Paul Merson’s Premier League predictions, including Arsenal v Chelsea and Man Utd v Crystal Palace | Football

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Merson: ‘Aston Villa have gotten to win this game. The race to qualify for the Champions League is getting very tight. Manchester United are only three points behind Villa, while Chelsea are six points adrift.

‘I don’t see Chelsea beating Arsenal this weekend. So if Villa can beat Wolves here, they open up a nine point advantage over Chelsea. With 10 games to go after this, I don’t think Chelsea can catch Villa if that happens, especially considering the Blues’ tough run of fixtures.

‘Wolves have looked decent at times. But they need to start out winning games as an alternative of looking good in patches. If we take their result against Arsenal out of our heads, you may’t see them beating Villa on this one. I imagine Villa will seal Champions League qualification with a win here.’

Prediction: Wolves 0-2 Aston Villa

Merson: ‘Sunderland are on a slippery run in the mean time. They did all the great work early on within the season so that they’re not in trouble. That loss against Fulham last weekend would have hurt them.

‘Bournemouth, meanwhile, are turning a corner now. They’re beginning to look good again and at home, I’ll must back them to get the win.

‘Sunderland haven’t been poor in recent games. It’s just that every one their opponents were in effective form, which can be the case with Bournemouth now.’

Prediction: Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland

Merson: ‘West Ham are fighting for his or her lives and got an enormous result with the draw against Bournemouth last weekend. The undeniable fact that Nottingham Forest were extremely unlucky against Liverpool helped West Ham. Now, they’re only one result away from getting out of the relegation zone.

‘As we speak West Ham are joined by Forest and Tottenham within the battle to avoid relegation. The team that stays up shall be the one which produces an enormous lead to the approaching weeks. I expect one among them to get a win where all of us go, ‘how did they try this?’ Will it’s West Ham? Not this week, no.

‘Liverpool were atrocious against Forest last weekend. But I expect them to win here. There may be a whole lot of speak about whether Rio Ngumoha ought to be starting games for Liverpool. It’s hard in the mean time due to the position Liverpool find themselves in.

‘Ngumoha is a terrific talent and he has a vivid future. But Liverpool’s Champions League qualification is on the road and they can not afford to miss out on it. That’s why I feel Arne Slot will keep on with experience over youth.

‘There may be also absolutely no way Ibrahima Konate is signing a brand new deal at Liverpool! I feel they’ll keep Van Dijk and convey someone in through the summer. Jeremy Jacquet has joined them but he doesn’t have the experience. It’s going to be hard for Liverpool to search out the proper substitute for Konate in the present market.

‘West Ham’s momentum has modified, one defeat in eight games just isn’t a nasty run. Their big game is against Fulham in midweek. In the event that they fail to win that game, they might get relegated because after that fixture, it’s Manchester City at home and Aston Villa away. By the point they face Wolves after these games, it could all be over.’

Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 West Ham

Merson: ‘Each Newcastle and Everton are stuck in mid-table positions. At this rate, I don’t expect either of them to qualify for European football next season.

‘I believed Newcastle were unlucky against Manchester City last weekend. They did cause City some problems in that game. Eddie Howe and his team need to start out putting together a run from here. It’s been a little bit of a stop-start season for Newcastle.

‘Nick Woltemade is being made to play out of position because he hasn’t got that pace. Newcastle are a counter-attacking team with Anthony Elanga, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy in it. If you put Woltemade because the centre-forward amongst those players, you slow the team down.

‘Yoane Wissa has also been nowhere near his old self, with injuries not helping his case because the move to Newcastle. I’m still going to offer them a probability here because they’re playing at home.’

Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Everton

Merson: ‘I can’t see anything but a Brentford win here. I need to admit they looked a bit jaded in that disappointing loss to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. Burnley did great to get a draw against Chelsea, but I feel they’ll get ripped to shreds on this game!

‘Brentford have been very impressive. In the event that they had won against Brighton last outing, they might have gone above Chelsea with a win this weekend. It at all times happens to groups like Brentford once they get near European qualification. They should get used to the pressure of being around these places.

‘I’m backing a snug win for Keith Andrews’ team.’

