Man United Vs Tottenham Today 2:45pm
My Prediction: Red Devils.....1 Spurs....1
What an opener to the 2015/16 season? This is going to be a cracker! I watched Tottenham play midweek against Real Madrid and even though they lost 2-0, I believe they have a pretty decent team that won’t be taking chances against Man United. United are one of those teams that I don’t think they are ready for the league. They had an okay pre-season against tough opposition sometimes, but I get the feeling that Louis Van Gaal is tinkering with the squad too much. Having let crucial players like Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria leave hasn’t gone down well with a lot of the fan-base. Okay many fans were glad to see Falcao leave but I believe LVG didn’t quite know how to play him effectively. He barely had time to prove himself last season. Di Maria’s departure has hurt a lot of people because he is a special player. Didn’t reach full potential last season but is one of those guys who can match up against the best and win on a good day. United still have the likes of Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young but the team is crumbling. This will be a game of wits where United know they need to prove themselves while Spurs want to start the season well so that they can attempt their eternal wish—that never happens—and that is to finish above Arsenal. I think these two teams are at the same place mentally right now so I’ll go for a dull draw to open the season.
Chelsea Vs Swansea Tonight 7:30pm
My Prediction: Blues.... 1 Swans....1
Everybody and their ancestors are predicting that Chelsea will win the Premier League. Well that’s the sort of pressure I wouldn’t want for my team right now anyway. Last weekend, Arsene Wenger got the psychological advantage over Jose Mourinho and his side and their pride is dented. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to come back and score four against The Swans tonight. Diego Costa is still missing and apart from adding Radamel Falcao, the Blues have had a rather dull transfer window. That’s a good and a bad thing. Good because they still have 99% of the players who won the league for them still in house but bad because they are in need of a top notch scorer who plays more often than he sits in the sick room. Swansea finished a very impressive 8th in the EPL last season with a points record under manager Garry Monk. It’s important to note that they didn’t lose any key players over the summer but they did add to the squad, bringing in African Superstar Andrei Ayew from Marseille. This will not be an easy tie and Mourinho is of course already playing mind games; saying he knows Swansea are very good. This will be an interesting tie to watch.
Arsenal Vs West Ham, Tomorrow 3:30pm
My Prediction: Gunners....3 Hammers...0
The sad news for the Gunners this week has been Jack Wilshere getting a hairline fracture on his right ankle and that’s likely to sideline him for up to eight weeks! Life really can be unfair. I was watching Thierry Henry on Sky News the other day talking about Wilshere’s injury and saying the saddest part of football for a player in his prime is injury; and Wilshere has suffered quite a bit over the past couple of years. That aside, we still hope that Arsene Wenger will start Alexis Sanchez after his late return to the squad following his Copa America duties; although I must say Arsenal didn’t look too bad in their win against Chelsea last weekend. But we all know his grit will be needed from the start to ensure we get the season off to a flying start. With the impressive pre-season, Arsenal have had, if we lose the first game, we’ll suffer for exactly seven days on social media. But I’m not afraid of West Ham. They were pretenders last season hovering around the top six at some point, but fell to finish 12th. They have an injury to Enner Valencia that will hurt them. And sorry in advance but right now you’re bottom of the league alphabetically; and after the weekend, you’ll still be bottom of the league.