Dimitar Berbatov previews the weekend action including Liverpool vs Manchester United (Picture: Metro / Getty)
After mixed fortunes for English teams in Europe during the week, the Premier League takes centre stage again this weekend.
Manchester United will be fearing the worst as they travel to Anfield to face a rampant Liverpool side who usurped Arsenal last week and jumped to the top of the table.
The Gunners, themselves, will look to get back to winning ways against their bogey team Brighton, while the action starts on Friday with Tottenham’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
As ever, Betfair Ambassador Dimitar Berbatov previews the action for Metro.co.uk…
Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham
Spurs got back to winning ways last weekend (Picture: Getty)
When they want to be, Spurs can be really entertaining, and they can beat anyone. Nottingham Forest are in a bit of trouble at the moment. The manager is under pressure to be fired if he doesn’t get good results, so if Spurs win, he’ll be in more trouble. But based on what I saw against Newcastle, I’ll go with Spurs to win.
Prediction: 0-2
Bournemouth vs Luton Town
After Bournemouth’s win at Man United, it’s now a great chance to continue their winning streak against Luton. Luton can be tough opponents; they can give you a battle. But it’s going to be a shame for Bournemouth to lose points against Luton when they did so well against United. So, Bournemouth should win.
Prediction: 2-1
Chelsea vs Sheffield United
Imagine if Chelsea lose here? With all due respect to Sheffield United, they are in trouble. Chelsea are 12th in the table, what the f***? It’s a game that Chelsea need to win. Against Sheffield United at home, if Chelsea don’t win, then it can say everything we need to say about their season.
Chelsea have the players to win of course but It’s not working for them at the moment. They need to find a way to win against Sheffield United no matter what. I’ll go with Chelsea.
Prediction: 1-0
Man City vs Crystal Palace
Manchester City are sweating on the fitness of Erling Haaland (Picture: Getty)
Crystal Palace have surprised Man City at the Etihad in the past, but they are currently one of the most out of form sides. Roy Hodgson lost even more players through injury and suspension last week so this will be a tough day for Palace.
City can’t allow themselves to lose points here and there like they’ve done with draws, and were back to winning ways last week. I’ll go with City
Prediction: 3-0
Newcastle vs Fulham
Fulham are cooking! They are cooking something there. Back-to-back 5-0 wins at home is amazing, and Marco Silva is doing a great job. For Newcastle, perhaps Premier League and Champions League football has maybe been too much to juggle. Forgetting what happened in midweek, Newcastle have the quality to win, but they will be tired, like we saw vs Spurs last week. We need to give Fulham credit, so I’ll go for the draw.
Prediction: 1-1
Burnley vs Everton
How about Everton? Sean Dyche is performing miracles there. Well done. Imagine if they didn’t have a 10-point deduction? They’d be in the top 10. It’s going to be another tough game for Burnley, but I see a surprise result. Everton are flying, but let’s go for a surprise and say Burnley win.
Prediction: 2-1
West Ham vs Wolves
West Ham, man, you need to produce something now. You can’t lie back and say, ‘we’ll get another 5-0 thrashing here’. You need to produce something, fight back and say, ‘sorry’ to your fans. The only way of doing that is by winning. Yes, Wolves have had some good results, but West Ham need to react. So, I’ll go with West Ham.
Prediction: 2-1
Brentford vs Aston Villa
Aston Villa beat Arsenal and they’ve made it interesting towards the top of the table, and because of this I want Villa to continue to make it interesting and put pressure on the so-called big teams. Unai Emery is doing an amazing job. For Brentford, well they lost at Sheffield United. They are stronger at home for sure, but I’ll go with Aston Villa to continue their great run.
Prediction: 0-2
Arsenal vs Brighton
Declan Rice will hope to help Arsenal reverse their recent struggles against Brighton (Picture: Getty)
This is going to be a game about playing football. Pass, pass, pass, look for the space, wait for the moment, the technical ability, thinking two, three steps ahead of the game. It should be a great showcase of the Premier League.
To be on the right path, Arsenal can’t let any silly mistakes happen like last season, when they lost 0-3 to Brighton at home. We know about Brighton, they can play and beat you, but at the same time they can lose games. Nobody will change. Both teams will play football and it should be a great watch. I’m going to go for Arsenal to win.
Prediction: 3-2
Liverpool v Man United
Liverpool thrashed Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield last season (Picture: Getty)
When we talk about Liverpool, we talk about Mohamed Salah, and we talk about consistency. Salah is a Liverpool legend in his own right. The way he plays football and what it brings to the team while having a coach that understands you like Jurgen Klopp, then you will get results. Salah is the main threat for Liverpool, but they have many great players. Klopp is smart enough to explore the weaknesses of Man United in their form, and we know Liverpool will start the game like mad dogs, they’ll chase, bite, and probably score.
Man United used to score goals when the opposing team needed to score to get a result. In the last two games, Man United have not scored. Now they play Liverpool, who have Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson in a world-class defence.
I want to see Man United get into more goalscoring opportunities. I want to say Man United will score, but I think it may be too much for them this time.
Prediction: 2-0
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