Premier League matchweek 30: Staff picks and predictions
By Staff
The FanSided soccer staff make their predictions for the weekend’s Premier League games, including Manchester United vs. Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford on Saturday aiming to strengthen their hold on second place in the Premier League. With Manchester City running away with the league, however, United may have half an eye on their upcoming Champions League tie with Sevilla.
Liverpool got their European obligations out of the way during the week, drawing 0-0 at home to Porto to advance to the quarterfinals thanks to their 5-0 win in the first leg. It was an uneventful match, and gave Jurgen Klopp a chance to rest some of his key players.
Mohamed Salah came off the bench, while Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were both withdrawn in the second half. All three should start at Old Trafford. The main question is who will start behind them in midfield, with Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana all in contention.
This fixture is one of the most highly-anticipated in the world, but it hasn’t been particularly entertaining in the recent past. Since Jose Mourinho took over at United, the clubs have drawn all three games they’ve played, two of them by a score of 0-0.
That’s largely been down to Mourinho’s negative tactics. Whether he adopts a similarly defensive approach on Saturday, or takes a few more risks with the title out of reach anyway, remains to be seen.
The other standout games of the weekend involve the many teams still battling relegation. Newcastle host Southampton, Huddersfield host Swansea and West Ham play Burnley in matches that could all have big implications at the bottom of the table.
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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 30:
There’s not much consensus about the match at Old Trafford. Three of our writers think it will end in a draw, one thinks United will win and three think Liverpool will come away with three points. Here’s how the predictions table stands heading into the weekend’s matches:
