Premier League Predictor: Round 17 Predictions

Merry Christmas, all! I hope you each have an enjoyable festive period and there will of course be plenty of Premier League football to watch during the celebrations.

This week's fixture list is the final round of games before Christmas but be aware that there is of course another round starting on Boxing Day and then another on December 29th! It's often wise to make your predictions ahead of time so that you don't miss any as you can always go back and edit them if required.

I'll be keeping up these predictions articles for each round as well as there being the Insights match previews for those of you that have upgraded to Superbru Premium, so be sure to stay involved with the conversation on the Superbru Football app throughout the holidays.

Here are my thoughts on each game in Round 17.

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Aston Villa vs. Manchester City

Manchester City remain a pretty tired and broken team at the moment so it's still difficult to tell when things will turn! This is a fixture that is tough even when you're at your best so I think it's hard to see City winning, but Aston Villa also haven't been as good as they were last season so perhaps we'll see a draw? Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City

Brentford vs. Nottingham Forest

I'm going with Brentford here simply because they've been so good at home. Nottingham Forest absolutely deserve to be where they are on the table but the Bees have looked very tough to deal with at the Gtech Community Stadium. Prediction: Brentford 3-2 Nottingham Forest

Ipswich vs. Newcastle

I've really considered backing Ipswich Town for at least a point here because Newcastle just never convince me away from home, but it's hard to see where too many goals are coming from for the hosts now that Liam Delap is suspended. The Magpies have had a really good week so let's assume that momentum can carry them to 3 more points here. Prediction: Ipswich 1-2 Newcastle

West Ham vs. Brighton

West Ham have a poor home record vs. Brighton but this looks like an opportunity to change that in my opinion. The Seagulls look quite unsteady at the moment under Fabian Hurzeler whereas things look to be heading slightly upwards for the Hammers currently. Prediction: West Ham 2-1 Brighton

Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal

I never like predicting matches that have literally just happened in the Cup as the repeat meeting becomes difficult to predict or at least easy to overthink! Crystal Palace should be competitive and I don't think a draw is out of the question but Arsenal ought to get the job done given how strong Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka looked against this Eagles defence once brought on in midweek. Prediction: Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal

Everton vs. Chelsea

With Everton's takeover now official, the atmosphere there will be as a result, and Chelsea's poor record at Goodison, the ingredients are certainly here for an upset. Am I brave enough to pick it though? The problem is still that Everton just look like they have so few goals in them, and I'm not sure this will be 0-0 when you look at Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and co. Prediction: Everton 0-2 Chelsea

Fulham vs. Southampton

It sounds as if Southampton may have a manager in place for this game after all as reports suggest Ivan Juric is about to be appointed (which will be interesting as he brings a nice mix of a more balanced approach than Russell Martin, Serie A experience and chaos), but Fulham should win regardless. It'd be a miracle if Juric can have Saints finish above 20th let alone stay up. Prediction: Fulham 3-1 Southampton

Leicester City vs. Wolves

I think you have to go with Leicester here as they're still fairly fresh in the new manager phase themselves and Wolves absolutely fell apart post-match after that late Ipswich winner that they conceded last week. Matheus Cunha is likely to receive a lengthy ban for his conduct during those handbags at full-time which is a major problem for Wolves. I'll admit to not having seen much of Vitor Pereira at all as a manager - it wouldn't surprise me too much if Wolves end up winning this game because Leicester aren't great but the overall job he has to do to keep Wolves up is sizeable unless they spend a fair bit of money on defenders in January. Prediction: Leicester 2-1 Wolves

Manchester United vs. Bournemouth

This could easily be a home win of course but I'm going with the upset and saying Bournemouth can beat Manchester United again at Old Trafford. The Cherries tend to be so good against the 'big' teams in this league and I think they're quite well equipped to take advantage of the defensive frailty United are showing as Ruben Amorim gradually gets his ideas across. That's not a dig at Amorim who I actually think is doing well but things will naturally take time and Bournemouth are a really nasty side to play against under Andoni Iraola. Prediction: Manchester United 1-2 Bournemouth

Tottenham vs. Liverpool

This is of course a fairly big game but I can only see a Liverpool win against the backline that Tottenham are currently having to put out. As long as Liverpool make sure they are fairly assured defensively themselves, I'm not sure this will even be close but I wouldn't mind being wrong and seeing another entertaining encounter as we did on Thursday with Spurs in the League Cup! Prediction: Tottenham 1-3 Liverpool

Good luck with your own picks and Merry Christmas!

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