It’s MW10, we’ve made it to the double digits. My heart can’t take 28 more weeks of this shit, and I predict a pretty significant mental break somewhere shortly after Christmas—however, that’s tomorrow’s problem. MW10 offers a host of exciting matchups on both Saturday and Sunday—and the lunchtime kickoff returns—happy days. Between heavyweight clashes and relegation six-pointers, this weekend will have it all; and on top of that, you’ve made it to Friday, so put your feet up, grab a pint, and let’s get stuck into some Matchweek 10 predictions.
Newcastle United vs. Arsenal
12:30, Saturday, November 2nd, St. James’ Park
The Geordies return to SJP for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff against Arsenal. While the Toon had a golden chance to equalize late on at Stamford Bridge last weekend (prior to Alexander Isak’s refusal to share the ball with his teammates in the Chelsea six-yard box), Newcastle really did not deserve anything from the match. They were outplayed in nearly every facet, and the result fairly reflected this. To put it mildly, the Toon have been wholly underwhelming and have now gone six games in the league without a victory. Conman Mikel Arteta has come forward since Sunday to update the Gunners’ lack of an injury crisis. Gabriel should be fit after exiting the pitch as though he had stepped on a landmine at the weekend, and the same goes for Jurrien Timber. Saliba will be back as well after serving his one-game ban. Rest assured, if Arsenal do not win, we will never hear the end about why this was the case—remember the feigned outrage from this fixture last season?
Prediction: 2-1 Arsenal
First Goal Scorer: Harvey Barnes
Anytime Goal Scorers: Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice
Ipswich Town vs. Leicester City
15:00, Saturday, November 2nd, Portman Road
The Tractor Boys lost in absolutely gut-wrenching fashion last weekend at Brentford. Kieran McKenna’s side led 2-0 early on, prior to falling behind 3-2 shortly after halftime and playing a man down. Trailing and down to ten on the road against a good Brentford side, I can’t have been the only one that expected a lopsided score come full time. Ipswich, however, remained solid defensively and seemed to have rescued a point late on through Liam Delap; however, a Bryan Mbeumo cross-come-shot trickled through bodies and into the net at the death to deny the Town a hard-fought point. Leicester, on the other hand, looked atrocious in their 3-1 defeat at home to Forest last Friday. The Foxes are another side that seem to play a role of Jekyll and Hyde—mediocre some days and downright abhorrent others. I think they struggle massively at Ipswich on Saturday, and the Tractor Boys come away with their first victory of the campaign.
Prediction: 2-0 Ipswich
First Goal Scorer: George Hirst
Anytime Goal Scorer: Sammie Szmodics
Bournemouth vs. Manchester City
15:00, Saturday, November 2nd, Vitality Stadium
Andoni Iraola, I am on my knees begging you to recreate what you did against Arsenal two weekends ago. In all seriousness, I do believe that this will prove to be a tricky fixture for City. The blue side of Manchester certainly has not been firing to their potential offensively if Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Southampton is evidence to go on, and this feels like the sort of fixture that could cause them problems—particularly if it does not begin according to plan. While I fully recognize that this is hopelessly wishful thinking, and a Haaland hat trick inside of ten minutes is probably the most likely scenario here, I will allow myself the freedom to be a believer this weekend. This will undoubtedly backfire, and I will be let down come Saturday at 15:05, but until then, allow me to live in my world of delusion.
Prediction: 1-1
First Goal Scorer: Evanilson
Anytime Goal Scorer: Erling Haaland
Liverpool vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
15:00, Saturday, November 2nd, Anfield
Arne Slot’s Reds play the Seagulls for the second time in 72 hours following Liverpool’s 3-2 victory at the Amex in the League Cup on Wednesday. I anticipate that the teams selected by each manager will be heavily rotated from what we saw midweek—although I do believe that Cody Gakpo may have done just enough to earn himself a start. The Dutchman was simply brilliant on Wednesday night, and while he’s had his struggles in the league since coming to the club in December of 2022, I believe his form and confidence at the moment is at an all-time high. The Seagulls will be looking to shrug off last weekend’s late collapse at home against (then bottom) Wolves—a result that surely made Fabian Hurzeler sick. Brighton are a quality side, but once more, I believe that the power of Anfield will just about get us over the line.
Prediction: 2-1 Liverpool
First Goal Scorer: Cody Gakpo
Anytime Goal Scorers: Mo Salah, Danny Welbeck
Nottingham Forest vs. West Ham United
15:00, Saturday, November 2nd, The City Ground
While in recent years this match, upon first glance, may have threatened to be a snoozefest, in light of recent events, I think it may be one of the more interesting matches of the weekend. As we know, Nuno’s Tricky Trees have seemingly turned into world-beaters overnight and currently sit seventh in the table—level on points with Brighton. West Ham, while they have suffered a rather disappointing start, appear as though they may have turned a corner last weekend at the London Stadium, putting the final nail in Erik ten Hag’s billion-pound coffin. However, as we know, Manchester United is no Nottingham Forest, and the fixture at the City Ground will undoubtedly present more of a challenge to Lopetegui’s side. Chris Wood has been on fire, with seven goals in the league through the first nine played, and I expect this tally to grow come the weekend.
Prediction: 2-0 Forest
Only Goal Scorer: Chris Wood (x2)
Southampton vs. Everton
15:00, Saturday, November 2nd, St. Mary’s
I made the grave error of putting money on a Southampton game in the League Cup midweek—which means I was forced to watch this team play football. Despite being at home, having nearly 80% of the ball, and a 2-0 cushion against Stoke, who currently sit at 19th in the Championship, the Saints still found a way to concede two goals and let the Potters back into the game. Southampton were able to rescue it late on through a speculative effort from outside the box, but my God, they are a painful watch. Everton didn’t lose last weekend, so that’s a positive for them, I guess? Ex-Toffee Alex Iwobi put the Cottagers ahead in front of the Goodison faithful before Beto rescued a point at the death for the Blues—sparking celebrations from the forward that would not have looked out of place after scoring a goal to win a World Cup final, but that’s neither here nor there. Everton can’t lose this game; if they do, just dissolve the club.
Prediction: 1-0 Everton
Only Goal Scorer: Iliman Ndiaye
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Crystal Palace
17:30, Saturday, November 2nd, Molineux
Another interesting matchup rounds out Saturday’s action, as Palace travels to the Black Country to take on Wolves. Both sides will have gained a boost of confidence following last weekend’s results—with Wolves essentially scoring twice in added time on the South Coast to rescue their second point of the season at Brighton, and Palace scoring early at Selhurst Park before blanking Ange’s Spurs and hanging on for their first victory of the campaign. While I still do not believe that either of the sides will be firmly in the relegation picture come the spring, this match surely has significant implications in terms of getting the season back on the right track. Wolves are historically tough at Molineux, and Palace has certainly left something to be desired away from Selhurst Park thus far this year, but how much of a difference will this make on Saturday? I truly have no idea—so I’ll sit on the fence.
Prediction: 1-1
First Goal Scorer: Jørgen Strand Larsen
Anytime Goal Scorer: Eddie Nketiah
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Aston Villa
14:00, Sunday, November 3rd, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Both sides will be massively disappointed following last weekend’s results in the league. Spurs, in typical Tottenham fashion, handed Palace their first win of the season at Selhurst Park, while Villa conceded a cheap set-piece goal on the last kick of the game to draw at home to Bournemouth. Villa’s week would continue to get worse as they were defeated at home—by that pesky Palace again, 2-1 in the last 16 of the League Cup. Spurs were able to bounce back midweek in the League Cup against Manchester City, securing an impressive 2-1 win at home. While Big Ange will be delighted with the result midweek, he’ll certainly be less delighted with Mickey van de Ven seemingly suffering yet another hamstring problem in the first half of the match. His hamstring injury last season acted as the catalyst for the mid-season nosedive in form, and Tottenham supporters will be praying for a different outcome this time around. With that being said, I think Spurs cope with his absence this weekend and find a way to secure three points over a beleaguered-looking Villa.
Prediction: 2-1 Spurs
First Goal Scorer: James Maddison
Anytime Goal Scorers: Cristian Romero, John McGinn
Manchester United vs. Chelsea
16:30, Sunday, November 3rd, Old Trafford
Well done to Erik ten Hag for winning the sack race just two months into the season. After being sanctioned to spend nearly a billion pounds on deadwood over the last two seasons, this truly is a remarkable feat. United seemed to receive a bit of the new manager bounce midweek—destroying a horrific Leicester side 5-2 in the League Cup. Will the new manager bounce continue this weekend? Who cares—they’ll still be bottom half (lol). Chelsea come into the match on the back of playing Newcastle twice in the last seven days, beating the Toon at Stamford Bridge 2-1 on Sunday, before losing to nearly the same side 2-0 at SJP 72 hours later in the League Cup. The Blues did a significant amount of rotation midweek—and thank God, because I’m truly sick and tired of playing them in domestic cup finals. I think this game will have scoring—mainly due to United’s abhorrent defense and Chelsea’s knack for conceding preventable goals. While I could see a heavy Chelsea victory, I can also see United using up the last of the new manager bounce before the actual new manager has even arrived in Manchester- it would be very on brand.
Prediction: 2-2
First Goal Scorer: Jadon Sancho
Anytime Goal Scorers: Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Højlund, Cole Palmer
Fulham vs. Brentford
20:00, Monday, November 3rd, Craven Cottage
The final action of the weekend kicks off Monday night as the Bees travel to Craven Cottage. Pretty anticlimactic way to end the weekend, eh? Thomas Frank and the Bees will be proud of the response to going 2-0 down at home to Ipswich last weekend, and again to go and find the winner after it seemed as though the Tractor Boys had rescued themselves a point late on. Equally, Marco Silva will be disappointed with his side’s late capitulation to Beto of all people. Given Brentford’s recent goalscoring form, I don’t see a world where the Bees do not find the back of the net at least twice on Monday, and after watching large spells of the Fulham game last weekend, I can’t see the Cottagers equaling this.
Prediction: 2-0 Brentford
First Goal Scorer: Bryan Mbeumo
Anytime Goal Scorer: Yoanne Wissa
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