5 bold Premier League predictions: Brighton upset Manchester City
3. West Ham win at Stamford Bridge
The final game of the Premier League weekend sees West Ham take the short trip across London to face Chelsea on Monday. The Hammers have had a fairly indifferent season while Chelsea have disappointed after a strong start.
The Blues are still challenging for a top four spot and could possibly win the Europa League. They also narrowly lost the League Cup final to Manchester City. However, many fans have been disappointed with what Maurizio Sarri has done in charge of their club.
The judgement of Sarri seems incredibly unfair considering this is his first season in English soccer and the fact that he was doing extremely well at the beginning. That perhaps suggests that he’s lost some respect from the players — similar to what happened to Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
Soccer managers are rightly judged on results and with this in mind it’s hard to understand why Sarri is coming under so much criticism. They may not be playing wonderful soccer but Chelsea are getting results when it matters.
They showed this in midweek with a 3-0 win over Brighton that put them right back in the fight four a top four finish. This weekend they’ll look to keep that pressure on when they welcome the Hammers to Stamford Bridge.
West Ham should pose a much bigger threat than Brighton did, though. The Hammers are incredibly hard to predict but normally up their performances in the bigger matches. Earlier on in the season they held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at the London Stadium.
This weekend the Hammers will go one better and beat the Blues 2-1 in an entertaining match. Hazard will score for Chelsea but goals from Felipe Anderson and Declan Rice will give all three points to West Ham.
2. Wolves win FA Cup semifinal thriller against Watford
Wolves and Watford will play out the second FA Cup semifinal this weekend in what should be an incredibly entertaining match. Both of these sides have proven all season that they like to play fast and fluid attacking soccer.
That means that this matchup could make for an absolute goalfest. There’s the slight chance that it could be very tight when taking into consideration the fact it’s not too often that these sides will reach the FA Cup semifinal.
However, the positive nature of both teams going forward should be enough to make this the attacking match everyone wants it to be. Both sides had great wins in midweek with Watford demolishing Fulham 4-1 and Wolves beating Manchester United 2-1.
Wolves also knocked United out of the cup in the quarterfinals which shows they’re not a side that are afraid of anyone. It’s actually hard to imagine they were only a Championship club last season.
Watford have done well under Javi Gracia and the Spaniard would become a Hornets legend if he could lead them to a FA Cup triumph. This is the kind of match that players like Troy Deeney will absolutely love to be a part of while also being key to its outcome.
Deeney will make sure his colleagues know how much this game means and will lead Watford’s fight against Wolves. Both teams will find the back of the net in a thrilling Cup tie which Wolves will win 3-2.