Paul Merson’s Premier League predictions including Man Utd v Man City and Forest v Arsenal | Football

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Often in derby games, form goes out of the window. It’s not the identical here because quite truthfully, I can’t see anything but a Manchester City win! I’d be amazed if Manchester United won.

Within the last two or three derbies, the competition was more even within the sense that we knew Manchester United had a probability. I can’t say it’s the identical now. Don’t get me mistaken, I still think City concede too many possibilities. But their attack is just miles ahead and can have an excessive amount of for United.

The appointment of Michael Carrick as interim head coach buys Manchester United time. And they need to now ensure they get it right each time they choose a everlasting manager. The reply might even be Carrick, who knows?

This decision is best than rushing it because people like Thomas Tuchel could come into the equation later. Manchester United should have sensed it too. Otherwise, they might have appointed someone everlasting already.

Antoine Semenyo has hit the bottom running at Manchester City. I don’t see him not being within the starting line-up for this game. He has been bought in for a reason and it’s to play games like these. I’d pick Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Semenyo because the front-three.

When Cherki doesn’t play, City have something missing. They form of struggle when he’s not on the pitch. This front three has goals, pace, power and guile in them. That ought to be enough to get all three points at Old Trafford.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Manchester United 1-3 Manchester City

Crystal Palace have hit a brick wall. I’ve been saying for a number of weeks that they give the impression of being drained and it’s taking a serious toll on them now. It was a shocking loss at Macclesfield, the largest ever upset in FA Cup history!

Sunderland are all the time competitive. A whole lot of their players are getting back from the AFCON now. What Sunderland have kept away from these players is incredible and they’re going to only get stronger.

Keep watch over Sunderland. In the event that they can put together a good run, I consider they will finish in the highest half of the table. Palace were all the time a dangerous team in my eyes. But they’re one-paced and a bit in all places now. I expect Sunderland to win.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Sunderland 2-0 Crystal Palace

It is a very interesting game. Brentford are flying. I didn’t see them getting relegated from the very starting. Igor Thiago has been the massive revelation of the season.

I saw the primary two games of Liam Rosenior’s reign at Chelsea. As per my understanding, what he’s attempting to do is play through the center. It worked against Charlton, who’re nowhere near the identical level. But they will’t keep playing that way!

We saw it against Arsenal within the Carabao Cup. They might be so up and down for the remainder of the season, in the event that they persist with that style. Chelsea will destroy some teams and get blown away by others.

Other than that, I wouldn’t pay an excessive amount of attention to the loss against Arsenal. Chelsea had many big players unavailable. When the fans saw the team, they might have only hoped for staying within the tie for the second leg.

Though Arsenal are terrific at home, going to the Emirates trailing 3-2 isn’t as bad as many individuals think. But I can assure you it should be an enormous ask for Chelsea in the event that they are receiving the ball in midfield with their backs to the Arsenal goal and are then forced to show and play through the center.

Chelsea fans will turn up expecting to win against Brentford on Saturday. But it is a hard game. Brentford are fidgeting with unbelievable confidence, while Chelsea are a work-in-progress. I feel the hosts will edge it.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Brentford

Barring the sport against Brighton, Burnley haven’t been well beat, they usually all the time work hard. I assumed that loss to Brighton was their worst performance over the festive period. Having said that, I can’t imagine Burnley getting something from this game.

Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike have returned to full fitness and were on the scoresheet within the FA Cup. No disrespect to Barnsley, but the extent of their opponents have to be considered.

From what I’ve noticed, when Wirtz plays, Liverpool operate on a distinct level. I expect him to recuperate and higher, not worse. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t turn out to be an enormous success at Liverpool.

The true fun starts again when Mohamed Salah returns from the AFCON! Does he go straight back into the XI? If I’m being honest, I don’t think Salah was excellent on the AFCON. Them days where he gets goals out of nothing are gone!

I don’t think Salah even gave his opponents’ full-back a tough time on the AFCON. I just don’t see him being that guy anymore. So it should be interesting to see if Liverpool feel the identical way.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Burnley

what? As a Chelsea fan, I’m not comfortable with Conor Gallagher joining Tottenham. But what a signing that’s! It’s just good from a Spurs perspective.

The one thing Tottenham struggle with is the dearth of legs in midfield. They’ll’t dominate games due to it and so Gallagher ticks every box. He might be infectious with the others within the sense that he’ll push his teammates to be higher.

