Premier League Week 35 Fixtures: EPL Picks and Predictions for Matchday 35

As Chelsea’s celebrations following the final whistle of their match against Arsenal illustrated, the 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium all but secured the Premier League title. As the end of this engrossing campaign draws ever closer, focus turns to the fight for Champions League spots and the battle to beat the drop.

The most intriguing scrap in the latter stages of the season will be between those teams desperate to secure their top-flight status. As such, the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Sunderland, Leicester City and Hull City will all be desperate to get some points on the board this weekend.

Here’s the full list of fixtures to savour in Week 35 and a closer examination of a couple of clashes that will have major implications in the race for survival.

R	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	33	23	8	2	65	26	+39	77
2	Manchester City	34	20	7	7	70	36	+34	67
3	Arsenal	33	20	7	6	63	32	+31	67
4	Manchester United	34	19	8	7	59	34	+25	65
5	Liverpool	33	17	7	9	47	36	+11	58
6	Tottenham	34	17	7	10	55	49	+6	58
7	Southampton	34	17	6	11	47	26	+21	57
8	Swansea	34	14	8	12	41	44	-3	50
9	Stoke	34	13	8	13	39	42	-3	47
10	Everton	34	11	11	12	44	43	+1	44
11	West Ham	34	11	11	12	42	42	0	44
12	Crystal Palace	34	11	9	14	42	47	-5	42
13	West Bromwich Albion	34	9	10	15	32	46	-14	37
14	Newcastle United	34	9	8	17	36	57	-21	35
15	Aston Villa	34	8	8	18	26	48	-22	32
16	Hull	33	7	10	16	31	45	-14	31
17	Leicester	33	8	7	18	35	51	-16	31
18	Sunderland	33	5	15	13	26	49	-23	30
19	Queens Park Rangers	34	7	6	21	38	59	-21	27
20	Burnley	34	5	11	18	26	52	-26	26

Date	Kickoff (BST)	Fixture	Prediction
Saturday, May 2	12:45 p.m.	Leicester vs. Newcastle	3-1
Saturday, May 2	3 p.m.	Aston Villa vs. Everton	1-2
Saturday, May 2	3 p.m.	Liverpool vs. QPR	2-1
Saturday, May 2	3 p.m.	Sunderland vs. Southampton	1-2
Saturday, May 2	3 p.m.	Swansea vs. Stoke	1-1
Saturday, May 2	3 p.m.	West Ham vs. Burnley	2-1
Saturday, May 2	5:30 p.m.	Manchester United vs. West Brom	2-0
Sunday, May 3	1:30 p.m.	Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace	2-0
Sunday, May 3	4 p.m.	Tottenham vs. Manchester City	1-1
Monday, May 4	8 p.m.	Hull City vs. Arsenal	1-2

Leicester City vs. Newcastle United

Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

Nigel Pearson’s Leicester City have given themselves a superb chance of survival with a stunning run of recent form, and they can drag a desperately poor Newcastle United team further toward a relegation fight with a win at the King Power Stadium in Saturday’s early kick-off.

The Foxes were looking dead and buried a month ago, but to their credit, they’ve rallied with distinction in recent weeks. The team has been in a lot of tight games this season, but fine margins, individual errors or rank misfortune have often cost Leicester; their luck seems to be turning at just the right time, though.

Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

As noted by the Premier League’s official Twitter feed, the Foxes dramatic win at Burnley pushed them out of the bottom three for the first time in 2015:

While the Foxes are one of the form teams in the division, Newcastle are in dire straits. Swansea City condemned them to a seventh straight league defeat last time out, and though the Toon Army still have a buffer between themselves and the bottom three, it’s tough to see where they are going to pick up another point this campaign.

Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Oliver Holt of the Mail on Sunday thinks the Foxes will condemn the Magpies to another defeat:

It’s tough to disagree with that assessment. Leicester are a team unified behind a joint cause and playing with an endearing desire and cohesion. By contrast, Newcastle look completely bereft of any fight, and while they should still have enough to avoid relegation, a heavy defeat here will leave them looking anxiously over their shoulder.

Leicester City 3-1 Newcastle United

Hull City vs. Arsenal

Julian Finney/Getty Images

For Hull City, picking up a 2-0 win away at Crystal Palace was absolutely vital. The Tigers had been in terrible form and, with a horrendous run of fixtures to come, needed some respite in their bid to stave off relegation.

The Tigers' sequence of perilously difficult games begins with a clash against Liverpool on Tuesday, followed up by Arsenal’s visit to the KC Stadium in Week 35.

Steve Bruce’s men have been on a slippery slope in recent weeks, but there was much to admire about their win at Selhurst Park. They were diligent at the back, tenacious in the tackle and, when they nicked possession back, showcased real incision on the break.

Christopher Lee/Getty Images

Much of that was to do with the excellent afternoon enjoyed by January signing Dame N’Doye, who bagged a brace. But Bruce was delighted with the application showcased by his team as a collective, per Hull's official Twitter feed:

The game with Arsenal will be a much sterner proposition. While Chelsea were able to do an exceptional job in nullifying the Gunners’ array of attacking talent, it’s going to be very difficult for Hull to contain the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud. Arsene Wenger will be desperate for his team to bounce back in this one too.

Aaron Ramsey echoed a similar sentiment on social media in the aftermath of the Chelsea stalemate:

Throughout this season, Hull have actually performed pretty well against the division’s best sides, and they should take some confidence from the 2-2 draw they secured at the Emirates earlier in the season.

Expect a raucous home crowd and a buoyed City side to make things difficult for their illustrious opponents, but Arsenal’s class will eventually tell. In campaigns gone by, Wenger’s men have struggled against teams playing in the physical manner the Tigers do, but they’ve shown an underpinning steeliness as of late. That will ultimately see them home here.

Hull City 1-2 Arsenal