Matchweek 16 is barely over and already we're in onto our predictions for Matchweek 17 in the 2021/22 Premier League season.
The top three all have winnable looking home matches this weekend, while Leicester v Spurs could be interesting.
The clash at the KP Stadium on Thursday looks like a tight match to call.
In the latest betting to win the Premier League, there's no real change. All three of the main contenders won, maintaining the status quo.
- Man City 8/13 (1.61)
- Liverpool 11/4 (3.75)
- Chelsea 5/1 (6.0)
- Man Utd 100/1 (101.0)
- Spurs 175/1 (176.0)
- Arsenal 275/1 (276.0)
- West Ham 275/1 (276.0)
Man City has been trimmed in from 1.62 to 1.61 - why the bookmaker in question bothered, I really don't know!
2021/22 Premier League Matchweek 17 Match Predictions
Now, onto tonight's fixtures, and first up it's Dean Smith taking on his former club.
Norwich v Aston Villa Match Prediction – 7.45pm Tuesday
After a decent little mini-rival, Norwich is back on the bottom of the table and without a win in four. They've also lost their last two.
The two defeats were away to Spurs and at home to Man Utd, and the Canaries can take heart that they were arguably the better team against the Red Devils.
Villa has had an uplift in form since the arrival of Steven Gerrard to replace Smith. They've won three and lost two under the former Rangers' boss.
The two defeats were at the hands of Man City (2-1) and Liverpool (1-0), so I think we can let Gerrard off with those!!
This is a bread and butter fixture now. Next up for Villa after Norwich is Burnley, and these are the fixtures Villa needs to be winning.
Can they beat the Canaries? I think they will, and I'm taking Villa to win tonight.
- Verdict - ASTON VILLA WIN
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Man City v Leeds Match Prediction - 8pm Tuesday
Leeds United is 20/1 to win this match. Any takers?
The Elland Road outfit has had a poor season, but they have improved slightly of late.
In their last five matches, they've won one, lost two, and drawn two. The two defeats were 2-1 away to Spurs, and 3-2 away at Chelsea, last Saturday.
One of the draws was a 2-2 draw at home to Brentford, when Leeds needed a 95th minute equaliser from Patrick Bamford, who incidentally is injured again.
I can't see anything other than an easy home win tonight for City. And after a few quietish home wins - by City's standards - someone may be due a hammering!
- Verdict - MAN CITY WIN
Brighton v Wolves Match Predictions - 7.30pm Wednesday
Don't expect to see any goalscoring records to be broken in this match.
The Seagulls have scored just 14 times in 15 matches this season. While Wolves have found the net just 12 times in 16 matches.
Entertainment is not what to expect here!
On top of that, Brighton is now 10 matches without a win, while for Wolves, it is four matches.
Something tells me Brighton are due a win. But I can't say that with any real confidence.
- Verdict - BRIGHTON WIN
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Burnley v Watford Match Prediction - 7.30pm Wednesday
Sean Dyche's team really are leaving it late to get going this season. They've still only won once, but they have only lost six times, which is considerably less than Watford (11) and Norwich (10).
They are now five matches without a win since their only victory of the season (a 3-1 win over Brentford).
Wednesday's opponents, Watford, are a very up and down team. They have now lost four in a row since that 4-1 win over Man Utd.
Three of the defeats were at the hands of Leicester (4-2), Chelsea (2-1), and Man City (3-1), so they can take some comfort from that.
Last Friday's 2-1 loss at Brentford will really hurt though. Especially given they were 1-0 up with 6 minutes to go.
This really is a must-win game for Watford, but sadly for Hornets' fans, I don't think they will win.
- Verdict - BURNLEY WIN
Crystal Palace v Southampton Match Prediction - 7.30pm Wednesday
Patrick Viera's team stopped the rot on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Everton at Selhurst Park.
Prior to the win, Palace had gone four matches without a win, and another reversal would have really dented confidence.
Fortunately for Palace, confidence is something that on-loan Chelsea star, Conor Gallagher has plenty of.
Gallagher was behind everything good that Palace did last Sunday, and was instrumental in their victory.
As for Southampton, they are another side that really are on a downward spiral. The Saints are now five matches without a win, picking up just 2 points in that sequence of fixtures.
I don't think this is a cut-and-dried win for the Eagles tonight, but on current form, I can only predict a win for Palace.
- Verdict - CRYSTAL PALACE WIN
Arsenal v West Ham Match Prediction - 8pm Wednesday
Interesting fixture from the Emirates, this one is.
Arsenal has seen their recent good form drop off.... And as is usually the case, it was when they came up against some of the better sides.
There is also the saga surrounding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which has resulted in him losing the Arsenal captaincy, and not playing any part in this fixture.
As for West Ham, they've been inconsistent lately.
Great 3-2 home wins over both Liverpool and Chelsea of recent, have been mixed in with defeats to Wolves, and draws with Brighton and Burnley.
The Hammers still sit fourth, with Arsenal 2 points behind in sixth place. This is a real big fixture in the fight for 4th place, and I am going with the Gunners to just shade it.
- Verdict - ARSENAL WIN
Leicester v Spurs Match Prediction - 7.30pm Thursday
This is a difficult match to predict.
Two unpredictable sides, two top strikers in Vardy and Kane going through in-different spells, and two top-class managers trying to get their respective teams to push for the top 4.
Leicester bounced back with a 4-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday, which was after another curious run of results, culminating in an exit from the Europa League at the hands of Napoli last Thursday.
They do sit in 8th place in the table now, just one place behind Spurs.
After their second postponement of the season last Sunday, Spurs oddly find themselves their two matches in hand away from a place in the top 4.
Yes if Spurs were to play and win their two games in hand now, they would be in fourth place on 31 points, 3 points clear of fifth place.
And they've had a bad season!
What sort of team can Spurs put out in this match though? They've been hit by a bad covid outbreak, and it remains to be seen who, or what sort of side will take the field on Thursday.
I'm going to sit on the fence for this match!
- Verdict - DRAW
Chelsea v Everton Match Prediction - 7.45pm Thursday
Chelsea made hard work of beating Leeds United last Saturday and will want to put Everton to bet in a more comfortable way when they meet on Thursday.
Thomas Tuchel's team haven't been at their best lately, but are still only 2 points off top spot, and are still in their fighting with Man City and Liverpool.
As for Everton, they finally managed a win when beating Arsenal a couple of matches ago. But they followed that up with another disappointing loss, this time to Crystal Palace last Sunday.
Some may argue they could have left Selhurst Park with something, and that's true.
But the point is, they didn't. And the reason for not getting anything is because they just aren't good enough.
The win over Arsenal was just respite for Rafa Benitez, and I suspect he's in for another rough night at Stamford Bridge.
- Verdict - CHELSEA WIN
Liverpool v Newcastle Match Prediction - 8pm Thursday
The Toon Army have just about got themselves back into contention with the 4 points picked up in a week against Norwich and Burnley.
Away fixtures to Leicester and Liverpool aren't ideal after that, and they've Man City and Man Utd after Thursday.
The ideal scenario for Eddie Howe is that his team doesn't lose too much ground in this awkward run of matches, so they still have a fighting chance when the less difficult fixtures come back around.
Can only see this heading one way. The only question is, how many do Liverpool win by?
- Verdict - LIVERPOOL WIN
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