The English Premier League is back after the international football break, with the battle resuming at the sharp end of the table as the festive period looms on the horizon.
A pair of premature crackers bookend Saturday’s EPL schedule, with league leaders Chelsea kicking off the weekend in the lunchtime fixture away to Leicester.
The Blues hold a three-point lead at the top of the standings, while the Foxes are limping along in 12th under Brendan Rodgers.
Liverpool are out to banish the memories of a first defeat of the season two weeks ago when they welcome in-form Arsenal to Anfield for the evening kick off.
The Gunners have recovered in fine style from a wretched start to sit fifth in the table, within striking distance of Jurgen Klopp’s men if they can snaffle all three points on Merseyside.
Manchester United will have hoped to have given the reset button a tickle during the international break following a sticky run of form that almost cost boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.
The Red Devils are on the road on Saturday, as they head to Hertfordshire to take on Claudio Ranieri’s Watford.
Sunday sees Manchester City host Everton at the Etihad Stadium, with the Toffees unable to buy a win at the moment under the stewardship of Rafa Benitez.
Antonio Conte gets his teeth into the Tottenham job properly later in the afternoon, as his Spurs go up against a Leeds side unbeaten in three as they pick up from a difficult case of second season syndrome.
West Ham have defied the critics once again to sit third in the EPL table, buoyed by victory over Liverpool at the London Stadium last time out.
A Saturday visit to Molineux to tackle impressive Wolves is the next assignment for David Moyes’ side.
Coach Steven Gerrard begins a new chapter at Aston Villa as they host Brighton.
The ex-England and Liverpool midfielder jumped ship from Scottish champions Rangers to take the Villa Park hotseat and attempt to arrest a horrible sequence of defeats in the West Midlands.
Dean Smith was fired by the Villans to make way for Gerrard and he’s straight back in the dugout this weekend at Norwich.
Snapped up by the Canaries, Smith starts life at Carrow Road with a winnable home assignment against Southampton.
Newcastle have the chance to win for the first time under their Saudi Arabian rulers when they face Brentford at St James’ Park, with the visitors having lost their last four to pop the optimism of a bright start to life in the top flight.
Burnley will attempt to climb out of the relegation zone above the Toon Army when they host Patrick Vieira’s impressive Crystal Palace at Turf Moor.
English Premier League predictions for 20 – 21 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.
