Premier League Picks: Matchweek 18

Premier League Picks: Matchweek 18

PRMIER LEAGUE PICKS: MATCHWEEK 18 – Well it’s been 6 weeks since we got to witness some Premier League action. Other than watching the USA not really score any goals, I’ve been forced to watch my Tennessee Titans lose 5 straight games. It’s been a wonderful holiday to say the least… 

But the holidays are over, the World Cup is over, the Titans season is over, so with that being said, let’s get back to some Premier League football and take a look at our Matchweek 18 fixtures.

Newcastle United (3rd) vs Leeds United (15th) 

Date: Saturday, 12/31/2022 at 10:00 AM EST

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

Odds: | HOME: -230 | TIE: +370 | AWAY: +600 |

Current Form: | Newcastle United (WWWWW) | Leeds United (LLLWW) |

Head to Head

The Word 

Newcastle’s form going into this match is just remarkable.

Just for your amusement here are a couple random stats: Newcastle currently have the longest current winning streak of 6 games, the longest current unbeaten streak of 11, they rank 3rd in goals for (28), 3rd in average goals per game (1.75), 3rd in goal differential (+17), and have allowed fewer goals than any team in the league (11).

Who’s going to end this madness? I don’t think it’s going to be Leeds United. Leed’s have just two wins in their last 7 PL games. Although, in these 7 games they have managed to beat Liverpool and score a total of 12 goals. 

These two teams have met 4 times in the Premier League this decade with Leeds taking 2 of the 4, but Newcastle have strengthened its’ team since then by adding the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Nick Pope, and Sven Botman.

Miguel Almiron is having the season of his life, leading his team with 9 goals and having either a goal or an assist in all but one Premier League game since mid-September. Newcastle are crushing the bottom of the table teams and I think this trend will continue.

PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE  3 – 0 LEEDS 

Manchester City (2nd) vs Everton (17th) 

Date: Saturday, 12/31/2022 at 10:00 AM EST

Pitch: Manchester City – Ethiad Stadium, Manchester, England

Odds: | HOME: -850 | TIE: +750 | AWAY: +2500 |

Current Form: | Manchester City (WWLWW) | Everton (LLLLD) |

Head to Head

The Word

Manchester City are the CLEAR favorites to win this game, by a lot, and here’s why.

The Manchester City roster is nearly 3 times more valuable than Everton’s, the two clubs have faced off 5 times in the last year with Manchester City winning all 5 with a commanding 14-1 lead on aggregate, Everton has failed to score againt Manchester City in almost 2 years, and Everton haven’t won a single game at the Ethiad Stadium since 2010. Don’t see these stats changing this weekend.

Things are going really bad in Everton at the moment and they are only a single point off the relegation zone.

Rumors are going around about the sacking of Lampard. To be honest I don’t think he has much time left. I mean come on, who takes that job?

Anything but a win for Manchester City would be a major surprise. With that being said, I don’t expect to see a modest win, but most likely a real thrashing of Everton.

PREDICTION: MANCHESTER CITY 3 – 0 EVERTON 

Bournemouth (14th) vs Crystal Palace (11th)

Date: Saturday, 12/31/2022 at 10:00 AM EST

Pitch: Bournemouth – Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England

Odds: | HOME: +185 | TIE: +230 | AWAY: +150 |

Current Form: | Bournemouth (LLWWL) | Crystal Palace (LLLWW) |

Head to Head

The Word

Crystal Palace had a terrible return to Premier League action, recieving 2 red cards, and suffering a 3-0 loss to Fulham which ended their 3 game win streak at Selhurst Park.

Bournemouth also lost in its’ return game showing a few signs of decency against Chelsea, but are they good?

Ehhh I don’t think so. They’ve lost 5 of their last 7 Premier League games with their only win coming against Everton, which is also ehhh not so good. 

Bournemout will likely switch back to a defensive 4 after the failed attempt of a back 5 against Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace will have to make two changes with Mitchell and Tomkins both serving their match suspensions for their red cards in the last match.

With both teams suffering defeats earlier this week, avoiding another consecutive loss has become the primary mission.

