool in August, drew 0-0 with Chelsea in September and were perhaps a little unfortunate in their last match before the international break, losing 3-1 to City in part due to some questionable refereeing decisions.
In the other standout fixtures of the weekend, Liverpool host Southampton; Manchester City travel to Leicester; under-pressure West Brom manager Tony Pulis leads his side against Chelsea; Manchester United look to rebound from a rough patch of form at home to Newcastle; and West Ham play Watford on Sunday in David Moyes’ first match in charge.
FanSided’s soccer staff will be competing in a weekly picks league all season. The rules are simple: three points for a correct score, one for a correct result and none for an incorrect result. Here are the picks for matchweek 12:
There’s not a lot of love for Arsenal among our writers. Four of them think Tottenham will win, and the other four think the north London derby will end in a draw. Here’s how the prediction table stands heading into the weekend’s matches:
