Welcome back to Weekend Three. The weekly series where I preview and predict from a pick of three Premier League games.
The biggest clash of the weekend is held at the Ethiad this week with visitors Chelsea coming off of a superb result last week beating ....... With a helping hand from Diego Costa scoring three of the goals. City coming off a good result away to Arsenal but will feel a little robbed after giving away an early lead. What will be the most intriguing thing about this game will be to see if Chelsea can continue their high scoring results against the sky blues, whereas in previous seasons we have been asking the same question but for Manchester City, my answer to it is no, because of the more solid defence that City have compared to the teams they have run riot against. But if Diego Costa really turns up and does the business then It's very likely that I will be wrong, as Chelsea have finally found that long awaited top goal scoring striker to compliment their fantastic midfield.
I think both teams will score with the equally fantastic firepower that Manuel Pelligrini posses with Argentinian forward Sergio Agüero on top goal scoring form as well, it will be interesting to see how City lineup, wether they will start Dzeko or Jovetic to pair up Agüero who is the likeliest to start. Jovetic the faster option for Pellegrini and the Montenegrin would be my favourite to start. As he has shown great positioning and clinical finishing as demonstrated against Liverpool earlier this season.
All in all I think it will be a tough game for both sides and hard to predict but I’m going for a 1-2 win for Chelsea heavily influenced by the Spanish pairing of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas.
Next up is Everton vs Crystal Palace. Everton who have just come off a great result after demolishing Wolfsburg 4-1, they also hope to continue their great form with back to back wins in the Premier League this Sunday and they hope to do this against a Crystal Palace side that failed to score any against Burnley last week.
The key for Crystal Palace this weekend will be the energetic duo of Dwight Gayle and Wilfred Zaha who has really impressed in his second spell at the club. The reason I think he will be key is because the sheer fact that he can beat players and has a great cross on him and mainly the same reason I think Gayle will be key if he plays is the engine he has on him, he can constantly close down defenders and help break down attacks by this, Palace can't let Martinez's side play their game and pass the Eagles of the park.
Everton will be confident they will not slip up to Palace and I am too, although The Eagles have been known for the occasional upset. I can see Steven Naismith getting a goal after really impressing in the opening part of the season and again the key for Everton will be the sheer pace they now have at their disposal. With Atsu, Eto'o, Mirrillas and Lukaku all very fast players. I think if Everton can play their usual passing game then I think they will win.
My prediction for this game will have to be a 3-0 win for the Blues of Merseyside.
Lastly Liverpool visit Upton Park on Saturday after coming off of a good return to Champions League football but still looking to make up for a disappointing defeat at home to Aston Viila last week. Where their passing looked very average compared to their usual free flowing football. Maybe it was the fact they only started with one up top with Mario Balotelli or the fact that Raheem Sterling wasn’t playing for the majority of the game, but the main reason was the hole left by Joe Allen as Liverpool looked very bare in midfield at times especially on counter attacks as Adam Lallana and Phillipe Coutinho can’t add the defensive bulk to the team that the Welshman can. And keeping him fit will be very key if Liverpool don’t want to concede as many goals as last season. Also to avoid the same result as last week I would start Fabio Borini up front with Balotelli as he played very well midweek and it’s about time he got his chance at the club.
West Ham will really fancy themselves this week as they have seen how other teams break down Liverpool and West Ham are usually known to get stuck in and grind out a result but also have a very exciting attack with Enner Valencia introducing himself to the Premier League on Monday with a fantastic long range goal on his debut. Valencia seems the type of player that could cause absolute havoc for the Reds and don’t be surprised if they nab a goal from set-piece as West Ham that could well be there best chance to get a result with their aieral height and Liverpool’s consistent poor defending from set-pieces.
I think the game will be very physical and if the Super side of Mario turns up I think Liverpool will win 1-2 which will be a good away result for the Redmen.
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