With the midweek results being a combination of expected results with few upsets and surprises, Gameweek 15 arrives at the weekend with a competitive fixture schedule for the fans. The big matchups involve Aston Villa facing the Gunners, City facing an in-form Sunderland, Cherries set to welcome the Blues and the Cottagers to face-off against the Eagles at Craven Cottage.
Let’s take a look at all the preview and predictions from Gameweek 15 –
After a thrilling win against the Seagulls in midweek, the Villans will welcome the table-toppers to Villa Park this weekend.
Aston Villa started the season slowly but Unai Emery’s men have turned a corner, having won all five of their last five encounters in all competitions. Villa has also won four out of their last five PL matches. Arsenal have only lost one PL game this season and got back to winning ways against Brentford after the draw against London rivals Chelsea last weekend.
Arsenal has injury issues galore, especially in the defensive ranks with Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba and now Cristhian Mosquera all on the sidelines. Additionally, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard will also be missing. As for Villa, they will have goalkeeper Emiliano Martinéz, Ross Barkley and Tyrone Mings unavailable for this game.
As for this game, going to Villa Park hasn’t been easy for the visiting teams but if we look at the past game, Villa showed defensive frailties, conceding three goals. Even with the injured backline, Arsenal is still a strong defensive unit and scoring against them will be difficult. The Villa forward line could definitely trouble the Gunners but I believe Arsenal still have the edge in this fixture.
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal
A massive three points at the Vitality Stadium must have energized the Toffees as they go into this weekend fixture against Nottingham Forest in Merseyside.
Barring the home defeat to Newcastle United, Everton have been unbeaten in their last five matches. Everton had a great record at the Goodison as it was one of the toughest away stadiums for travelling teams but since moving to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, there have been some really concerning home losses. Everton have lost badly to Spurs and Newcastle United at home this season. As for Forest, they have picked up some form and only lost one game out of their last five, even upsetting Liverpool at Anfield. Their latest win came away to a struggling Wolves.
From an injury perspective, the Tricky Trees are suffering with vital players like Chris Wood, Murillo, Ola Aina out with injuries with Dilane Bakwa, Taiwo Awoniyi and Angus Gunn set to miss this game as well. New signings Oleksandr Zinchenko and Douglas Luis haven’t been available to help them either. Everton too have a few players out with Seamus Coleman, Jarrad Branthwaite, Michael Keane and Merlin Röhl unavailable with Idrissa Gueye suspended.
With Forest decimated with injuries, Everton has a great chance to take advantage and secure the three points. However, Everton has been unpredictable and inconsistent and hence I believe this could be a feisty affair that may end in a draw.
Score Prediction: Everton 1-1 Nottingham Forest
The Magpies will rue the dropped points at home in midweek against Spurs but they have a great opportunity to secure all three points at the weekend against a dismal Burnley side.
Newcastle’s inconsistent run of form continues with two losses, a draw and two wins in their last five. However, they are facing a Burnley side who have not won or even drawn a single game in their last five encounters. If we also consider how they play at home, the Tyneside club normally dominates on home turf.
However, Newcastle has been troubled with injuries with a host of players out of the team right now. Nick Pope, Keiran Trippier, Sven Botman, William Osula, Yoane Wissa and Emil Krafth will be unavailable for this game. For Burnley, Bashir Humphreys, Connor Roberts, Zeki Amdouni and Jordan Beyer continue to miss from the first team squad.
Even with injuries, Newcastle United are the overwhelming favourites to win this one. Burnley has failed to replicate their Championship form in top-flight football as they have found it difficult to compete at this level. This is Newcastle’s game to lose as I don’t believe Burnley can break their losing streak at St James’ Park.
Score Prediction: Newcastle United 3-0 Burnley
After playing against Liverpool midweek, Sunderland will have another massive fixture, travelling to the Etihad this weekend.
The Black Cats earned a respectable draw at Anfield and could have even grabbed the three points if not for a valiant Federico Chiesa clearance at the death. The Wearside team haven’t won an away fixture since the win at Stamford Bridge, with too many draws in their last five. To be fair to them, they have had a tough run of fixtures, playing Arsenal, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Everton in that duration. As for Manchester City, they only have one loss in the PL in their last five, losing away to the Magpies. City haven’t looked their usual self though, having conceded 5 goals in their last two fixtures.
As for personnel availability, City will still miss Rodri and Mateo Kova?i? as they are still recovering while Sunderland is set to miss Ajibola Alese, Leo Hjelde and Habib Diarra for this outing.
City is a difficult team to beat at home anyways and with most of their scorers getting back in form, Sunderland will have a huge task on their hands. I believe Regis Le Bris will continue to play a defensive style but that could backfire against City as Guardiola’s team excels in such situations. City could definitely concede as their defending hasn’t been solid but I believe they still have the firepower upfront to win this match comfortably.
Score Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland
Though Spurs salvaged a late draw at St James’s Park midweek, they are currently struggling for form. A home game against a tough Brentford side will definitely test their resolve.
Spurs recent form doesn’t inspire much confidence, having picked up only 2 points from their last five games in all competitions. Their latest result was a draw against the Geordies and it’s high time they start to turn around their form. As for Brentford, their away form has been a massive concern with them losing another away fixture, this time against Arsenal. Brentford has three away losses in their last five along with two home wins.
