Cardiff v Swansea
When the fixture list came out in July the first game I looked for was Arsenal v Tottenham because I used to play in North London derbies and I know what they are like. However, this was the second fixture I looked for because I can't wait to see it. This is a massive match with so much at stake and I don't think I've seen a South Wales derby in the top flight in my lifetime. I really can't wait for this game to kick off.
Swansea have had a stop-start season, but seem to have picked up with a couple of good results in the last couple of weeks and I think they will get a draw on Sunday. We could get to a stage where neither of these teams will want to lose and nobody will want to make the mistake that costs his team the game. As a neutral, I want an early goal because that will give us lots of action but if it gets to 60 minutes all square then things could get a bit nervy and drizzle out. I don't think we will see any red cards though because if you look at the players on each team they are not really like that. Swansea are a nice football team and Cardiff play good football, so I don't see it boiling over. I think this will be tight.
RICKY PREDICTS: 1-1
Everton v Tottenham
Tottenham have been winning games, but they haven't been impressive. Their football is quite slow and mundane and they don't move the ball with a high tempo. They didn't move it quickly against a well-organised Hull team last week and that meant they had time to get two banks of four behind the ball and make life difficult for Spurs.
Andre Villas-Boas has criticised the fans for not getting behind the team enough and I think he's right and wrong. Maybe he thought because they won the game against Hull last week that he could speak out, but there was no need to say it and you don't want to upset the fans. You have to have action in a game to get fans going and I don't think there's enough tempo to their game and they don't score a lot of goals. That means that other team are always in the game and that's why I think the advantage will lie with Everton at home. Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley will get in good positions and can sneak it for Everton.
RICKY PREDICTS: 1-0
Arsenal v Liverpool
After watching Arsenal against Chelsea in midweek we learned that Arsenal don't have another centre-forward apart from Olivier Giroud at the moment. I feel sorry for Nicklas Bendtner because he hasn't played much and struggled against Gary Cahill and David Luiz with Arsenal not getting a lot of ball forward. That game showed how much they rely on Giroud and if he gets injured they will struggle to score enough goals. People talk about Aaron Ramsey's goals, but a lot of those have come from Giroud holding the ball up. Others can come in for one or two games, but they will struggle to win the Premier League without Giroud.
In contrast, Liverpool have got Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge - plus Philippe Coutinho to come back in. This should be a very good game and it's very hard to call because with the two stars up front, Liverpool are always in a football match. I don't think there's much between these two teams and whatever happens in the two games between the sides may determine who finishes higher. They're both in with a shout of the top four and they will be very close together at the end of the season. It will be very close in this game as well.
RICKY PREDICTS: 2-2
Fulham v Man Utd
Just before their two second-half goals against Stoke you were thinking Man United were out of the Premier League title race and a top four finish might not be on. But what happened next was good and was like the old Alex Ferguson days. They came from behind like they used to and that was a big moment and this is another big game against a Fulham team that is struggling. Fulham have won at the right time at certain stages this season but they were shocking against Southampton; they made them look like the Harlem Globetrotters! Away win surely?
RICKY PREDICTS: 0-3
Newcastle v Chelsea
Newcastle had a damaging defeat to Sunderland last Sunday and then they went out of one of the only competitions they can win in midweek. To be fair, they did alright against Man City in the Capital One Cup but I don't see them beating Chelsea. They played a reserve team against Arsenal and still had 11 internationals on the pitch. I don't see anything but a Chelsea win.
RICKY PREDICTS: 0-3
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