Premier League Week 8 Fixtures: EPL Picks and Predictions for Matchday 8
Chelsea will remain top of the pile regardless of what happens in Week 8 of the Premier League season, but they'll make the trip to Selhurst Park for their eighth game of the season, a venue at which they fell to a 1-0 defeat last season.
Manchester City will be hoping for a repeat of that shock result, and they know nothing but a win against Tottenham in the weekend's first game will be sufficient. The Etihad outfit currently trail the league leaders by five points, but they can heap the pressure on Mourinho's men with a win over Spurs, thus cutting the deficit to two points.
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With a host of other encapsulating contests to savour, Week 8 of the Premier League season should be an engrossing one. Let’s take a look at the fixtures on offer and some of the key battles set to be played out over the course of the weekend.
| October 18 | Manchester City vs. Tottenham | 12:45 p.m. | 2-0 |
| October 18 | Arsenal vs. Hull | 3 p.m. | 3-1 |
| October 18 | Burnley vs. West Ham | 3 p.m. | 1-1 |
| October 18 | Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea | 3 p.m. | 0-2 |
| October 18 | Everton vs. Aston Villa | 3 p.m. | 2-1 |
| October 18 | Newcastle vs. Leicester | 3 p.m. | 2-2 |
| October 18 | Southampton vs. Sunderland | 3 p.m. | 2-0 |
| October 19 | QPR vs. Liverpool | 1:30 p.m. | 1-3 |
| October 19 | Stoke vs. Swansea | 4 p.m. | 1-1 |
| October 20 | West Brom vs. Manchester United | 8 p.m. | 2-3 |
Manchester City vs. Tottenham
The early kick-off looks set to be a cracker as the champions welcome Mauricio Pochettino’s transitional Tottenham team to the Etihad Stadium.
City haven’t really caught fire as of yet this season, but in their last Premier League outing, they ground out a crucial 2-0 victory at Aston Villa. David Silva was the key instigator in that triumph, and the Spaniard has received adulation aplenty after putting in some mesmerising performances so far this season.
WhoScored.com illustrates what a critical attacking influence he is for Manuel Pellegrini’s side here:
Spurs will have to pin the mercurial midfielder down if they’re to get anything out of this one, meaning Pochettino may diverge from his typical philosophy of pressing high up the pitch. The Argentine boss hasn’t refined those attributes with Tottenham quite yet, and if City play through the press and find Silva in space, Spurs will be in trouble.
City should have too much quality for the visitors regardless. Spurs have shown signs of progression as of late—taking four points from a possible six from clashes with Arsenal and Southampton—but they’re still very much a work in progress. The champions will capitalise and record a clinical victory.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Tottenham
Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea
Chelsea have been magnificent in the Premier League so far, and they’ll be looking for revenge against a Crystal Palace side who turned them over in this fixture last season.
Admittedly, the Blues look a much more formidable proposition this time around. Mourinho now boasts a squad that's better practiced in his principles, bolstered by Thibaut Courtois, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. The latter has been in sensational goalscoring form for the Blues, and he opened his account for Spain during the international break too, as noted here by Bleacher Report UK:
Factor in the likes of Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic—two players who have also enjoyed excellent starts to the season—and it could be a long afternoon for Neil Warnock and his team.
The Eagles suffered a 2-0 defeat to Hull in their last outing, but they did notch consecutive wins against Everton and Leicester prior to that. Palace had great success sitting deep and springing on Chelsea last season, and you suspect Warnock will look to mimic those tactics employed by his predecessor, Tony Pulis.
The pace of players such as Fraizer Campbell, Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie will cause problems for any side if utilised correctly. But ultimately, Mourinho’s side should have enough to take a comfortable victory and maintain their five-point lead atop the Premier League table.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 0-2 Chelsea
QPR vs. Liverpool
Harry Redknapp’s team have done little to impress in the opening stages of this season, but the veteran boss will be aware that one big win can set a side off on a strong run of results. The Loftus Road faithful will be hoping that victory comes against a vulnerable Liverpool team, who are the visitors in Week 8.
Brendan Rodgers will be looking to welcome Daniel Sturridge back from injury for this one. The England international has recently penned a new long-term deal with the club and should start up front alongside Mario Balotelli for the Reds; the duo were excellent together in the 3-0 victory over Spurs, in what was Liverpool’s best performance of the campaign so far.
With Balotelli dropped from the Italy squad, the pair have been training together at Melwood, as we can see here, courtesy of This Is Anfield:
If those two perform to the levels they did at Tottenham, it’s tough to see this ropey QPR back line keeping them out. The Loftus Road outfit have played without any kind of defensive cohesion in the early stages of this campaign, meaning it’s very difficult to see them getting a positive result here.
The home side’s only hope is if the Liverpool defence has another shocker, but even so, it’s hard to see QPR resisting the Reds’ effervescent attacking talent for 90 minutes.
Prediction: QPR 1-3 Liverpool
