It only seems like
yesterday that Chelsea lifted the league title but the Barclay's Premier League
is back and back in a big way with several key match-ups across the opening
weekend; none bigger than the opening fixture of the season between Manchester United
and Tottenham Hotspur.
Newysports welcomes local
football and a knowledgeable Englishman Alex Evans onto the site and
his knowledge of the Premier League is a lot better than mine so it's great to
have him on board and hopefully he can have some luck with his predictions.
By the way, I'll be doing
quick tips for the English Football League Championship, League One and League
Two. More on that tomorrow or Friday. Also my Zone Football league preview is a
tad late this week but will be up within the next 48 hours. Cheers.
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Well. The
wait is over. English Football is back and this game is my game of the round.
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur kick us off this year at Old Trafford
and I can see this being a strong game.
United
have been the talk during the off season with some top signings but some heavy
losses as well. United have lost Falcao, Van Persie and most certainly the
biggest omission Angel Di Maria to Paris Saint Germain. However, the signings
of Memphis Depay and Bastian Schweinsteiger are good ones in my eyes and Morgan
Schneiderlin should do well also.
I think
Tottenham will have a decent season. Spurs have done well in holding onto Harry
Kane. We all know how well he went last year and for me I can only see him
getting better. Tottenham haven't done too much buying or selling this year
which could work in their favour. Mauricio Pochettino is a very skilled manager
who develops his players very well and with talent such as Hugo Lloris,
Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane again and Jan Vertonghen I can see them being a
real threat.
As far as
this match goes I'm going to call it a draw. Selling Di Maria right before the
start of the season has been timed poorly by United and I can see this
affecting them for the opening round as Tottenham will come prepared after a
successful off season.
Prediction:
Man United 1-1 Spurs
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This game
is the game I'm going to be watching for the midnight kick offs this Saturday
night.
Villa have
had a rough off season in losing Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph, I like the
Lions but I can't see them really doing anything this season and they could
potentially be going down for me.
As I am a
Leeds United fan I got to watch this small club called Bournemouth grow and
grow last year. Tipped to go down, the Cherries ended up finishing top of the
Championship. Eddie Howe has done wonders to this club and I can see them being
successful in staying up this year.
With this
being a historic day for Bournemouth I can see them getting up in this one.
Bournemouth have very passionate fans and with their stadium only being a size
of 11,700 I think the noise that the fans will make will scare Villa.
Prediction:
Bournemouth 2-1 Villa
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Everton
looked poor to me after losing 2-0 to Leeds on the weekend, I watched the match
and Leeds played them off the park. I was surprised and expected a lot more.
There was no enthusiasm from the players which could be a worrying sign.
Newly
Promoted Watford will be looking to do well after they returned to the top
flight after an 8 year stint. The Hornets have had a successful off season but
I'm looking forward to see how they handle the pressure this year.
Providing
they wake up this week, I think Everton will be too strong for Watford.
Prediction:
Everton 2-0 Watford.
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I'll start
off by saying this. I think it is an absolute disgrace that Leicester sacked
Nigel Pearson after what he did for the club last year. I'll admit the start of
the season wasn't the great but if you saw the back end of last season,
Leicester were outstanding and because of that avoided the drop. However after
losing a few key players such as Chris Wood I think the Foxes will had a case
of 'Second Season Syndrome' and get relegated.
Sunderland
were very lucky last season and just stayed up by the skin of their teeth. I
think Jermaine Defoe is going to have a strong season at the Black Cats and
potentially be the man to keep them up.
This game
has potential to be a good one and because it's the opening day of the season I
think we will see it.
Prediction:
Leicester 2-2 Sunderland
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Two clubs
I haven't heard much about this season, however I believe Crystal Palace
manager Alan Pardew has organised his team well.
Norwich
seem like a see saw to me. They are always up and down and don't have any
consistency in whichever league they are in. I can see them struggling this
year.
I think
Palace will edge this game due to the fact that they are organised and that's
what you need to be a successful Premier league team.
Prediction:
Norwich 1-2 Palace
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Chelsea
start off their title reign against Swansea.
I'm not
why they were so eager in signing Falcao after the season he had at United
however you can't argue with Mourinho. He really is a world class coach and you
can't write Chelsea off on winning the title again back to back.
You just
have to look at their squad and it screams out world class all over the
place.
For me
Swansea will have a successful season and should finish around mid-table after
making some pretty nice signings over the off season however Chelsea will be
too strong in this contest
Prediction:
Chelsea 4-0 Swansea.
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I'll start
off with West Ham in this one. West Ham have made one very good signing this
year and he goes by the name of Dimitri Payet. The centre attacking midfielder
scored 7 goals last season and a massive 18 assists last season. He is an
incredible passer of the ball and some are labeling him as the future Xavi. The
Hammers have also done well in holding onto Enner Valencia, Angelo Ogbonna and
even Andy Carroll as he had a promising finish to end of last season.
The
standout and only major signing for Arsenal this season is of course Petr Cech
but after watching there Charity Shield win over Chelsea the other day, could
this be Arsenal's season. In previous seasons Arsenal have been their own worst
enemy, beating the top ranked sides but then blow it away by losing to lower
classed sides however this season I sense a change and this could very well be
Arsenal's year to go all the way
I can only
see one winner in this game and that'll be the hosts.
Prediction:
Arsenal 3-1 West Ham
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This game
is going to be a good one I can tell you that. Newcastle will be looking to put
last season behind them and aim for a top 10 finish which they are more than
capable of.
Southampton
however will be looking to continue their impressive form and try and push for
a Europa spot or maybe just maybe a Champions league spot. They are certainly
capable of it with players such as Elijero Elia, Graziano Pellè, Victor Wanyama
and Sadio Mané.
For me
this game will finish as a draw but I'm sensing goals and lots of them.
Prediction:
Newcastle 3-3 Southampton
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Liverpool
have certainly put their hands in there pockets this season after signing
players such as Roberto Firmino, Christian Benteke and Nathaniel Clyne.
However
there's one player who I think is going to be a huge impact this season. James
Milner. The 29 year old is in the form of his life at the moment and had an
absolutely outstanding off season after an impressive season at Manchester City
last year after playing regular first team football. Trust me, he is one to
watch Liverpool fans and I'd go as far as saying that he could be Raheem
Sterling's perfect replacement.
Stoke have
also had an impressive off season after signing Glen Johnson from Liverpool and
holding onto some key players such as Mame Diouf, Marko Arnautović and Peter
Crouch who all had an impressive season last year.
All in all
I think Liverpool will be too strong on the day
Prediction:
Stoke 1-3 Liverpool
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For me,
West Brom will struggle this year. They have made the odd one or two signings
here and there but I can't see them matching the potential of most other teams
this year. Darren Flecther and Joleon Lescott will do well but again I think
the Baggies will have a rough season and even potentially go down.
Manchester
City will once again have another good season in my eyes. Raheem Sterling and
Fabian Delph will provide even more talent to the Sky Blues line up. At the
start of June there were rumours Sergio Agüero might have been out of City but
he remains at the club. Along with Agüero, City still have enormous talent in
Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure etc.
This game
is easy to pick for me and will wrap up an exciting round of the Barclays
Premier League.
Prediction:
West Brom 0-3 Man City
Full Fixtures:
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