Wichtig » ers second stint in the majors. ' ' '

Sky Sports Paul Merson is back to look ahead to another crucial round of Premier League fixtures.The top four are all in action live on Sky Sports this weekend as the race for the title and the top four hots up.Leicester will be looking to move a step closer to their first Premier League title when they take on West Ham at the King Power Stadium but defeat could hand Tottenham, who face Stoke at the Britannia on Monday Night Football, the opportunity to close the gap. Meanwhile, Arsenal will be looking to stay in touch when they take on Crystal Palace on Super Sunday, while Manchester City face Chelsea in a mouthwatering Saturday Night Football clash.Merse correctly predicted six Premier League outcomes last time out, and also called one perfect score as Southampton beat Newcastle 3-1. Mersons last predictions Result Merses prediction West Ham 3-3 Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa 1-2 Bournemouth 0-2 Crystal Palace 1-0 Norwich 2-1 Southampton 3-1 Newcastle 3-1 Swansea 1-0 Chelsea 1-3 Watford 1-1 Eveton 1-2 Man City 2-1 West Brom 2-0 Sunderland 0-2 Leicester 1-1 Liverpool 4-1 Stoke 2-1 Tottenham 3-0 Manchester United 3-1 Read on to see who he is backing this week...Chelsea v Man City - Saturday Night Football, 5.30pm, Sky Sports 1 HDThe gap between Manchester City in fourth and Manchester United in fifth is just five points and I fully expect Louis van Gaals side to close the gap by the time kick-off comes around at Stamford Bridge. Its a massive game for City. Merson thinks Chelsea can beat Man City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge They had a brilliant result in midweek and you have to hand it to them after they reached the Champions League semi-finals, but they cannot take their eye off the ball against Chelsea. Its still a huge ask to win the Champions League so the league is crucial. However, I think Chelsea will win this and blow the top four wide open.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 17/2)Leicester v West Ham - Super Sunday, 1.30pm, Sky Sports 1 HDI was really disappointed in West Ham the other night. I had only really seen highlights of Slaven Bilics side this season and thought they looked excellent, but having watched the whole game against Man United, they were really poor. Merson thinks Leicester will have too much for West Ham on Sunday United put in a very good display at Upton Park but for me, West Ham didnt do enough. They didnt get enough crosses into the box and there is no point playing Andy Carroll if you are not going to get the ball into the penalty area. If youd have asked me for a prediction on Monday Id have said Im not sure, but now I cant see anything but a Leicester win.However, I still see a twist to come in the title race.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Super Sunday, 4pm, Sky Sports 1 HDArsenal are the best team in the world when the pressure is off. They will win this game because Crystal Palace are now in a position where they can afford to rest players ahead of the FA Cup semi-final. Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park earlier in the campaign They can lose this game heavily, it wont matter. The manager, the players and the fans will move on to Wembley. Arsenal will win this game.PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (Sky Bet odds 7/1)Stoke v Tottenham - Monday Night Football, 8pm, Sky Sports 1 HDI never go against Stoke at home. They are a very good team in front of their own fans but for me, Tottenham win. I really fancy an away win. I have been impressed with Spurs; they are a good, good team. Merson is backing Tottenham to win at Stoke on Monday Looking ahead to next season, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool all need players. Tottenham only need a few fringe players, they dont need players to go straight into the team. I really think they are well up there again next season, one of the favourites.Im backing them to win on Monday night.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (Sky Bet odds 14/1)Norwich v Sunderland - Saturday, 12.45pmNorwich have to make sure they dont lose this game. As long as they dont get beat Alex Neil will be happy, but if they win I think Newcastle are pretty much down. Its as simple as that! Norwich host Sunderland in a crucial clash at the bottom of the table For Sunderland its a cup final and they have to win it. What score do I go with here? My mate Jeff is a big Sunderland fan so I cant go against him. Im going for a draw here because Sunderland have been playing well recently. Theyve not had much luck in my opinion and thats why the results havent quite gone their way.Theyll get a point here but Jeff wont be happy.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)Everton v Southampton - Saturday, 3pmIts a tough game to call. Its a weird situation for Everton because theyve got an FA Cup semi-final coming up but Roberto Martinez is under some serious pressure. Theyve got the date at Wembley next week but cant go into that on the back of a defeat - the fans are on his back as it is. Martinez would love to rest some players but I just dont think he can afford to. Everton beat Southampton 3-0 earlier in the season A heavy defeat to Southampton and he will be under severe pressure. It will all come down to how much bottle he has. If he has the courage to rest all the players he needs for next week, then they lose this game 3-1, but if he plays a full-strength side then I see a 2-1 home win. It all comes down to Martinez and I hope he has the bottle to rest all his big guns ahead of the FA Cup semi-final.I dont envy his situation. Anyway, well go for a draw here. All the best!PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 (Sky Bet odds 12/1)Manchester United v Aston Villa - Saturday, 3pmManchester United were outstanding in midweek. They thoroughly deserved their victory at Upton Park. In the first 20 minutes against Tottenham last Sunday I thought they played very well and looked very comfortable. But in the end they lost 3-0 and if youd just watched the opening you would have been left scratching your head and wondering how that happened! Merse thinks Manchester United can build on their midweek victory by beating Aston Villa They now have a FA Cup semi-final on the horizon but there will be no resting players from United, who still have a chance of reaching the top four. With Aston Villa the visitors they have a real opportunity to close the gap to Manchester City in fourth and I think they will do it in style.PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)Newcastle v Swansea - Saturday, 3pmNo matter what the result is in the early kick-off between Norwich and Sunderland, Newcastle have to win. A Norwich win and a Newcastle defeat will near enough see Rafael Benitezs side down. Newcastle Uniteds clash against Swansea is a must-win, says Merson If you have watched Newcastle recently defensively they have been atrocious. However, Im backing Newcastle to win. They have to put everything on the line on Saturday and for me, that will be enough.