What The Fans Are Saying – Gameweek 14

I thought I’d take a softer approach to prediction this week. I like stats but I’m looking at fans’ forums for some more insights into how the games may go. It’s just another way to look at things. Last week, Southampton fans weren’t looking forward to the Stoke match citing that they find it hard to break down teams like Stoke – which indeed happened. So here’s what the fans are thinking ahead of the weekend’s matches.

Fans Predictions

–         Watford fans think they might draw with Villa who they expect to go into this tie all guns blazing (if they have any). The feeling is that Watford will have to suck up the pressure to nick a win. They are fine for a draw in this fixture.

–         Tottenham fans are hoping Chelsea line up with just one defensive midfielder so that the likes of Eric Dier will be able to overrun and indeed out-run their London rivals. They seem quite confident of a win but are worried about their flight to Azerbaijan on Thursday.

–         Norwich fans don’t think they have a chance against Arsenal, they will have to sit back and defend and maybe even have double-up man-markers on Alexis Sanchez. Canaries fans are looking at a low-scoring loss as the best outcome, with some even daring to dream they may just snatch a draw.

–         Manchester City fans are distraught. They have just two clean sheets in 15 games, they are still missing Vincent Kompany and now Joe Hart has picked up an injury. They say Southampton is a team they struggle against. Personally, I think this should be a cracker of a match with lots of goals.

–         Aston Villa fans are obviously disheartened. They need a win against Watford but are widely predicting a draw as the best outcome.

–         Bournemouth fans last week guessed at a scoring draw against Swansea and they were proven correct. This week they seem a bit more despondent with most thinking Everton will win by two, either 0-2 or 1-3.

–         Crystal Palace fans have been discussing how poor Newcastle are and they have to get a win. However, they are concerned about their poor record against the Magpies.

–         Leicester fans have a huge 13-page thread on one forum to discuss their match against Manchester United. They are having fun but they expect a frustrating game. Though someone put a bet on for 5-3.

–         Liverpool fans aren’t happy about their home record, but the consensus is that if Swansea go to Anfield and try to play football they will get beaten heavily.

–         Both West Brom and West Ham fans think Baggies boss Tony Pulis will outfox Hammers manager Slaven Bilic. The most predicted outcome is a goalless bore draw with defensive strategy the only winner.

Conclusion

The reason I did this is to see if there is anything we are not expecting. Most games should go the way we expect, though Watford probably won’t score many. However, the biggest upset could be Southampton.

From this raw insight if I was going to captain a player it would probably be Romelu Lukaku or Alexis Sanchez, if we can be assured of his fitness. The Arsenal man was going into the weekend with a minor injury but is still expected to start.

To read more about what the fans think you can use the quick links to the forums from this article.