Week 4: Reds and Blues

Week 4 in the Premier League will be dominated by two high profile match-ups; one is all about championships, rivalry, and history, the other, a clash of billionaire owners looking to buy a little bit of each of those things.

Liverpool welcomes Manchester United to Anfield, where the Red Devils have won 5 and drawn 1 in their last 6 trips out to Merseyside. Torres and Gerrard have had miraculous recoveries and Berba the Bulgarian makes his debut for Man U. Sir-guson will hope to bully Rafa Benitez once again into playing his men tight and forcing sloppy play from end to end. During Rafa's reign at Liverpool, his teams have looked tentative and terrified of making mistakes, each time out against Man U.

Later on in the day, Chelsea will be eager to put a fork in Man City's good fortune and prove that everyone needs to slow down in dubbing them "the new Chelsea". City are coming off a huge 3 goal win at the Stadium of Light and a substantial raise in their credit limit.

Now, let's go around the league with some predictions. I finished an with a decent 5 wins and 4 losses last week, with 0 games predicted on the mark. Hoping to go out on more of a limb this week.

Saturday

Liverpool v Manchester United
Something tells me that, for once, Rafa will put the spurs to his team and open up. Man U welcomes Nani back, but will be without the services of Hargreaves and Ronaldo. If Berba and Rooney can click early, Liverpool could be in for a long day. If not, we may see Tevez after the half.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Man U

Blackburn v Arsenal
Arsenal looked tremendous last week against Newcastle. Blackburn fell apart after playing West Ham tough for 80 minutes. Adebayor will be dying to get on the score sheet for the Gunners.
Prediction: Blackburn 1-2 Arsenal

Fulham v Bolton
Clash of likely bottom-dwellers excites me about as much as an A-Ha reunion show. Sure, I know there will be 5 minutes of good entertainment, but I have no idea when the Cottagers and Wanderers are going to play "Take On Me".
Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Bolton

Newcastle v Hull City
The Magpies new manager, (insert name here), will surely bring great things to Newcastle. If you thought Mike Ashley was chugging down pints two weeks ago, he should be bonging beers in the stands until he finds a direction for his beloved team. For some reason, I think this will be an open game.
Prediction: Newcastle 3-2 Hull

Portsmouth v Middlesbrough
With 'Boro's early season form, this looks to be a closer match-up then some may have suspected. Pompey would love for Peter Crouch to break through this week, and both he and Defoe will continue to try and impress Fabio Capello.
Prediction: Portsmouth 2-1 'Boro

West Brom v West Ham
New Hammers manager, Gianfranco Zola, hopes to bring his style of attractive, positive football to West Ham. Problem may lie with the fact the no one as good as Zola once was, resides on the West Ham roster. They will win, but only because West Brom is crap.
Prediction: West Brom 0-1 West Ham

Wigan v Sunderland
The Black Cats had a disappointing home loss to City two weeks ago and Roy Keane will be looking to solidify a solid XI after a summer of new signings. Amr Zaki and Antonio Valencia will lead the Wigan attack with Heskey in support. A battle of two teams looking to jump up into the top half of the league this year.
Prediction: Wigan 1-1 Sunderland

Manchester City v Chelsea
Brazilian magic boy, Robinho, will make his debut for City against the team that was vying for his services all summer long. Chelsea will look to prove they are in little need of his skills, while the Abu Dhabi Group will be eager to see what their new toy can do. How will Abramovich and Sulaiman arrive at the game? Does Manchester have more than one heli-pad near the stadium?
Prediction: Man City 0-2 Chelsea

Sunday

Stoke City v Everton
David Moyes' squad looked pretty bad at Goodison park last time out in a 0-3 loss to Pompey. The Potters will be happy to see Everton in the form they are in at this point in the season.
Prediction: Stoke 1-1 Everton

Monday

Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
Villa will be relieved to see the Tottenham defense after dealing with Javier Mascherano and Liverpool's stifling five-man midfield two weeks ago. An improvement in form in a draw at Stamford Bridge won't go a long way in relieving the pressure on Juande Ramos, after another Spurs last place start to the season. He needs to get Pavlyuchenko and Corluka into the fold and working as soon as possible.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa