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Premier League: Preview and predicted lineups of ‘Matchday 22′ for remaining fixtures

By News Update

New Delhi: Matchday 22 has seen some amazing action in football as Liverpool’s 2-0 win against sees them six points clear at the top. Arsenal had a chance to maintain a gap of five points but a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa sees the Gunners remain in some distance from the Reds. Despite a 4-1 loss against Bournemouth, Newcastle maintained their place in the Champions League place still.

The remaining fixtures will have third-placed Nottingham Forest fight against the 20th-placed Southampton and equalize points with Arsenal though the Tricky Trees will remain in third place, while Everton and Tottenham lockhead in the Merseyside.  Manchester United will host Tottenham Hotspur, while their neighbour Manchester City will travel to face Ipswich Town. Chelsea are competing for fourth place as they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Nottingham Forest vs Southampton (7:30 PM IST)

Nottingham Forest come to the game still very much in contention for lifting the title, as they avoided a loss in the midweek clash against Liverpool. The draw ended their seven-game winning streak across competitions. Since December, they have taken 19 from 24 possible points, the most among the Premier League teams. This season they have scored the first goal on 17 occasions in the top flight this season, with only Fulham managing to stop Forest from scoring on their home turf.

Southampton are still with just a single win in the season though in their previous outing against Manchester United came close to winning their second victory this season, until Amad Diallo’s hattrick in the closing minutes, helped the Red Devils take the three points. Still, Southampton had some positives to take in a campaign that has mostly been disappointing. After being promoted to the Premier League season, they are now ten points behind from climbing away from the relegation zone.

Predicted XI

Nottingham Forest: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood

Southampton: Ramsdale; Wood, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis; Sugawara, Downes, Ugochukwu, Walker-Peters; Fernandes; Onuachu, Suleiman

Nottingham Forest 2-0 Southampton

Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur (7:30 PM IST)

Despite being in the hands of a new manager David Moyes, Everton’s display showed little improvement against Aston Villa. Everton had a close chance in the injury to take one point from the draw but ended ultimately with a 1-0 home defeat. The Toffees are winless in 12 games, winning last time at the end of October against Ipswich Town. They are 16th in the League after Wolves, Leicester and Ipswich have all lost their last game but their new manager has admitted the current squad might not be able to save the club from relegation.

Tottenham Hotspur remain inconsistent as they lost 2-1 to Arsenal in the midweek clash. Despite Son Heung-min providing the team an early lead in the 25th minute, Arsenal were already ahead before the break. That was the seventh loss for the Lillywhites in their last 11 games and wins for West Ham and Man United put Tottenham in the 15th place in the league. However, their record against Everton more recently has been good, having lost in the Goodison Park since 2012.

Predicted XI

Everton: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Lindstrom, Gueye, Mangala, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin

Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky; Pedro Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence; Bergvall, Sarr, Maddison; Kulusevski, Solanke, Son

Everton 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester United vs Brighton and Hove Albion (7:30 PM IST)

Manchester United won a close game against Southampton in their last outing and are now unbeaten in their three games across competitions. Amad Diallo’s heroics made him the second youngest ever to score a Premier League hat-trick. They are on the cusp of winning three successive games in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim. Against Liverpool and Arsenal, they were much more confident but during their win over Saints, United had almost given away important points as they failed to maintain a clean sheet for 11 consecutive games.

Brighton though had a comfortable win against Ipswich in their last outing as second-half strikes were enough for Seagulls to record three points. On the basis of their performance, Brighton are now 10th in the table after long waiting for the side to take home their seventh win of the season. They have managed to break an eight-game winless streak inthe  Premier League. They are just four points behind Manchester City to claim the sixth place in the table. The Seagulls have a good chance to take three points at Old Trafford, having won five of their last seven games against United.

Predicted XI

Manchester United: Onana; De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez; Mazraoui, Eriksen, Ugarte, Dalot; Diallo, Fernandes; Zirkzee

Brighton & Hove Albion: Consume; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, O’Riley; Adingra, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck

Manchester United 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Ipswich Town vs Manchester City (10:00 PM IST)

 

Ipswich Town were on an undefeated streak of three games before Brighton humbled them in a game that the Tractor Boys lost in the second half. The defeat leaves them at the top of the relegation zone based on the goal scored. Ipswich though have displayed quality as they managed to win against Chelsea on New Year’s Eve. At the start of the campaign, Ipswich had lost 4-1 to Man City on the back of Erling Haaland’s hattrick.

Manchester City had reignited their season as they had three consecutive wins before their late 2-2 draw against Brentford. They were dominating the game for the most part until Brentford fought back in the final ten minutes of the game. Though City have repeatedly seen some collapse from strong positions, it was disappointing for the side nevertheless. Still, Man City come to the draw on a five-game unbeaten streak across competitions.

Predicted XI

Ipswich Town: Walton; Woolfenden, Godfrey, Greaves; O’Shea, Cajuste, Morsy, Davis; Hutchinson, Delap, Philogene

Manchester City: Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Gundogan; Foden, De Bruyne, Doku; The Netherlands

Ipswich Town 1-3 Manchester City

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (1:30 AM IST 21st January)

Chelsea come to the fixture with a five-game winless streak in the Premier League. After winning 5-0 against Morecambe in the FA Cup third round, Chelsea’s draw against Brentford was heading for a loss despite an early strike from Cole Palmer. Reece James though managed to take a single point from the draw after a 95th-minute strike.  In the reverse fixture, Chelsea had taken a 6-2 win and would be eager to record a similar result to break their patch in the Premier League.

Vitor Pereira had started his stint with Wolverhampton Wanders with two back-to-back wins against Leicester City and Manchester United but since has lost twice and played one draw in the Premier League. They have scored 31 times and have threatened their opposition but it is their weak defence that has conceded 48 times, the joint worst in the top flight, which could be the reason for their exit should they be relegated.

Predicted XI

Chelsea: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernández, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

Wolverhampton Wanderers: This; Doherty, Bueno, Agbadou; R Gomes, Andre, J Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Hwang, Cunha; Larsen

Chelsea 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanders

Where to watch Premier League Matchday 22 fixtures?

As Premier League Matchday 22 gets underway, fans can enjoy all the action either on television or by streaming. The matches will be available on the Star Sports network and those who prefer to stream can catch the games live on Disney+ Hotstar.

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