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Paul Merson is back for another round of Premier League predictions ahead of a huge weekend of action.
Chelsea could win the title at West Brom on Friday Night Football, live on Sky Sports 1, while the relegation battle nears its completion as Hull, Swansea and Crystal Palace all vie to avoid the drop.
So who is the Soccer Saturday pundit tipping for victory? Read on to find out…
I think this will be a hard game for Chelsea. West Brom have been on a poor run but they have been a little unlucky. They’ll make it very difficult, be as good as ever on set-plays, and if they can score first then Chelsea may have to wait until Monday night to win the title.
Watford are on holiday. It’s understandable because they’ve done just about to enough to stay up, but they’ve been so poor lately and I can’t see that changing. Everton lost against Swansea last time out, which was a poor result, but they’ll want to finish strongly at home.
This will be a hard game for Man City and I think this will be an entertaining one with a lot of goals. Pep Guardiola’s team need a win to finish in the top four and Craig Shakespeare will want a result to put himself in a better position to get the job on a permanent basis.
Fair play to him and his team who have kept going despite ensuring survival, but I still think City will have too much for them.
I’m doing this game on Soccer Saturday and I’m looking forward to it. Bournemouth have a right go normally and Burnley finally won their last away game at Palace.
Both of these managers have done brilliantly, but Sean Dyche just pips it for me because Burnley have come up and he’s done a top job to keep them in the Premier League. That being said, I think Bournemouth will edge it.
Middlesbrough needed a result to stay up at Chelsea and the gulf between them was unreal. It was men against boys stuff.
Southampton have hit a brick wall and Claude Puel needs to finish with a couple of results, but I’m going to go for Boro here, it’s their last game at home in the Premier League and there’s no reason for them not to go out on the attack and have a go.
It’s all about timing and Swansea have started playing very well. They went to Watford a few weeks back for a draw, it didn’t work out and since then they’ve just decided to go for it.
This is a great opportunity for them. All you can ask at this stage is for it to be in your hands and if Swansea score first I can’t see Sunderland battling back.
It’s a nice game for Arsenal, they need a win and I expect them to do just that. If they can then you’d fancy them to nick a top-four spot, especially as they’d put the pressure on Liverpool before Sunday’s game.
Stoke are another side to have switched off and it’s hard to see them getting a result here. Arsenal have still got the FA Cup as well but top four should still be their priority.
Whoever scores first here will win for me. If Hull do then you worry for Palace with their defensive problems. Swansea winning on Saturday would really put the pressure on here and Hull probably need a victory either way, which would drag Palace right back into it.
Sam Allardyce will be desperate for a win as they won’t want the battle to go to the last game of the season.
It all depends on which West Ham turns up, whether it’s the team from the last few months or the one who beat Tottenham last week. It’s a big game for them because another win could wipe away the cobwebs at the London Stadium and help them feel much more positive about the place next year.
You just don’t know with Liverpool against so-called lesser teams. I would probably fancy them more if they were going to Man City. There’s something missing in these games and they need to sort that out if they want to push on.
I don’t see anything but a Spurs win here. It’s the same situation as last week with Manchester United having a big game on the Thursday night, and they could get turned over here.
But this game is all about Tottenham for me, it’s the last game at White Hart Lane and it should be a special atmosphere.
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