Premier League Gameweek 8 Preview and Predictions: Manchester City look to keep 100% record as Carrick faces the chop
The Premier League never fails to throw up narratives and storylines for us to sink our teeth into, and this week will be no different.
Manchester City will try to maintain their 100% winning record as they face red-hot Aston Villa at Villa Park, a fixture won by the Villains in each of the last three seasons.
Tottenham, fresh off their first win of the season against Coventry on Monday, travel to Stamford Bridge as they look to steer themselves clear of the bottom three.
Meanwhile, Michael Carrick faces the sack if Manchester United don’t beat Bournemouth on Sunday, with Eddie Howe emerging as the favourite to replace him.
Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest
Forest sit 19th under new manager Oliver Glasner and are the league's lowest-scoring team, netting just five in their first seven games.
The Eagles have underperformed their xG by -6.2, making them the worst finishers in the division, and former Ipswich striker Liam Delap will be determined to add to his season’s tally of one Premier League goal.
Ipswich have had an encouraging start to the season under Gary O’Neil and sit 10th, winning three games and losing four.
The Tractor Boys are due a draw, and Palace are due some goals; I predict we’ll get both.
Prediction: 2-2
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Enzo Maresca became the first manager to win their first seven Premier League games in charge of a club last week as his side beat Ipswich 3-2.
City sit three points clear of Arsenal atop the table and have continued to rack up wins despite the off-field uncertainty the club faces, having been found guilty of breaking the league’s financial regulations.
Phil Foden bagged a hat-trick as City thrashed AEK Athens in the Champions League on Tuesday and will hope to keep his place alongside fit-again Erling Haaland.
Unai Emery has won four of his last six league games against City, and each of the last three at Villa Park.
After a poor start to the season, Villa have hit a rich vein of form, thrashing Viking and Fenerbahce in Europe and beating Newcastle away last weekend.
New signings Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson have taken seamlessly to the difficult task of replacing Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers.
Prediction: 3-2
Arsenal vs Everton
Arsenal battled hard to rescue a draw against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but lost Bukayo Saka to a quad injury in the process.
The Gunners have won six games out of seven as they attempt to defend their Premier League title, the one loss coming against Brighton.
Arteta’s men have the best defensive record in the league, conceding just five goals so far.
Eighth-placed Everton have lost just once this season, a defeat to Chelsea last weekend, but have struggled to turn draws into victories.
This is a tough assignment for David Moyes’ men, and I think they will come up short.
Prediction 3-0
Coventry vs Fulham
An early bottom-of-the-table six-pointer.
Fulham finally managed their first Premier League win under Alvaro Arbeloa last week against Hull City and will fancy their chances against another promoted team.
After four straight losses to start the season, Lampard’s Coventry beat Forest and smashed Newcastle 4-1 in consecutive games, before losing to Tottenham on Monday, leaving them one place ahead of Fulham in 17th.
Jack Rudoni has two in two for the Sky Blues, while 19-year-old Josh King has been the standout player for the Cottagers.
Prediction 1-1
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea have climbed into the top four after last week’s win against Everton; only Brighton (23) and Manchester City (19) have netted more goals than Xabi Alonso’s side (17).
Chelsea have won each of the last six league games against Tottenham, and another victory here would set a new record for consecutive victories against their London rivals.
Emi Martinez will be absent after fracturing his jaw in a cringe-inducing collision with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite during the 2-0 win.
Tottenham finally picked up their first league win of the season against Coventry, which lifted them off the base of the table.
James Maddison scored on his return to the starting 11 and Dejan Kulusevski made his first appearance in 526 days, giving Spurs fans something to smile about at long last.
I predict they will ride the good vibes to a positive result at the Bridge.
Prediction: 2-2
Hull vs Brentford
The Tigers made a strong start to the season, beating Manchester United and drawing with Chelsea and Villa, but haven’t won in six in all competitions.
They sit ninth in the league after last week’s loss at Craven Cottage.
Brentford are in sixth with 10 points, but lost their first game of the season last weekend against Liverpool after midfielder Yehor Yarmoliuk was sent off for headbutting Jeremy Jacquet.
The Bees are yet to win away this season, but have a good chance to change that here.
Prediction: 1-3
Liverpool vs Brighton
Liverpool have beaten Brentford and Bournemouth either side of a 3-0 loss to Manchester City at Anfield in the league, and sit fifth with 12 points.
The Reds beat Villarreal 4-3 on Tuesday with Rio Ngumoha becoming the youngest Liverpool player to assist a goal in the Champions League.
The mercurial young winger may start against Brighton as Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz each missed training on Thursday with knocks.
Brighton have made their best-ever start to a Premier League season, sitting third with 16 points from seven matches, and look well set to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
The Seagulls have the division’s best attack, scoring 23 goals, including 5-0 wins against Coventry and Palace and a 3-0 victory against champions Arsenal.
Prediction 2-2
Manchester United Vs Bournemouth
Michael Carrick’s future as Manchester United manager is dangling by a thread after a demoralising 4-1 loss to Como in midweek.
United have won just once and collected seven points, marking their worst start to a league season in 40 years.
Club captain Bruno Fernandes and Youri Tielemans each seemed to criticise the tactics after the Como loss, adding to the turmoil.
Bournemouth have struggled in the league, picking up just six points, but have just secured the greatest win in the club’s history against AC Milan in the Europa League.
The 3-0 victory against former United manager Ruben Amorim’s side may kick-start the Cherries’ season, and there is no better team to face right now than the Red Devils.
Prediction: 1-2
Crystal Palace vs Newcastle
Both teams come into this one struggling for form.
Palace were smashed by Brighton last week and were lucky to beat Forest the week before.
Newcastle have lost three of their last four league games, including 4-1 defeats to Leeds and Coventry.
Prediction: 1-1
Sunderland vs Leeds
Sunderland are propping up the Premier League table and are without a Premier League win since August.
Conversely, Leeds have had a fine start to the campaign; they sit seventh and were unlucky not to get more from games against Manchester United and Arsenal in recent weeks.
Prediction: 2-2
Comments