Michael Owen’s Premier League Preview: Gameweek Six

There’s only one place to start this week and this is probably the biggest game of the season so far. I say this every week, but Chelsea just keep getting better and better. Last week against Spurs they didn’t start well but Tuchel showed why he’s one of the very best and made some halftime changes. They’ve conceded just the once so far this season and after storming to a win in the second half last week, they are bound to enter this game feeling unbeatable.

I thought City had turned a corner, after scoring six against Leipzig in the Champions League, so the draw against Southampton took me by surprise. In fact, they were a little fortunate to not lose that game.

Tuchel won all three games against City last season, knocking them out of two cups along the way. After beating them in the Champions League Final in Porto, it’s clear to me that this is a good matchup for Chelsea. I’d expect City to bounce back from a poor performance last week, but I think Chelsea will be too strong here and narrowly edge it.

Man United weren’t at their best against West Ham last week and it certainly was dramatic, but United did what all the top sides do and found a way to win. With Ronaldo finding the net again, there’s bound to be a feel-good atmosphere around the club at the minute.

That was a thrilling second-half performance from Villa last week against Everton. Villa Park was bouncing and in new-man Leon Bailey, they’ve found themselves a new hero. He took his goal brilliantly and I’d expect to see him start more regularly now.

I fancy United here though. They’ve got a remarkable record against Villa and haven’t lost to them since 2009. I’d expect a straightforward win, could Ronaldo score again?

I’m not sure what to make of Leicester this season. That’s now three defeats out of five, which I don’t think anyone saw coming. They didn’t play badly against Brighton last week and were on the end of some questionable refereeing decisions. Rodgers will be hoping his side’s luck changes, and fast.

I’m getting worried for Burnley. They had some bright moments against Arsenal last week, but they are still without a win this season. They’ve only scored three goals this season and Sean Dyche desperately needs to address that. Maxwel Cornet came on against Arsenal to make his debut and looked bright so maybe he can give this team a spark.

I’d expect Burnley to be competitive in this game, they always are, but Leicester will have too much quality. The Foxes need a win and I fancy them to narrowly get it here

Everton have started life well under Rafa Benitez, so I was surprised to see them lose at Villa Park last week. Even more surprisingly, will be the way the side collapsed and let in three second-half goals. Knowing Benitez, I’m expecting a response here.

Things are looking bleak for Norwich, who desperately need a positive result. They would have been targeting the game against Watford last week as one to kickstart their season so to lose in the manner they did, must be a confidence blow. Billy Gilmour continues to impress, but there’s a real lack of goals in this side.

I think Everton will bounce back with a win here. They have won both their games at Goodison under Benitez, so I’m going with the Toffees to cruise to a third win.

That was a good performance at St James’ Park last Friday, but Bielsa will be disappointed to not get the three points. It was a familiar story for Leeds in that they created plenty of chances but didn’t take enough. At least they are creating chances, but they need to start taking some soon.

West Ham played well against Man United, and they’ll be disappointed to come away with a defeat. It was a dramatic end to the game and the introduction of Mark Noble to take the penalty has been debated all week. It was one of those that had he scored, David Moyes would be a genius, unfortunately, he missed!

West Ham beat Leeds home and away last season and I think we’ll see more of the same. In fact, they won 2-1 at Elland Road last season and I think we’ll see the same scoreline!

That was a massive win for Watford at Carrow Road last week. I’ve said since the start of the season, that Watford are blessed with a lot of firepower up top. They’ve got a lot of pace up there which when you compare it to some of their relegation rivals such as Norwich, makes them much more of a threat. Sarr is delivering on the promise he showed a couple of seasons ago and if they can keep hold of him, they might just stay up.

Newcastle can’t buy a win right now. They played well for the most part against Leeds last week but remain so reliant on Allan Saint-Maximin. Callum Wilson has a history of picking up injuries and if he’s out, as he is now, they don’t look like scoring.

I can’t see much to separate these two and I don’t think there will be many points between them come the end of the season. I fancy a 1-1 draw here.

I think Liverpool are going under the radar this season. They maybe haven’t reached the level they set a couple of seasons ago, but they keep winning and keep improving. Mo Salah is looking so sharp right now and his movement has been so hard for defences to handle. He got his 100th Premier League goal last weekend and I wouldn’t be shocked if he added to it here.

Last Saturday’s win at Wolves was a huge win for Brentford. I don’t think many saw that coming but to go there and win, particularly with their talisman Toney amongst the goals, was a huge morale boost.

Brentford are hard to beat but Liverpool will have too much for them. They’ve still only conceded once, and I’d expect another clean sheet in this.

A lot of people were fearing the worst for Southampton this season after losing their main man Danny Ings. They’ve responded well to that defeat to Everton on the opening weekend and have now drawn four in a row. That was a brilliant draw at City last week and they are proving hard to beat.

Wolves’ fans must be frustrated right now. They’ve played well in every game this season, but they just can’t put the ball in the net. Remarkably, that’s now 82 shots in the Premier League, the third most, and just two goals!

I think Wolves fortunes in front of goal will change this weekend. I don’t anticipate a high-scoring game here, but Wolves will narrowly edge it.

This should be a thriller as both sides will need the win. Arsenal have shown signs of life in recent weeks with back-to-back wins against Norwich and Burnley. The performances haven’t been extraordinary but Arteta won’t care one bit at the minute as it helps to ease the pressure on him.

Spurs played well in the first half against Chelsea but faded after the break. Nuno Espirito Santo has got to be concerned with the form recently. Harry Kane has obviously yet to score in the league and the pressure around the Spurs talisman will grow. No player has ever scored more in this fixture though and it would be typical of him to score in this game.

Arsenal have won two in a row; Spurs have lost two in a row. For that reason, I’m going to side with the Gunners here and predict a 2-1 home win.

Palace played well at Anfield and even had a good chance to level the game in the second half through Odsonne Edouard. They look hard to beat under Vieira and Chelsea loanee Connor Gallagher has been playing well.

What a start to the season it’s been for Brighton. They were a little fortunate last week against Leicester but four wins from the opening five is an outstanding start for Graham Potter’s side.

These two obviously have a rivalry and I’d expect a competitive game. The last two games between these two at Selhurst Park finished 1-1 and I’m tipping a third in a row on Monday night!