Barclays Premier League Week 9 Predictions

Now that I'm over my (non-Ebola) sickness, it's time for another week of Premier League predictions! My mediocre record of 9-9-2 is sure to improve after this week and maybe I'll actually get a win with my Bet of the Week pick.

UPDATE MON 7:15 PM EST

Week 9 Record: 7-3-0 (3 Exact Wins)
Bet of the Week Record: 0-1-0
Season Record: 16-12-2
Season Bet of the Week Record: 0-2-1

West Ham vs. Manchester City

Prediction: 1-3

Analysis: Despite West Ham sitting in 4th place in the table, despite West Ham being at home, despite West Ham's 3-1 over Burnley and 2-0 win over QPR, I just don't think they have a chance against Man City. Man City is too powerful of a team for anyone in the league to compete against them besides Chelsea (And even Chelsea only came away with a draw against them). So yes, I think Man City has no problem winning this game and I'm going with a 3-1 win and taking Man City -1.

Pick: Manchester City -1; -119

Final Outcome: 2-1. LOSS.

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Barclays Premier League Week 7 Predictions

After changing the format at which I grade my predictions, I'm now coming off a pretty good record from Week 6. I even had 2 exact score predictions! But this week I'm looking to do even better than 5-3-2. My goal is at least 6-2-2. Hopefully my bet of the week will be a win this week as well, since Chelsea ended up winning only 3-0 and my pick of over 3 was only a push. As usual, the bet of the week will be in bold, red font.

UPDATE: SUNDAY 8:40 PM EST

Week 7 Record: 4-6-0
Bet of the Week Record: 0-1-0
Season Record: 9-9-2
Season Bet of the Week Record: 0-1-1

Sunderland vs. Stoke City

Prediction: 1-1

Analysis: Sunderland ended up playing in the boring game of the week last week, ending with a 0-0 draw against Swansea City. It's a little hard to tell if Sunderland played better than they have been or Swansea is still falling apart after being the early surprise of the season. On the other hand, Stoke did exactly what I was expecting (literally) and came away with a 1-0 win against Newcastle last week. You won't see Stoke involved in too many high scoring match-ups this season so I'm going to go with a 1-1, having Sunderland squeak away with another much needed point.

Pick: Stoke pk, +1/2; -132

Final Outcome: 3-1. LOSS.

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Barclays Premier League Week 6 Predictions

This is the week I improve my record! Okay, probably not but there's always hope and you don't want to miss out on when I have a winning record for the week. Despite my 3-7 record, I actually didn't do too bad last time. For example, technically this was considered a loss, but I guessed a 3-2 Man City victory over Arsenal and it ended up being 2-2. Once again my favorite pick of the week will be in bold red letters.

MONDAY 8:00 PM EST UPDATE

My season record will be reseting due to a format change. The record will now be based on my betting picks instead of my game predictions.

Week 6 Record: 5-3-2 (With 2 Exact Score Predictions!)
Season Record: 5-3-2
Bet of the Week Record: 0-0-1

Liverpool vs. Everton

Prediction: 1-2

Analysis: I've got to go for the upset in the latest Merseyside Derby. Both teams are coming off bad losses to teams they should've beat so no one has the momentum coming into this game. Yes, Liverpool is at home. Yes, Liverpool has been somewhat better than Everton this season. But Everton usually shows up in games where they're expecting a tough matchup. Watch for much better goalkeeping by the toffees in this game. Tim Howard will come up big this week.

Pick: Everton +1/2; -104

Final Outcome: 1-1. WIN.

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Barclays Premier League Week 4 Predictions

Now that the international break (which is useless in my opinion since we just had the World Cup) is over I can dive into making some predictions for week 4. I'm also adding my favorite pick of the week into my weekly predictions now (Pick is written in red and bold). The analysis portion of these predictions will end up being relatively short due to the international break making me forget my instant reactions to week 3 and the fact that I'm running out of time to make these predictions. Hopefully I can improve on my 4-6 record from last week.

FINAL SCORES UPDATE

Week 3 Record: 4-6
Week 4 Record: 3-7
Season Record: 7-13


Arsenal vs. Manchester City

Prediction: 2-3

Analysis: I don't think anyone could have guessed Man City losing at the Etihad to Stoke. I think Man City will bounce back after the disappointing loss despite going to play against Arsenal at Emirates. Arsenal is also coming off a match where they struggled against Leicester and my gut was right about that game being more interesting than I predicted. This is an important game for both teams early in the season and in Man City's case, if they don't bounce back, Chelsea will quickly start running away with the league.

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Barclays Premier League Week 3 Predictions

I already quickly mentioned some of my Week 3 predictions during the latest edition of the Footballistically Speaking Podcast, but I wanted to finalize them and get them down on the site with some really quick analysis included.


Burnley vs Man United

Prediction: 1-1

Analysis: What is going on with Manchester United? Only two premier league games and one horrendous Capital One Cup game and fans are already calling for David Moyes to come back (never thought we'd hear that). Angel Di Maria should end up being a fantastic transfer and Manchester United will finally have the player they've been missing since Ronaldo. It's no guarantee however that Di Maria makes his debut on Saturday and even if he does, the chemistry probably won't be there yet. Look for Manchester United to continue their struggles against a Burnley side still looking for their first point in the premier league since the 2009-2010 season.

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