Premier League Predictor: Round 18 Predictions

The Premier League Predictor continues to be fairly challenging, but perhaps that will change this week and we'll be handed a more generous round full of gifts for this year's Boxing Day fixture list.

I had 4/10 in Round 17 and while I was pleased with my Bournemouth pick away at Manchester United, I probably should have seen Villa's win over City and the draw between West Ham and Brighton coming.

Here are my thoughts on each game in the Boxing Day round (Round 18)! I hope you all do well with your own predictions but more importantly that you have an enjoyable and peaceful few days during the festivities.

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Manchester City vs. Everton

Everton have shown in the last few rounds that they're very capable of ensuring this finishes goalless so that's something to be wary of, but I think Manchester City finally get a win on the board again here. Their season is feeling more and more like Chelsea's 'Mourinho season' where every time you think it can't get any worse it somehow does, but Everton's impressive run of clean sheets is surely unsustainable and they're scoring so few goals themselves. Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Everton

Bournemouth vs. Crystal Palace

Bournemouth are going excellently at the moment but as I've said a few times in these articles, they tend to be a lot better against the stronger sides and this is the sort of favourable home fixture they often don't win. Crystal Palace have had a couple of games to forget against Arsenal but they'll dig in here I think and I wouldn't be surprised to see a draw with Bournemouth struggling a bit when the onus is on them to control proceedings and take the game to Palace. Prediction: Bournemouth 1-1 Crystal Palace

Chelsea vs. Fulham

This is a local derby that Chelsea tend to dominate and I think you have to go with the Blues. I doubt it'll be a walkover as Fulham are another team that tend to hold their own against the 'big' sides but Enzo Maresca's team will want to make a statement after a rare goalless game at Everton last time out. Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Fulham

Newcastle vs. Aston Villa

This is a tricky one with both teams seemingly in a good place right now, but Aston Villa's recent away results have been poor so I'm going with Newcastle to continue building some considerable momentum. Alexander Isak is such a quality centre forward when fully fit. Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa

Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham

They have better quality forwards on paper but aside from that, there's no real reason to pick Tottenham here in my opinion? I'm repeating myself because Ange Postecoglou has made it quite clear that he isn't going to change anything, but the way they setup against Liverpool in that 3-6 defeat essentially guaranteed they would lose. Even in this match against a slightly weaker opponent, playing so 'bravely' with a makeshift backline and a backup goalkeeper is just exactly what Nottingham Forest will want them to do in my opinion and while it's quite possible Spurs outscore the hosts, I think a Forest win is more likely as they've been the much more balanced looking team this season. Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Tottenham

Southampton vs. West Ham

Last weekend showed that it's probably time to start taking the possibility of Southampton picking up some points more seriously now that Russell Martin has gone, but their squad is of course still very weak in comparison to most Premier League sides and West Ham ought to win this despite it being Ivan Juric's first game in charge. It's much less likely that Saints will gift goals now so this should be close but I think the Hammers will find the net. Prediction: Southampton 0-1 West Ham

Wolves vs. Manchester United

Wolves had a great win at Leicester in their first game under Vitor Pereira but he won't have been able to make them a strong side defensively over night and I think we'll see Manchester United test them far more seriously than Leicester did. Whereas Bournemouth always looked like a team that was well placed to beat United, I don't really see that with Wolves as much and I think United can continue their good record at Molineux. Prediction: Wolves 1-2 Manchester United

Liverpool vs. Leicester

Anything other than a Liverpool win would be a huge shock here, I'm not sure it requires too much more explanation (sorry Leicester!). Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Leicester

Brighton vs. Brentford

Every Brighton game is hard to predict. A home win is probably the most likely outcome here, but I think Brentford are a good side despite their away record and perhaps they'll manage a point? Brighton don't tend to keep clean sheets and Brentford have some great forwards. Prediction: Brighton 2-2 Brentford

Arsenal vs. Ipswich

It's still fairly close at the bottom of the table so there's no need for any exaggerative takes on who is already doomed (besides Southampton) but Ipswich clearly need to improve quite quickly. Like Saints, they've been giving away a lot of goals and they now face a very tough run of fixtures. Arsenal should dominate here. Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Ipswich

As always, feel free to join the conversation with your own predictions in the comments. Merry Christmas!

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