Michael Owen’s Premier League Preview: Gameweek Five

Newcastle have had a difficult start to the season but some of their performances have been good. I thought they were a little unfortunate last week at Old Trafford, but Steve Bruce must be concerned with the number of goals they are letting in.

Speaking of letting in too many goals, Leeds have the same problem. I think more worryingly for Bielsa will be that they aren’t scoring as many goals as they did last season. We all know how Leeds like to play, but if they aren’t scoring lots of goals they are going to struggle.

I’m sure St James’ Park will be rocking for this game. This is a huge game for both sides as they look to kickstart their seasons. I fancy Newcastle to narrowly edge it 1-0.

After losing three straight games by a 1-0 margin, Wolves finally got a win away at Watford last week. They’ve been playing well all season and have had the third-most shots in the league this season. They need to start putting more of those shots in the net but if they start doing that, I’m sure they’ll climb the table.

That was a disappointing defeat last week for Brentford. I’m sure Thomas Frank would have been targeting the win at home to Brighton. Nonetheless, it’s been a positive start for the newcomers and I’m sure they would have been happy with five points from four games at the start of the season.

I fancy Wolves here though. I think they are in a false position right now and would expect them to narrowly beat Brentford 1-0.

Burnley started well at Goodison on Monday but Sean Dyche will be disappointed with how they faded in that game. It’s been a tough start for them, but they made some decent signings towards the end of the window, and I still trust him to figure things out.

Arsenal may have got the win against Norwich last week, but I’m still not overly impressed with them. A club like Arsenal should be scoring a lot more than just one goal through the opening four games. There’s been a lot of changes in the team and a settled side should help them.

Turf Moor will be in good voice for this game. Those fans love the visit of the big teams, and Arsenal are always vulnerable on these sorts of away trips. I fancy Burnley to get a vital three points here.

Call me biased but Liverpool are getting back to their best. I loved what I saw against Leeds and if they had taken more of their chances, they would have won by five or six. Mo Salah is at the top of his game right now and looks like he’ll score in every match he plays. Liverpool have had the most shots in the league and the joint-most clean sheets, that’s a good combination!

That was an excellent win for Palace against Spurs last week and Patrick Vieira must feel a weight off his shoulders. Odsonne Edouard was obviously the star of the show and if he could keep this form up, the Selhurst faithful have a new hero.

Palace are getting better with every game, but this will be a step too far. I can’t see anything but a comfortable win for the Reds.

For all the talk of City’s lack of striking options, they’re still the league’s joint-highest scorers and scored 6 in the Champions League on Wednesday. I still think there is another level for City to go to once the likes of De Bruyne and Foden are fully back to speed. If City do keep improving, they’ll be the team to beat again this season.

That’s now three straight draws for the Saints. It’s solid but unspectacular stuff. They don’t concede too many so if the likes of Adam Armstrong can start scoring, they should be safe this year.

This looks a comfortable City win to me. They beat Southampton 5-2 here last season, but I don’t think it will be as high scoring as that, I’m tipping a 4-0 win.

Can you have a relegation six-pointer in September? This certainly feels like one. These two cruised up from the Championship together and look very evenly matched. Norwich have had a tough run of fixtures but with just one goal scored, they desperately need some more threat up top.

Watford are an inconsistent side and I’m never quite sure what to make of them. When they are at their best they can cause problems to most sides with the pace they have up top. They’ve not scored since the opening day win against Villa though and I’d be worried if I was a Watford fan.

With the stakes so high in this one, even so early in the season, I think this will be a tight game. It’s a hard one to predict, so I’m sitting on the fence and predicting a 1-1 draw!

I’ve got to say, I didn’t see Everton making such a strong start under Rafa Benitez. I expected Rafa to make some improvements but to be sitting joint top is an excellent start. He’s made some shrewd signings with Townsend and Gray being excellent pickups. Goodison Park is one of the most difficult away trips, trust me, and I think Everton will be in the mix for the top 6 this season.

Villa have been a little hit and miss this season which can be expected after a summer with a lot of ins and outs. They’ve got some excellent players and once Dean Smith can find the right starting 11, I would expect them to be pushing for the top eight.

There seems to be a real feel-good factor around Everton at the minute. This isn’t an easy one, but I think they can narrowly edge it 2-1.

Brighton have made an excellent start to the season. They are yet to face any top sides but nonetheless three wins from four is just the start Graham Potter will have wanted. I mentioned a lot of times last season that they don’t take enough chances, and I’m sure they would have drawn a couple of these games last season.

I expected a little bit more from Leicester to begin the season. Of course, two wins from four is by no means a bad return, but I think Brendan Rodgers will have been eyeing more. The defeat at West Ham was disappointing and they didn’t really lay a glove on Man City last week.

Brighton have never beaten Leicester in the Premier League, and I don’t think they will here. With Leicester in European action on Thursday, there may be a bit of fatigue here. I can see a 1-1 draw.

There’s only one place to start, the return of Cristiano Ronaldo. With three goals in three games the great man is back with a bang. I can’t say I’m surprised, I predicted him to score over 20 goals this season, I might be wrong though, maybe he’ll score 30! He may be 36 but top-level movement and striker instincts don’t age.

Speaking of strikers, Michail Antonio has been in outstanding form for David Moyes’ side. He’s always had the physical tools but now he’s consistently adding goals, he must be a nightmare to play against.

Even though he is suspended the Hammers are a strong outfit but I still fancy United to win. United are the league’s joint top scorers and I think they will just have too much firepower.

Chelsea right now are looking the team to beat for me. Defensively they look so solid, they’ve only conceded once, and that was a penalty against Liverpool. With Lukaku playing as well as he is, this Chelsea team have no weaknesses.

Spurs have started the season well but that defeat to Palace was disappointing. They hadn’t conceded a goal but to collapse the way they did, admittedly with ten men, has got to be alarming for Nuno.

Right now, Chelsea don’t look like losing. They’ve not lost to Spurs in the league for three years and I don’t see that changing here. I fancy a 2-1 win for Tuchel’s men.