Game Week 22 kicks off on Saturday morning (Australian time) as the Hammers clash with the Blades at Bramall Lane.
Elsewhere, Southampton are out to avenge their 9-nil pantsing at the hands of Leicester in GW10 when they travel to King Power Stadium, Crystal Palace host Arsenal in a London (minnows) Derby and Spurs attempt to claim their first victory over the Reds since 2017.
I’ve previewed every fixture in GW22 below, providing my best bets along the way.
Sheffield have suffered back-to-back league defeats at the hands of Man City and Liverpool, failing to score on both occasions.
Chris Wilder will be heading to the market this January in search of attacking reinforcements, but will have to make do with his currently-misfiring options for this fixture.
West Ham started life under David Moyes in devastating fashion, delivering a Hammer blow to the Cherries via an emphatic 4-nil belting.
With the Blades’ confidence erring following a tough run of fixtures, the Hammers have a real opportunity to steal a point away from home.
The Gunners have the opportunity to string together back-to-back league wins for the first time since GW2 when they meet the Eagles in a London Derby.
Arsenal moved back inside the top 10 after claiming their first victory under Mikel Arteta. The Gunners managed to keep United scoreless, despite lining up with the centre back pairing of Luiz and Papastathopoulos!
Palace are in the mist of a purple patch and have lost only once across the past eight game weeks. Their success over this period can be attributed to their resolute defence; conceding only five goals since GW13!
Arsenal have largely struggled away from home this season, claiming just two wins from a possible 10. Coupled with Palace’s stingy defence, I can see this contest playing out as a low scoring draw.
The January transfer market has officially opened, so naturally Man U. have been linked with just about every bloke who’s ever laced up a pair of cleats.
With Pogba sitting out most of the season through ‘injury’ the Red Devils have struggled in the creativity department, relying heavily on the likes of Rashford, James and Martial to hit on the counter.
Despite their lack of quality through the middle of the ground, Ole’s side shouldn’t have an issue finding the back of the net against Norwich, who are anchored to the bottom of the ladder with the loosest defence in the comp.
Rashford was absolutely dominant the first time that these sides met back in GW10, finding the back of the net once before laying on an assist for Martial to seal the points away from home.
Chelsea find themselves inside the top four, not by virtue of their own quality but by the lack there of from every other side sitting around them.
The Blues are currently closer to the relegation zone (16 points) than they are to the league leaders Liverpool (22 points)!
Lampard’s young side have struggled to perform in their own backyard this season and have lost three of their last four matches at the Bridge.
Burnley are in diabolical form themselves, losing three games on the trot and only finding the net four times in their last eight outings.
The Clarets have tasted success at Stamford Bridge in recent history however, claiming four points from their last two trips against the Blues.
Chelsea have been priced far too short ($1.29) for mine considering their current home form, yet it would take a very brave man to back the Clarets on their current run of form ($11)
I’ll be taking on the unders in this one.
Carlo Ancelotti was absolutely seething after the Toffees’ FA Cup/ Merseyside Derby defeat to Liverpool’s under 20’s side, and the Italian manager questioned his players’ fighting spirit after a lousy second half.
To be fair, the Toffees have shown a huge shift in intent in the league and seem to have found a new lease on life since the departure of Marco Silva.
Brighton are playing some seriously attractive football under Graham Potter, with Aaron Mooy pulling the strings from the middle of the ground.
The Seagulls have enjoyed recent success against the Toffees, winning each of their last two meetings.
The home side has generally enjoyed the spoils of this fixture in the past but based on Brightons current form, there’s a strong case for the minnows to claim at least a point in this contest.
The last time these two sides met, the Foxes piled on nine goals to nil against the sorry Saints, with Jamie Vardy tucking away a hat-trick.
Fast forward twelve game weeks and the Saints are now one of the in-form sides of the comp, winning five from their last eight matches and going their last four games undefeated.
Danny Ings is at the centre of the Saints’ resurgence, scoring nine goals in his last nine starts, with only Jamie Vardy finding the back of the net on more occasions this season.
After falling to successive defeats at the hands of Man City and Liverpool, the Foxes have returned to winning ways, with Brendan Rodgers’ side easily accounting for West Ham and Newcastle in Game Weeks 20 and 21.
Vardy is expected to return to the starting XI this weekend after sitting out the last two matches with a calf strain.
Leicester have made King Power Stadium a fortress again this season, only suffering defeat to Liverpool on their home turf.
The Foxes have too much fire power for the Saints to contain, although I’m tipping Southampton to keep this one within a nine-goal margin.
Both Wolves and the Toons will be looking to snap their losing streaks when they meet at Molineux Stadium this weekend.
Steve Bruce may have to put an ad in the paper to fill his starting XI, with his squad struck down by injuries over the Christmas period.
Wolves were in devastating form over the festive break, knocking over Man City from two goals down, while pushing the Reds to the brink only to be undone by two VAR decisions.
Unless Bruce signs five new players overnight I can’t see the Toons taking anything away from this contest.
It’s taken all but six weeks for Jose Mourinho to start laying into his own players.
Since the Special One’s appointment, Spurs have only manage to keep one clean sheet across nine league starts; a concerning stat for a manager who has built his reputation on parking the bus.
Harry Kane is set to miss up to three months of football with a nasty hamstring tear, leaving Mourinho with a mountain to climb in this week’s fixture.
The only way Liverpool could lose the title from here is if WWIII breaks out in then next couple of months and at this point, I’m not sure which scenario would be worse.
Klopp has successfully rotated his squad during the jam-packed festive period without dropping a single point. More impressively, the Reds have also gone their last five matches without conceding a goal.
I successfully tipped the punters into the Reds winning 2-1 at $7.50 in the reverse fixture earlier this season and I’m tipping Klopp’s side to go one step further this weekend and keep a clean against the out-of-sorts Spurs.
The Hornets are buzzing!
Nigel Pearson has astonishingly turned the Hornets’ fortunes around, lifting them from dead last on the PL table to a respectable 2nd last.
Watford have taken ten points from their last four games, a run which include wins over Man U and the Wolves!
Alternatively, Eddie Howe is channelling his inner Tom Petty with the Cherries ‘Free Fallin’ into the relegation zone.
Bournemouth have tasted defeat in eight of their last ten league fixtures, leaving them in dire straights.
Although only one point currently separates these two side on the table, they a miles apart in terms of confidence and form.
Game Week 22 wraps up on Monday morning when the Citizens take to Villa Park for what promises to be the most one-sided clash of the season.
Aston Villa are sitting precariously close to the drop zone just one point above the Cherries in 18th.
The Villans have failed to find the back of the net across their last three league fixtures against City, with their only striker suffering an ACL rupture in GW21 their goalless run looks set to continue.
Since losing to the Wolves in GW19 City have gone on to win three games straight across all competitions, most recently strolling to a 3-1 victory in the Manchester Derby.
If Man City’s clash against United in the Carabao Cup was likened to a training session, then their match against Villa will surely draw parallels to a Sunday arvo kick about.
With the Citizens at a dollar nothing in the H2H market I’ve had to get a little creative with my last tip.