EPL GW-35 Pre-Deadline and Live Chat

The Premier League season is reaching its end-game, and we are about to witness an entertaining finish in the next coming weeks. It’s make or break time for teams to achieve their objectives and to position themselves for next season.

Man City and Liverpool have simply been world-class throughout the season, pushing each other for the Premier League title and most likely meeting each other in the UEFA Champions League final.

With Man United and Chelsea sharing points at Old Trafford on Thursday, Arsenal or Tottenham have a chance to cement a UCL berth for the next campaign. Meanwhile, the relegation battle has also seen its fair share of scrapping, with Burnley, Leeds, and Everton currently fighting for survival. Here are my predictions for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures.

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SATURDAY

Newcastle vs Liverpool

After a brilliant performance against Villareal, Jurgen Klopp’s men shift their attention to the title-race and have a tough task when facing Newcastle at St. James’ Park. Eddie Howe’s men are in excellent form, but the Reds are just on another level and are also candidates for winning the quadruple!

Note: This is also our one early match, so Fantrax managers should see these two starting lineups confirmed in the countdown hour before our deadline.

Injuries and Suspensions

Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp had an almost fully-fit squad going into Sunday’s win over Everton, with Roberto Firmino the only absentee because of a minor foot problem.

Klopp had previously said that Firmino would be available after the Merseyside derby if he did not make the game itself, so the Brazilian ought to be in contention for Saturday’s away match on Tyneside.

Newcastle: Eddie Howe isn’t expecting Kieran Trippier (foot), Callum Wilson (calf) or Ryan Fraser (hamstring) back for the visit of Liverpool but the first two of those aren’t too far away from a return.

Prediction: Newcastle United 1-3 Liverpool

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Aston Villa vs Norwich

If Aston Villa doesn’t win this game, they’ll have six matches without a victory while the Canaries are stuck at the bottom of the table with only 21 points in pocket. Rock-bottom Norwich has virtually no chance of escaping relegation, meaning that Steven Gerrard’s Villans will not have a better chance than this to get back on course.

Injuries and Suspensions

Aston Villa: Lucas Digne (collarbone) will miss the visit of Norwich and only has an “outside chance” of recovering before the end of the season, while Kortney Hause (abdomen) has had a number of setbacks over the last few months and remains out. Bertrand Traore (groin) and Morgan Sanson (knock) were also sidelined for Saturday’s goalless draw with Leicester, but local media reported that the pair could make a return this weekend.

Norwich: Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Adam Idah (ankle/knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back) are all likely out for the season but Josh Sargent (ankle) should be back in contention for GW-35 after his protective boot was removed last week. Lukas Rupp had been ruled out of the visit of Newcastle after complaining of knee pain and we don’t yet have a timeframe on the midfielder’s return.

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Watford vs Burnley

Watford aims to put an end to a four-game losing run and will surely give 100% to recover from the 5-1 loss to Man City. Burnley has been in a much better form than Watford, which is probably the main reason why away triumph should be considered. Everton will surely keep a close eye on this as this is a must-win game for Burnley.

Injuries and Suspensions

Watford: Cucho Hernandez (hamstring) remains unavailable ahead of the six-pointer against Burnley and faces a race against time to be back before the end of the season.

Samuel Kalu (ankle) and Francisco Sierralta (calf) had been back in training ahead of the Man City game but missed out.

Kiko Femenia and Juraj Kucka sat out that thrashing at the Etihad with only “minor knocks”, so they too may be in contention to return for Saturday’s must-win game.

Burnley: Ben Mee (knee) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) likely won’t be back for GW-35, while Ashley Westwood has a season-ending ankle injury.

Two fresh injuries emerged from the weekend: Maxwel Cornet missed out on Sunday with a “grumble on his knee” while Jay Rodriguez was hampered by a calf issue.

Cornet should be back by the end of the week, with Erik Pieters (knee) a possibility to return to training from a medium-term problem too.

Prediction: Watford 0-1 Burnley

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Southampton vs Crystal Palace

Both teams have nothing to play for, but one can expect them to go all-out to express themselves. It should be an entertaining game and a great opportunity for perhaps the academy players to get a chance to shine and get a breath of the Premier League.

Injuries and Suspensions

Southampton: Tino Livramento (knee) was stretchered off in the two-all draw with Brighton and Hove Albion and has since been ruled out for the rest of 2021-22.

Crystal Palace: Nathan Ferguson (muscle) remains out, while it remains to be seen if Tyrick Mitchell recovers. Luka Milivojevic (hamstring) is back in training.

Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace

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Wolves vs Brighton

Wolves have collected more points on the road than at home this season, but they are surely capable of matching Brighton in front of home fans. However, they dropped a two-goal advantage in a 2-2 draw with Southampton, and both teams play an attacking style of football, so it’s going to be an interesting game to watch for the fans.

Injuries and Suspensions

Wolves: Ruben Neves (knee), Max Kilman (muscle) and Daniel Podence (foot) were all ruled out of Wolves’ trip to Burnley, but Neves had been earmarked for a return to training ahead of next weekend’s clash with Brighton.

