Premier League predictions

Can he lead the 'have nots' to victory over the 'haves'?

Arsenal v Birmingham
Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from defeats against West Brom and Chelsea. What they need is a visit from a struggling team who haven’t won an away game yet this season. Well, what do you know…

Soccernews prediction: 2-0

Aston Villa v Chelsea
Villa are a little bit up and down and the players will be trying to get used to the new methods brought in by Gerard Houllier. I’m sure they’ll do well under the Frenchman but this is a settling down period for the team.

Chelsea have shown that they are not unstoppable, but they are still not far away from it.

Soccernews prediction: 0-2

Bolton v Stoke
Not a game for the purists this one!

Bolton are doing OK and Stoke have recovered well from a poor start. I think they’ll be well matched and I don’t expect to see too many highlights from the game on Match of the Day!

Soccernews prediction: 1-1

Fulham v Tottenham
This is a London derby where, as far as I am aware, there is no real animosity between the clubs or the fans.

Mark Hughes is continuing the great work done by Roy Hodgson and seems to be maintaining Fulham’s status as a decent top half team. Tottenham are struggling a little to live up to the hype caused by their successes last season. They are still the better side though.

Soccernews prediction: 1-2

Manchester United v West Brom
This should be a home banker but Manchester United haven’t fired on all cylinders yet and West Brom have looked quite comfortable since their opening day mauling at Stamford Bridge.

West Brom went to The Emirates and outplayed Arsenal in a 3-2 win. They will try to play football at Old Trafford and good luck to them. I fancy United to have enough about them to remind West Brom of the natural order of things.

Soccernews prediction: 3-1

Newcastle v Wigan
Fifteenth plays fourteenth at St James’ Park and I bet both clubs would bite your hand off if you offered them an end of season finish in those positions.

Newcastle are struggling a little having lost their last couple of games whereas Wigan have picked up a little and are unbeaten in their last couple.

The fact is, I think, Newcastle are the better side and if they can get an early goal, the Toon army will see them home. Also, if Wigan concede early, they are prone to fall apart. I think that might happen here.

Soccernews prediction: 3-0

Wolves v West Ham
Both teams are in the bottom three and they both know that a win will take them out of it. That is a huge incentive even at this stage of the season.

Wolves seem to be getting worse and West Ham seem to be getting better. I expect those trends to continue in this one.

Soccernews prediction: 0-2

SUNDAY 17TH OCTOBER

Everton v Liverpool
The Merseyside derby. Battle of the giants. Not on this occasion, however, as it is a battle between two teams in the relegation zone. I’ll look at this game in detail tomorrow but a draw is always a decent bet.

Soccernews prediction: 1-1

Blackpool v Manchester City
These two clubs couldn’t be further apart in terms of resources. Blackpool are on a Premier League shoestring budget and Manchester City can buy anyone they want. Blackpool have DJ Campbell up front and Manchester City have Carlos Tevez. It really is a total mis-match.

The only thing is that Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is making miracles happen at the club. He has his team of Championship players believing, and showing, that they belong in the big time.

Manchester City are going reasonably well but away from home they don’t always look like the real deal. I think they’ll have enough, but they certainly won’t have it all their own way.

Soccernews prediction: 1-2

MONDAY 18TH OCTOBER

Blackburn v Sunderland
The last game of the weekend and, boy, is it worth waiting for! Oh no, sorry, I got that wrong. Boring Blackburn against sometimes boring Sunderland. It’s got 0-0 written all over it.

Soccernews prediction: 0-0