Chelsea go marching on, Arsenal pile the pressure on Liverpool: Premier League predictions

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With another weekend of Premier League football fast approaching, Thomas Woods offers his predictions on the outcome of each fixture.

Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 0

Why? Most people will expect this to be a bit of a rout, with Bournemouth leaking goals and having lost four in a row. But United have sometimes struggled to see off teams in the bottom half of the table — their 0-0 draw with Hull City three games ago being a case in point. This will be 0-0 at half time and a close win for the hosts.

Leicester City 1 Hull City 1

Why? Leicester produced a stunning performance to beat Liverpool 3-1 in their first game following Claudio Ranieri's sacking. Can they keep it up? This is still the team that has performed terribly for most of the season and Hull can travel to the King Power Stadium confident of getting a point

Stoke City 2 Middlesbrough 0

Why? Stoke will put in a big performance after a shocking defensive display in the 4-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Middlesbrough are the right kind of team for a bounce-back result too — Aitor Karanka's side have not scored in three games.

Swansea City 2 Burnley 1

Why? Burnley secured only their second away point of the season in last week's draw at Hull, but they are still weak on the road. One of the major positives about Swansea's revival under Paul Clement is that they have started scoring more goals. They have netted in their past five games and Gylfi Sigurdsson has a goal or an assist in each of those.

Watford 1 Southampton 2

Why? Southampton may well have found themselves a 20-goal striker in Italian Manolo Gabbiadini. After a two-goal display in the League Cup final against Manchester United, the 25-year-old forward now has five goals in just three games for his new club. Against a side without a clean sheet in five games, he will probably score again.

West Bromwich Albion 2 Crystal Palace 0

Why? Palace look like a side who are going down no matter what. Their talent on paper is not translating to goals or performances. What chance do they stand against this strong West Brom side who have won more games at home this season than Palace have won in total? Almost zero.

Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2

Why? Shocking. The only way to describe Liverpool's performance at Leicester on Monday night. Their talented front line is stuttering and their defence, predictably, is becoming a major weakness. Arsenal, fresh from a two-week break and with arguably the league's best player in Alexis Sanchez, can take a vital three points here in a result which will likely start Liverpool's tumble to sixth place.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Everton 1

Why? This could be the match of the round as two in-form teams with big-name strikers — Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku — face off. Home advantage gives Tottenham the edge, but it will be interesting to see how they cope with the combination of power and pace that Lukaku and Ademola Lookman offer — especially if one or both of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen miss the game with injury.

Sunderland 0 Manchester City 4

Why? The writing is on the wall for Sunderland who should concede a hatful against City. David Moyes's team produce one result every so often to give them hope, but they lack quality in almost every department. Luck has deserted them too — last week they hit the bar at 1-0 down to Everton, who scored a second a minute later.

West Ham United 0 Chelsea 3

Why? Chelsea are in a great situation where, while most of their rivals struggle with two games a week due to European commitments, Antonio Conte can field almost the same XI every week. It took Chelsea a while to break Swansea down last week, but West Ham will be in for a long afternoon — especially with key man Michail Antonio banned.

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