Welcome to The Final Whistle, hosted by father and son duo, Osric & Solomon.

We discuss all things football-related and preview the English Premier League with a match of the week to focus on.

Round 18 Preview

• Manchester City vs. Everton: Jordan Pickford tops the goal keeping clean sheet charts and Everton have recently found a way to stifle attacking teams but doing that on the road, against a City team desperate to rediscover their form? 3 points for City, surely!?

• AFC Bournemouth vs. Crystal Palace: Bournemouth are in a buoyant mood having just dismantled Man United – at Old Trafford and sit in a lofty but well deserved 5th place. Andoni Iraola is getting a tune out of this team and they are a real threat. Palace are going to need Eberechi Eze back from injury to pose a threat and continue their recent upswing in form – notwithstanding the recent bashing from Arsenal. With Trevoh Chalobah back from being rested, Palace will want to get their season back on the rails by securing crucial points in this tricky fixture.

• Chelsea vs. Fulham: For different reasons, both teams dropped precious points last week and for similar reasons both teams will be keen to make up for that in this South London derby. Both teams are unbeaten in their last five games so a win for Fulham puts them amongst the European places whereas Chelsea will want the three points to keep the pressure on league leaders Liverpool. Can Cole Palmer continue his impressive form or can Marco Silva orchestrate an injury ravaged Fulham to taking anything from this game?

• Newcastle vs. Aston Villa: Both teams should approach this game with some swag, with Newcastle putting Ipswich to the sword and Villa doing likewise to Man City. With Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali in fine form for Newcastle and Jhon Duran keeping Ollie Watkins out of the team and Morgan Rogers  impressing from midfield for Villa, this promises to be a real test of both teams title/European aspirations. The fanatical Newcastle crowd might make the difference in this one.

• Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Sitting pretty in fourth place, Nottingham Forest will feel confident at home against a tired looking, injury afflicted Spurs team whose manager refuses to adjust their style of play to mitigate for their [obvious] shortcomings. The Final Whistle thinks that should make this an entertaining game. Based on recent form – Forest should be too strong for Spurs but Ange will be wanting to silence the [growing] chorus of critics who are starting to question his methods, much to his annoyance.

• Southampton vs. West Ham United: West Ham are unbeaten in theior last three but their manager remains under scrutiny as they languish in the bottom half of the table. A third away win of the season will do their (and his) chances of a healthy season no harm at all especially as it will mean they can avoid the kind of ‘manager’s bounce’ they encountered during their visit to Leicester. Southampton will be under the leadership of their newly appointed manager, Ivan Juric who will need a home win if they are to do what has never been done before which is to avoid relegation after such a poor start to their season.

• Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Manchester United: Wolves are likely to be without their top goal scorer Matheus Cunha in their second match under new manager Vitor Pereira. But Goncalo Guedes has repaid the faith from his new manager with direct involvement in six goals across his last eight premier league appearances with two goals and four assists so will have an important part to play alongside wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri who is available after servibg a one match suspension.Meanwhile Manchester United arrive off the back of 3 defeats in their last 5 league games. Will Ruben Amorim leave Marcus Rashford out of the squad as he wrestles with fans expectations, off field distractions and poor performances and results on the pitch. If wither team can secure a victory it may have significant ramifications for their season.

• Liverpool vs. Leicester City:    The premier league leaders are looking imperious and arguably have the rest of the league shook. With Salah breaking records and Virgil Van Dijk performing at the peak of his powers, Liverpool seem unstoppable at this point. Everyone is waiting to see who can stop them so it will be the shock of all shocks if Leicester muster anything from this game. Ruud van Nistelrooy will be hoping Jamie Vardy is available after suffering knocks in their last game and is likely to need former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward to stand in for injured number one Mads Hermansen. It feels like damage limitation will be the order of the day for Leicester.

• Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Brentford: Although winless in their last 5 games, Brighton have a decent record at home having claimed 7 from a possible nine points and welcome back long term absentees Solly March and Adam Webster who have resumed full training. However, they also have the second worst record (16) behind Fuham (17) for dropped points from winning positions. They have also failed to keep a clean sheet in their last nine outings! Brentford have the worst away record in the league and but for their home form, would be in a very precarious position. If they can secure an away victory it would do their league standings the world of good but with multiple injuries amongst the squad, this might be too big a hill to climb at this point of their campaign.

• Arsenal vs. Ipswich Town: Ipswich’s discipline problems may cost them dear. They’ll be without their captain Sam Morsy after his fifth caution. On a more positive note, they welcome back their top scorer Liam Delap after servng a one game ban for accumulating five yellow cards. Arsenal will be without their key player – Bukayo Saka for several weeks with a hamstring injury so the free scoring timing of Gabriel Jesus being selected by the head coach couldn’t be better. Ipswich continue to faltger so we are not expecting a surprise result here.

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