Premier League Week 5 Preview

Premier League football action returns this weekend after an exciting opening week in Europe, with mouthwatering matches lineup for the delight of soccer fans around the world.

As usual, News Round The Clock brings you a preview of the matches to look forward, with the star match unarguably the derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, Nuno Espirito Santo’s lines up his boys for his London derby.

Newcastle United vs Leeds

A 4-1 loss at Manchester United leaves Newcastle one point and one place off the foot of the table. They lost both meetings with Leeds last season, but may feel confident of putting a first win on the board on Friday night.

Newcastle’s confidence is further boosted by the fact that Leeds themselves have not fared any better in the season. Like Newcastle, Leeds have also made a poor start to the campaign, with the Whites picking just two points from a possible 12 in their first four match. Newcastle have however have conceded more league goals than Leeds, 12 to 11 this season.

Both sides have endured their opening round struggles, but Leeds will be backed to secure that first win of the campaign in what may be a repeat of last season’s result at St. James’ Park.

Prediction: 1-2

Wolves vs Brentford

Wolves finally earned their first win of the season at Watford last time, and crucially scored their first goal of the campaign. They’ll aim to use that victory as a springboard when they take on Brentford, another promoted side on Saturday.

Brentford are on a three-match winless run after their opening night 2-0 win over Arsenal. That said, a narrow 1-0 loss to Brighton was their first league defeat of the campaign, so alarm bells won’t be ringing for the west London side just yet.

Now that Wolves have finally scored their first goal of the season, they will be boosted and with home advantage, too, Bruno Lage should oversee a second successive league win.

Prediction: 2-1

Burnley vs Arsenal

Burnley were blitzed by Everton at Goodison Park on Monday night, falling to a 3-1 loss on Merseyside after taking the lead against Rafa Benitez’s men. The Clarets have started the season poorly, picking up one point from their opening four matches.

After three successive defeats to kick off the season, Arsenal secured their first league victory at Norwich’s expense on Saturday. The Gunners have failed to win their last two trips to Turf Moor, however

Burnley won’t make things easy for Arsenal on Saturday afternoon and a third successive draw between the pair at Turf Moor is possible.

Prediction: 1-1

Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

Liverpool were pushed all the way by AC Milan in the Champions League in midweek but edged a five-goal thriller. They have won four of their first five games this season.

Crystal Palace will be full of confidence after beating London rivals Tottenham 3-0 last time out. Unfortunately, however, they’ve lost eight in a row against Liverpool.

Prediction: 3-0

Manchester City vs Southampton

Manchester City ran out 6-3 winners over RB Leipzig in midweek. Pep Guardiola’s side have now scored 5+ goals in three of their last four matches. Not bad for a team that didn’t sign a striker in the summer.

Southampton held West Ham to a 0-0 draw last weekend, meaning they have now drawn three successive matches in the Premier League. They have lost their last five matches away to City.

Prediction: 2-0

Norwich vs Watford

Norwich sit bottom of the Premier League after losing their opening four league matches. The Canaries have also lost their last two home league meetings with Watford, which is hardly a good omen.

After a 3-2 win over Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the season, Watford have lost their last three, failing to score in all three defeats.

They’ll hope a trip to a fellow promoted side is the perfect place to secure a second win of 2021/22.

The duo have struggled in the opening weeks of the season and they may cancel one another out at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Prediction: 1-1

Aston Villa vs Everton

After a relatively torrid run of results against Everton, Aston Villa are now unbeaten in four against the Toffees and knows that a result here is important if they are to avoid slipping towards the relegation zone.

Everton have made an unbeaten start under Rafa Benitez and while their summer window was largely scoffed at, Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray have both proven to be extremely shrewd signings so far.

The hosts have something close to their strongest squad available for the first time and will hope that home advantage proves decisive, but a share of the spoils looks likely.

Prediction: 2-2

Brighton & Holve Albion vs Leicester City

Brighton have three wins from their first four matches, whereas Leicester have won two and have lost two in the Premier League.

Leicester will be kicking themselves after spurning a two-goal lead against Napoli on Thursday only to draw 2-2.

Leicester remarkably rank bottom in the Premier League for key passes per game this season and could be set for another frustrating game here.
Prediction: 1-1

West Ham vs Manchester United

West Ham will be full of confidence after their 2-0 win away to Dinamo Zagreb to open their Europa League campaign.

David Moyes fielded a stronger side than expected, however, the big question now is how his players deal with a Thursday-Sunday schedule they aren’t used to.

Manchester United, on the other hand, suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat away to Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under scrutiny for his tactics in the defeat.

They have only really played well in patches this season, so there is definitely a reason to believe West Ham can get a result even without star striker Michail Antonio who is out due to a red card he picked up last weekend.

Prediction: 2-2

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea

Tottenham saw their 100% start to the league season come to an abrupt end at Crystal Palace on Saturday when they were thumped 3-0.

A second successive London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium should provide plenty of motivation for Spurs, however.

Chelsea maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 1-0 win over Zenit having secured a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday evening.

The Blues are unbeaten in their last three trips across the capital. They won the last two league meetings between the pair on Spurs’ turf. That record may continue on Sunday afternoon.

Prediction: 0-2