Thursday 17 November 2016

Predictions For Premier League Gameweek 12

It's that time of the week again when I attempt to predict the outcomes of the upcoming Premier League games. I did badly last time out with only three correct predictions and seven incorrect, but there were some particularly unexpected results. I actually increased my lead at the top of my predictions league after the last set of results as you can see from the table below.

BadgesThis WeekPTS
 1 (1)  Michael Sheehy 4-20710
 2 (2)  Rutland Gooner 3-30680
 3 (3)  Karl-Yngve Lund 2+10585
 4 (4)  Wayne Hubbard +25500
 5 (5) sensisoccerworld 10460



Saturday November 19

Manchester United v Arsenal

12.30pm GMT, Old Trafford, Manchester 

United got their first win in a while in their last game when they won 3-1 away to Swansea. They have only lost one of their five home games, but they have struggled to score goals at home. That win at Swansea was their first in five league games and they failed to score in three of those games.

Maybe the United defenders are worth a punt for fantasy managers, but I still can't see any of their attacking players doing the business on a regular basis.

Arsenal could only draw at home to Spurs in their last game and they missed the chance to go to the top of the table as a result. No other team has taken more points or conceded less goals away from home with only Liverpool and City scoring more goals on the road. They are unbeaten in 10 league games and they have kept a clean sheet in four of those games.

Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and the Arsenal defenders are all worth considering for fantasy managers.

I think this will be a very close game and Arsenal might just get the better of proceedings.

Prediction: 1-2

Crystal Palace v Manchester City 

3pm GMT, Selhurst Park, London

Palace came back from 2-0 down away to Burnley in their last game before falling to a last minute sucker punch. They have only won once in their five home games and they actually taken more points away from home than at home. They have lost their last four games, conceding 11 goals in the process and haven't kept a clean sheet yet this season.

Christian Benteke and James McArthur are the Palace players most likely to make a difference for fantasy managers at the moment.

City could only draw at home to Boro in their last game and lost their place at the top of the table thanks to those two dropped points. They have won four of their five away games and no other team has scored more goals away from home than City. They have only won once in their last five league games and have drawn three of their last four by the same 1-1 scoreline.

Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne are the best fantasy options in the City team with Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan worth considering too.

I think Palace will give City a run for their money, but City will get a narrow victory.

Prediction: 1-2

Everton v Swansea City 

3pm GMT, Goodison Park, Liverpool

Everton were trashed 5-0 away to Chelsea in their last game and they need a good performance and result to rebuild some confidence. They are one of the four teams still unbeaten at home and only Spurs have conceded less goals on their own patch. They have only won once in their last six games and they're slowly losing touch with the league leaders.

Romelu Lukaku is by far the best of the Everton players for fantasy managers.

Swansea lost yet again in their last game and they're only off the foot of the table on goal difference. They have lost their last four away games, but their only win so far did come away from home. They have lost seven of their last nine games and are already six points adrift of the relative safety of 17th place.

Even though Swansea are struggling badly Gylfi Siggurdsen is still scoring points for fantasy managers.

I think Everton will get back on course with a much needed win.

Prediction: 2-0

Southampton v Liverpool 

3pm GMT, St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton 

Southampton led away to Hull in their last game, but they ended up losing 2-1. They have only lost one of their five home games with only Boro and the bottom three scoring less home goals than them. They have only won once in their last five games and Burnley are the only team in the top half of the table to have scored less goals.

Charlie Austin and Nathan Redmond have done well for fantasy managers and are still available at a reasonable price.

Liverpool thrashed Watford last time out to climb above everyone else at the top of the league. They have taken 13 points from their six away games and no other team has scored more goals on the road. They have won seven of their last eight games and they're the top scorers in the league.

Liverpool's attacking players are excelling for fantasy managers with Phillippe Coutinho and Roberto Frimino the best of them while Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana are doing really well too.

I think Southampton will make a game of it, but Liverpool will have too much firepower for them.

Prediction: 1-3

Stoke City v Bournemouth 

3pm GMT, Bet365 Stadium, Stoke

Stoke came from behind to get a point at West Ham in their last game and they continue to move away from the wrong end of the table. They have won their last two home games after only taking one point from their first three, but only the bottom three have conceded more goals at home. After a slow start to the season they are unbeaten in their last six games and are only outside the top half of the table on goal difference.

Joe Allen has been in great form recently for fantasy managers while Marco Arnautovic has been fairly consistent too.

Bournemouth lost at home to the bottom club Sunderland in their last game and their form has taken a turn for the worse in their last few games. They are one of only three teams without an away win and only Burnley have scored less goals away from home. After putting six goals past Hull they have only taken one point and scored one goal in their last three games.

