Each week, The National predicts the outcomes of the English Premier League. This week senior sports editor Steve Luckings guest predicts the midweek matches, with all the top-four of Arsenal, Leicester City, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur taking three points. You can find our results here.
Arsenal v Southampton, Tuesday, 11.45pm
Was it the start of a mid-season wobble, or just a blip against a bogey team? Arsenal's 1-0 defeat of Chelsea last time out in the Premier League was undoubtedly aided by Per Mertesacker's sending off midway through the first half. Had Arsene Wenger's side had their full complement of players, it is not inconceivable they would have found a way through Chelsea's rearguard. Only time will tell if this is the game where the wheels came off Arsenal's quest for a first Premier League title since 2003/04. If supporters can look to one sign of encouragement it has to be the goalscoring return of their best player Alexis Sanchez in the FA Cup win over Burnley at the weekend. The Chilean attacker can provide the goals and the impetus to help get Arsenal over the finish line.
Prediction: 2-0 Arsenal
Leicester City v Liverpool, Tuesday, 11.45pm
Who would have thought it? Leicester City, propping up the division just over 12 months ago now lead it, with three points worth of daylight between them and closest challengers Arsenal. Claudio Ranieri’s side welcome Liverpool to the King Power Stadium on the back of a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League. The last team to beat them in the league were Liverpool, who won the corresponding fixture at Anfield on Boxing Day through a Christian Benteke goal. While Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by West Ham United in the FA Cup’s fourth round on Sunday, Leicester players were given some much-needed rest time to recuperate. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gave plenty of the club’s young players an outing against West Ham, so expect several changes to the starting XI. Although Liverpool won a 5-4 epic against Norwich City last time out, their fragility in the backline was once against exposed by a team not renown for their attacking prowess. Jamie Vardy will play on the shoulder of the two Liverpool centre-backs, and whichever combination Klopp goes with, they will struggle to keep pace with the flying frontman.
Prediction: 3-2 Leicester
Norwich City v Tottenham Hotspur, Tuesday, 11.45pm
As mentioned previously, Norwich put four goals past a fragile Liverpool defence, with new £8.5 million (Dh44.4m) signing Steven Naismith scoring on debut, his first goals since a hat-trick against Chelsea in September for previous club Everton. Norwich are unlikely to find Tottenham’s defence in such generous mood, even with Jan Vertonghen being ruled out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury. That should see Austria international Kevin Wimmer given an extended run in the side at centre-back alongside Toby Alderweireld, the unsung hero of Spurs’ campaign. Farther up the pitch and Tottenham possess goals and creativity in abundance in Mousa Dembele, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane. Put that attack against the league’s most porous defence, and expect another high-scoring encounter.
Prediction: 3-0 Tottenham
Sunderland v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11.45pm
With Sergio Aguero back doing what he does best – scoring goals at a rate of knots – expect Sunderland to line up against Manchester City with their defence stationed roughly 10 yards away from their goalkeeper, their midfield 10-yards further ahead, and a lone striker desperately chasing lost causes. The Argentina international has scored four goals in his last two Premier League games for City, and you can expect him to add to his season’s tally of 12 goals against Sam Allardyce’s relegation strugglers.
Prediction: 4-0 Manchester City
West Ham United v Aston Villa, Tuesday, 11.45pm
West Ham have designs on qualifying for Europe; Aston Villa on trying to avoid relegation. While West Ham’s aims are pretty realistic, Aston Villa’s are mere pipe dreams. Although there has been some improvement under new manager Remi Garde, Villa would need to produce something close to West Ham’s Europa League-chasing form to avoid the embarrassment of relegation to England’s second tier. Mark Bunn has replaced the hopeless Brad Guzan in goal and the understudy’s goal has been breached just once in three games. So while there are signs of encouragement at one end, the worries at the business end of the pitch continue. Villa are by far the lowest scorers in the top tier, with just 18 goals in 23 league games, with Jordan Ayew’s return of five goals their best effort. West Ham are just a point behind Manchester United in fifth place, expect Slaven Bilic’s team to be above them come Wednesday.
Prediction: 2-0 West Ham
Crystal Palace v Bournemouth, Tuesday, midnight
Emmanuel Adebayor gets another crack at the Premier League and another shot at getting fans to try to appreciate his skills on the pitch instead of moaning about his attitude off it. The Togolese has been brought in till the end of the season to try to boost goals among Alan Pardew’s strikers, which stands at a miserly one, scored by Connor Wickham, who is serving a three-match suspension for violent conduct, from the penalty spot. Adebayor has a record of getting off to good starts at all of his previous clubs, which include fellow Londoners Arsenal and Tottenham, although departures seem to be done on a rather more sour note. But the thought of him feeding in and feeding off the unpredictability of Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie of either wing makes for an intriguing prospect.
Prediction: 2-1 Palace
Manchester United v Stoke City, Tuesday, midnight
A 2-0 defeat away to Stoke City a little over a month ago had many analysts predicting that Louis van Gaal would struggle to see in the New Year as manager of Manchester United. And while the results since then have hardly done anything to dampen the doom-mongers, the Dutchman is still in a job having presided over his team's 3-1 victory over Derby County on Friday to secure their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup. A 1-0 defeat to Southampton last time out in the league last week had Old Trafford in open revolt; the beleaguered Van Gaal can ill-afford another home defeat or even a lacklustre performance that has characterised far too many United games this season.
Prediction: 1-1 draw
West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City, Tuesday, midnight
If ever a game had 0-0 written all over it, it’s this fixture. Swansea City are enjoying a mini renaissance under new coach Francesco Guidolin, beating Watford (1-0) and Everton (2-1) under the Italian’s watch. But the Welsh club are up against one of the most well-drilled outfits in the Premier League; not many teams go to The Hawthorns and come away with positive results. Expect both teams to cancel each other out.
Prediction: 0-0 draw
Everton v Newcastle United, Wednesday, 11.45pm
Neither side can defend, Newcastle need to start putting wins on the board to get clear of relegation, Everton need to start winning to take some heat off manager Roberto Martinez. This should be a cracker. Everton are an exciting side going forward and the duel between their pacey winger Gerard Deulofeu and Newcastle left-back Paul Dummett should be enthralling. Likewise, Newcastle have invested well in the transfer window. Andros Townsend, an England first choice two seasons ago, could do well on debut here.
Prediction: 2-2 draw
Watford v Chelsea, Wednesday, 11.45pm
Chelsea’s slow but steady return to form faces a big challenge here in the shape of a resilient Watford team with one of the leagues in-form strikers – Odion Ighalo. His pace will trouble John Terry and company and keeping the Nigerian quiet will be key to Chelsea taking something from the game. Watford have been tough to beat at home, but the biggest teams – Arsenal, Manchester City and United and Spurs – have pulled off wins. With Diego Costa hitting the goals and Eden Hazard back to fitness, Chelsea can join that club.
Prediction: 1-0 Chelsea
