Matchday 14 Preview: United Travel to the Emirates, City Host Forest and Liverpool Faceoff Against Newcastle

Navin Doodnath & Sujesh Rambajue

Dec 03, 2024, 12:00 PM ET

With the busy festive schedule now underway games are coming thick and fast. Every point matters and games will be intense. United travel to the Emirates Stadium for Ruben Amorim's first real test as United manager. City host Forest looking to end their dreadful run.

Eze returns to the Palace squad ahead of Tuesdays game

Ipswich Town vs Crystal Palace (Tuesday, December 3rd @Portman Road)

Matchday 14 in the Premier League kicks off with the Tractor Boys welcoming the Eagles to

Portman Road for a midweek clash. Ipswich are coming off a crushing 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forrest; a match where they feel they should have picked up points. Crystal Palace earned their 9th point of the season after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle.

Heading into the festive season in the Premier League, this match proves to be crucial for both sides. Palace and Ipswich both sit on 9 points. A win for either side will see them climb out of the relegation zone.

The performances by both sides this season indicate that we could see the points shared.

Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-2 Draw

Leicester City vs West Ham United (Tuesday, December 3rd @ King Power Stadium)

Leicester host West Ham as Ruud Van Nistelrooy takes charge of his first game for the Foxes. Both teams are coming into the game off the back of big losses. Leicester lost 4-1 away to Brentford after taking an early lead while West Ham lost 5-2 at home to Arsenal with all goals coming in the first half.

Leicester City will hope to perform well under their new manager, but they are still in the early stages of their development as a team. West Ham, after an embarrassing result against Arsenal, will come out desperate to get the 3 points. Kickoff is at 3:15 pm EST.

Prediction 2-1 West Ham United

Southampton FC vs Chelsea FC (Wednesday, December 4th @St. Mary’s Stadium)

The high-flying Blues head across the country to take on a struggling Southampton side.

Chelsea is back to looking at their best and currently sit 3rd , tied on points with Arsenal for 2nd .Southampton, on the other hand, have struggled to pick up points this season and sit bottom of the Premier League table with 5 points from 13 matches.

Chelsea continue to cement their spot in the top 4 after beating Aston Villa 3-0 last matchday. Picking up 3 points would see Chelsea narrow the lead on Liverpool for first. Southampton played to a 1-1 draw with Brighton which is an encouraging sign considering they have struggled to get points this season. A win for Southampton would see them on 8 points, but still at the bottom of the Premier League. Southampton have caused problems for Chelsea in their last 6 meetings in the Premier League,

but Chelsea should win this match easily. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST.

Prediction: 3-1 Chelsea

Newcastle vs Liverpool (Wednesday, December 4th @St. James’ Park)

Newcastle United welcome the Premier League leaders, Liverpool, to St. James’ Park. This

match will be exciting as Newcastle will look to end the amazing run that Liverpool have been on.

Liverpool is coming off an emphatic 2-0 win over Manchester City. Mohammad Salah, currently second in Golden Boot race with 11 goals, continues to be the shining light for Liverpool. The win on Matchday 13 saw Liverpool widen their gap at the top of the table to 9 points ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea.

On the other side, Newcastle have now gone back-to-back games without a win in the Premier League after drawing 1-1 with Crystal Palace as a result of an injury time equalizer. They currently sit 11th in the Premier League table, level on 19 points with Manchester United, Fulham, and Aston Villa. Newcastle will need Alexander Isak to step up for them to have a chance against Liverpool.

The last 5 meetings in the Premier League between the two sides have seen Liverpool win all 5. That same trend should follow. However, we could see Eddie Howe’s side put a stop to

Liverpool’s run. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-1 Liverpool

Manchester City Vs. Nottingham Forest (Wednesday, December 4th @ Etihad Stadium)

Nottingham Forest travel to Manchester looking to add to City’s woes. Manchester City have

now gone 7 games without a win which is the longest run in Pep Guardiolas managerial career.

City lost 2-0 at Anfield last weekend and still look a shadow of their true selves. They did

welcome back Dias and Doku, but they are still weak in the midfield.

Forest will come into the game full of confidence after a 1-0 win on the weekend. With Hudson-Odoi and Elanga, Forest can cause the City defence lots of problems in transition with their speed. Chris Wood added to his tally against Ipswich making it 9 goals in the league this season.

With this game being at the Etihad and the home crowd backing them, City will look to get back to winning ways and stop the rut they’ve been in. It won’t be an easy game with Forest likely set up, but with players returning from injury, we may see City come out on top. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-1 City

Everton Vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wednesday, December 4th @ Goodison Park)

Everton host Wolves in a huge relegation battle match. The Toffees are currently 2 points and 2 positions above Wolves in the table so a win for either team would be huge for their survival chances.

