Premier League predictions: Man City vs Chelsea, Leeds vs Man Utd, and the rest of Matchday 20
Who's leading after MD19? And what do our writer, the algorithm, a child and this week's subscriber expect to see on Matchday 20?
Welcome to week 20 of The Athletic’s Premier League predictions challenge, which is already interfering with my New Year’s resolutions.
Rather than dusting down my trainers and getting out for a much-needed — desperately needed — run, I find myself ruminating over the Premier League fixtures and how they affect our predictions challenge.
Each week since the season began, four of us — a guest subscriber, the algorithm, six-year-old Wilfred and I — have been predicting the Premier League results.
We’re awarding three points for a correct scoreline and one point for a correct result. There’s also a bonus point for any correct “unique” prediction, so for example last week’s guest subscriber James picked up two points for being the only one to predict his beloved Everton would win at Nottingham Forest.
It’s fair to say Tuesday’s games were a bit of a struggle. We all backed Chelsea and Manchester United to beat Bournemouth and Wolves respectively. Both games were drawn. Newcastle winning at Burnley and Arsenal beating Aston Villa were the only games to see more than one of us pick up a point.
I was worried that I might have lost top spot to Wilfred by the time you read this — but Leeds helped me out by drawing at Liverpool on New Year's Day, as did Brentford against Tottenham.
But the games just keep coming, so there’s no time for me to dwell on any of that. This week’s guest subscriber is Hans-Martin, a 33-year-old Liverpool fan from Washington, DC. Over to you, Hans-Martin.
Our subscriber’s match of the week
Manchester City vs Chelsea, Sunday, 5.30pm UK/12.30pm ET
Hans-Martin says: Chelsea haven't beaten Manchester City since the 2021 Champions League final, and given City’s current form, I can’t see it happening now. What could have been a (Enzo) Maresca audition for the City job instead will have the now ex-manager watching from home. I don’t think an interim manager bounce will be enough for Chelsea, but maybe a strong performance will offer some encouragement as they try to hunt a top-four finish.
Manchester City 3-1 Chelsea
Oli says: Parting company with Maresca might make for a more peaceful atmosphere inside the corridors of Stamford Bridge, but it is a pretty shambolic way to prepare for a game of this size. Sometimes players rise to the occasion in these circumstances — I can certainly remember Chelsea teams of the past doing so — but I can see them going the other way on Sunday, particularly with Moises Caicedo missing through suspension. If Chelsea’s players feel sorry for themselves, Erling Haaland and his Manchester City team-mates could have a field day.