RADIO
The end of a European Week and we paraphrase the great Meat Loaf '3 out of 4 ain't bad' in terms of qualification for the Champions League second stage. Manchester United could be disrupted by Thursday night Europa League soccer and so it leaves the way open for Arsenal, Manchester City and of course Leicester City to perhaps take advantage.
Only six games this Saturday culminating in the eliminated Champions league side facing a potential banana skin on the South Coast.
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Predictions
Norwich 1 v Everton 4 Star Player Romelu Lukaku
Crystal Palace 2 v Southampton 1 Star Player Conor Wickham
Manchester City 3 v Swansea City 0 Star Player Wilfrid Bony
Sunderland 1 v Watford 0 Star Player Star Player Duncan Watmore
West Ham United 0 v Stoke City 3 Star Player Ryan Shawcross
Bournemouth 3 v Manchester United 3 Star Player Glenn Murray
The weekend begins with Everton visiting Norwich and, despite dropping points at home to Crystal Palace, the Toffees were still rampant and we think the goals they missed earlier this week will come at Carrow Road. Norwich still look weak defensively and expect Romelu Lukaku to exploit this to the full. How Jose Mourinho must regret allowing him to leave, albeit for over $40 million dollars. It now looks an absolute bargain buy.
Crystal Palace tend to play better on the road, but they will never have a better opportunity to take on a Southampton side rocked by the defeat at Liverpool and failure to beat bottom side Aston Villa last week. Conor Wickham leads the line very well and we think the time has come for him to capitalize on the good work of the pacey wing players at Selhurst Park
So Garry Monk loses his job, as predicted in this column, and an away trip to Manchester City is not ideal when a club is in turmoil. Swansea really have missed Wilfrid Bony and expect him to illustrate the point in a comfortable home win.
Sunderland are improving under Sam Allardyce and his "defense-at-all-cost-counter-attacking" style is very much suited to the young starlet Duncan Watmore, whom we have previously brought to your attention. The young man has seemingly tremendous pace, the biggest threat to any defender, and an abundance of energy and enthusiasm. He could very well be the difference on Saturday in a tight game.
West Ham have suffered even more injury blows, losing Winston Reid and Victor Moses until the New Year. Add to this the loss of Dmitri Payet and they are a pale shadow of their early season team. On the other hand Stoke City are on a roll, not least because they have not conceded a single goal this season when Ryan Shawcross has been on the field. We think they will be able to take West Ham apart.
So to the evening match and Manchester United have suffered even more injuries with 9 regular first team players absent and Bastian Schweinsteiger suspended. Defensively they are down to the bare bones and Bournemouth, if nothing else, will attack. Unbeaten in three games and off the back of their win at Stamford Bridge, expect them to give everything to unsettle the Red Devils. Glenn Murray can be very difficult to handle when he is on his game and this could be another 3-3 draw like their last home game.