Brighton: Jakub Moder remains out long term with a serious knee injury, but Yves Bissouma returns from suspension, while Tariq Lamptey could be back involved after Graham Potter downplayed the severity of the knee issue that forced the wing-back out of Sunday’s draw with Southampton.

Prediction: Wolves 1 – 1 Brighton

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Leeds v Man City

Underperforming Leeds may be just the tonic the Man City needs in the middle of a UCL semifinal sandwich. Expect Man City to rotate heavily but win handily anyway.

Injuries and Suspensions

Leeds: Adam Forshaw (knee) and Tyler Roberts (hamstring) are out for the season but Patrick Bamford (foot) was scheduled to return to outside training this week so might not be too far away from a return to play for the final two Gameweeks.

Manchester City: Kyle Walker was again absent against Real Madrid on Tuesday due to an ankle problem, but he could be back in the squad against Leeds this weekend. John Stones had to be replaced in the 36th minute of the clash with Real Madrid after aggravating a hamstring problem, and he is therefore a major doubt for this match.

Prediction: Leeds United 0-3 Manchester City

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SUNDAY

Everton vs Chelsea

The two sides have different ambitions nearing the end of the season. Everton dropped into the relegation zone following a 2-0 loss in the Merseyside derby and are desperate to get any result. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s win over Man United put the Blues in a safe place to almost lock their Champions League berth for the next campaign.

Injuries and Suspensions

Everton: Godfrey, van de Beek, Gomes, Davies, Townsend and Patterson are all in the physio’s office; Calvert-Lewin has recovered enough to make an appearance.

Chelsea: Chilwell, Hudson-Odoi, and Kovacic remain out; Christensen and Barkley are back in training and could “feature”.

Prediction Everton 1-3 Chelsea

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Tottenham vs Leicester

After earning a draw against Brentford, Spurs will be aiming to climb to the Champions League berth when facing Leicester equalized in their 1-1 draw of the first leg semifinal of the Europa League. However, fatigue will not favour the Foxes, and Antonio Conte’s men will certainly take advantage of that for the win.

Injuries and Suspensions

Tottenham: Matt Doherty (knee) and Japhet Tanganga (knee) are out until the end of the season and there is every chance that we might not see Oliver Skipp (groin) again in 2021/22, with the midfielder suffering setback after setback in his recovery.

Leicester City: Wilfred Ndidi (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out for the long term but Jamie Vardy (knee) made a long-awaited return to playing action as a substitute in Gameweek 34. Boubakary Soumare is back after injury and personal reasons kept him out since the March international break.

Prediction: 2 — 0

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West Ham vs Arsenal

The Hammers’ approach against Chelsea was near to perfect as they managed to rest three of their best players — Michail Antonio, Declan Rice, and Jarrod Bowen — to prepare for their Europa League tie where they suffered a 2-1 loss in the first leg semi-final of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt. On the other hand, Arsenal is eager to qualify for the Champions League, and Mikel Arteta’s young guns are boosted in confidence to do just that.

Injuries and Suspensions

West Ham: The Hammers are already without the injured Angelo Ogbonna (knee), Issa Diop, who all could be out for the season, they will be missing Craig Dawson in GW-35 due to the stopper’s red card against Chelsea.

Arsenal: Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) look set to miss GW-35 and potentially the rest of the season, while it remains to be seen if Bukayo Saka (knock) is fit enough to face West Ham United at the weekend.

Prediction: West Ham 0-2 Arsenal

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MONDAY

Man United vs Brentford

The Red Devils’ dream of fourth place and its UCL berth is pretty much over after sharing a point with Chelsea midweek. They now have nothing really to play for other than to finish the season on a high. Then they can welcome new manager Erik Ten Hag who has massive re-building to do during the summer. Visiting Brentford has been producing fine displays ever since Christian Eriksen returned to the starting XI, so the Bees may create a tough time for United’s shaky defense at Old Trafford.

Injuries and Suspensions

Manchester United: Paul Pogba (calf), Fred (hip), Edinson Cavani (calf) and Luke Shaw (leg) were all on the sidelines for DGW-34, but Fred and Cavani could potentially be involved against Brentford on Monday, having returned to training.

Jadon Sancho (tonsillitis) and Harry Magure (knee) were absentees against Chelsea, with news awaited on whether they could recover in time. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was also a doubt for Thursday’s match with an unspecified issue.

Brentford: Ethan Pinnock (hamstring), Sergi Canos (hamstring), Zanka (muscle) and Frank Onyeka (ankle) all remain on the sidelines but Christian Norgaard (shin) and Kristoffer Ajer (head) should be fit; the former only just missed out against Tottenham on Saturday while the latter will have served his concussion protocol in time for GW-35.

Prediction: 1 – 0

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[Stats and info referenced in this article were sourced from fantasyfootballscout.co.uk]

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Please add your thoughts questions! What are your predictions for this game-week? Who are you planning to captain? Which players do you think can shine during the GW-35? How are your teams shaping up? What late news have you seen? Please join us in the comments below!

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