English Premier League: Top Four For The Top Four, Matchday Two, 2022-23
Which English Premier League games are you looking forward to this weekend?
The 2022-23 European football season is getting into full swing in just a few weeks and there will be fantastic games week in and week out. As the domestic league season is finally returning, it will be interesting to see how some of these teams handle it while competing in European competitions. With teams playing in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Conference League it means we will be getting a week’s worth of football games, all leading up to the World Cup in Qatar in November. These are the four most interesting games in the English Premier League for August 13th and 14th, as matchday number two gets underway.
English Premier League Top 4 Games For Matchday Two
Saturday, August 13th
1) Arsenal vs Leicester
It was a rough opening weekend for both of these teams in the English Premier League. Especially Arsenal who was expected to have a bit of a walk-through game but found themselves struggling the entire way. While they did win 2 to 0 it doesn’t really mask a lot of the issues they had as one of the goals in that game came early and the other was a late own goal that clinched it for them against Crystal Palace in the 85th minute.
Now they will be looking for another win against Leicester and hopefully looking to clean up their play on the pitch. Leicester found themselves finishing with a two-all draw against Brentford after giving up too-late goals. They will be looking to improve on that as they seemingly had the game in the bag until around the 60-minute mark when everything just fell apart.
My Game Pick: Arsenal
2) Wolves vs Fulham
Wolves likely should’ve won their opening game against leads or at least forced a draw, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Now they will be facing off against one of the most surprising teams from matchday one in the English Premier League as they take on a Fulham team that comes off a great draw with Liverpool at Craven Cottage. Wolves are a solid team that could surprise a few people this season with a higher mid-table finish but I will definitely have to clean up the late-game mistakes if they want to do so.
A lot of people are expecting Fulham to go down this season in the English Premier League but if their match day one performance showed anything it is that they are very capable of competing for a mid-table finish as well. As long as their core stays healthy and continues to score goals then this team could go a long way. Aleksandar Mitrović is the key to this team’s success and he continues to play the way he did in game one, a European spot is definitely a possibility.
My Game Pick: Fulham
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3) Southampton vs Leeds
Depending on who you ask, an American will probably tell you that Brendon Aaronson scored that last score, it was a late goal that undid everything for Wolves and started the Celebration for Leeds. A lot of people have leads getting relegated this season but if Jesse Marsch can keep pulling performances out like he did last week from his team, they have a real shot at making a run at a mid-table finish in the English Premier League and maybe even a spot in European competition.
Southampton is coming off of a beating they took from Tottenham. They were completely outclassed as four goals went by their keeper while they only managed to score a single goal and what would be an embarrassing one-sided loss on the road. Now they will be looking to bounce back and it certainly won’t be easy against this Leeds team, especially after how they played last weekend in the English Premier League season opener.
My game pick: Leeds
Sunday, August 14th
4) Chelsea vs Tottenham
This is the big one for the week in the English Premier Leagues as two of the six Giants in England are set to face off as Chelsea take on Tottenham. Thomas Tuchel should have his squad ready after a victory in match day one but it certainly wasn’t as clean as Chelsea would’ve hoped. As it took a Jorginho penalty in extra time of the first half to get the win over Everton. They will have to be much cleaner this time around if they want to get a victory against Tottenham.
It was a walk-over victory for Tottenham in the first week of the English Premier League season as they absolutely dismantled Southampton and scored four goals in the process. They will be looking to repeat that performance and start their season with two straight victories and a lot of momentum heading into the fall before the World Cup break. However, I can’t seem to pick a winner in this one as I look for these two teams to draw even when the final whistle blows.
My game pick: Draw
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