English Premier League: Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling to cash in against former club Liverpool

Match to catch

England forward Raheem Sterling was widely criticised for the way he engineered his Liverpool exit in the summer, but his, and new club Manchester City’s, form this season seems to have vindicated his desire to further his career.

On Saturday night the Reds will see at first hand just what they are missing as Sterling lines up against his former team for the first time. The last time the sides met in March, Philippe Coutinho’s winning goal sent the Blues to a 2-1 Anfield loss that triggered a run of four defeats in six league games and brought a premature end to their title defence. This season, however, Manuel Pellegrini’s squad looks so much stronger thanks to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Sterling and, with Sergio Aguero and David Silva poised to return from injury, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool renaissance may just have to wait a little longer. Prediction: Man City 2 Liverpool 0.

Keep an eye on

Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to rely heavily on young English talent this season is quickly beginning to pay dividends for both club and country. Teenage midfielder Dele Alli’s rapid rise culminated in a brilliant goal and man-of-the-match performance for England against France in midweek, while he was partnered in central midfield by clubmate Eric Dier and Kyle Walker, Harry Kane and Ryan Mason were also in the squad at Wembley. On Sunday the young Lions will get to tackle London rivals West Ham in a derby matchup of two in-form teams — it’s a tough one to call, but Spurs should edge it. Prediction: Spurs 2 West Ham 1.

For the purists

Swansea’s mixed form so far this season has seen boss Garry Monk surprisingly tipped for the sack, despite his good work over the last 18 months. The Swans were pretty ruthless when axing Michael Laudrup in February 2014, but Monk deserves more time to turn the team’s fortunes around and a home win over struggling Bournemouth on Saturday would make things look much rosier. Both teams have struggled for goals lately, so it could be a tense affair. Prediction: Swansea 1 Bournemouth 0.

Showing form

Arsenal are unbeaten in the league in two months and look set to be the only serious challengers to Manchester City in the title race, but with Arsene Wenger’s side a disaster never seems too far away. This season’s problems have so far largely come in the cup competitions, but with their players in action all over the world during the international break there is the potential for a slip up on the road this weekend — although it is doubtful West Brom will be good enough to take advantage. Prediction: West Brom 1 Arsenal 2.

Need a win

Champions Chelsea’s bizarre meltdown this season continued with defeat at Stoke last time out, meaning they have lost three straight league games for the first time since 1999 and go into Saturday’s home game against Norwich below the Canaries in the table. At any other stage in the Roman Abramovich era this would have been a home banker, but now the struggling Blues can’t really be sure of anything. Prediction: Chelsea 2 Norwich 0.

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Think I’m way off the mark? Tweet me your English Premier League predictions via @MartinDownerGN