Kevin Doyle on VAR, Liverpool and this weekend’s Premier League games

Newcastle v Man City, Saturday 12:30 

Consistency of performance isNewcastle’s Achilles heel; giving a good performance one week andthen they drop the ball the next. 

Man City had been playing great but recently theirstandards have slipped a bit and I think they will struggle to break Newcastledown this weekend up in St James Park. 
 
I agree withSterling’s goal not being allowed last weekend. When it comes to a limb beingoffside that is ridiculous. But when it is a distinct body part like your shoulder,I agree with this.

The rule was always to give advantage to the strikerwhen I was playing, there is no advantage to the striker if your toe isoffside! 

With both teams underperforming I think this game willend in a 1:1 draw.  

Liverpool v Brighton, Saturday 15:00 

Brighton play well away from home and are well organised, I can see them causing Liverpool some trouble thisweekend.  

Liverpool being a counter attacking team, they like tobreak quickly, and Brighton won’t give them the space to do that. Liverpoolstruggle to break teams down who have a lot of possession, this is their oneweakness. 

They labored slightly to the Championsleague draw at home during the week. Having players like Virgil van Dijk, who came in twoyears ago, on the Liverpool side is a huge advantage for them.

In my opinion he was the difference of themwinning the Champions League last year or not and being the top team inthe Premier League and more than likely winning it this year.

They are a team full of great players who allhave their part to play. But he has been their icing on the cake the lastnumber of years. 

With Liverpool having the stronger squad in this game, I can see them winning 2-0. 

Chelsea v West Ham, Saturday 15:00 

I was surprised to see Chelsea getting beat last weekend, I still think they played quite well and had plenty of possession against City. Frank Lampard has done a really good job with the team bringing in younger players.

The pressure is off him to a certain degree comparedto previous Chelsea managers. He doesn’t seem to have that ‘we haveto win’ pressure. He has the team playing very well and they are nice towatch.  

I can see them running away with the game against WestHam this weekend. West Ham have been very poor, and their manager is on thebrink. They need to improve on everything in my opinion!

Their chairmen are not the type to waitaround for results and the fans are beginning to get impatient.

They will bite the bullet and change their manager ifthey feel it is going to make a real difference to the team andresults. They need to sign some good players in January! 

I can see Chelsea winning 3-0 at home inthis game.  

Southampton v Watford, Saturday 17:30 

These are two teams who have underperformed, andtheir managers are under serious pressure. Neither team hasplayed well so far this season.  

I expected a better season out of Southampton thisyear. Their manager Ralph Hasenhuttl came in last season and had done a goodjob with the team.

And I had hoped he would build on it this season tomake it as a mid-table team at minimum, but it hasn’t happened forthem. They had a great chance to secure a big away win to Arsenal lastweekend but couldn’t get the job done. 

For this game I expect both teams to get something outof it and ending in a 1:1 draw.  

Man Utd v Aston Villa, Sunday 16:30  

Last weekend Man Utd had been playing terrible for 75minutes and performed well for 10. They went 3-2 up and the minute I saw themmaking a sub taking on a center half. I knew they were going to concede a goal.

They were on the front foot and playing well,Sheffield Utd were out of the game! This is not a move Man Utd would have madein the past under Fergie.

They would have kept going and won 4-2 or even 5-2,they wouldn’t have brought a center half on against Sheffield Utd, hoping notto concede in the last few minutes.  

Man Utd shouldn’t have been in the position oflosing to Sheffield Utd in the first place, but unfortunately that is wherethey are at the moment, they are not good enough.

As I mention each week, they need a new manager!Pochettino is waiting to be snapped up and he would be fantastic for this teamand turn them around.  

Aston Villa on the other hand are so hot and cold. Oneweek you think they are fantastic then the next week they lose.

They had a good performance against Newcastle last week, a convincing 2-0 win. I can see Villa going to Old Trafford and coming out even with a 1-1 draw. My best value bet this weekend would be for Aston Villa to get something out of this game!

Leicester v Everton, Sunday 16:30 

It is hard not to see Leicester’s winning streakcontinuing this weekend, they have been a breath of fresh air! They have beatengood teams and I believe they can keep it going.

I am enjoying seeing them stir up the leagueand causing the top teams some trouble. You don’t see the big teams like ManUtd or Arsenal putting pressure on them anytime soon as Leicester are just asstrong as them now.  

At home to Everton, I would be surprised if they don’twin this game. Everton have been playing very poor and their manager is on theedge of being let go by the looks of it. I just hope Leicester don’t sit backand think this will be an easy win for them.  

My prediction for this game is Leicester will be toomuch for the Toffees and will come out on top with a comfortable 2-0 win. 

My Five-Fold ACCA 

Liverpool v Brighton: Liverpool win  
Chelsea v West Ham: Chelsea win 
Tottenham v Bournemouth: Tottenham win 
Leeds v Middlesbrough: Leeds win 
Wigan v Reading: Reading win 

My 1-2-FREE predictions

Southampton v Watford: 1-1 
Norwich v Arsenal:2-2 
Leicester vEverton: 2-0 Leicester 

Kevin