Charlie Daniels and Adam Smith have done well for fantasy managers, but Bournemouth defenders are always a risk.

I think this will be a very close game, but Stoke will just about get the best of it and take the three points.

Prediction: 2-1

Sunderland v Hull City

3pm GMT, Stadium of Light, Sunderland 

Sunderland got their first win of the season away to Bournemouth in their last game, but they're still at the foot of the table. They have only taken one point from their five home games and have conceded more goals at home than any other team. They haven't kept a clean sheet yet and they're the lowest scorers in the league so far too.

Jermain Defoe is by far the best fantasy option in the Sunderland team.

Hull came from behind to beat Southampton in their last game and put an end to a very bad run of results. They have managed four points from their five away games, but have lost the last three on the road and only Leicester have conceded more goals on their travels. They had lost six in a row before beating Southampton and they have conceded more goals than any other team so far.

Robert Snodgrass is the Hull player most likely to succeed for fantasy managers.

I think Sunderland will get their second win of the season and climb off the bottom of the table too.

Prediction: 2-1

Watford v Leicester City

3pm GMT, Vicarage Road, Watford

Watford were soundly thrashed 6-1 away to Liverpool in their last game and things can only get better for them in this game. They have taken more points away from home than they have at home, but they have taken seven points from the last nine available at home. Before losing to Liverpool they had only lost one of their previous six games, but only the bottom four have conceded more goals than Watford.

Troy Deeney is probably the Watford player most likely to succeed in the long run for fantasy managers.

Leicester lost at home to West Brom in their last game to bring an end to their mini revival. They have only taken one point in five away games and have conceded more goals on the road than any other team. They're not exactly putting up a good defence of their title and have already lost more games than they did in all of last season.

None of the Leicester players have exactiy set the world alight for fantasy managers this season, but a few of them are still capable of doing so.

Watford will relish the chance to get one over on the reigning champions, but I think this game will finish all square.

Prediction: 1-1

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

5.30pm GMT, White Hart Lane, London

Spurs drew away to Arsenal in their last game and they have dropped out of the top four. They are unbeaten at home and have conceded less home goals than any other team, but only four other teams have scored less goals at home. They are the only unbeaten team in the league with the best defensive record, but they have drawn their last four games.

Dele Alli has been the best fantasy performer in the Spurs team so far with their defenders all doing very well too and Harry Kane could be a good choice now that he's back from injury.

West Ham could only draw at home to Stoke last time out and they're still far too close to the wrong end of the table for comfort. They have lost four of their five away games with only Leicester and Hull conceding more goals away from home. They can't seem to find any consistency and despite results improving they have only scored four goals in their last six games.

Dimitri Payet continues to be the best fantasy option in the West Ham team.

I think Spurs will get a much needed win in this game, but West Ham won't make it easy for them.

Prediction: 2-0

Sunday November 20

Middlesbrough v Chelsea

4pm GMT, Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough 

Boro drew away to City in their last game and they're gradually climbing away from the relegation zone. They have only won once in their five home games and no other team has scored less goals at home even if they have a good defensive record on their own patch. They're unbeaten in their last three games and they have kept clean sheets in two of those games, but only Sunderland have scored less goals.

Ben Gibson and George Friend have done well for fantasy managers, but this might not be the week for Boro defenders.

Chelsea beat Everton 5-0 last time out to move up to second in the table. They have taken 10 points from their five away games, but they are by far the lowest scorers among the top four away from home. Since losing 3-0 to Arsenal they have won five games in a row, scoring 16 goals and conceding none in the process.

Eden Hazard is on fire for fantasy managers at the moment while Diego Costa, Victor Moses and all of the  Chelsea defenders are doing very well too.

It's hard to see anything other than a Chelsea win in this game despite Boro's recent good run.

Prediction: 0-2

Monday November 21

West Bromwich Albion v Burnley 

8pm GMT, The Hawthorns, Birmingham 

West Brom put an end to their recent poor run with a 2-1 win away to Leicester last time out. They have only won once in their five home games and yet again this season they're struggling to score goals on their own patch. The win at Leicester was their first win in six games and they haven't kept a clean sheet in eight.

If he's fit Nacer Chadli has done very well for fantasy managers since joining West Brom.

Burnley had a very important 3-2 win at home to Palace in their last game to keep them comfortably in mid table. They have only taken one point from their four away games and have only scored one goal in those four games. They have taken seven points from their last three games and are in the top half of the table despite being one of the lowest scorers.

Tom Heaton has done really well for fantasy managers and the rest of the Burnley defenders have done reasonably well too.

I think this will be another very close game and West Brom will get a much needed home win.

Prediction: 1-0

That's it for this week.

See you next week.

No comments:

Post a Comment