Having had the weekend off due to FA Cup action, the Premier League is back with a midweek round.
Seven matches are being played on Wednesday, leaving just three tasty fixtures to take centre stage tomorrow night.
Swansea will look to keep their strong form going at home to Arsenal whilst Crystal Palace go to West Ham in a London derby.
Rounding out the action, Liverpool head to Huddersfield looking to kick start a upturn in fortunes, having lost their last two in all competitions.
- 7:45pm unless stated
Swansea vs Arsenal
Recent weeks have seen Swansea get back into the survival fight whilst Arsenal are starting to drift away from the top four battle.
Since the Swans arrived in top flight for 2011-12 season, they have won just two out of six home games against Arsenal.
The Gunners lead the aggregate scoreline 14-6 from those games so will be tough to beat here.
Carlos Carvalhal on Saturday named a strong side at Notts County in FA Cup whilst Arsenal had weekend off.
With a place in Carabao Cup final secured, the visitors’ confidence should be high and with Swansea probably likely to make changes, I think this will be a comfortable win for Arsenal.
Prediction: Swansea 0-2 Arsenal
Jake predicts: Swansea 0-1 Arsenal
Result: Swansea 3-1 Arsenal
West Ham vs Crystal Palace
Since David Moyes and Roy Hodgson arrived at West Ham and Crystal Palace respectively, both clubs have managed to pull clear of the relegation zone.
They however are still in peril with the relegation battle so tight points wise, making this London derby a six pointer.
The Hammers should field a strong team here, after putting out a weak lineup against Wigan on Saturday in FA Cup.
Palace meanwhile have had ten days to prepare for this game so expect plenty of attack.
Both teams are however experiencing an injury crisis, which might affect how the teams line up.
In the clash at Selhurst Park in October, Palace came from 2-0 down to get a late equaliser.
Since then, both clubs have slowly grown stronger and taken a combined 32 points between them from December onwards (West Ham – 16, Crystal Palace – 16).
Given the form of both teams, I am going to go for a draw here.
Prediction: West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace
Jake predicts: West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace
Result: West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace
Huddersfield vs Liverpool (8:00pm)
Huddersfield are in dire straits entering this clash with Liverpool, who are looking to bounce back from a shock FA Cup exit at weekend.
The Terriers have taken just four points from their last eight league games, with their last home win coming on 9th December.
Liverpool meanwhile have 18 points from the same period but are winless in their last two across all competitions.
Could a repeat of last season’s mid season slump be underway again?
Back to this fixture, Huddersfield have fared well against the three North East teams, out of the league’s ‘Big Six’.
They saw off Manchester United 2-1 before losing by same result to Manchester City a month later.
In the second midweek round, BT picked Huddersfield in exact same slot against Chelsea, meaning that another rout can’t be ruled out.
Although they have won the last 11 clashes in all competitions, Liverpool have a (W10 D8 L17) record away at Huddersfield in their previous 35 trips.
Prediction wise, I expect a tighter game alongside the lines of both Manchester clubs but can see Liverpool just having that bit extra here.
Prediction: Huddersfield 1-3 Liverpool
Jake predicts: Huddersfield 1-1 Liverpool
Result: Huddersfield 0-3 Liverpool
Prediction Wars
Here at Sport Grill, me and Jake Self are going head to head predicting games.
Here is how things stand after the previous round of games along with the rules.
Correct score – 3 points
Correct result – 1 point
Incorrect result – 0 points
| Name | Points |
| James Gregory | 147 |
| Jake Self | 152 |
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