Manchester United edge Swansea, Liverpool lose at Southampton – The National’s EPL predictions

Chelsea v Burnley: Games following Champions League ties are always tricky but Chelsea have enough in the tank to see off a Burnley side with the league’s joint-worst defence. Danny Ings will be a threat up front for the visitors, so Burnley to score, Chelsea and Diego Costa to score far more. 4-1. Christophe Ena / AP Photo

Crystal Palace v Arsenal: Arsenal have their own Champions League tie to prepare for when they host Monaco on Wednesday. Expect manager Arsene Wenger to rest a couple of his players, with Alexis Sanchez the most likely candidate. Palace have played well enough recently to earn at least a point. 1-1. Ian Kington / AFP

Hull v QPR: QPR got their first away win of the season at Sunderland last time out but it will be back to reality on Saturday. A point separates the teams in 16th and 17th places but Hull should carry on from their last home game, when they beat Villa 2-0, thanks to the in-form Dame N’Doye. 2-0. Mark Runnacles / Getty

Sunderland v West Brom: This will be a high-scoring affair – just look at the strikers on show. Jermain Defoe – the QPR defeat aside – has sparked Sunderland’s attack into life while Brown Ideye, above, and Saido Berahino have hit form in a big way over the past three games. If Tony Pulis plays both up front, the visitors have a great chance of winning. 2-3. Michael Regan / Getty

Swansea v Manchester United: Louis van Gaal must realise by now that his side respond better to playing a classic 4-4-2 – his players appear much more comfortable in that formation. If he goes with that, United will win. If not, it is anyone’s guess as Swansea aren’t playing too well, either. 0-1. Carl Recine / Reuters

Manchester City v Newcastle: City host Barcelona in Europe on Tuesday, but I don’t think Manuel Pellegrini can consider resting any of his team given how poorly they have played recently. The 4-1 away win at Stoke, hopefully, is a sign of a turnaround. They welcome Yaya Toure back on Saturday and should grab three points. 1-0. Oli Scarff / AFP

Tottenham v West Ham: Having played on Thursday night, Spurs will be up against it with West Ham looking for a vast improvement from their 4-0 FA Cup drubbing at West Brom. Their striker force of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho has a lot of pace to trouble Tottenham. 1-1. Paul Ellis / AFP

Everton v Leicester City: Here is your home banker of the weekend. Everton have conceded only once – Willian’s deflected shot for Chelsea – in their past four games. Leicester have lost four on the bounce. Romelu Lukaku, centre, should grab a hat-ful. 3-0. Chris Brunskill / Getty

Southampton v Liverpool: The combination of Europa League commitments and the probable loss of Raheem Sterling will add up to a Liverpool defeat here. The combination of Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle, above, and Eljero Elia up front will be key against an iffy Liverpool defence – particularly the cumbersome Mamadou Sakho. 1-0. Richard Heathcote / Getty

Ahead of this weekend’s English Premier League fixtures, Thomas Woods attempts to predict the outcome of each match.

Click through the photo gallery to found out each prediction.

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