The Premier League is back for its final round of action before the next international break and Grosvenor Sport ambassador Jamie O’Hara is on hand to preview this week’s key fixtures, with Crystal Palace versus Liverpool, Brighton against Tottenham and Aston Villa versus Manchester United put under the microscope.
Crystal Palace v Liverpool – Saturday 12:30
Crystal Palace have to sort themselves out. This is a tough game, but they need to get points on the board. When Oliver Glasner came in at the end of last season, everyone thought he was the second coming. Results improved and they were playing much better, but they lost two of their biggest players from the side in Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen and they look bang average again.
Liverpool are a step below Manchester City and Arsenal now for me, but you can’t get away from the fact that they still have several world-class talents in their team. That squad was left by a manager who wasn’t sacked or left on bad terms, so the club’s been left in a brilliant state. You’d be thinking they can challenge if Jürgen Klopp was still there, so why can’t Arne Slot? That group of players has done more than Arsenal’s achievements wise; I can see them having a massive say in the title race yet.
There are big fixtures coming up for Liverpool, which will tell us if they are truly title challengers. I can’t see anything but a win for the Reds here – I think it’ll be comfortable.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 0-2 Liverpool – 13/2
Aston Villa v Manchester United – Sunday 14:00
Aston Villa have started the season well. I expected them to be battling it out for fourth – they don’t seem to have lost their form from last season and are fully in with a shout. They did lose to Arsenal but that wasn’t a poor performance by any means. The real test comes for Villa when their important Champions League games start to roll around during the tough winter months.
I still expect Villa to beat Manchester United here. Their squad is much better and Unai Emery is a far superior manager to Erik ten Hag, who Man Utd need to get rid of as soon as possible. United are just kicking the can down the road at this point – Ten Hag isn’t going to improve the team or get them back to where they should be. I can see him leaving in the international break if my prediction for this game is correct!
I’m going to go 3-1 Villa; I don’t see Man Utd getting anything out of this game unless they turn in a performance that surprises everybody.
Prediction: Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United – 12/1
O’Hara’s Hotspots: Aston Villa v Manchester United Bet Builder
- Aston Villa to win
- Over 2.5 goals
- Ollie Watkins to score
We’ve enhanced this from 7/2 to 5/1.
Brighton v Tottenham – Sunday 16:30
This is a tough one to call, Brighton are a good side despite their recent result against Chelsea – that was purely one of the best players in the world in Cole Palmer just doing what he does. Spurs never play well against Brighton, they’re a bit of a bogey team for Spurs in all honesty. The Amex Stadium is no easy place to go, and Brighton can hurt you.
I can see Spurs coming out and trying to dominate possession and create chances, but will they convert? Timo Werner, if he plays, needs five chances before scoring. Brennan Johnson looks like he’ll score in every game but he’s due a quiet one and that could easily happen here. That’s the nature of watching Spurs now, you really don’t know who’s going to turn up! They’re an exciting team to watch and they’ll play good football, it could be 3-0, 4-3 or 6-6!
I can see lots of chances and goals here, 2-2 is my prediction. I don’t feel like Spurs are great against Brighton but a draw away at the Amex isn’t an awful result.
Prediction: Brighton 2-2 Spurs – 17/2