Good day everyone,

Happy New Year. I hope you are all well and looking forward to more football this weekend, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things sports. I hope you all enjoyed the midweek action, we are back again with even more matches this weekend. We are into the first matches of 2022 in the Premier League, and should be looking forward to some very exciting games, although so far two have already been called off thanks to Covid-19. We still have some top games to look forward too, including all of the current top four facing each other. 

Fixtures - Times are shown as U.K. Time

This midweeks fixtures  take place over 3 days, from Saturday lunchtime until Monday evening.

Saturday 1st January

Arsenal - Man City 12.30pm KO (Kick Off)

Leicester - Norwich 3pm KO - Postponed

Watford - Tottenham 3pm KO

Crystal Palace - West Ham 5.30pm KO

Sunday 2nd January

Brentford - Aston Villa 2pm KO

Everton - Brighton 2pm KO

Leeds - Burnley 2pm KO

Southampton - Newcastle 2pm KO - Postponed

Chelsea - Liverpool 4.30pm KO

Monday 3rd January

Man Utd - Wolves 5.30pm KO

Predictions

Now for the most exciting part, as I go through the latest info regarding each team to make an attempt at predicting the results for this weekends matches. Remember this is just my fun analysis and should not be taken as advice or a guarantee. 

Arsenal - Man City

This fixture could be one of the biggest games of the weekend, although Arteta will miss meeting his former mentor in Guardiola due to a positive Covid-19 test. Arsenal are on an impressive run at home, having won ten of their previous eleven home fixtures. At the same time City have won ten game in a row in the league, making these two teams an irresistible match up. Its difficult to know what the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak amongst the Arsenal staff will mean in terms of the touchline, but expect the players to be fully committed to getting one over the champions and cementing themselves in fourth place. Arsenal will be with Aubameyang and Kolasinac, along with Chambers, Tomiyasu, Soares, and Maitland-Niles thanks to positive Covid-19 tests. As for City, Walker, Rodri, and Stones could all be pushing for a return to the squad after recent injuries. They have no Covid-19 related absences so far which is a positive sign for the Citizens. This will be a tough call as City are almost unstoppable, but Arsenal will be fresh having not played since Boxing Day and have a very mean defensive trio in White, Gabriel and Ramsdale. It will be a tight game, and I expect it will finish with City dropping points in a 2-2 draw.

Leicester - Norwich - Postponed

This match was postponed because of a high number of injuries and positive Covid-19 results in the Norwich squad. Leicester can add this game to matches against Tottenham and Everton to their list of fixtures needing to be rearranged thanks to postponements. The Premier League board accepted Norwich's application for the match to be called off as the club do not have the required number of players available for the game.

Watford - Tottenham

Its a tough time for Watford fans, with Ranieri's team having lost their previous five Premier League games and conceding 15 goals in that period. That all came after the 4-1 victory over United while cost Ole his job. The Hornets are only two points above the drop zone, and three points above bottom side Norwich heading into this weekends matches. Spurs, unbeaten in the league under Conte, will look to get back to winning ways after the draw with Southampton. They are sitting seventh with two games in hand and five points behind fourth placed Arsenal, and will hope to close the gap this weekend. Watford will be missing a string of players, with Etebo, Sarr, Kabasele, Foster, Baah, N'Koulou, Rose, and Cleverly all missing. As for Tottenham, Bergwijn, Romero, and Sessegnon will all miss out but Le Celso could return to the action. With Kane back amongst the goals and Watford in an awful state of affairs, I can only see one winner. Spurs will win this game comfortably with a final score of 0-3.

Crystal Palace - West Ham

The home support seems to really help Palace this season, who have only lost once at their home ground this season. With seven points in their last three, they are in good form and will hope to carry that good result against Norwich into this match. West Ham have lost three of their last five away games in the league, picking up just four points, but their win against Watford after going behind will certainly boost morale. Palace will have Zaha back from suspension, although this will be his final match before heading off to the AFCON. Anderson, MacArthur, Eze, Olise, and Clyne will all be missing for the Eagles. West Ham will be without Zouma, Ogbonna, and Cresswell, but Rice will return after his recent suspension. A tough game to call, but with West Ham looking to get back on track in a push for European qualification, I think they will put a dent in Palace's home record and marginally secure a 2-3 victory at Selhurst Park.

Brentford - Aston Villa

Both these teams lost to the current top two during their last games, and will look to get back to winning ways in this match. Villa have not played since Boxing Day and will be fresher, and currently sit two points and two places above the newly promoted side. Franks team failed to score in their previous two games, while Villa have tasted victory in two of their previous three away games. The Bees will be missing Henry, Raya, Goode, Fosu, Jorgensen, and DaSilva, but Ajer could return along with Mbuemo. Villa have Mings suspended, while Bailey and Nakamba will miss through injury. Ashley Young is also a doubt for this fixture. Villa have been excellent and transformed under Gerrard and the hope will be that his impact continues, even if he is still missing from the touchlines thanks to Covid-19. Brentford are looking over their shoulders as they sit in fourteenth, but are showing the best of the promoted sides and should be alright this season. I think it will be close, but Villa will be tight at the back, and should catch Brentford on the counter to bag a goal. A really close match which I think will end 1-1.

