Premier League Round 23 Predictions!

It was frustrating to get red arrows again in Round 22 having already fallen a little on the global leaderboard in R21. Many of the teams that let me down also let down most of the Superbru community in what was a tricky round but I now need to bounce back with a far better score than 4/10 this weekend!

We are of course only just over halfway through this season so there's still plenty of time to make up ground in pools and lots of opportunities to win a prize in our Exact Score Challenge. I've looked back at my picks for Round 23 and there's certainly a few that could be considered quite brave so I'm interested to know how many you disagree with in the comments.

Wolves vs. Leicester

Each of these teams have been performing far better against the bigger clubs than they have been against the teams around them which makes this one pretty tough to call. Like the majority of these mid-table clashes (including the next fixture in this round), there isn't really a bad pick here as anything could happen. I'm going with Leicester because they've got a better away record than they have home so far this season and have put in some really good performances on the road in recent weeks. Puel is criticised for playing defensively but there's always a good chance of a Vardy goal on the break. Prediction: Wolves 0-1 Leicester

Bournemouth vs. West Ham

I put far too much faith in Bournemouth last week and probably stupidly, I've decided to back them again in this round. The Cherries are too good to not see their form turnaround soon and West Ham have shown against both Watford and Burnley in recent weeks that they certainly have an 'off day' in them. This should be tight but I'm banking on a late home winner. Prediction: Bournemouth 2-1 West Ham

Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace

Palace upset Manchester City just before Christmas but I'm not sure they can take points off Liverpool too. The Reds should be too strong at Anfield with my only concern being their increasing pile of defensive injuries. However, Fabinho showed at Brighton that he'll have absolutely no problem replacing Lovren when required and whilst it seems stupid Liverpool loaned out Clyne when Alexander-Arnold had already been injured once this season, James Milner is equally capable of playing at right-back for the odd game until players regain fitness. Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace

Manchester United vs. Brighton

Brighton don't tend to be much of a threat on the road and United will be bouncing after that win at Tottenham last week. Solskjaer has got the Red Devils in fantastic form and we can expect that momentum to carry them through a few more wins yet. Prediction: Man United 2-0 Brighton

Newcastle vs. Cardiff

Two very average sides. The reverse fixture between these two early in the season was painfully dull and even when Kenedy had a rare chance from the penalty spot to win it, he missed. With home advantage I expect Newcastle to snatch this - they really ought to - and move two points above Cardiff on the table. The Bluebirds are crying out for a striker and there will be huge pressure on the unproven Oumar Niasse to deliver if he joins from Everton on loan soon to lead the line as expected. Prediction: Newcastle 1-0 Cardiff

Southampton vs. Everton

It might be asking too much of Southampton to pull off back-to-back wins against respectable mid-table sides but I feel they can do it against Everton who have only won twice away from home so far this season. The Saints are certainly improving under Hasenhüttl and despite likely fatigue from their FA Cup replay, I think this could be a slight upset with Danny Ings back fit. Everton do of course have the players to win this match comfortably but until it starts clicking consistently for Silva with the Toffees I have my doubts about them. Prediction: Southampton 2-1 Everton

Watford vs. Burnley

Tricky one. Burnley have won three on the spin but this is a more difficult fixture than each of those three games and Watford have been hard to beat in all but one game this season. I nearly went for a draw here but much like the Bournemouth game in this round, I feel Watford can find something late on to pick up another three points and continue what's been a strong season so far. Prediction: Watford 2-1 Burnley

Arsenal vs. Chelsea

This is a monster game and one that Arsenal can't afford to lose. They tend to do OK against Chelsea at home, far better than they do at Stamford Bridge at least, and we know that the Blues are still far from complete under Maurizio Sarri. You have to expect Chelsea to score given Arsenal's defence but they've been struggling to find the net regularly and Arsenal therefore may only need one goal themselves to avoid defeat. Though, like most, I'm often sceptical over big striker signings at Chelsea, the supposedly imminent arrival of Higuain looks like a very good addition to me but it seems unlikely he'll arrive in time (if at all!) to have an impact here. Prediction: Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea

Huddersfield vs. Manchester City

Huddersfield begin life without David Wagner with one of the hardest fixtures possible here and there's every chance this could be a pasting regardless of who's in charge of the Terriers given the contrast in squad quality. It'll be interesting to see who Huddersfield eventually appoint because this does look like a Club destined for the Championship. I can only see a City win on Sunday and they've showed in the very recent past how ruthless they can be against inferior opposition. Prediction: Huddersfield 0-4 Manchester City

Fulham vs. Tottenham

I'm interested to see how Tottenham get on in this game because it really does look like they're in trouble squad wise. It's hard to underestimate how big the loss of Kane is given the thin Spurs squad, are they really going to ask Pochettino to keep this team in the top four and in the Champions League until March with only Fernando Llorente available to play up front? As if that wasn't bad enough, you've got Dembele going to China for a tiny fee, Sissoko out for a month and Son playing in the Asian Cup for the new few weeks.

There's no doubt Tottenham still have a good enough XI to win a game like this and they are certainly favourites but I have a sneaky feeling for Fulham who have only lost one of their last five at home in the league. The Whites should be right up for this given the situation and the Spurs players must feel a little concerned about where goals are going to come from over the new few weeks. Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Tottenham

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Best of luck to you all with your own picks. I'm sure you have a few that differ from my own so let me know what you'll be going with!