Predictions: Jack's Round 27 Premier League Picks

The Premier League is shaping up very nicely indeed for maximum drama in these final rounds.

Both the title race and battle to avoid being 18th are going to be very interesting, with this weekend's North London derby set to be hugely significant towards both.

Last round

My unorthodox approach to picking the Everton game came off with an Exact! 4/11 overall and 7.5 points overall which was probably about average. Obviously I didn't foresee the Burnley or Wolves comebacks and I still can't believe Cole Palmer missed that late chance against Leeds.

Road the World Cup update

The remainder of the season is also being made more interesting by our Road to the World Cup campaign with keys up for grabs in every remaining Premier League round.

🇪🇬🔑 The Egypt key was won by 'Harris' in Round 26 with 21.5 points. You can read about that here.

🇦🇺🔑 The Australia key will be given to the top performer in this weekend's round.

Here are my thoughts on Round 27.

Aston Villa vs. Leeds

I'm not sure this will be a great game because Villa (understandably) haven't been playing well while most of their key midfielders are injured and Leeds will just look to snatch some kind of result as they managed to do at Chelsea. Leeds do always seem to find a goal though and that could well be enough for a point in this match which is what I'm going to gamble on. Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Leeds

Brentford vs. Brighton

I still have a feeling that Brighton can suddenly pull out a big performance and win a game like this, but you can't really pick them at the moment because they've been poor and frankly quite dull for a while now under Fabian Hurzeler. Brentford are obviously flying in terms of results and league position and they just look like the side with far more of a plan to win games when compared with the Seagulls. Prediction: Brentford 2-1 Brighton

Chelsea vs. Burnley

Burnley finally win a Premier League game for the first time in forever to get some confidence up ahead of a potentially miraculous charge to safety... only to lose at home to Mansfield in the FA Cup. I think any optimism gained at Selhurst Park has probably evaporated again now and this should be routine for Chelsea. Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Burnley

West Ham vs. Bournemouth

Bournemouth are in good form at the moment and should probably win this game, but I just have a feeling West Ham might take the points, though that might just be because I want as dramatic a relegation battle as possible. If West Ham and Forest both win ahead of the North London derby, man oh man is that going to put some pressure on Tottenham. Prediction: West Ham 2-1 Bournemouth

Manchester City vs. Newcastle

Manchester City pretty much always win this fixture, and while recent context could cause a curveball to be thrown here given the pressure of the title race and Newcastle's high-scoring win in Baku, I think it's more likely that City win comfortably. Anyone who watched Newcastle's game in midweek will know that the scoreline was largely down to Qarabag being absolutely horrendous. Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle

Crystal Palace vs. Wolves

After what happened in the Burnley game and another Friday that Oliver Glasner has spent moaning about his job and angling to leave before the end of the season, it's definitely not out of the question that Wolves win this match. In a strange way, Wolves had their relegation all but confirmed so early in this campaign that they are now playing without any real pressure while preparing for next season's Championship and actually seem to be enjoying themselves. It's been a long time since Crystal Palace have won a home league game so I'm going for a draw. Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolves

Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool

Many people are quite keen to see Forest go down just because of how unlikeable their owner has made himself over the past couple of seasons and I don't necessarily disagree with that sentiment, but Vitor Pereira's first game in charge on Thursday was a reminder of just how much talent there is in this Forest squad. Suddenly, this looks like a tough fixture for Liverpool and they've had plenty of poor recent results against Forest.

It's a really tough one to call - Liverpool having had all week to prepare against a Forest side that were playing in Turkey on Thursday should be a big advantage, but that result at Fenerbahce will have massively boosted the hosts' confidence. I'm hesitantly going with a narrow away win. Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Liverpool

Sunderland vs. Fulham

This feels like a good time for Fulham to be going to the Stadium of Light since Liverpool have just won there, but then Regis Le Bris has now suggested that Granit Xhaka will be back for the hosts which is huge. I don't feel particularly strongly towards either side winning so I'm going to sit on the fence. Prediction: Sunderland 1-1 Fulham

Tottenham vs. Arsenal

If you're even slightly keen on football, this match is mandatory viewing. Tottenham playing their first game under a new manager while fighting a genuine chance of relegation, against an Arsenal side who lead the Premier League but showed severe signs of the pressure getting to them by losing a 0-2 lead at Wolves. Tasty.

I'm not sure about the Igor Tudor appointment. I think the criticism many have raised regarding the length of his previous spells at other clubs is a bit irrelevant because this is an interim, short-term appointment, but it's also a huge gamble with a manager being exposed to the Premier League for the first time.

After a season where Spurs fans have arguably made their home stadium a difficult place for their own team to perform in, they need to be fully supportive and make themselves the difference in this match by intimidating Arsenal and getting Tottenham on the front foot early on. Given their home form and injury list though, I just can't really see them winning. This may actually be the ideal fixture for the Gunners to bounce back from what happened at Molineux because they've a good recent record in this derby and should know exactly what to expect. Prediction: Tottenham 0-2 Arsenal

Everton vs. Manchester United

Finally, I'm going with a United win here. Everton's home form will surely turn for the better at some point but both teams have had a lot of time to prepare for this one and player-for-player it's obviously the visitors who have more quality. Prediction: Everton 1-3 Manchester United

Best of luck with your own predictions!