EPL 2013/14 Mega Thread - Previews, Reviews and General Discussion/Banter

[Tominator]

GAMEWEEK 5 PREVIEW


Norwich v Aston Villa
Should be a good game this one. Both sides have attacking weapons but look shaky in defence. A lot depends on how many Benteke can score. Villa also haven't kept a clean sheet in 25 games so expect Norwich to find the back of the net at some stage

KEY PLAYER: Christian Benteke

MY TIP: 1-1 draw



Liverpool v Southampton
Liverpool should win this one comfortably, if Sturridge keeps up his good form. Victor Moses may play in the hole with Coutinho out, while Southampton will find it hard to get past Mignolet and the tight Liverpool defence.

KEY PLAYER: Daniel Sturridge

MY TIP: 2-0 to Liverpool



Newcastle v Hull
Hull have been decimated by injuries, with defenders Maynor Figueroa and Paul McShane both out, and Robbie Brady a 50/50 to play, Hull will struggle to win you feel. Hatem Ben Arfa has been in ripping form and will be the focal point for the Toon again.

KEY PLAYER: Hatem Ben Arfa

MY TIP: 2-0 to Newcastle



West Bromich Albion v Sunderland
Stephane Sessegnon will make his West Brom debut against his old club. Both sides are struggling this season, yet to register a win, and West Brom's first goal of the season came in stoppage time last week. Sunderland showed glimpses of quality last week but yet to put a solid performance together.

KEY PLAYER: Stephane Sessegnon

MY TIP: 1-1 draw



West Ham v Everton
Another potentially low-scoring game this week. Romelu Lukaku will make his debut for Everton and will be motivated to prove Mourinho wrong by doing what he did for West Brom - score goals. West Ham have struggled to do that - score goals - and look a little bit out of sorts without Andy Carroll. Everton's undefeated run looks set to continue

KEY PLAYER: Romelu Lukaku

MY TIP: 1-0 to Everton



Chelsea v Fulham
Chelsea yet to find their rhythm but then again so are Fulham. The likes of Eto'o and Willian will make their home EPL debuts while Fulham will be eager to atone for last week's draw, when they scored three goals from offside positions and conceded in injury time. Although at Stamford Bridge it should prove too tough. Watch to see if Juan Mata plays this week.

KEY PLAYER: Eden Hazard

MY TIP: 3-0 to Chelsea



Arsenal v Stoke
This will be a tighter affair than people are expecting. Stoke have proven tough to get past and are playing well under Mark Hughes, and could easily have beaten Man City last week. But Arsenal's quality - Ozil, Walcott, Giroud, Ramsey - will all be looking to get involved again and should get the three points.

KEY PLAYER: Theo Walcott

MY TIP: 2-1 to Arsenal



Crystal Palace v Swansea
Swansea dominated against Valencia in the Europa League mid-week to win 3-0. Michu and Bony are starting to come into form, and they should easily get past Palace, who are yet to keep a clean sheet, though they played admirably against Manchester United last week. But Swansea will get it done here.

KEY PLAYER: Michu

MY TIP: 2-0 to Swansea



Cardiff v Tottenham
Roberto Soldado will be licking his chops at getting supply from a midfield really starting to gel, with the likes of Eriksen, Sigurdsson, Paulinho and Lamela. Cardiff are playing well so far in the EPL but Tottenham should get three points, and maybe a clean sheet too.

KEY PLAYER: Christian Eriksen

MY TIP: 2-0 to Tottenham



Manchester City v Manchester United
The match of the round. The Manchester Derby. Red vs Blue. And what a game it will be. Very hard to pick a winner, but neither side has shown their true best this season. David Silva will miss again, but Shinji Kagawa may get a start for United. This will be a cracking game - as all Manchester derbies are - that could go either way, so I'll sit on the fence and call a draw.

KEY PLAYER: Wayne Rooney

MY TIP: 2-2 draw

[Nige]

Traded out Sessegnon, but brought in Ramsey. I'm wondering whether that's gonna be the right move long-term now that Sess is at West Brom.

[specky92]

I'm excited, Foxtel is up and running, think ill watch at least 6 games, although could easily watch 10

[Tominator]

anyone else got predictions for the games?

[specky92]

I reckon Newcastle vs Hull could be a blowout, and think United will get up in the derby

[PowerBug]

Lukaku won't push Mirallas out of the XI will he? :\

[Vinny]

Thanks for that Tom! Helps with deciding who to play each week :)

[lolrocket]

Lukaku won't push Mirallas out of the XI will he? :\

You'd think he'd come in for Jelavic

[stew42]

My prediction for the Chelsea Fulham game:
Two quick goals in the first half to Bent and Berbatov, no, they'll start on the bench. Make that Sidwell and Ruiz. Then Chelsea kick 5 goals in the second half, leaving Jol with a dumb look on his face.

I'm still flowering powered off...

[T Dog]

My prediction for the Chelsea Fulham game:
Two quick goals in the first half to Bent and Berbatov, no, they'll start on the bench. Make that Sidwell and Ruiz. Then Chelsea kick 5 goals in the second half, leaving Jol with a dumb look on his face.

I'm still flowering powered off...

And hiding it so well Stew... ;D

[My Chumps]

Aston Villa beat Norwich 1 - 0 in the first game for the night.

That Kozak guy scored after coming on the field for Benteke who came off with a leg injury (I haven't seen the incident). Guzan saved a penalty for Villa amongst some other quality saves.

[Vinny]

Hamstring I hear.

I am so flowering lucky..10 second away from bringing him in but it already locked out. :D

Close call there!

[specky92]

Looked like a groin injury to me, he foot slipped as he was trying to jump, and on the sideline he was doing the groin warmup before getting subbed

[Vinny]

Aston Villa FC        ✔ @AVFCOfficial

Paul Lambert told by his medical team that Christian Benteke has a hip flexor injury. Hopes it's not too serious. #AVFC
12:12 AM - 22 Sep 2013

[Nige]

"Hamstring I hear"... "Looked like a groin injury to me"... Nek minnit... Hip flexor!  :(