Everton - Brighton

This will be Evertons first game since a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on December 16th. Brighton managed the same result in their last fixture. Everton sit in fifteenth, but have games in hand against bottom sides Burnley and Newcastle United which were postponed due to Covid-19. Brighton, famous for getting a draw this season, will head into this game on a high after their late equaliser against Chelsea. Mina, Richarlison, Rondon, and Townsend will all miss out for the Toffees, but they should expect to see a fit Dominic Calvert-Lewin take to the field. Dunk, Sarmiento, and Locadia will all miss out for Brighton due to injury and Covid-19 respectfully. Trossard will also be a doubt. With DCL back to fitness and taking to the field, Rafa will have a real hope of getting his season up and running. The team will use him as a focal point and he should be able to provide the goals they need to climb the table. I expect Everton to use the home crowd to their advantage and secure the points, winning this game 2-0.

Leeds - Burnley

The recent news that Leeds will be without Phillips and Cooper until at least March is a devastating blow for the Elland Road faithful, who are certainly hoping their team can dig deep and push away from the drop zone. Both these sides have struggled this season and both are in real danger of dropping out of the league if they cannot improve their form. Leeds should be the fresher side, having seen their recent games against Liverpool and Aston Villa postponed due to COVID-19. Their 4-1 loss to Arsenal represents their only defeat in their last six league home games, and they managed to score in their previous seven home matches. Burnley have yet to taste victory away from home this season, and are six games without a win in the league. The Whites will be without Rodrigo, Cresswell, and Struijk, while Bamford is also touch and go to be fit. Burnley are without Barnes and Roberts long-term, while it is unclear if their Covid-19 hit players of Long, Brownhill, Rodriguez, and Pope will be able to return to action. With Leeds having the home advantage I think they will pile more pressure on Sean Dyche's side to kick off 2022, and secure a 2-1 home win.

Southampton - Newcastle - Postponed

This is another match which has been called off due to the high number of Covid-19 cases and injuries present in the Newcastle squad. Southampton were disappointed with the late news on the postponement but unfortunately that is the drawback of the pandemic and football's hectic schedule.

Chelsea - Liverpool

The clash of second versus third finishes off Sunday's matches, with both sides dropping points in their previous games. Neither will want to loose more ground on City, who could be eleven points clear by the time this game kicks off. Lukaku is back and firing for Chelsea, after their horrid December saw them slip off the top of the table. Four of Chelsea's last five league matches at the Bridge have finished 1-1, with no clean sheets showing a remarkable change from the formidable defence Tuchel had created at the beginning of the season. As for Liverpool, the shock loss at Leicester was their only recent blemish, and Salah and Mané will want to put in a good final performance before departing for AFCON. Liverpool will hope their trend of having only lost two of their previous 11 league encounters  at Stamford Bridge continues. James and Christensen both miss out for Chelsea with injuries suffered last time out against Brighton, while Silva is also missing from their back line. Werner will be absent with Covid-19 while Loftus-Cheek is also a doubt. For the Reds, Robertson will miss out with suspension, and Minamino, Origi, Thiago, Phillips, Adrian, and Elliot are all out injured. They also have three new Covid-19 positive results in the Liverpool camp, although have not announced who they are as of yet. According to Klopp, we will know when we see his team line up on Sunday. Assuming Liverpool are not loosing Salah to Covid-19, I expect he will want to make amends for the lacklustre display against Leicester and because of this I am backing Liverpool to go on and win against a makeshift Chelsea backline with a score of 1-3 in London.

Man Utd - Wolves

The victory on Thursday finally looked like A Rangnick side capable of playing attractive football. He will look to build on that and push ahead, with United only four points off Arsenal in fourth, with a game in hand. Bruno Lage has made his West Midlands side a tough opposition for any side, with five clean sheets in their last seven matches. Ronaldo made his first start in the Premier League against Wolves way back in 2003, and will hope to have a memorable encounter on Monday against them. Fernandes will be back from suspension and give Rangnick a headache of where to fit him into this team, while Bailly is unlikely to be risked ahead of AFCON due to a knock he picked up. Wolves have not played since Boxing Day and Jonny, Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-Chan, Mosquera, and Boly will all miss out, while Rayan Ait-Nouri is a doubt. Wolves are winless in their last ten away games against United, but are a different team this season. Depending on the damage done to their squad due to Covid-19, I think they could cause United real trouble in this match. The Red Devils will look to play to their home fans and get the crowd going, but Wolves will be tight at the back and a threat on the break. This game has a draw written all over it in my opinion, and I think it will finish up 1-1.

Have a great day and enjoy the new year games, which should see some very exciting matches. We will have the 3rd round of the F.A. Cup next weekend, sandwiched between the semi finals of the Carabao Cup.

Peace. CryptoGod-1.

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