It’s one last full throttle set of English Premier League fixtures this weekend, as the curtain comes down on act one of the domestic season ahead of the Fifa Qatar World Cup 2022.
The EPL goes into hibernation after this until a Boxing Day bonanza on 26 December, meaning teams will be stuck with their standing in the Premier League table for over a month as the football world turns its attention to, bizarrely, the Persian Gulf for the global showpiece.
But to top flight matters first.
Saturday sees a straight shootout to see who sits atop the standings, with the division’s two leading lights playing at either end of an action-packed fixture schedule.
Leaders Arsenal hold a two-point advantage at the summit as they go to Wolves for a night match at Molineux.
Mikel Arteta’s side are in fine form and will expect to outgun their sorry hosts, who languish in the relegation zone ahead of their final game before former Spain coach Julen Lopetegui takes charge.
Manchester City can lay down a marker in the Saturday lunchtime kick off as they welcome Brentford to the Etihad Stadium.
The reigning champions have won three on the spin to maintain their comfy cushion to the chasing pack below, although they needed wonderkid Erling Haaland to strike a last-gasp penalty to keep that run going last time out.
A crackling St James’ Park atmosphere awaits Newcastle and Chelsea, meanwhile, as the top four hopefuls collide under the lights on Tyneside in the late EPL fixture.
The Blues have slipped to a winless sequence of four league matches off the back of a bright start under coach Graham Potter, while the Magpies are soaring under Eddie Howe, with four wins on the bounce taking them into the weekend an incredible third in the table.
Manchester United will likely have to settle for fifth at best going into the World Cup break, as they play out the last Premier League fixture for five weeks when they go to Fulham on Sunday.
Handing Cristiano Ronaldo the captaincy last weekend did no good whatsoever as the Red Devils crumpled in defeat at Aston Villa, while their high-flying hosts were the victims of Haaland’s golden boot at the Etihad Stadium.
Brighton can capitalize on any United slip-ups in Sunday’s other match, but it’s Unai Emery’s recharged Villa that make the trip south to the Amex Stadium for a contest laced with intrigue.
Mohamed Salah scored twice to put a stop to the Liverpool rot last weekend, with Jurgen Klopp’s men now sizing up what fans will expect to be a home banker against sorry Southampton on Saturday, with the visitors having sacked coach Ralph Hasenhuttl and appointed Nathan Jones in his place this week.
The Reds could sneak as high as sixth despite their stuttering campaign so far, as the relegation-threatened Saints march to Anfield.
It was Tottenham who couldn’t resist the Reds last Sunday and it is testament to their outstanding early-season form that three defeats in four still leaves them fourth in the standings.
Pressure is nevertheless mounting on boss Antonio Conte, with Leeds the visitors to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium fresh from stirring back-to-back victories to lift the gloom around coach Jesse Marsch.
Something has to give across the capital, meanwhile, as West Ham host Leicester with both locked on 14 points in lower-midtable after frustrating seasons so far.
Everton make it a trio on the same points tally, with Frank Lampard’s Toffees eyeing up an increasingly urgent three points as they go to a Bournemouth side that have lost their last four.
And bottom club Nottingham Forest have a final shot at lifting themselves from the foot of the pile before Christmas, as Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace come to the City Ground off the back of three wins in four.
English Premier League predictions for 12 – 13 November
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Manchester City | 88 | 89 |
| Brentford | ||
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Bournemouth | 36 | 58 |
| Everton | 40 | 55 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Liverpool | 80 | 68 |
| Southampton | ||
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Nottingham Forest | 32 | 26 |
| Crystal Palace | 42 | 57 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Tottenham | 64 | 66 |
| Leeds | 20 | 9 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| West Ham | 51 | 47 |
| Leicester | 26 | 45 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Newcastle | 43 | 62 |
| Chelsea | 33 | 30 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Wolves | 18 | 30 |
| Arsenal | 64 | 74 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Brighton | 56 | 60 |
| Aston Villa | 25 | 11 |
| Chance of winning (%) | Usual win % with these odds | |
| Fulham | 25 | 18 |
| Manchester United | 56 | 68 |