Each week, The National predicts the outcomes of the English Premier League. Filling in for Sports Editor Thomas Woods, Sports Web Editor Jonathan Raymond picks Tottenham Hotspur to win and Liverpool to lay a memorable beating on Sunderland. Here are our results for the season.
Watford 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Why? Tottenham have only lost twice away all season – to Anderlecht in the Europa League and on the opening day of the Premier League campaign against Manchester United – so at the very least a result would seem in order. But with Harry Kane in extended goalscoring form, scoring in seven of his last ten club matches in all competitions, the guess is Spurs find a narrow opening against a Watford team not to be taken lightly.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Swansea City
Why? Outside an ugly 3-0 reverse to Leicester, Swansea actually haven't been all that bad during their swoon, playing both Liverpool and Manchester City tough in losses. Couple that with Palace missing some of their attacking verve in the absence of the influential Yannick Bolasie, not to mention Connor Wickham, and it feels like there's a chance for Swansea to steal one here.
West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Newcastle United
Why? Newcastle, for as erratic as they tend to be, have settled down a bit in their last few matches and West Brom are a pretty consistently conservative side, lacking a real match-winning attacking threat. The hunch is that Georginio Wijnaldum gets back on the scoresheet for Newcastle and Saido Berahino finally poaches a late equaliser for West Brom.
Everton 2-1 Stoke City
Why? Everton can be shaky at the back, especially so at home, but Stoke have a joint second-worst six away goals scored this season and aren't a real breakout threat to take advantage of that. Romelu Lukaku and Co, however, have enough strength to crack a generally tough Stoke defence – just enough.
Norwich City 2-0 Aston Villa
Why? Norwich are capable of occasionally stringing a nice attacking day together, and at home against Aston Villa, why not? Remi Garde hasn't come close to fixing any of the issues that plagued Tim Sherwood, and Norwich are plenty good enough to beat the comfortably.
Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea
Why? Manchester United, despite some ghastly results recently, still have a strong defensive foundation, and catch Chelsea at an opportune time with Diego Costa serving a one-match ban. The now Guus Hiddink-managed champions rarely seem to have a noticeable direction when Costa isn't in and firing, and United ought to be able to slip at least one in.
Arsenal 3-1 Bournemouth
Why? Take a deep breath. Boxing Day's stunning capitulation to Southampton probably isn't, in the grand scheme of things, a sign of an imminent Arsenal collapse. Weird things happen. And, while Bournemouth aren't a bad team, Arsene Wenger's charges are still good enough to pick them apart and signal a solid bounce back.
West Ham 1-2 Southampton
Why? West Ham haven't taken three points since October, and even that seems more recent than it feels. They've scored four goals total since that 2-1 win over Chelsea on October 24. They'll score a fifth and break a run of five straight draws, but only by losing to a Southampton team that are better, and deserve more, than their recent form suggests – as they showed against Arsenal. Shane Long could be primed for a nice goals run.
Leicester City 3-3 Manchester City
Why? Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez just got shut out for the first time since May, and that shouldn't be expected to happen again against a Manchester City side who will be missing their defensive glue in Vincent Kompany. Still, last year's runners-up can no doubt fight fire with fire, with Kevin De Bruyne growing quickly into being the club's midfield orchestrator. The actual outcome could swing one way or another – in any case it should be wild.
Sunderland 0-5 Liverpool
Why? Liverpool are overdue for this kind of outburst, which they've shown on occasion they are capable of (remember when they beat Man City 4-1? That really happened!) Jurgen Klopp will be smart to mercilessly press a Sunderland side that haven't shown they can credibly bother a good attacking team in some time. If Livepool can get one or two in early, the floodgates will open.
