Kevin Doyle on the Manchester derby and the Premier League weekend

Man City v Man United, Saturday 17:30

Man City have not being playing their best. They’ve had a few bad results lately but had a decent win away to Burnley during the week.

Honestly, I just think they will be too good for United who will come in all guns blazing with a back’s to the wall derby-type performance where everyone is running around and trying their hardest, but Man City’s quality will shine through and they will end up winning reasonably comfortably. 

As the game wears on, the quality on the City side will cometo the fore and it will be just too much for Man Utd. Even though they got agood result v Spurs midweek, I don’t think they are playing well enough to getanything from this game.  

Maybe, if they get a bit of luck, things could go their way.If they dig in and block some shots over the 90 mins, they might get somethingout of the game but it’s unlikely and if they do play that, it won’t be one forthe spectators to really sit back and enjoy.

I just can’t see Man City slipping up at home as they chase downthe runaway leaders in Liverpool and I predict a 3-1 win to City. I could see Raheem Sterling grabbing a brace andpossibly Rashford too, who looked very sharp down the left midweek, to nick onefor Utd.

Prediction: Man City 3-1 Man United 

Aston Villa v Leicester, 14:00 Sunday

Aston Villa got a very good draw away to Man Utd lastweekend but stumbled away to Chelsea midweek. I think this is a close oneto call.

Leicester are doing a fantastic job;scoring plenty of goals and Villa have been playing well; putting alot of pressure on teams.

Losing away at Stamford Bridge 2-1 is not a terrible result,and I think they have enough quality players in the squad with the likesof Tyrone Mings and Jack Grealish, who has been outstanding this season, whichshould be enough to cause Leicester problems.

Villa play quite open, they don’t just sit in and hold on for90 mins, I can see quite a few goals in this one. It’s a home game forVilla and Leicester can’t keep winning so I see both teams to score two goalsand the game to end in a draw. 

I think if Brendan Rodgers got the offer to go to Arsenal,he probably should. It is a massive club and too big an opportunity to turndown but whether he gets that offer or would Leicester let him go is anotherquestion.

They are obviously a club with plenty of money and ambitious plans. But if it something like £14m to buy him out of contract, that is like a cheap footballer in today’s climate so you should be prepared to pay for a manager that you have faith in.

If you really want Brendan Rodgers, £14m is nothing to a club like Arsenal.

I hate writing Leicester off for the league title asthey have proven they can do it in the past. They don’t have the European midweekfixtures like the other clubs competing for the same spots so from that sideyou don’t need as big a squad.

They seem to be playing with so much joy and confidence andif they can keep Jamie Vardy fit and playing well, I can see them being in thetop-four which would be a fantastic achievement, but not winningthe league.  

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-2 Leicester 

Brighton v Wolves, 16:30 Sunday

I don’t think Brighton have been bad this season, far fromthe worst. Wolves have been excellent with Matt Doherty from an Irishperspective, who is setting up and scoring goals.

He’s having another fantastic season. He is the only playerleft from when I was there, and it is great to see him stillperforming at that level. 

I feel Brighton will just have enough at home for this one.Being a well organised solid team, when they come out and play toomuch ball is when they hit on the counter and start conceding goals.

Once Brighton sit deep and wear the other team downmentally, they are a better and difficult team to breakdown. Wolves going awayfrom home have not historically done well at this ground.

Although it has nothing to do with the current squad, history has a tendency to repeat itself, so I see Wolves happy for it to end in a 1-1 draw.

Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Wolves 

Bournemouth v Liverpool, 15:00 Saturday

Liverpool had a fantastic derby win against Everton midweek,who are just terrible at the minute. You would have expected Everton to raisetheir game for the local derby, but it wasn’t to be. 

Eddie Howe was disappointed after losing to Crystal Palacemidweek even though he had a one-man advantage for most of the game. The lastteam you want to be facing is Liverpool when you are that down.

It is not easy to go to Bournemouth who play good footballbut that could play right into Liverpool’s hands who love to counter-attack allday long. They are in such form; it is hard to see anything other than aLiverpool win. 

I thought it was clever from Klopp to change the top three midweek with Mane, Shaqiri and Divock Origi, and giving Firmino and Salah a rest. The last three games those three have played up front has resulted in nine goals.

It has been great to see the squad players reallycoming on and having impact when needed in the season.

Prediction: Bournemouth 1-3 Liverpool

Everton v Chelsea, 12:30 Saturday

I don’t think Chelsea will run away with this game. Evertonwill play well but they have been leaking too many goals and notscoring enough.

They just don’t seem to have a belief about them atthe moment. They seem well organised but they look verynervous when they play.  

Regarding Richarlison playing down the wing, agood player should be able to play anywhere and if he is goodenough, should not have to be pigeon-holed as a centre forward.

Sometimes a different position can freshen you up and getyou on the scoresheet again. A change is a good as a rest sometimes. 

Chelsea will have too much for them and I see them scoring acouple of away goals. My prediction is a 2-1 win to Chelsea. 

Prediction: Everton 1-2 Chelsea 

Watford v Crystal Palace, 15:00 Saturday

Crystal Palace are up to 7th in the table with a good manager and a solid group of players. They kept hold of Wilfried Zaha, he hasn’t been the star player in the past, but he has been consistent. 

They have an excellent manager who has seen and done it all.It’s not rocket science; a decent manager with a good squad of players will getyou the results in this League. 

I would not be surprised if Watford went and got a surpriseresult. For Crystal Palace, it appears as the players had given up playing forFlores. 

Sometimes a change in manager brings aboutsome immediate impact in terms of player performance andespecially for the Watford team who must be so used to different managerscoming and going from the club.

I think Watford may surprise a few people and will get anarrow 2-1 win at home. 

Prediction: Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace 

Norwich v Sheffield United, 14:00 Sunday

I am going to call a draw in this game. With players likePukki on Norwich’s side scoring goals this can have the team avoidingrelegation. 

Unfortunately for the Canaries they met a Southampton team inmidweek who had shown some resurgence and ended up on the wrong side of aresult against fellow league strugglers.

I think it will be a tight score draw on the day. 

Prediction: Norwich 1-1 Sheffield United

My 1-2-Free predictions:

Man City v Man Utd:3-1 Man City 
Aston Villa v Leicester: 2-2 
Brighton v Wolves: 1-1 

My five-fold ACCA:

Chelsea v Everton: Chelsea win 

Bournemouth v Liverpool: Liverpool win 

Spurs v Burnley: Spurs win 

Man City v Man Utd: Man City win 

Reading v Birmingham: Reading win 

Kevin