Matchday 14

Read Austen’s predictions for Matchday 13 here.

Matchday 13 was a week of misery for the Big 6 clubs. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham all dropped points. Everton scored 3 goals? Aston Villa and Leicester not only both won, but they also each scored 4? Not sure what was going on in England last weekend.

Maybe things will settle down and get back to some normalcy in Matchday 14. I hope not. I enjoy the chaos. This weekend Graham Potter will go against his former team, Newcastle will look to continue their winning ways against a newly managed Aston Villa, Goliath will take on David as #1 Arsenal go against #20 Nottingham Forest, and the final game of the week will be a battle of the United’s.

So, with that being said, let’s take a look at our Matchweek 14 fixtures.

Brighton (9th) vs Chelsea (5th) 

Date: Saturday, 10/29/2022 at 10:00 AM EST

Pitch: Brighton – Amex Stadium, Falmer, England

Odds: | HOME: +190 | TIE: +220 | AWAY: +145 |

Current Form: | Brighton (LDLLD) | Chelsea (WDDWW) |

Head to Head: 

The Word

Manager Graham Potter will return to the Amex Stadium, but this time he will be coaching against his former team Brighton and Hove Albion. Brighton are a tricky team but they have recently fell out of form and are winless in their last 4 matches, scoring only 1 goal. On the other hand, Chelsea are still unbeaten since Graham Potter took over as manager, with an impressive 6-3-0 record in all competitions. 

Keep in mind though, Chelsea have not beaten Brighton at the Amex since 2020 and 4 of the last 5 matches between these two teams have ended in a draw. However, Chelsea just gave Salzburg their first home loss since 2020. Given the two teams current form, I expect Chelsea to do the same to Brighton. “Yer a wizard Potter.”

PREDICTION: BRIGHTON 1 – 2 CHELSEA

Newcastle United (4th) vs Aston Villa (15th) 

Date: Saturday, 10/29/2022 at 10:00 AM EST

Pitch: Newcastle United – St. James’ Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England

Odds: | HOME: -125 | TIE: +260 | AWAY: +350 |

Current Form: | Newcastle United (WWDWW) | Aston Villa (WLLDD) |

Head to Head:

The Word 

Aston Villa are coming off a huge win against Brentford and Newcastle only have one win in the last 5 fixtures between the two clubs. I’m going to go ahead and count that beating of Brentford a glitch though. Maybe their draw against Manchester City was a glitch too? Or maybe Aston Villa is a decent squad with zero consistency? Who knows…

Unai Emery was just appointed Aston Villa’s new head coach, but history says that it’ll take some time to implement the Spaniard’s new style of play. With that being said, I don’t think Aston Villa will have what it takes to take down Newcastle United who are in incredible form. Newcastle are currently sitting 4th in the Premier League table and they haven’t lost a game since August. Newcastle will continue to float down “Upon the Tyne” to another victory.

PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE 3 – 1 ASTON VILLA

Fulham (7th) vs Everton (12th)

Date: Saturday, 10/29/2022 at 12:30 PM EST

Pitch: Fulham – Craven Cottage, London, England

Odds: | HOME: +130 | TIE: +240 | AWAY: +210 |

Current Form: | Fulham (WWDLL) | Everton (WLLLW) |

Head to Head: 

The Word 

Apparentlty Everton do know how to score goals! Last weekend’s win over Crystal Palace saw Everton scoring 3 times more goals than they typically average per game. They also continued their excellent defensive form keeping their 3rd clean sheet of the season. However, I don’t think that’s going to happen again when they come face to face with Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Mitrovic is currently the 3rd highest goal scorer in the Premier League with 9 goals this season, scoring a goal in each of his last 3 matches. Fulham as a team have scored 22 goals with only Manchester City, Tottenham, and Arsenal having scored more. The problem is Fulham also like to give up goals – with only Leicester, Nottingham Forest, and Bournemouth allowing more. However, these two sides have gone head to head in the Premier League 30 times, only drawing twice, and with the home team winning 81% of the time. 

With both teams coming off wins (each scoring 3 goals), I can see this becoming the 3rd draw of the fixture with both teams getting on the score sheet.

PREDICTION: FULHAM  2 – 2 EVERTON 

Liverpool (8th) vs Leeds United (18th)

Date: Saturday, 10/29/2022 at 12:30 PM EST

Pitch: Liverpool – Anfield, Liverpool, England

Odds: | HOME: -360 | TIE: +500 | AWAY: +850 |

Current Form: | Liverpool (WLWWW) | Leeds United (LLLLD) |

Head to Head:

The Word

This is an interesting matchup. Both teams are in bad form this season and things just keep getting worse and worse for Jesse Marsch and Leeds United. Leeds have lost 4 games in a row and Liverpool are coming off a loss against last place Nottingham Forest. Liverpool have yet to lose two matches in a row this season and each time they’ve lost, they have came back the next game to destroy their opponent (loss to Manchester United, came back to win 9-0 against Bournemouth) (lost to Arsenal, came back to win 7-1 agaisnt Rangers).

Livepool have not lost to Leeds United in their last 5 fixtures and with the return of Darwin Nunez, Naby Keita, and Ibrahima Konate, I fully expect Liverpool to make a statement at Anfield in front of their home fans where they are 4-2-0 this season. 

PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL 3 – LEEDS UNITED 1

Arsenal (1st) vs Nottingham Forest (20th)

Date: Sunday, 10/30/2022 at 10:00 AM EST

Pitch: Arsenal – Emirates Stadium, London, England

Odds: | HOME: -550 | TIE: +600 | AWAY: +1400 |

Current Form: | Arsenal (DWWWW) | Nottingham Forest (WDLDL) |

Head to Head:

The Word

David vs Goliath. First versus last. Arsenal are still first in the table even after dropping points for only the second time this season with a 1-1 draw at Southampton last weekend. This weekend they will be back home at the Emirates looking to get back to their winning ways against last place Nottingham Forest. Nottingham Forest are coming off a huge win against Liverpool and I expect them to still be hungover from that win. Can they pull off back to back wins against the Big 6? I don’t think so.

With Manchester City breathing down their necks, this is a must win for Arsenal if they want to stay toe to toe with the Champions. Arsenal and Nottingham forest have not played each other in the Premier League since 1999. History is however in Arsenal’s favor with Nottingham Forest only having 1 Premier League win against Arsenal and 0 wins at the Emirates. I can only see one winner here and that is David failing to defeat Goliath. 

PREDICTION: ARSENAL 2 – 0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST

Manchester United (6th) vs West Ham United (10th)

Date: Sunday, 10/30/2022 at 12:15 PM EST

Pitch: Manchester United – Old Trafford, Manchester, England

Odds: | HOME: -150 | TIE: +300 | AWAY: +390 |

Current Form: | Manchester United (DWDWW) | West Ham United (WLDWW) |

Head to Head:

The Word

Erik ten Hag has done extremely well this season as manager of Manchester United. They are unbeaten in their last 6 matches in all competitions and have not lost in their last 4 Premier League matches, despite facing some very difficult opponents in Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle, and Everton. 

West Ham are in decent form, only losing once in their last 5 matches. But they have not beaten Manchester United in Premier League play in quite some time. Especially at Old Trafford where West Ham have only won twice (last win at Old Trafford was in 2007) in 52 Premier League meetings between the clubs. Manchester United are the heavy favorites to win, but they also like nail biters so I do think it’ll be a close game. 

PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED 2 – WEST HAM UNITED 1