As ever, Betfair Ambassador Alan Shearer has previewed all of the weekend’s Premier League action for Metro…
Newcastle United v Arsenal
It’s going to be a great atmosphere at St James’ Park and the win against Chelsea in the cup will hopefully kick-start Newcastle’s season.
Arsenal have one or two injuries themselves so it’s a tough one to call because they won’t like coming to St James’ Park with the great atmosphere and the defeat there last season.
Having said that, they are a great team, so I’ll go for a score draw.
Bournemouth v Manchester City
Man City will have enough to go there and win this game despite the small disappointment of losing at Spurs in midweek.
Bournemouth secured a good result last week at Villa and fought really well for it, but I’d expect Man City to take the points in this one.
Ipswich Town v Leicester City
This feels like a game Ipswich must win.
I listened to Kieran McKenna after the game last weekend and he said there were so many positives and if they keep playing like that, they’ll be competitive, but they can’t keep making the same mistakes. They are getting punished for the same errors every week.
They must cut out errors and improve in every single department because they’ve been nowhere near good enough to survive so far.
You’d think that if they’re going to get out of the trouble they are in, then this is a huge game. It’s a somewhat similar situation for Leicester though, too.
The difference is they have experienced that winning feeling and are in a much better position but for Ipswich, if they can’t win this one, then you’d think they’ll go through the whole season having the same problems.
It’s a tough one to call so I’ll go for a draw.
Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton have the ability to upset the apple cart but I don’t think they will this weekend because the game is at Anfield and Liverpool beat them in the Carabao Cup earlier this week.
It will be a stronger Liverpool team so I think with the season they’re having and the form they’re in, they’ll win this one.
Nottingham Forest v West Ham United
Nottingham Forest were impressive last week and there’s no doubt Nuno has something going there. West Ham were dreadful in the first half against Man United but were much better in the second half.
With Forest at home and the confidence they’ve got, I think they’ll beat West Ham, especially with the form of Chris Wood – I have been hugely impressed with him in front of goal.
Wood is in the form of his life and his goal last week epitomised a forward in-form with great confidence.
It’s an incredible feeling going out onto the football pitch expecting to score and he’s in that vein of form at the moment, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets another goal this weekend.
Southampton v Everton
It’s another huge game down toward the bottom of the Premier League, but very much like Everton did a couple of weeks ago at Ipswich, I see them taking all three points.
They are streetwise, Sean Dyche has been around the block, and they know how to go to teams like Southampton and get results. I’ll go for an Everton win.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace
Wolves were 2-0 down on 88 minutes last week and the players were still fighting for the manager which can only be a positive. The two late goals should give them great confidence.
Crystal Palace though come here on the back of good results, getting their first league win and progressing in the cup, so they’ll be full of confidence too.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Palace go there and get three points so I’ll go for them to win once again.
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
Spurs are back at home after a great win in the League Cup at Man City, but they’ve struggled recently at home when Villa come to town.
Villa did have a poor result in midweek, and it wasn’t a great result last weekend against Bournemouth with them conceding so late, but I think Unai Emery will go to Spurs and get the three points.
Manchester United v Cheslea
When a manager leaves and another comes in, there’ll be a different atmosphere, a renewed hope and belief at Old Trafford on Sunday, with or without Amorim, especially after Man United scored five goals in the Carabao Cup.
There’ll be more hope going into the game this weekend than there was last week against West Ham and that could really energise the players on the pitch.
I was at St James’ for Chelsea’s trip in midweek, and it was a completely changed team from the league game between the two, and the side he puts out against Man United will be different again.
It’s a tough one to call and probably why I’ll go for a score draw. I fancy both teams to score because both teams can improve defensively, and the added detail of a new manager in the dugout at Old Trafford for the first in the Premier League, whether that’s Ruben or Ruud, means Man Utd can get something out of this game.
Fulham v Brentford
Thomas Frank admitted that Brentford were poor for most of the game last week, but having said that, they did go and get all three points, scoring four goals.
I worked with Thomas Frank in the summer at Euro 2024 and he was impressive, a nice guy and engaging. He’s done a magnificent job at Brentford so there’s no surprise to me that he has been mentioned this week for the Manchester United job. I’m reluctant to say a bigger job because Brentford fans will come for me!
Fulham are a decent team and are impressive though, and I think they’ll have enough to take the points at home.
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