EPL Week 9 Predictions: Teams Guaranteed to Win This Weekend

Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway must have shuddered when he looked at this weekend’s fixture lists and saw that Arsenal are the scheduled visitors to Selhurst Park.

The under-fire boss is desperate for points as he fights to reverse his team’s fortunes and ease the pressure on his own shoulders. According to Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail, Holloway entered into crisis talks with the club's owners after Monday night's 4-1 loss to Fulham, and it’s difficult to see anything less that three points for Arsene Wenger’s confident high-fliers.

Date, time	Home	vs.	Away	Prediction
Oct. 26, 12:45 p.m BST	Crystal Palace	vs.	Arsenal	Arsenal win, 4-0
Oct. 26, 3 p.m BST	Norwich City	vs.	Cardiff City	Norwich win, 2-1
Oct. 26, 3 p.m BST	Liverpool	vs.	West Brom	Draw, 2-2
Oct. 26, 3 p.m BST	Aston Villa	vs.	Everton	Everton win, 1-0
Oct. 26, 3 p.m BST	Manchester United	vs.	Stoke	United win, 3-0
Oct. 26, 5:30 p.m BST	Southampton	vs.	Fulham	Southampton win, 2-1
Oct. 27, 1:30 p.m BST	Sunderland	vs.	Newcastle	Newcastle win, 2-1
Oct. 27, 4 p.m BST	Swansea	vs.	West Ham	Swansea win, 3-1
Oct. 27, 4 p.m BST	Tottenham	vs.	Hull	Spurs win, 3-1
Oct. 27, 4 p.m BST	Chelsea	vs.	Manchester City	Draw, 2-2

Certainties in football are difficult to come by nowadays, but along with Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and Swansea will each be expected to come away with all three points at the conclusion of play.

Here’s a look at some teams guaranteed to win (listed in all caps) in Gameweek 9.

 

Crystal Palace vs. ARSENAL, Saturday, Oct. 26, 12:45 p.m BST 

With Liverpool, Manchester United and Southampton to come, Arsenal will be looking to get three more points on the board as they make the trip across London to take on Crystal Palace.

Wenger’s charges have faced only one side in the top half of the table all season—North London rivals Tottenham—but they have taken care of business in impeccable fashion against the teams they’ve been expected to beat, something they haven’t necessarily done in previous years.

With creativity and pace in abundance in the centre of the park, they should have little worries against a Crystal Palace side that sit second from bottom with just three points from their opening eight games.

Holloway’s side shipped four goals at home to Fulham in Gameweek 8—not that it could do much about Fulham’s opening two crackers—and it has conceded two or more goals in six of its eight games this season.

When you pit the teams with the league’s second-best scoring record against the team with the second-worst defensive record, then there is usually only one outcome.

Expect a confident Arsenal to cruise ahead of some real tests on the horizon.

 

MANCHESTER UNITED vs. Stoke City, Saturday, Oct. 26, 3 p.m BST

When Tony Pulis was shown the exit door at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke fans were hopeful that a new era of free-flowing football would be ushered in. Pulis was a champion of winning ugly, and while his results couldn’t be questioned, his team’s physical style of play often came in for criticism.

Now Stoke find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They’re still not playing well and they’re no longer getting results. Two wins, two draws and four defeats is not the start Mark Hughes would have hoped for.

On the plus side his team have looked solid, leaking just seven goals in the league, but their goalscoring record shouts at you from the bottom of the league table. They have scored four goals this season—the worst return of any top-flight team—with one in their last five, and their lack of a proven goalscorer will be a massive worry for their fans going forward.

Stoke will take positives from Manchester United’s defeat to West Brom and draw with Southampton at home, but David Moyes’ side should come through this match with ease. 

Hughes’ team will offer little in the way of an attacking threat, which should allow Moyes to be liberal in the number of attack-minded players he selects in the starting XI.

It’s a case of baby steps this season at Old Trafford. Wayne Rooney has been playing well and Robin van Persie looked sharper in Saturday’s draw with the Saints. A few inches here and there, and they could have come away with all three points.

Both forwards rattled the woodwork when the score was 1-0 and they will need to improve on killing off teams, starting with the visit of Stoke.

With Norwich and Fulham to follow, Manchester United fans will be expecting three points from their next three games before they welcome Arsenal on Nov. 10.

 

SWANSEA CITY vs. West Ham, Sunday, Oct. 27, 4 p.m. BST

Only two points separate Swansea and West Ham in the table, but you get the sense Michael Laudrup’s side are on the way up after last weekend’s 4-0 drubbing of Sunderland.

Granted it was Sunderland, who are stuck rooted to the bottom of the table, but Swansea needed to put a clinical performance like that, which was highlighted by three goals in seven second-half minutes, on the board.

After a tough start to this campaign, Swansea fans will start to see some light on the horizon. West Ham, Cardiff, Stoke and Fulham are to come after this weekend’s match, and the next month offers the Swans a fantastic opportunity to ascend the table.

West Ham’s loss to Manchester City will have been expected, but it is their performance that will have disappointed Sam Allardyce the most. The manager’s 4-6-0 formation worked beautifully against Tottenham, but it would appear a once-off rather than a tactic that will work week in and week out. 

With just eight points from eight matches, the Hammers are struggling for goals in the absence of main striker Andy Carroll and they face a tough challenge at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea will be hoping for back-to-back wins in the league for the first time this season, and they should have enough to get past a defensive West Ham.