Premier League: Pick 3.
Tottenham, Liverpool and defending champions; Chelsea, need as many points as they can find to keep up with both of the Manchester sides. The Spurs have been in fine form lately, but have they finally shaken the Wembley voodoo? Liverpool is coming to Wembley, buoyant after their draw with Manchester United and a big 7-0 thrashing at Maribor in the Champions League. Chelsea is desperately trying to find its form after two straight league losses and mounting injuries. League leaders; Manchester City, has more Ethiad Stadium cooking to look forward to in hosting Burnley.
Here are short previews and predictions on these three Premier League matches this weekend.
Watford (15 points; 4th) @ Chelsea (13 points; 5th)
Stamford Bridge
Saturday; 7:30 A.M.
The Blues literally go limping into this match against an in form Watford. David Luiz, who was already playing with a minor fracture in his wrist, was sent off for precaution in their draw with Roma. Tiemoue Bakayoko left that game with a groin problem and Gary Cahill suffered a minor head injury. N'Golo Kante and Victor Moses are both sidelined with hamstring injuries and appear to be a couple weeks away from playing. Danny Drinkwater; (calf), will remain out.
Chelsea manager; Antonio Conte, may switch to a 3-5-2 formation from his favored 3-4-3 to shake things up. He used the 3-5-2 against Roma and produced three goals; but they allowed three also. They will need continued good play from Eden Hazard and hope Alvaro Morata's return pays dividends.
Watford enters this match as high as anyone has ever seen the Hornets. They sit at fourth place on the table, coming off a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road. They also have been a great road team this year with three wins and a draw. But they haven't won a competitive match at Stamford Bridge since May of 1986.
Former Blue; Nathaniel Chalobah, suffered a fractured knee and will be out long term. He joins Craig Cathcart, Tommie Hobart and Isaac Success with knee injuries. Defenders, Younes Kaboul and Sebastian Prohl could be available.
Chelsea won both matches last year. Three points are a must to keep pace.
Chelsea 2-1
Burnley (13 points; 7th) @ Manchester City (22 points; 1st)
Ethiad Stadium
Saturday; 10 A.M.
City has been on an absolute tear that shows no signs of abating. They have put 29 balls into the net in the league so far and has won their previous three home league matches by five goals each. But Pep Guardiola wants to keep his players fresh. He has used the same lineup for the past three games. With Sergio Arguero and Vincent Kompany anticipated to be back, he probably will change the lineup a bit.
But Burnley has been a sneaky, dangerous team. They have been road warriors so far this campaign, taking eight points off of Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton. Conversely; Burnley didn't win a road match until April, last season. Goalkeeper; Nick Pope, has the top save percentage in the league; (91.7), only allowing two goals in 414 minutes played.
Burnley has been playing well; but City is just a relentless machine, especially at the Ethiad.
City 4-1
Liverpool (13 points; 8th) @ Tottenham (17 points; 3rd)
Wembley Stadium
Sunday; 11 A.M.
Both teams are in dire need of the three points to remain in the ballpark with Manchester City. This should be the match of the weekend with these attack happy sides. The Spurs have been in form, coming off a 1-0 win over Bournemouth and a deserved draw with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Tottenham has lost Mousa Dembele to an ankle injury and Georges Kevin N'Koudou to a concussion. Danny Rose could step in for Ben Davies, who has been battling an illness. Victor Wanyama could return also.
Liverpool played to a scoreless draw last week against Manchester United and ripped Maribor; 7-0, in Champions League play. Jurgen Klopp is feeling the pressure for more league results, and this game is huge for both teams. They will miss Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana again. Phillip Coutinho will be looking to score for the fifth straight away match.
The Reds have had recent success against the Spurs. It's been five years since Tottenham defeated Liverpool, with six losses and three draws during that span. I believe you can chalk up another draw in this one.
Tie 3-3