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 8/1)West Brom v Watford - Saturday, 3pmThere have been plenty giving West Brom a bit of stick in recent weeks but I thought they did well against Manchester City. When you look at the sides in the bottom three and you look at West Brom, I think theyve done great. Watfords Spanish manager Quique Sanchez Flores could rest some of his starts ahead of next weeks FA Cup semi-final On the other hand this is a perfect game for Watford ahead of the FA Cup semi-final. Its a totally different situation to that of Everton. Quique Sanchez Flores can rest every single one of his starting 11 this week and get beat 5-0 and the fans wouldnt care less. They would still clap them off.Watford have secured their top-flight status and reached the FA Cup semi-final, thats some achievement. For Everton, they have 11 international footballers and a very good team but they are not in the top half. Thats the difference.West Brom win here against a depleted Watford side.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (Sky Bet odds 17/2)Bournemouth v Liverpool - Sunday, 1.30pmAfter Liverpools incredible win over Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night they have to concentrate on the Europa League. Liverpools top-four ambitions are pretty slim when you look at the table. They can still do it but victory over Dortmund put them two games away from a final and potentially three away from a place in next seasons Champions League. Liverpools 1-0 win over Bournemouth earlier in the season was Jurgen Klopps first in charge at Anfield They could win their next seven league games and still not make the top four. Bournemouth just did enough against Villa and were nothing special, so I still have to back Liverpool for a win.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)PLAY SUPER 6!Theres another £250,000 jackpot up for grabs in the latest round of the Soccer Saturday Super 6 game. All you have to do is predict the scores of the six selected matches. Its free to play so get your entries in before 3pm GMT on Saturday for the chance to win.PLAY NOW...Also See:Premier League questionsPapers: LVG on the way outLive on SkyGet Sky SportsHakeem Butler Cardinals Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Kurt Warner Womens Jersey . 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The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said.OAKLAND, Calif. -- With three wins in four games since the All-Star break against two of the hottest teams in the majors, the Athletics are building some momentum.Theyve still got quite a ways to go to dig themselves out of the cellar in the AL West. Still, its as good a streak as manager Bob Melvin could have expected after a disappointing first half.Yonder Alonso drove in three runs with a pair of two-out hits to back Kendall Gravemans fifth consecutive win, and Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 7-4 on Monday night.Guys are putting up some numbers now, Graveman said. You could go one to nine no matter whos in there, and I think a lot of guys are starting to feel comfortable at the plate. Us as starters are just trying to keep them in ballgames and we know theyre going to put up runs.Khris Davis hit his fourth home run in three games, Marcus Semien had two hits and scored twice while Ryon Healy added an RBI double for the As.Oakland has won three of four since the All-Star break.Its just timely hitting, Davis said. When we get those crooked numbers, our pitchers are doing a great job of throwing up a zero and getting us back in. That momentum is huge.Alonso doubled in a run in the second inning then added a two-run single as part of five-run fourth when the As sent 12 men to the plate. The Astros walked five batters in the inning, two with the bases loaded.Graveman (6-6) allowed three runs over seven innings to earn his second straight win over Houston. The right-hander, who also beat the Astros in his final start before the break, struck out five and walked one.Dyan Dull retired three batters and Ryan Madson pitched the ninth for his 20th save.Marwin Gonzalez homered for the second time in three games for Houston.The As got plenty of help from the Astros pitching.Starter Mike Fiers allowed six runs over 3 2/3 innings to remain winless in five career starts against Oakland. Fiers (6-4) fanned five and walk three, including two in the fourth.Michael Feliz replaced Fiers and walked threee consecutive batters including Josh Reddick and Danny Valencia with the bases loaded.dddddddddddd Reddick had struck out swinging in his first two at-bats before drawing a four-pitch walk to force in Healy.Davis hit his 23rd home run this season off Scott Feldman in the seventh.We got beat by a big inning, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. Its frustrating because we had four or five walks in that inning.. They kept putting up quality at-bats and we couldnt close the inning out.Houston took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth when Carlos Correa scored an unearned run on a throwing error by Healy, Oaklands rookie third baseman. As manager Bob Melvin tried to argue that Correa interfered with Healy while running from second to third on the play.FIERS, GOMEZ SQUABBLEFiers was not happy about being pulled from the game in the fourth and exchanged words with Hinch. Fiers later got into it with teammate Carlos Gomez as the two went face to face in the Astros dugout. I cant show that much emotion in the dugout so he was just letting me know that if I had to say something or act, take it inside and do it without anybody watching, which hes right, Fiers said. I think my emotions got the best of me. I need to be more professional about what Im doing out there on the field and in the game.TRAINERS ROOMAthletics: Right-hander Nick Tepesch was claimed off waivers by the Royals. Tepesch had been designated for assignment when Oakland needed to clear room for 3B Ryon Healy last week.UP NEXTAstros: LHP Dallas Keuchel (6-9) makes his second consecutive start against Oakland on Tuesday at the Coliseum. The reigning AL Cy Young winner allowed one run over seven innings against the As in his final outing before the All-Star break.Athletics: Dillon Overton (1-1) will be called up from Triple-A Nashville to start against Houston. This is the rookie left-handers second stint in the majors. ' ' '