I would love to think Gallagher goes straight into the line-up for this game. If he plays, Tottenham will beat West Ham! Spurs fans would demand just one thing from a player now – just work hard. Gallagher gives you that assurance.

The issue with Tottenham is that they only start playing once they’re losing games. We saw that within the second half against Aston Villa within the FA Cup. It was all done and dusted by the point they turned it on.

As I said, Spurs win if Gallagher plays. If he doesn’t, I feel West Ham win it 2-1!

Paul Merson’s prediction: Tottenham 2-1 West Ham

what nervous me about Leeds against Newcastle the opposite day? They kept going for it. They were playing well and kept stepping into for more. I feel they need to have just tried to accept some extent there.

Now that Leeds have lost that game, I hope it doesn’t come back to bite them again. They need to have just shut up and shop at 3-3 and walked away from St. James’ Park with a draw.

It is a massive game for Leeds. In the event that they lose to Fulham, they’re back within the battle to avoid relegation. Fulham look confident now. Harry Wilson looks like someone who’s going to attain each time he walks onto the pitch!

A win for Leeds would ensure safety in my view. They’re already eight points clear of West Ham. In the event that they get three points and West Ham lose this weekend, the gap becomes 11 points.

For the record, West Ham have won just three games in 21 games this season. So essentially, the Hammers can have to win 4 games from the remaining 16 and Leeds should mainly lose all of the upcoming matches for them to survive. That tells you all the pieces!

I expect Leeds to attain and provides away possibilities to Fulham. This may very well be an entertaining watch.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Leeds 2-2 Fulham

Nottingham Forest enjoyed an enormous result against West Ham last trip within the Premier League. They might have been 2-0 down in that game and ended up winning 2-1 courtesy of an 89th minute penalty. That was an enormous win for them.

But I just can’t look beyond an Arsenal win here. This game is a possible banana skin for the Gunners. These are the form of games that win you the league, not the one against Liverpool at home!

Arsenal must turn up and perform in a game they’re expected to win. If their attitude isn’t right, they might be up against from the beginning. I expect them to maintain the result quite comfortably.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Nottingham Forest 0-2 Arsenal

Wolves have turned a corner, haven’t they? They’re looking good in the meanwhile. If Jordan Pickford doesn’t make that incredible save at the tip, they might have beaten Everton within the last game.

I do know Wolves are still quite a lot of points away from safety, but they’re showing signs of being competitive. The great thing for them here is that Newcastle haven’t been very consistent.

You simply don’t know what you’re going to get from Newcastle. They’re entertaining in attack but very open on the back as well. Wolves have to stay in the sport and in some unspecified time in the future, they might be presented with a probability.

I expect Newcastle to win, but I don’t think it’s a simple game for them. Perhaps 4 weeks ago, this game had three points written throughout it but not anymore.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Wolves 1-2 Newcastle

Everton have really lost their way recently. They got well beat by Brentford, nervously held on for a draw against Wolves and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland on penalties. That’s one win in seven games now!

Aston Villa are team. Though Everton have performed well away from home, where they will sit back and hit teams on the break, Villa hold the upper hand on this one.

Iliman Ndiaye will only return after the AFCON final and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall continues to be injured. Without the 2 of them alongside Jack Grealish, Everton should not the identical team. I’m backing Villa to secure a cushty win. I hope Grealish gets reception at Villa park, but I doubt he’ll.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Aston Villa 3-0 Everton

I used to be fortunate to look at the cup game the opposite day and Bournemouth played some good football against Newcastle. Let’s not forget that during the last 12-18 months, they’ve sold 4 of their best players to 4 top clubs in Europe.

They get 12,000 fans on the stadium every weekend, incredible what they’re doing when it comes to performances despite losing such key players.

Brighton are also playing well in the meanwhile. Seven or eight weeks ago, I sat here and I used to be a bit nervous about them. But they’ve turned it around now. If you ought to watch goals this weekend, that is the sport for you.

Each teams like having a go at one another and if someone asked me which game can have probably the most goals this weekend, my best bet could be this one.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Andoni Iraola at the tip of the season. Six or seven weeks ago, we might have put him and Oliver Glasner as the highest candidates for the managerial job at Manchester United.

But when the job was actually available, each Iraola and Glasner were having a terrible run of form. It’s hard to appoint managers at big clubs once they’re going through such tricky runs. I ponder if either of them might be considered in the summertime, or has that ship already sailed? It’s all about timings in football, and only time will tell.

Paul Merson’s prediction: Brighton 2-2 Bournemouth