It's time for Matchweek 23 in the Premier League for 2021/22, and here is our match predictions starting with Watford vs Norwich on Friday night.
The main TV match this week is Chelsea vs Spurs on Sunday. I’d argue the biggest match of the weekend is the one taking place on Friday night between Watford and Norwich.
This is a proverbial 6 pointer. A win for Watford sees them potentially close the gap on Leeds and Everton, and it also sees them go 4 points clear of the Canaries.
While on the other hand, a win for the Canaries sees them climb out of the bottom three for the first time this season.
The stakes are high, and it promises to be a nervy affair at Vicarage Road.
Elsewhere, and Matchweek 22 was yet another successful one for champions Man City.
The Cityzens beat Chelsea last Saturday with a classic strike from Kevin de Bruyne. The week got worse for Thomas Tuchel’s side when they could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Brighton on Tuesday.
This leaves Chelsea 12 points behind City, having played one game more.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds managed a 3-0 win over Brentford last week. The result leaves Liverpool 11 points behind City, but they do have a game in hand.
Game in hand or not though, Liverpool will still need a dramatic collapse from City if they are to get back in the title race.
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It’s totally free to join, and if we can get enough members, I plan to make a cash prize available to the winner in the 2022/23 season.
Premier League 2021/22 Matchweek 23 Match Predictions & Betting Tips
Onto this week’s match predictions, and first up is Watford vs Norwich.
Could Watford’s decision to deny Emmanuel Dennis the chance to play in the 2022 AFCON be a masterstroke?
Well, if he scores the winner in tonight’s match, it will certainly go down as a good decision!! Now, onto this week’s match predictions.
Watford vs Norwich – Friday 8pm
The Hornets' 1-1 draw with Newcastle last Saturday ended a run of six straight defeats for Norwich.
Gaining that point late on in the match must have felt more like a victory for Watford, than a draw.
If they can build on that result with another win tonight, it could be a vital couple of weeks for Watford. With a match against Burnley now scheduled for Saturday 5th Feb, the Norwich match is a not-lose fixture for Claudio Ranieri's team.
As for Norwich, they also ended a six-match losing streak when they defeated Everton last weekend.
Another 3 points here would see them climb out of the bottom three, and what a confidence boost that would be at this stage of the season.
Sadly for Norwich, I don't see them winning this one.
A draw wouldn't surprise me, but with home advantage, and the boost that Watford must have received from last week's draw at Newcastle, it's a home win for me.
- Verdict - WATFORD WIN
Everton vs Aston Villa - Saturday 12.30pm
How often do we see a reaction from a team that has just lost its manager? That's the dilemma here.
If Rafa was still in charge, I'd be going for a Villa win - all day long. Now he's gone, I wonder.
Everton's form has been abysmal though. And I'm not sure Duncan Ferguson can galvanise his team that quickly.
Villa showed last weekend that they are more than a match for anybody. They’ve now given accounts of themselves against Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd.
Admittedly, they lost three of those matches. But they’ve shown against the big teams that they are a team heading in the right direction.
I’ve convinced myself to now say I think they will win this match, and Steven Gerrard will enjoy his visit to the blue half of Merseyside.
- Verdict - VILLA WIN
Brentford vs Wolves - Saturday 3pm
Again, Brentford have impressed me recently. I know they got swept aside at Anfield last Sunday, but they were more than a match for Man Utd in the first half on Wednesday, and one another night would have taken something from the match.
Another team I’ve been impressed with this season though is Wolves. Under Bruno Lage they’ve managed to remain compact and hard to beat, and they’re now four unbeaten.
I think that Wolves are in a good place, and yes, I’m backing against Brentford again. Gulp!
- Verdict - WOLVES WIN
Leeds vs Newcastle - Saturday 3pm
Wow, what a match this is. A win for Leeds will see them open up an even more comfortable gap between themselves and the bottom four. While a win for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side just drags Bielsa’s team back onto the cusp of the relegation dogfight.
Leeds have won two games in a row now. They beat Burnley 3-1 on the 2nd January, and they followed that up with an excellent 3-2 win away at West Ham last weekend.
Are things finally starting to click into place for them?
As for Newcastle, they chucked away the chance of another 3 points on Saturday, when they let Watford in for a late equaliser at St James’ Park.
