Premier League Pick 3: Round 5.
Season record: 7-2-3.
The Premier League returns this weekend after the international break. Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford occupy the top three spots in that order with unblemished records. Fulham's Aleksander Mitrovic and Liverpool's Sadio Mane lead the league with four goals each.
I went 2-0-1 two weeks ago with wins by Liverpool and Manchester United. Tottenham prevented an personal unblemished weekend, like Watford did to them.
Here are my weekly picks that does involve two of the three unblemished clubs. All three of these matches are on Saturday.
Manchester United;(2-0-2)(6 pts)(10th) @ Watford; (4-0-0)(12 pts)(3rd)
Vicarage Road
Manchester United defeated Burnley to bounce back from the previous two weeks. Defeats to Brighton and Tottenham had people once again criticizing manager, Jose Mourinho and his style of play. Talk of an early sacking was also rampant. United has the opportunity to make progress to climbing back into the race with a win over an unbeaten Watford.
Troy Deeney and Craig Cathcart each scored second half goals helping Watford pass its first major test; handing Tottenham its first loss. Watford has taken over the Cinderella role from last year's and United's last opponent, Burnley.
Manchester United leads Watford 20-5 with 5 draws. United has won 14 of the past 15 meetings against Watford since 1987.
I can't see United losing three games this early in the season.
Manchester United; 2-1
Leicester City; (2-0-2)(6 pts)(8th) @ Bournemouth; (2-1-1)(7 pts)(6th)
Vitality Stadium
Leicester lost a tough match to Liverpool, while Bournemouth are coming off of their first loss of the season to Chelsea. Jaime Vardy is set to return from a three game suspension to a red card. This will be his first match since August 18th.
Bournemouth manager, Eddie Howe has the Cherries on a decent start with wins over Cardiff City and West Ham.
This is only the 16th meeting between these two clubs with Leicester leading 6-4 with 5 draws. However, Bournemouth has a win within five draws in the last six meetings.
1-1 Draw
Liverpool; (4-0-0)(12 pts)(1st) @ Tottenham; (3-0-1)(9 pts)(5th)
Wembley Stadium
The match of the weekend pits first place Liverpool against Tottenham; who are coming off of a disappointing loss to Watford. This match will be at Wembley due to problems with the fire safety system in Tottenham's new stadium. This match was supposed to be the lid lifter for the Spurs new digs.
This will be the first major test for Liverpool. Their four victories came against West Ham, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Leicester. Tottenham didn't respond well after their big victory over Manchester United and Liverpool sort of slogged their way through their past two matches.
A good omen for the Spurs is that Michael Oliver will officiate this match. Tottenham has won eight consecutive matches when Oliver is the referee. Liverpool has only won 14 of 33 matches with Oliver.
CChances are there will be plenty of goals in this match. This fixture only trails Arsenal vs. Everton in goal scoring in the Premier League. Harry Kane has been involved in seven goals in seven matches against Liverpool.
Another thing to watch is if Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino starts goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris after he pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges.
Liverpool leads the series, 80-48 with 42 draws. The Spurs' 4-1 win last year was their first against the Reds since 2012. Tottenham bounces back in an entertaining game.
Tottenham; 4-2