With that in mind, do not be surprised to see a draw play out, a result which would probably suit both clubs at the moment. I cannot imagine this game being a thriller. Honestly, I’ll probably just catch the UNextended highlights later on.

PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH 1 – 1 CRYSTAL PALACE

Brighton & Hove Albion (7th) vs Arsenal (1st)

Date: Saturday, 12/31/2022 at 12:30 PM EST

Pitch: Brighton & Hove Albion – Amex Stadium, Brighton, England

Odds: | HOME: +250 | TIE: +250 | AWAY: +105 |

Current Form: | Brighton & Hove Albion  (WLLWW) | Arsenal (WWLWW) |

Head to Head

The Word

Arsenal are currently at the top of the table and have showed very few signs of faltering. But Brighton is a tricky opponent.

Arsenal have played some close games this season to lesser teams, only beating both Aston Villa and Leeds United by 1, and also drawing against last place Southampton.

In their last match Arsenal ended up with all 3 points, but they did go down 1-0 to a struggling West Ham squad.

Brighton will certainly cause some issues for Arsenal on New Year’s Eve.

Brighton were excellent in their last macth against Southampton and they have been excellent all season with wins over Manchester United and Chelsea, and draws against Newcastle and Liverpool.

They have also beaten Arsenal twice already this calendar year. Like I said earlier, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have looked excellent thus far, but I could see them dropping points on the road at the Amex.

PREDICTION: BRIGHTON 2 – ARSENAL 2

Tottenham Hotspur (4th) vs Aston Villa (12th)

Date: Sunday, 01/01/2023 at 09:00 AM EST

Pitch: Tottenham Hotspur – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England

Odds: | HOME: -155 | TIE: +300 | AWAY: +410 |

Current Form: | Tottenham Hotspur (DWLLW) | Aston Villa (LWLWL) |

Head to Head

The Word

Tottenham are both terrible to watch but also entertaining to watch at the same time.

It’s quite hard to wrap your head around. I heard a guy compare Tottenham to a 5 car pile up. It’s like “oh no I don’t want to look, they’ve only bumped into each other, nothing to see here.”

But then you get to the last car and it’s on FIRE with havoc everywhere. With Aston Villa, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on there. Are they good? Are they bad? They are so inconsistent. 

Neither team opened their Premier League restart with a win. Tottenham went down 2-0 to Brentford but managed to come back and salvage a point. Aston Villa lost 3-1 to Liverpool where in all fairness they played reasonably well, but just couldn’t take advantage of the chances they were given.

Tottenham really need to get back on track if they want to keep their chances of top 4 alive.

Harry Kane has had success against Villa, winning 9 of 11 meetings against them and scoring 7 times. I do think Tottenham will edge out a win but I also think it’s going to take more than 1 goal.

PREDICTION: TOTTENHAM 2 – 1 ASTON VILLA 

Nottingham Forest (19th) vs Chelsea (8th)

Date: Sunday, 01/01/2023 at 11:30 AM EST

Pitch: Nottingham Forest – The City Ground, Nottingham, England

Odds: | HOME: +440 | TIE: +290 | AWAY: -160 |

Current Form: | Nottingham Forest (LWWWD) | Chelsea (WLLLW) |

Head to Head

The Word

The World Cup break came at the perfect moment for Chelsea.

Before the break, Chelsea had lost 3 straight games, but they got themselves back on track with a 2-0 win against Bournemouth. The 3 points didn’t come without a price though.

Reece James suffered another injury that is likely to keep him sidelined for a couple weeks. Chelsea will also be without Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Kepa Arrizabalaga. In normal circumstances this would be a worry, but luckily for them they are matched up against 19th place Nottingham Forest who hold the longest winless streak of 9 games this season. 

Both Chelsea and Nottingham Forest have recorded only 2 wins in their last 7 matches.

Despite their horrible form I still think Chelsea are the much better side. Nottingham Forest have played rather well at home though so I can see them getting one in the back of the net.

I don’t think Chelsea will go all in on Sunday, in order to avoid further injury and to prepare for Manchester City just 4 days later. However, I do think they’ll do just enough to get the win. 

PREDICTION: NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 – CHELSEA 2

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