A lot of Spurs’ issues could be attributed to numerous injuries with Ben Davies, Kota Takai, James Maddison, Radu Dr?gu?in, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke. Even though few of these are not first choice players, quality squad depth matters in the PL. As for Brentford, they have two long-term absentees in Fabio Carvalho and Joshua Dasilva.
Spurs’ abysmal form in recent weeks makes this a must-win game for Thomas Frank and his men. As for Brentford, this is a huge opportunity to pick points away from home. However, I believe Spurs have enough firepower to defeat Brentford and gain three massive points at home.
Score Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brentford
The Cherries started the season well but they seem to have fallen off a cliff, suffering their fourth defeat in their last five fixtures.
Bournemouth will face a tough opposition in Chelsea who faltered in their last game against Leeds United. Apart from the shock upset against Leeds midweek, Chelsea have shown impressive performances winning their previous three games and earning a hard-fought draw against Arsenal even with a man down.
Injuries to Ryan Christie, Matai Akinmboni and Ben Doak along with suspension for Lewis Cook will see them miss this all-important fixture. As for Chelsea, Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo will be out along with the suspended Moisés Caicedo.
Considering their recent form, I do not see a way back to winning ways for Bournemouth against a tough Blues side. With Cole Palmer back in the side along with Estêvão and Pedro Neto in form, Chelsea will be a handful for Boscombe – Chelsea to get all three points in this fixture.
Score Prediction: Bournemouth 0-2 Chelsea
The Whites are flying high after the midweek win against Chelsea and will face a struggling Reds with a lot of confidence.
After four successive defeats, Leeds put up a commanding performance against Chelsea and stunned the Club World Cup Champions with a 3-1 win this midweek. While Liverpool have been unbeaten in their last two, the defending champions still look a far cry from their form last season. In the home draw against Sunderland, they looked better defensively but the Merseyside Reds are still finding it difficult to create clear-cut chances and score.
Leeds only has one injured player in Sean Longstaff while Liverpool do have a few important players on the sidelines with Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley, Geovanni Leoni and Stefan Bajcetic doubtful for this game.
Liverpool did win their last away game against West Ham and have tightened up the defence but Leeds do have some players that can really trouble them. However, if Liverpool can find their momentum going forward, it would be difficult for Leeds to stop the goals and hence I believe the visitors could end up with the three points.
Score Prediction: Leeds United 1-2 Liverpool
Brighton would like to return to winning ways at home to the Hammers this weekend.
The Seagulls lost a seven-game thriller against Spurs midweek, letting in four goals after having gone ahead 2-0 in the first half. Before this game, Brighton had been unbeaten in their last four with three wins and a draw. As for the Hammers, they are still languishing in the bottom three, though they managed an away draw at Old Trafford in their midweek fixture.
The Seagulls have a massive fitness struggle going on with Georginio Rutter, Stefano Tzimas, Tom Watson, Yasin Ayari, Adam Webster, James Milner, Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March all out injured. West Ham is set to miss Crysensio Summerville, Oliver Scarles due to injuries along with the suspended Igor Julio.
Even with so many players out, Brighton will be the favourites for this one for two reasons. Firstly, they are playing at home where they usually perform well and secondly, West Ham have been dismal since last season and not much seems to have changed even with Nuno Espírito Santo’s appointment.
Score Prediction: Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 West Ham United
After having fought valiantly against Manchester City midweek, another tough encounter awaits the Cottagers at home in the form of Crystal Palace.
Fulham played in a nine-goal thriller against Manchester City at the Etihad, coming back from a 5-1 deficit to almost pull off a draw. Though initially, they did concede five goals which is indicative of a poor defensive performance. Fulham’s recent form has been reasonable though with three wins and two losses and both losses have come away from home. As for Crystal Palace, after back-to-back defeats in Europe and PL, the Eagles returned to winning ways against Wolves midweek but it was far from comfortable.
Injury-wise, Fulham have two long-term absentees in Antonee Robinson and Rodrigo Muniz while Palace will miss Ismaïla Sarr, Borna Sosa, Chadi Riad, Caleb Kporha and Cheick Doucouré for this game.
Oliver Glasner’s Palace Side has a tight defensive structure and are very dangerous on turnovers which has caused problems for Fulham. However, their forward line coming back to form is good news for the London side, hence I think it will be a tight game that could end in a draw.
Score Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace
A massively struggling Wolves will face the Red Devils at the Molineux this weekend.
Manchester United will rue missed opportunities as they failed to beat West Ham at home this midweek but this is another easy chance to grab all three points. Wolves are lying at the bottom of the league with no points in their last five games while United have played out too many draws in their recent encounters. Their only recent loss came against Everton at home.
Both sides have minor injury issues with Wolves set to miss Daniel Bentley, Ladislav Krejci and Rodrigo Gomes while United have Harry Maguire and Benjamin Šeško unavailable.
Based on the massive gulf in player quality and their terrible form this season, I don’t see Wolves salvaging anything from this game, Man United to win this game comfortably.
Score Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Manchester United
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