England Round 5

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West Ham vs Chelsea Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

West Ham:
Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Alvarez, Rodriguez, Kudus, Paqueta, Summerville; Bowen

Chelsea:
Sanchez; Disasi, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

West Ham will host the London rivals Chelsea in the opening match of the fifth round on Saturday lunchtime. The Hammers started the season in mixed way, with one win, one draw and two defeats. Both defeats came at home, though the opponents were Manchester City and Aston Villa, two Champions League participants. West Ham have picked up their one and only win against Crystal Palace. New manager Julen Lopetegui, who replaced David Moyes, is already under pressure. The Spanish coach was lucky his team didn't lose the third match last weekend at Craven Cottage. Fulham had an advantage, but Danny Ings scored a dramatic 95th-minute equalizer to snatch a point. The fans are not satisfied with the actual results and Lopetegui must avoid the defeat here. He has the majority of his players ready for this clash, but Emerson and Niclas Fullkrug are both struggling with injury and they are rated as doubtful.

Chelsea also started the Premier League campaign with a mixed results - two wins, one draw and one defeat in the first four rounds. First they suffered a 2:0 home loss to the reigning champions Manchester City. The defeat was somehow expected, not many teams could challenge Pep Guardiola's men. Everything looked better in the second round when Chelsea outplayed Wolverhampton Wanderers, winning 6:2 at Moulinex. Noni Madueke finally impressed as he scored a hat-trick. Last weekend Chelsea obtained another victory, this time at Bournemouth. Two players should be mentioned - goalkeeper Sanchez saved a penalty and Nkunku who scored the winning goal in the 86th minute. The Blues also successfully started the European campaign, eliminating Servette in the Conference league qualifications. Maresca has no new injury worries, but Reece James and Malo Gusto remain sidelined. On the positive note, Romeo Lavia, Enzo Fernandez and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has recovered and the trio are expected to return to action.

West Ham vs Chelsea Prediction:

West Ham are desirable opponents for Chelsea. The Blues have won 30 of their 56 Premier League meetings with West Ham, only winning more times against Tottenham in the competition’s history (35). The Hammers are far from their best form and it seems Lopetegui is feeling a pressure. Chelsea were particularly successful on road, winning both away games in the Premier League. I expect the winning series to continue,

West Ham vs Chelsea Pick: Chelsea to win @ 2.00 with Everygame

 

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Manchester City vs Arsenal Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Manchester City:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Rodri; Savinho, Bernardo Silva, Foden; Haaland

Arsenal:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Havertz, Partey, Rice; Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Trossard

Manchester City will welcome Arsenal to the Etihad in the first big derby of the season. The Citizens are leaders on the table with maximal 12 points, while the Gunners have 10. Pep Guardiola's men opened the season with a routine win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Ipswich and West Ham were the next victims, while Brentford were narrowly beaten last weekend. It was harder then expected, particularly because Yoane Wissa's early opener, but City's 100% Premier League record remained intact thanks to Erling Haaland who scored twice in the first half. With nine goals in the first four rounds, the Norwegian striker break the previous record held by Wayne Rooney. But Haaland failed to score against Inter in the Champions League in a match that ended with a goalless draw. Guardiola has some injury issues ahead of this derby. Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb are definitely sidelined with a thigh and leg injury respectively. What is worse, key creative Kevin De Bruyne is doubtful after suffered a groin injury in the last match.

As I wrote above, Arsenal have 10 points from the opening four rounds. They managed to beat Wolverhampton, Aston Villa and Tottenham, but dropped two points against Brighton at the Emirates. Most probably Arsenal would win that match, however Declan Rice was sent off and that's the main reason why the final result was 1:1. On Thursday Arsenal visited Atalanta in the Champions League. The match ended with a goalless draw and I am sure the fans were largely disappointed. On other side they should be satisfied with one point knowing Raya saved a penalty. To be worse, Arteta has huge injury concerns as key player Martin Odegaard suffered an ankle injury playing for Norway. Odegaard will be out for some period and that's a huge handicap for Arsenal as he is simply irreplaceable. Summer signing Mikel Merino remain out with a shoulder injury suffered in his first training session at the club. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney remain sidelined. On the positive note, Riccardo Calafiori and Bukayo Saka have recovered to feature against Atalanta.

Manchester City vs Arsenal Prediction:

Manchester City have scored at least twice in all of their Premier League fixtures and I think they could keep that run going against the handicapped Arsenal. Guardiola's men are simply too strong. The absence of captain Odegaard is a huge handicap for Arteta as he is irreplaceable. The Gunners will try to remain unbeaten like previous season, but I think City will continue their winning series.

Manchester City vs Arsenal Pick: Manchester City to win @ 1.83 with Pinnacle