Michael Owen: Premier League Matchday 22 Preview

What a huge game this is at the bottom of the Premier League table. Sheffield United’s resurgence in recent weeks has really thrown the cat amongst the pigeons, and a win here would bring them within a point of West Brom.

Unfortunately, the Blades have probably left it too late to escape the drop, however, I do think they have enough to avoid finish bottom.

West Brom shared the points in a close match with Fulham at the weekend and although they lost a late goal, it was an improvement on recent performances.

Like that match, I think there will be goals in this one. So, I’m siding with Sheffield United to just have enough to secure the win.

Arsenal shared the points with Manchester United on Saturday night in a match where neither team could honestly say they deserved all three points.

That said, Mikel Arteta will be a happy man as his side are now undefeated in seven Premier League matches and have conceded only twice in those fixtures.

Wolves arrive here amid a patchy run; however, I can’t help casting my mind back to their terrific performance at the Emirates earlier in the season. If they deploy similar tactics here, I think they could have some joy on the counter-attack.

This could be a cagey affair, so I’m siding with the draw.

Two weeks is a long time in football, just ask Ole Gunnar Solkjaer. One point from their last six is not what the United manager would have targeted following his sides excellent FA Cup win against Liverpool.

Visitors, Southampton, arrive here after a couple of underwhelming results of their own. Back-to-back defeats in the league mean the Saints have lost a bit of ground in the race for Europe.

Although he’s had them playing some excellent stuff this season, Ralph Hasenhüttl hasn’t got the biggest of squads and his players have certainly more miles on the clock than many.

With that in mind, I think United’s strength in depth should be enough to see them secure the points.

I don’t think I was the only one surprised to see Newcastle take all three points against Everton on Saturday. Newcastle played well, and Steve Bruce must look at this match as an opportunity to make it two wins on the bounce.

Crystal Palace also celebrated a much needed win at the weekend with home success against Wolves.

I think this will be tight. Interestingly, there have been under 2.5 goals in the last eight matches between these two sides in all competitions. I could see this one following that trend, so I’m siding with a draw.

Burnley went down 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and face another big test when they host Manchester City.

City really have their foot on the gas just now and they’ll be targeting nothing less than three points here before Sunday’s big match against Liverpool.

On their day, Burnley can be tough to play against, however, I think City will have too much in this one.

Fulham are now without a win in 10 Premier League matches. Saturday’s draw with West Brom simply wasn’t enough, especially with Brighton subsequently winning on Sunday night.

They welcome a Leicester side that had a Sunday afternoon to forget against Leeds. They fell into Leeds’ trap in that match, however, now away from home I think they’ll be much more comfortable executing their game plan.

The Cottagers are really lacking a cutting edge and I think this one is set up for Leicester to soak it up and hit on the counter, so I’m going for an away win.

Aston Villa finally got the win they deserved away to Southampton at the weekend. They’ve been playing well recently, but have come up short on a few occasions, so the victory will be great for the morale within the squad.

They come up against a West Ham side who, up until Sunday, were on a four game winning run.

I don’t think there’s much between these sides. With that in mind I think it could take a special performance from one player to make the difference, and if Jack Grealish continues to play as he has been, I think Villa will win.

It’s back-to-back wins in the league for Liverpool. The champions have looked more like the side we’ve become accustomed to over the last few years, especially in Sunday’s win against West Ham where they scored a couple of world-class goals.

They look to make it three on the bounce against a Brighton side that shocked Spurs on Sunday night. That was a huge result for the Seagulls in their fight for survival, however, Liverpool are starting to look very dangerous and I think the Reds will have more than enough to win.

Chelsea visit Spurs with Thomas Tuchel’s first three points as Blues manager in the bag after Sunday’s 2-0 home win against Burnley.

For Spurs, their Sunday wasn’t as successful as they went down 1-0 away to Brighton.

Talk of winning the title will seem like a distant memory for Spurs’ fans, but I just wonder what Jose Mourinho has up his sleeve ahead of this one.

It’ll be an interesting battle between the two managers, and even though Tottenham haven’t had the results they may have wanted recently, these are the types of matches where Jose Mourinho excels.

With that in mind, I fancy Spurs to just edge it over their London rivals.