Manson's Predictions on EPL Week 5

We kick things off with the Friday Night Football clash between Chelsea and Liverpool, and there's plenty to look forward to on Super Sunday, when Crystal Palace host Stoke and Tottenham welcome Sunderland.

T‎his is a hard game for Chelsea because no John Terry makes a big difference for the hosts, especially as it means David Luiz comes in.

"You don't know what Liverpool will turn up. Will it be the hot one at home to Leicester, or the one that went to Burnley and got beaten.
‎Antonio Conte's unbeaten start to his Chelsea tenure will face its biggest test when Liverpool visit. I expect it to be an entertaining match either way. Chelsea are playing quite open and scoring goals, and Liverpool the same." Manson said
‎‎
Chelsea vs Liverpool‎‎‎
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 

Stoke are struggling. Really struggling. They have footballers in their team and it's OK to have footballers when you are winning, but when you are losing, you need a bit of steel as well. I'm not sure they have that in them.

They need a Mark Hughes on the pitch, someone to dig in and put themselves about, and I worry for them - not in terms of relegation, but I'm not sure they will have the season they hoped for.

If Palace play to Christian Benteke's strengths, and based on the Boro game it looks like they will, he will score goals.

Tottenham got a major Champions League lesson. They dominated large parts of the game against Monaco, but were naive and got caught out.

If the match was at White Hart Lane, I think the result would have been different. You would have had 40,000 die-hard Spurs fans, rather than 85,000, some of whom just turned up for the day and perhaps don't watch Tottenham too often.

I expect them to get back on track at home, and for it to be very comfortable.

Sunderland are struggling. There wasn't much in the game before half-time against Everton, and Jermain Defoe missed a great chance. If that starts happening, it's going to be a long season.

Conceding three goals in 11 minutes is a worry too, because they just collapsed after the first went in.

‎C Palace vs Stoke‎
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1‎

Arsenal were lucky against Paris Saint-Germain because it should have been all over at half-time. To their credit, they showed their Champions League experience compared to Tottenham and dug in for a very good draw.

They started slowly against Southampton, though, and I thought they were poor, getting lucky at the end with the penalty.

Hull got a big point against Burnley. It's alright beating the top teams like Leicester at home but you don't want to lose against the likes of Burnley because those results define whether you stay up or go down.

Still, I can't see past Arsenal here.

Hull City v Arsenal 
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 

More on Sky Sport