After a busy week of fixtures between Tuesday and Thursday, the Premier League continues for some more weekend action.
Grosvenor Sport ambassador Jamie O’Hara put two of this week’s key fixtures under the microscope, giving his insights on Aston Villa versus Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur against Newcastle United.
Watch the full episode of The Counter Attack with Jamie O’Hara.
Aston Villa v Arsenal – Saturday 17:30
I think you have to put Aston Villa as favourites to get a top four spot above the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle, purely because of the football they’ve been playing. Their home form is incredible, they play brilliant football, and more importantly they are organised. Similar to an old Jose Mourinho team, Aston Villa know how to win, they know how to get results, and that’s why we are seeing such big performances.
Arsenal have had a really good start and are playing some really good football, but I still don’t have them down as favourites to win the league. I can’t see Manchester City just falling away after a few bad results. Arsenal are in pole position, but Pep Guardiola has more of an incentive than usual to win the league with City for the fourth consecutive season. I still think Arsenal will crumble, like they always do, and will finish third.
Declan Rice’s last-minute winner against Luton shows great mentality and proves they can dig out a result. Over the years, the best teams scored late goals, they have that ‘never say die’ attitude. However, there also comes a point where you can’t rely on scoring late goals to win matches. I think they’ve scored 5 goals after the 85th minute – how many times can you get away with that?
I think Aston Villa will win this game 2-1. Like I said before, Arsenal are going to crumble at some point. They can’t keep getting away with these performances like against Luton.
They are going to come un-done against Villa, and if they do, Aston Villa could even win the title!
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal (10.5/1)
Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United
Newcastle United are a good side, they have had injury problems and still been able to grind out results. On the other hand, Spurs have had injury problems and not been able to win games. I think Tottenham will finish higher in the league than Newcastle, but it will be close. Once Tottenham get their squad fully fit, they will be a better side.
Eddie Howe has got Newcastle playing at full tilt, especially at St James’ Park. Anthony Gordon has been a breath of fresh air this season, I love the way he plays the game. I think if he keeps playing the way he’s playing, he should be in the England set-up for the Euros.
Tottenham concede goals due to their ‘kamikaze’ style of football. As much as it is a joy to watch they need to realise that they are shocking at the back and become so open when they give the ball away. I think there will be points in games where Spurs are leading and they should shut up shop, occasionally even boot the ball out of play or win a foul. They need to make better decisions at the later stages of games to ensure they are hard to beat.
This game is a must win for Spurs, they’ve had a bad run of form and I think they need to show something. The fact it’s at Tottenham edges it slightly their way, if this game was in Newcastle my prediction would be different. I think it will be a great game and I think Spurs will win.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Newcastle (17/2)