Prediction: Burnley 1-3 Brentford

Merson: ‘That is the defining weekend. Leeds have been doing well. They got result against Aston Villa, in fact, unlucky to concede that goal in the long run. But some extent away from home at Villa Park isn’t bad in any respect.

‘Leeds have troubled most of the big boys this season. I expect them to cause City problems. I’m going for a draw on this very difficult game for Manchester City.

‘It’s a little bit of madness in me to go for a draw here, however it’s more out of hope really. There’s still something missing with City. Even against Newcastle, they went ahead and as an alternative of running away with the sport, they really kept their opponents in the sport.

‘Nico O’Reilly scored two great goals against Newcastle. But I wouldn’t say he’s a shoo-in to make the midfield for the England squad on the World Cup. He’s a flexible player so possibly he’s got a probability at left-back.’

Prediction: Leeds 1-1 Manchester City

Merson: ‘Nottingham Forest were outstanding against Liverpool, but they simply couldn’t get the result in the long run. This can be a hard game to call. I’m not going to get carried away by that performance from Forest last weekend and I’ll inform you why.

‘In case your team played that well they usually couldn’t win, that could be a major concern in my view. Liverpool were atrocious in the primary half, never seen them play like that. Forest must have made it count!

‘West Ham face Liverpool and Leeds host Manchester City this weekend. So coming into this game, Forest would have considered this as probability to drag themselves clear of the drop zone. I spoke about how one among the teams within the relegation battle will pull out a result that can surprise us in the approaching weeks. Forest might be that team.

‘Nonetheless, I just think Brighton will take confidence from the win at Brentford to make it two wins on the bounce here.’

Prediction: Brighton 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Merson: ‘I’ve played a whole lot of derbies against Tottenham and seen lots of these matches after I left Arsenal. By way of the gulf between the 2 teams, I’ve not seen anything just like the past two games!

‘That’s what worries me about Spurs. I don’t expect them to be relegated, but they’re 100 per cent involved within the race with Forest and West Ham. I’d be shocked in the event that they went down. They’ve the most effective stadium within the Premier League. Imagine that venue hosting Championship matches.

‘If Tottenham had Chelsea’s fixtures until the top of the season, they’d be relegated! And if Chelsea had Spurs’ fixtures, they’d qualify for Champions League. So a minimum of Tottenham have the form of fixtures where they’ll play their way out of this mess.

‘I don’t see anything but a Fulham win here. I just don’t see how Tottenham turn it around on this game. London derby, massive pressure on Spurs. I feel Fulham playing with none pressure will help them win.’

Prediction: Fulham 2-1 Tottenham

Merson: ‘I can’t see anything but a Manchester United win here. They’re on such a roll by way of results. I say that because they weren’t playing well but still won against Everton.

‘Everyone knows that this just isn’t the Crystal Palace from six months ago. In the event that they were still that team, I might have said Manchester United have a troublesome game.

‘Actually, let’s imagine the identical about United as well. They appear completely different from six months ago. It’s like chalk and cheese for each teams.

‘The large advantage for Manchester United is that they only play once per week and may rest well. I expect them to secure a snug win.’

Prediction: Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace

Merson: ‘Massive game. We saw within the Carabao Cup how Chelsea parked the bus. I feel Chelsea can’t afford to do this again. They must go for it on this one. If Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester United win like I predicted, Chelsea are under serious pressure.

‘Chelsea let in a goal every week without fail! It was a very bad result against Burnley last weekend. I expect Chelsea to be a threat but I can’t see them keeping a clean sheet on this game. Other than one or two winnable games, all the upcoming fixtures till the top of the season shall be an enormous challenge for Chelsea.

‘Arsenal should go together with Eberechi Eze on this game. He scored twice within the derby, so I can’t see it being every other way. Barring the Manchester United game, Arsenal are still unbeaten at home. But this continues to be a troublesome game for them because they’ve to return out and win this. They didn’t have to do this within the second leg of the cup game on the Emirates!

‘If Leeds beat City, Arsenal have a free hit here. Otherwise, they need to not lose. I imagine they’ll just edge Chelsea and secure three points.’

Prediction: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea