What The Fans Are Saying – Gameweek 7

This article tries to answer the question ‘What the fans are saying’ for the Gameweek ahead by delving into their forums and unearthing their predictions of how the games will be played.

Fans Predictions

Everton fans are down in the dumps. They were so happy before Bournemouth spoiled the party. They are not impressed by Leighton Baines’ understudy Oviedo one little bit. They also missed Gareth Barry when he went off early as he has become vital to Everton’s play. Ross Barkley is giving the ball away still far too much, say the supporters,  they love him, but he frustrates them. In addition, Crystal Palace are Everton’s bogey team. The Eagles always seem to win this fixture and score around three goals. It’s an anomaly in football but Everton fans hope it won’t happen again. They are hoping to win at around 3-1.

Fans of Crystal Palace also recognize their past good results at Goodison Park but they don’t expect anything better than a draw. If they get something from this match they really have turned a corner. Like I said before Alan Pardew teams go on huge bad runs but also good runs. Palace fans see a very high scoring game predicting a 2-2 draw or a 3-2 loss. The fans have also pointed out that Romelu Lukaku always scores against them.

Swansea fans say they should clog up the midfield as that’s where all Liverpool’s attacks are coming from. Yes, Liverpool are ripping defences to shreds but they can also concede. Swansea have seen an improvement from their team and are relatively confident they can get something from this game. They have an attacking threat now even if they play narrow.

It should be a comfortable day’s work at the Liberty Stadium for Liverpool, according to their fans.  The team’s  whole game plan is to score more than the opponent and it’s going well so far. The more knowledgeable fans however have noticed that if Swansea are fighting for their lives even at this part of the season then this game could be difficult. They don’t expect a cleansheet. So predictions are a 2-1 or 3-1 win. 

Watford fans say their game against Bournemouth is one where both teams are looking for a victory. They expect an open game with a lot of attacking emphasis. They are quite pessimistic but hopefully they can edge this. They say their defence is a bit shaky but they have to play better to win this game. A narrow win or a narrow loss are predicted, with a lot going for a 0-1 loss. Isaac Success is being touted to start instead of Odion Ighalo.

If Bournemouth can keep up with their pressing game with a strong emphasis on quality passing they should win, say their fans. The Cherries faithful think their team have turned a corner and are predicting a 2-1 win or a low scoring draw at worst.

West Ham fans are unhappy but they still think they have a good side. The players have to work harder no doubt but the Watford game took a beating out of the players. They aren’t happy with the stadium as they are too far away and when it starts getting cold and rainy their fear the so-called roof won’t keep them dry. This could be any score.

George Friend has been a liability at left back, say the Middlesborough fans. But there is no obvious replacement so hopefully the defence will click at some point. The defensive midfielders aren’t playing as well as hoped either. It’s a good time to play West Ham but it’s also a good time to play against ‘Boro. They want to keep it tight to annoy the home crowd. There could be a couple of changes.

Hull fans think they’ll probably lose to Chelsea. They have Jake Livermore back, which should help, but mainly they are looking at defeat of the 1-2 or 1-3 variety. They are talking more about other things like Sam Allardyce, which always shows they expect to lose.

Fear surrounds Chelsea fans ahead of their trip to Hull. They call for a few players to be dropped, like Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic. If changes are made they think they’ll beat Hull convincingly by around 4-1. Chelsea don’t like being pressed so this could be a tricky tie for the down in the dumps Blues.

Sunderland fans are not talking about their game against West Brom. Instead they are ranting over Sam Allardyce as well. They don’t like David Moyes’ constant whinging about not knowing how to fix Sunderland, he should just get on with it, they say.

There are no easy wins for West Brom, say their fans, even though a trip to the Stadium of Light looks good for them. They expect boss Tony Pulis will set the side up for a draw and try to nick a goal, as he always does away from home. But these are the games, where the Baggies are expected to do well in, that sometimes Pulis can mess up. Most are expecting a 0-0 draw so don’t expect this to be first up on Match of the Day on Saturday.

Manchester United fans haven’t had time to predict their game against Stoke. They think Juan Mata will and should start more now. If they can get Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the right as well that could help their season.

Fans of Stoke are hoping they can show the fight they showed in their last game, where they successful won the ball back against West Brom at home.  They are still not looking forward to this game and expect to lose heavily but hopefully go down fighting. Most expect Man Utd to be cocky, but few expect this to lead to an upset. As this match is on TV they don’t want to be too embarrassed with a 3-0 loss the most common prediction.  

Leicester fans are confident of a small win against Southampton. They say it will be a hard game but they should prevail. The defence needs to get better and Southampton playing in Israel on Thursday should help.

The diamond formation is starting to appeal to Southampton fans, who were hesitant at this tactical change at first. The midfield trio is solid, allowing the fullbacks to push on and the front three interchange well to allow space for attackers to find. There are no predictions on this game due to most of the chat centering around  last night’s Europa League tie.

Tottenham fans are happy about their defence and full of praise for Eric Dier’s defensive cover in the centre of the park. They’d prefer to go at Man City though rather than sit back but either way aren’t expecting to win, in fact they think they’ll lose but at least will give it a go. Mousa Dembele being out troubles many of the fans, but Manchester City are also without their midfield maestro, Kevin De Bruyne. The scoreline could be anything but a  low goal tally either way is predicted.

This fixture presents Manchester City with their first big test after the Manchester derby earlier this season, say the fans. Injuries to key players, such as De Bruyne, are a cancern and given the opposition confidence has ebbed away somewhat. Their draw against Celtic may have been due to having one eye on this game, so they should be prepared. They hope Fernandinho will be paired with Fernando in midfield to offer protection in what could be a tight match featuring two teams that play a high intensity pressing game.

Burnley fans hope their recent 4-5-1 formation is fielded but worry that Sam Vokes may not be the best lone striker. Against Watford he looked tired towards the end and couldn’t hold the ball up.  This needs to be sorted quickly as Arsenal will punish any vulnerabilities. The formation does allow for an improved counter attacking style of play, which worked against Watford on Monday and also ensured they could break up play easily. They hope they can continue that and frustrate Arsenal on Sunday, but the gulf in quality between the Hornets and the Gunners may make that merely wishful thinking.

This could be a hard game, say Arsenal fans. They need to be on top of their game and be clinical as chances may be harder to come by. Rotation is not expected and the fans are fully expecting to win this game, although may concede if Burnley’s set piece prowess is on display.

Conclusion

This looks like a high-scoring gameweek and again not many cleansheets. There are a lot of 3-1 victory scorelines predicted too.

Who to captain? There is so much choice. My statistics suggest Diego Costa, which is unfortunate because I don’t own him. The main other choices look to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez, who I will be captaining due to him being classed as a midfielder. It will be a difficult week for captaincy, you could even punt on someone like Theo Walcott or Marcus Rashford and not fall too far behind if they fail.