Everton come into this game winless in 5 and have failed to score in their last 4 games. They

were just beaten 4-0 at Old Trafford. After a bright opening 30 minutes, they collapsed after

conceding and never looked a threat again. Everton need all 3 points here as their next 5

games are against sides from the current top 6.

Wolves will be disappointed with their game on the weekend. Off the back of an impressive 4-1 win at Fulham, they followed up with a 4-2 loss at home. It was the ultimate in self-destruction as they conceded 3 penalties which were all from defensive mistakes. Wolves had been in good form heading into the weekend so they should feel confident going to Goodison Park. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-1 Wolves

Amad Diallo celebrates his assist vs Everton

Arsenal FC Vs. Manchester United (Wednesday, December 4th @ Emirates Stadium)

Arsenal host Manchester United in a classic Premier League matchup. This game used to be

between the top 2 sides in England, but now Arsenal are challenging for the title and United are looking to get back to challenging for major trophies.

The Gunners are in scintillating form right now with 3 straight wins; scoring 13 goals in that

span. Back to being fully fit, the Arsenal squad is looking for a statement win to put them back in the title conversation and that may come this Wednesday.

Manchester United are in great form themselves; unbeaten in 7 games and fresh off a 4-0 win in the league. However, this game may be too soon for Amorim’s men as they are in the early stages of their development as a team. We have seen United possess more of the ball in all games under Amorim, but we will now get to see how they play without the ball for large parts of the game. Arsenal will need the win more and with the Emirates crowd backing them it may be too large a task for United to get a result. Kickoff is at 3:15 pm EST.

Prediction: 3-1 Arsenal

Aston Villa Vs. Brentford (Wednesday, December 4th @Villa Park)

Aston Villa welcome an upbeat Brentford side who have picked up 2 wins in their last 3 Premier League matches. This midweek matchday will be very crucial for both sides.

Aston Villa started the season off well winning their first 5 matches in the league. However, they have since dropped points in the last 8 matches. Matchday 13 saw Villa lose 3-0 to Chelsea; a match where nothing seemed to go right for Villa. They now sit 12 th in the table heading into Matchday 14 with 19 points. They will want to get back to winning ways and pick up all three points in this clash with Brentford.

Unlike their opponent, Brentford are coming off a 4-1 win over Leicester City. Kevin Schade

played a huge role in the win as he scored his first Premier League hat trick. After an

inconsistent start to the season, Brentford are looking like they have figured out how to pick up points. Early in the season, they would score early and concede late, but now it looks like they have figured out how to combat this. Brentford sit in 8th and a win would help push them into the top 6.

One point separates Brentford and Aston Villa in the Premier League table so this match is

important for both sides. Aston Villa will want to stop the horror run they have been on over the

last month while Brentford will want to build on their previous win. Kickoff is at 3:15 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-2 Draw

Fulham Vs. Brighton (Thursday, December 5th @Craven Cottage)

Fulham welcome the Seagulls to Craven Cottage on Matchday 14. Fulham are coming off a 1-1draw with Spurs; a result they would take after Tom Cairney saw red for a dangerous tackle on Dejan Kulusevski. Brighton are also coming off a disappointing result which ended in a 1-1 draw at home with bottom of the table Southampton.

Fulham are level on points with Manchester United, Newcastle, and Aston Villa with 19 as they sit 10th in the table. A win would see them jump into the top 7 of the table and pushing for a European spot. They will look to grab all three points after dropping points in their last 2

matches.

Brighton are a side that have been in great form. They are unbeaten in their last 3 matches with their last loss coming at the hands of Liverpool. There have been encouraging signs for Fabian Hürzeler’s side this season as they have picked up wins against Manchester City, United, Tottenham and Newcastle. Currently sitting 4th in the league table, Brighton will want all three points to maintain their top 4 hopes.

This match should be a fun one between two sides who are both in decent form looking to pickup a win after drawing on the last matchday. It should be noted that the last time these sides met in the Premier League, Fulham won 3-0. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-0 Fulham

AFC Bournemouth Vs. Tottenham Hotspur (Thursday, December 5th @ Vitality Stadium)

Bournemouth return home to face an inconsistent Spurs side. Coming off a 4-2 win against

Wolves, Bournemouth will look to pick up another three points. The Cherries have performed

very well at home against the top sides having already picked up wins against City and Arsenal.

Spurs will be very disappointed with the week they've had. After demolishing Manchester City, they failed to win their subsequent 2 games against Roma and Fulham; both at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A problem under Ange Postecoglou has been the inconsistencies in performances and it seems nothing has changed this season. The Vitality is a tough place for any team to go, so it wont be a straight forward match for Spurs. Kickoff is at 3:15 pm EST.

Prediction: 2-1 AFC Bournemouth