Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has made his predictions for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures and sees both Man Utd and Chelsea dropping points.
Nicholas is sticking to the script for the most part by predicting wins for Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal and so the intriguing picks come with the two sides facing difficult challenges this weekend.
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It’s not been a great start for either United or Chelsea, as they sit in eighth and 11th place in the Premier League table respectively, with both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard struggling to not only pick up wins but also to stop the flow of goals being conceded.
While the Red Devils have conceded four in their opening four games, Chelsea have let in nine, and so Nicholas believes that their defensive frailties will be their downfall again this weekend as both sides face teams in Leicester City and Wolves who are being tipped to surpass them and break into the top six this season.
“It is a cracking game, one which I would like to see. Leicester are visiting one of the teams I think they could catch. This is a game where they can open up and threaten Manchester United,” he said in his Sky Sports column, while predicting a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
“If they play open and expansively then they will be content. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team will still be vulnerable in defence.”
Nicholas went on to predict a 2-1 win for Wolves against Chelsea, and explained that a similar reason was behind his pick to see the Blues drop more points this weekend.
“Chelsea are still vulnerable at the back and will be threatened by Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez up front,” he added. “I see Wolves beating Chelsea this weekend, and Wolves are the team, as many people that are talking about Leicester, that could definitely override the top-six trend.”
Time will tell whether or not Nicholas has got these spot on, but it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if United and Chelsea see their defensive weaknesses exposed at times which could lead to another disappointing setback early in the season.