They can’t keep on doing that, as they are already in more than enough trouble. Eddie Howe will see this as a winnable fixture though, and I firmly believe all three results have a chance here.
I’m going to go for a draw though. Mainly because, even if Newcastle do take the lead, it’s hard to see them holding on for a win anywhere at the moment.
- Verdict - DRAW
Man Utd vs West Ham - Saturday 3pm
Another match that’s hard to call, as the two teams playing are inconsistent and just too unpredictable.
It could be argued (maybe not by Villa fans) that United chucked away 2 points last Saturday at Villa Park. It could also be argued they could have lost to Brentford on Wednesday, or at least draw!
As for West Ham, their 3 match winning run was ended by Leeds last Saturday. That’s two 3-2 home defeats for the Hammers lately.
I do think in this instance, that United will raise their game for this one. West Ham currently sits in fourth place, but if United win this, they would overtake them.
A win probably won’t see United go into the top 4 though, as Spurs and Arsenal are both above them.
- Verdict - MAN UTD WIN
Southampton vs Man City - Saturday 5.30pm
I’ve got to the stage now where I know I can’t just keep predicting a City win every week, as they will slip up soon. But how can you do anything other than just keep tipping City to win?
The Saints have had a reasonable run lately. A run that has seen them return to the safety of midtable.
That run came to an end last Saturday at Wolves, and I suppose I can only predict back-to-back defeats for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team on Saturday.
- Verdict - MAN CITY WIN
Arsenal vs Burnley - Sunday 2pm
Onto Sunday’s fixtures and Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from their Thursday night Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool when they face Burnley at the Emirates.
The Gunners are now serious contenders for a top 4 finish in the Premier League this season. So beating Burnley now becomes a must!
In the league, they’ve not played since unluckily losing 2-1 at home to Man City on New Year’s Day. A match they deserved to get something out of by most accounts.
Burnley are now seven without a win in the Premier League. They can’t score, and they have now also lost striker Chris Wood to Newcastle. I can’t see them stopping the rot here.
- Verdict - ARSENAL WIN
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool - Sunday 2pm
Just the one win in their last five for Crystal Palace, and I expect it to be just the one win in their last six once this match is over.
It’s just a question of whether or not Palace can hold on for a draw, or Liverpool win.
Liverpool has only won two of their last five now. But included in that run were draws with Spurs and Chelsea. The major blip was the 1--0 defeat to Leicester over the festive period.
I wouldn’t read too much into that though. Defeats over the festive period can occur, mainly down to the fatigue caused by endless matches.
I still expect the Reds to be too strong for a scratchy Palace side though, even without star duo Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.
- Verdict - LIVERPOOL WIN
Leicester vs Brighton - Sunday 2pm
With a couple of minutes left of Leicester’s match with Spurs on Wednesday night I was thinking the Foxes are definitely back now. That’s back-to-back Premier League wins over Liverpool and Spurs, impressive!
What happened next was unbelievably bad for the Foxes, as they gave away two goals in about 3 minutes of stoppage time to lose the match 3-2.
That said, up until that crazy few minutes, Leicester had done well.
As for Brighton, they are now 5 matches unbeaten. They played out an impressive 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday and have now arrested their slide, with two wins in those five matches.
I have a feeling Leicester are going to take what happened on Wednesday out on someone though. And I just think the Foxes will win this one.
- Verdict - LEICESTER WIN
Chelsea vs Tottenham - Sunday 4.30pm
The final matchup of the weekend and it’s a London derby between two teams with contrasting fortunes.
Chelsea has no win in four now in the Premier League. They looked drained, and in desperate need of something to reignite their season.
Could a home fixture against Spurs be just the thing?
As for Spurs, Chelsea are their bogey team. They’ve just lost both Carabao Cup semi-finals to Tuchel’s team, and this despite Chelsea not looking the part lately.
They have Harry Kane now back in form and the team is playing well in the Premier League at least. It’s a difficult call to make here, as Spurs are in better form, but Chelsea is at home, and they seem to have the Indian sign over Antonio Conte’s team.
Chelsea are also going to end a run of five Premier League matches without a win soon.
Could be a close call, but I’m going for the home side Chelsea to sneak this one.
- Verdict - CHELSEA WIN
Thanks for reading our Premier League 2021/22 Matchweek 23 Match Predictions.
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