Each week, The National Deputy Sports Editor Thomas Woods predicts the outcomes of the English Premier League. In Week 3, our man got three correct results from 10 predictions, with no correct scores. Can he do better in Week 4? Here are his results for the season.
Liverpool 2 West Ham 1
Why? West Ham pulled off an upset on the opening day against Arsenal but it's hard to imagine them doing it again against a Liverpool side who have improved defensively with each game. Christian Benteke will look to dominate a defence that conceded four last week.
Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
Why? Newcastle's defensive performance in the 0-0 draw at Manchester United was pretty good and they need to build on that to make St James' Park a tougher place to take points. Aleksandar Mitrovic, their volatile new signing, looks like he will be a real handful for Premier League defences this season. Arsenal are one of several top sides with scoring issues this season – only one goal from an Arsenal player in three games – and that will hurt their chances of three points.
Aston Villa 1 Sunderland 0
Why? Two sides who evidently going to struggle this season, but Villa at home will have the edge. Scott Sinclair is their wild card – he has supreme pace and has netted two hat-tricks recently – one in pre-season and one in the League Cup on Tuesday. If he is on form Villa should win.
Bournemouth 1 Leicester City 0
Why? Callum Wilson's treble at West Ham last week sent Bournemouth to their first points of the season and they can build on that with a first home win. On paper, there should be plenty of goals but I'm expecting both managers to take a tighter approach.
Chelsea 2 Crystal Palace 0
Why? Chelsea looked brilliant in attack in Sunday's 3-2 win at West Brom, but still have defensive flaws to iron out. They will be without John Terry against Palace, but Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill have the ability to stunt a pacey Palace forward line. It will be interesting to see how effective Pedro – awesome on the counter attack last week – is against a team likely to sit back for most of the game.
Manchester City 3 Watford 0
Why? There is a scenario where Watford get something out of this game – go into the break at 0-0, hope City get frustrated, grab a counter attack goal, defend for dear life. The home side did stumble in several similar fixtures last season – games they were expected to win – but they are on too much of a roll at the moment to be stopped. Three wins, eight goals and none conceded in three games.
Stoke City 2 West Bromwich Albion 0
Why? I backed Stoke for a win last week at Norwich and they failed to deliver, but the basis of a really attacking side is in place and they should be able to stunt a West Brom side who are missing the pace of Saido Berahino up front.
Tottenham Hotspur 2 Everton 2
Why? Two sides who are hard to analyse at the moment – Everton played pretty well against Manchester City last Sunday but lost 2-0 at home. Tottenham could easily be sat on seven points yet they have not played anywhere near their best. Harry Kane is under pressure to open his account and he should deliver in a game that might surprise a few with plenty of goals.
Southampton 2 Norwich 0
Why? Southampton's secret weapon this season might be Jay Rodriguez. The England striker missed all of last season with injury, but before that he was part of a thrilling forward line and this Southampton side needs a kick start. Norwich should not pose too many problems on the road, despite thrashing Sunderland in their first away game. That result says more about Sunderland than it does about Norwich's forward line.
Swansea City 1 Manchester United 1
Why? Few sides will come away from the Liberty Stadium this season with maximum points against a well organised Swansea side with plenty of firepower. The battle between Bafetimbi Gomis and Chris Smalling should be enthralling. United haven't shown enough in attack this season to suggest they will create enough chances for a win.
