It was a fantastic previous matchday with big games from across all leagues! The international break once again led to a drought of club football as the European Championship qualifiers began, but all leagues are now back in action over the weekend.

Diego Costa scored a brilliant goal against Arsenal to wrap up the win in a game filled with many small incidents, including a shoving match between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger. Chelsea have looked like a side in championship form so far and have only dropped 2 points in their first 7 games. Arsenal will have plenty to think about after Mesut Ozil’s latest injury setback and how they respond to their injury crisis will undoubtedly (and not for the first time) define their season. Manchester United continued their impressive attacking form with a vital 2-1 win against a dogged Everton side who surely deserved a point, had it not been for David De Gea’s heroics at the death. The Red Devils surprisingly find themselves in fourth place coming into this round of fixtures, although there is not much of a gap between the top and bottom as of yet with the exception of Chelsea. Liverpool managed to sneak past West Brom at Anfield, with Adam Lallana scoring a very good goal for the Reds. Their form this season has been questionable at times but wins like this will surely provide a boost of confidence. Tottenham managed to beat a plucky Southampton side at White Hart Lane in a fixture that was extremely evenly matched . Southampton have been impressive under Ronald Koeman this season and they mean business. The combination of Tadic’s creative ability along with Pelle’s aerial ability has worked well for them so far. Spurs will be playing Manchester City next and will look to improve upon their past performances. Manchester City themselves have come off a win against Aston Villa, and find themselves in 2nd place going into the weekend’s fixtures.

Elsewhere in Europe, PSG tied with Monaco 1-1, although without James Rodriguez and Falcao, Monaco don’t seem like the same team. Yet another tie for PSG, who are still undefeated in Ligue 1, but also lagging well behind leaders Marseilles. Valencia continued their impressive start to La Liga campaign and comprehensively defeated Atletico Madrid, 3-1. In MLS, LA Galaxy continued their surge at the top of the Western Conference and piled on the misery for Toronto FC, who now find themselves highly unlikely to make the playoffs. In Serie A, Juventus prevailed in a hotly contested and highly controversial contest with title rivals AS Roma to move 3 points clear at the top and put a dent in Roma’s perfect record, while extending their own.

This weekend, Manchester City v Tottenham will be the biggest match in the Premier League, while most of the other teams will have routine fixtures. Everton will look to get the win over Aston Villa at home, while Arsenal host Hull City at the Emirates. Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace for another local London derby, QPR host Liverpool, and West Brom host Manchester United to round up the top 7. In Europe, the only big fixture of note is in Italy, where Inter Milan host Napoli. In the MLS, there are two big games, with table toppers LA Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders (tied on points) battling it out for superiority in the Western Conference. Toronto FC look to put their misery behind them when Montreal Impact come to town.

Think you can predict better than us? Submit your predictions to underthecoshblog@gmail.com or post them in the comments section below!

Summary of Matchday 7:

Predictions from our Pundits:

 Predictions from our Contributors: 

Bernie has surged forward in the predictions race, picking up 13 points on the previous matchday. Rishay has also made an impressive jump in recent weeks and is now looking to overtake Mohaned, who remains one point ahead in 2nd place among the pundits. Alexander will be looking to improve and gain some momentum from here on in. From the contributors, Zee and Daniyal are tied in 2nd place in the overall rankings behind Bernie, but the gap continues to grow. Rahim has overtaken Osman and Nahel’s streak of form has hit a roadblock. Alex A joins the race and will look to accumulate some perfect scores for the next round.

 Matchday 8 Predictions:

Games of the Week:

Bernie: LA Galaxy v Seattle Sounders: What a game we’re in for in MLS. I honestly believe that if you don’t know anything about MLS football – or soccer as they like to call it up here – then tune in to this game. Some big names go head to head in this one. Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan, Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey are the four of the best attacking players in the league. This one should be high tempo and full of flair. It’s difficult to separate the teams and right now they are only divided by their head to head record in the quest for the Supporters Shield. The league MVP will surely be from one of these two teams or Bradley Wright Phillips, so a big performance from one of the star men on show could swing it in their favor. I’m going for a 2-1 Galaxy win and the LlegenD Landon Donovan to steal the show.

Alexander: QPR vs Liverpool: QPR have mostly been disastrous so far this season. Redknapp started out the season with a 3-5-2 but abandoned it after a couple of games, leaving old-man Rio struggling next to Steven Caulker in the centre of defence. It isn’t a good look, and with the manager persisting with Armand Traore at left back and a horribly unfit Sandro in midfield, I expect things to go from bad to worse this weekend. Liverpool haven’t yet entirely clicked this season, but with Lallana regaining fitness and form and Sterling back after a wee rest ;), they should comfortably defeat the Hoops. 3-1 Liverpool win. 

Mohaned: Everton v Aston Villa: I do this thing in life where I class and bundle things. I do this with Everton and Villa. They are two teams I always class in the same category, but weirdly, this is a fixture I’m always looking forward to during the season. Everton have been playing well in attack overall but have been conceding way too much, something they didn’t do under David Moyes. Yet again, they didn’t score many under him. I’m not sure which the Everton the fans prefer. One thing is clear, Lukaku needs to find his form again for Everton to be successful. Aston Villa had been fairly steady this season under Lambert and Keane’s guidance. They shot up the table surprisingly, making it as high as second at the start of the season. However, after a few bad losses, they now need to steady the ship again and finish in the top half of the table. 1-1 draw is my prediction.

Rishay: Manchester City v Tottenham: This Spurs team was comprehensively dismantled in both fixtures by the Sky Blues last season 5-1 at home and 6-0 away. I can say with confidence that it will be impossible for them to do worse this time round. While they will probably have some mental block as to whether they can get anything from this game, Pochettino will have them set up in a very cagey manner and they will aim to stifle City’s build up play as best as they can. City haven’t quite found their footing as of yet this season but have still managed to pick up enough points to find themselves in second place. City are the favourites and while Tottenham will perform admirably, City will bag the points. 2-1 Manchester City. 

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