Match to catch

Monday Night Football is all too often the reserve of sterile encounters between unfashionable sides passed over for the prime TV slots on Saturdays and Sundays, with this season’s examples including Sunderland’s hard-fought 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace and Stoke winning at Swansea by the same score back in October. Occasionally, however, you get an unexpected gem of a match, such as Everton’s thrilling 3-2 turnaround victory at West Brom earlier this season and, digging into the archives, this column’s favourite ever MNF match - when a Yakubu hat-trick inspired Portsmouth to a 4-3 win over Fulham in 2004. This Monday’s match has the potential to be a memorable one as unlikely leaders Leicester host crisis-torn defending champions Chelsea. Jose Mourinho’s side may have topped an ordinary Champions League group, but an abysmal run of four defeats in their last six league games has left them just two points above the relegation zone. The Foxes have the talent to embarrass their visitors even further, but Diego Costa and Co will be determined to stop the rot. Prediction: Leicester 2 Chelsea 2.

Keep an eye on

The powers that be at Swansea City extended boss Garry Monk’s stay of execution for as long as they could, but last week’s 3-0 surrender at home to Leicester proved to be the final straw. While it is a shame to see a bright young manager sacked after such a promising start to his career, it was clear the players weren’t playing for him and - as is always the case - it’s the boss who pays the price. Stand-in Alan Curtis has the unenviable task of residing over Saturday’s trip to Manchester City and the club needs to act fast to ensure they recruit a permanent replacement in time for the busy festive season. Prediction: Man City 3 Swansea 1.

For the purists

Yo-yo clubs Sunderland and Watford surprisingly haven’t met in more than 10 years, but few will have been waiting with bated breath since then for the renewal of this limited rivalry, which has only seen 18 matches in more than 75 years. Both have improved in recent weeks and Watford in particular can be hopeful of avoiding relegation this season, but home advantage could swing this one in Sunderland’s favour. Prediction: Sunderland 2 Watford 1.

Showing form

Tottenham, unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season, are on a high after their Europa League romp against Monaco on Thursday night, but a run of three draws in their last four EPL matches has stalled their surge towards the top four. On Sunday they host Newcastle, who earned an impressive win over Liverpool last week but have been almost exclusively awful away from home this season, and Spurs should be confident of success. Prediction: Spurs 2 Newcastle 0.

Need a win

Manchester United’s at best satisfactory start to the season took a drastic turn for the worse in midweek, when they were dumped out of the Champions League and left to battle it out on Thursday nights in the Europa League. Coach Louis van Gaal’s pride would have been hurt, but a combination of injuries and individuals not living up to their price tag has hurt them badly. On Saturday, United face a potentially tricky assignment at Bournemouth, who won at Chelsea last weekend. Prediction: Bournemouth 1 Man United 1.

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