Premier League Week 16 Fixtures: EPL Picks and Predictions for Matchday 16

Manchester United and Liverpool will resume their rivalry in Week 16 of the 2014-15 Premier League season, the marquee matchup of what should be another fine matchday of English football.

Arsenal face a difficult match against Newcastle United, while league-leaders Chelsea will be looking to rebound from their first loss of the season against Hull City.

Manchester City can close the gap at the top of the standings with a good outing against struggling Leicester City, and Tottenham will travel to Wales to face Swansea. The full schedule for Matchday 16:

Date	Home	v	Away	Prediction
Saturday, Dec. 13	Burnley	v	Southampton	0-2
Saturday, Dec. 13	Chelsea	v	Hull City	3-1
Saturday, Dec. 13	Crystal Palace	v	Stoke City	1-1
Saturday, Dec. 13	Leicester City	v	Manchester City	0-3
Saturday, Dec. 13	Sunderland	v	West Ham United	0-1
Saturday, Dec. 13	West Bromwich Albion	v	Aston Villa	1-1
Saturday, Dec. 13	Arsenal	v	Newcastle United	2-2
Sunday, Dec. 14	Manchester United	v	Liverpool	1-0
Sunday, Dec. 14	Swansea City	v	Tottenham Hotspur	0-0
Monday, Dec. 15	Everton	v	Queens Park Rangers	1-0

The updated Premier League standings:

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	15	11	3	1	34	13	21	36
2	Manchester City	15	10	3	2	32	14	18	33
3	Manchester United	15	8	4	3	26	17	9	28
4	West Ham United	15	8	3	4	26	18	8	27
5	Southampton	15	8	2	5	25	12	13	26
6	Arsenal	15	6	5	4	24	18	6	23
7	Newcastle United	15	6	5	4	17	18	-1	23
8	Swansea City	15	6	4	5	20	17	3	22
9	Liverpool	15	6	3	6	19	19	0	21
10	Tottenham Hotspur	15	6	3	6	18	21	-3	21
11	Aston Villa	15	5	4	6	10	19	-9	19
12	Everton	15	4	6	5	24	23	1	18
13	Stoke City	15	5	3	7	17	20	-3	18
14	Sunderland	15	2	9	4	13	23	-10	15
15	Crystal Palace	15	3	5	7	18	23	-5	14
16	West Bromwich Albion	15	3	5	7	14	20	-6	14
17	Queens Park Rangers	15	4	2	9	16	27	-11	14
18	Hull City	15	2	7	6	15	21	-6	13
19	Burnley	15	2	6	7	10	24	-14	12
20	Leicester City	15	2	4	9	15	26	-11	10

Brendan Rodgers Needs Statement Match Against Manchester United

Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press

Liverpool had won two in a row prior to their disappointing 0-0 draw against Sunderland, and the pressure is on Brendan Rodgers to keep pace with the Premier League's top four and secure Champions League football for next season.

Louis van Gaal knows a thing or two about pressure, and his United squad has been in fine form in recent weeks, winning five straight matches to climb to third place in the standings.

These two clubs share arguably the best rivalry in the entire Premier League—as shared by Bleacher Report UK, even pundits have been going at it on social media:

Things haven't been perfect under Van Gaal, but after a difficult start to the season, the Red Devils have done what people expected of them—win matches. The same can't be said for the Reds, and a big performance is needed on Sunday.

A win over hated rivals United would do Rodgers a world of good, but the hot seat will only heat up if his squad doesn't perform to standards. There's always a lot at stake when these two clubs meet, but after a poor run of results, this may be the most important match against the Red Devils Rodgers has ever managed.

Confidence Booster for Blues

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

Jose Mourinho doesn't like to lose, and after a perfect run that lasted several months, it didn't come as a huge surprise to hear the Portuguese manager react poorly to his team's first defeat of the season against Newcastle United.

The Blues boss isolated time-wasting and the ball boys as the biggest reasons for the loss, as reported by BBC Sport, and fans and pundits were interested in hearing what he had to say once he had a few days to cool off.

As shared by the club's official Twitter feed, Mourinho dismissed the idea his team needed to react to the loss in a certain way, claiming the defeat wouldn't affect his team mentally:

Chelsea don't need a strong reaction against Hull, but it couldn't hurt, either. The Tigers haven't won since early October but have held the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton to draws.

Hull are a better team than people give them credit for, but they're going through a slump at the moment. A solid performance against Chelsea could give the squad the mental boost they need, but it's far more likely the exact opposite will happen on Saturday.

The league's best attacking unit will be motivated to show what it can do after falling short against the Magpies, and expect the Blues to run all over Hull on their way to a strong bounce-back win.

Which Arsenal Shows Up on Saturday?

Clive Mason/Getty Images

For all of the struggles the Gunners have had in the 2014-15 campaign, consistency may be the biggest issue plaguing the team. Losing three of their last five, Arsenal often look excellent for 20-25 minutes of a match, only to look absolutely pedestrian the next half hour.

Arsene Wenger's popularity is at an all-time low as a result, much like Alan Pardew's was when his club started the season on a losing streak, dropping to last place in the standings.

Newcastle United have found a way to bounce back, and The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg feels Wenger should take a long, hard look at how Pardew coped with the fans throughout the campaign:

Winning solves everything, but in order to beat a surging Newcastle team, Arsenal need to start finding some consistency in their play. The disastrous first half against Stoke City wasn't something which will happen every week, but even during the comeback in the second half, the Gunners looked vulnerable in the centre of the pitch.

A similar performance against Moussa Sissoko and the Magpies' talented group of midfielders will lead to another loss and even more worries for Wenger. Concentration and consistency will be just as important as getting healthy if the Gunners wish to turn their season around.

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