Premier League predictions – Harry to celebrate at his old home?

Will he celebrate a Tottenham win?

Fifth plays fourteenth. Three home wins out of three pays one away win out of four (away at Hull, so it doesn’t count!). It looks like a foregone conclusion doesn’t it?

This game has a little bit of spice after the horrible Eduardo injury and other incidents when the teams played at St Andrews a couple of seasons ago.

Arsenal will be far too strong for Birmingham who will try to defend. Trying to defend at The Emirates is a little like committing suicide.

SoccerNews prediction: 3-0

Seventh plays top. Villa are looking to break into that top four whilst Chelsea are trying to stop Manchester United making it four titles in a row.

Last time out Chelsea were impressive in beating Liverpool but Villa weren’t too shabby in their draw with Manchester City.

I can see Villa making things difficult for Ancelotti and his men.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-1

Everton are only three points above Wolves in the table at the moment but that surely paints a false picture. Everton are likely to finish in the top six or seven and Wolves are likely to struggle against the drop.

Everton could only manage a draw with Stoke in their last game but Wolves managed to become the first team to lose to Portsmouth this season.

Common sense would say that a home win is a certainty.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Second placed United have been a long way short of their best several times already this season. Their last game, a 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland, was no exception. They will be without the injured Wayne Rooney and possibly Dimitar Berbatov who has just become a dad. Edwin van der Sar will play and Ben Foster will revert to his place on the bench.

Bolton are a strange team who have won two of their three away games but are yet to win at home after four games there. This would suggest that they are better on their travels.

I don’t expect Bolton to give United an easy ride but the champions will no doubt win again despite not performing at their best. That continues to be an ominous sign for the rest.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-1

Portsmouth are up and running. They have three points, Avram Grant back as Director of Football and a new owner who nobody knows anything about.

Now that an air of relief has swept Fratton Park who should be coming to visit but their old mate Harry Redknapp and half of the team that was successful for them before Harry stole them.

This will no doubt be a feisty affair but Tottenham should be too strong for even a slightly rejuvenated Portsmouth.

SoccerNews prediction: 0-1

Stoke, strong at home and sitting in mid-table. West Ham, poor away and sitting in the relegation zone.

I don’t expect the above statements to change after today’s game.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Remarkably, Sunderland are just two places and two points behind Liverpool before this game and they will know that they can overtake them with a win.

Liverpool looked as though they may have turned a corner after their poor start but defeats at Fiorentina and Chelsea have set them back again. Many people say thay Liverpool are a two man team. We will be able to find out today as both of those two players will be missing. Liverpool without Gerrard and Torres? We shall see.

Sunderland got an excellent draw at Old Trafford last time out and probably deserved more. They’ll be confident going into this one.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-1

Sunday 18th October

We all know about the Merseyside derby, the Manchester derby and the North London derby, but people in the Blackburn and Burnley areas of Lancashire will tell you that this derby is every bit as fierce and passionate as any of those others.

Expect an x-rated full bloodied game in front of a passionate and noisy crowd. Don’t expect to see too much football.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-1

Another local derby but not with the same sort of passion. Wigan are in mid-table and are a funny sort of side. Any team that is capable of beating Chelsea and losing to Hull in successive games is pretty hard to fathom.

Manchester City continue to impress and show that they are the real deal and not just pretenders. They’ll have a stiff test here but I expect them to come through it with flying colours.

SoccerNews prediction: 0-2

Monday 19th October

Despite winning last time out Hull are in the drop zone and I don’t see them getting out of it from here on in.

Fulham have the same number of points as their visitors but they are a far superior side and their 2-2 draw at West Ham in their last game showed some signs of a return to the form of last season.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0