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Manchester City, back at the top of the Premier League and returned to the head of the betting for the title, host Chelsea in the game of the weekend as we look ahead to the latest round of fixtures.
Fulham and Manchester United get the ball rolling in the early kick-off on Saturday while Liverpool will look to get back to winning ways against terrible travellers Bournemouth.
Here’s our game-by-game guide…
Fulham v Manchester United – Saturday 12.30pm
Jesse Lingard told Sportsmail this week he expects Manchester United to be challenging for the title next season and while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was happy with that attitude, he is demanding his players don’t look too far ahead.
The Old Trafford boss has urged them to forget about next week’s Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain to focus solely on getting the job done at Fulham and stretch that unbeaten run to 11 games with a 10th win. After winning at Cardiff, Newcastle, Tottenham, Arsenal and Leicester, United are 8/13 to claim six straight away wins (all competitions) for the first time since May 2009.
You can get 13/8 they win minus one goal on the handicap but don’t rule out Fulham scoring. Aleksandar Mitrovic let us down at Palace last weekend but eight of his 10 Premier League goals have come at Craven Cottage. You can get him and United hotshot Marcus Rashford both to score at 13/2 on the bet365 bet builder.
Manchester United have the Premier League player of the month in Marcus Rashford
Crystal Palace v West Ham
West Ham have had their fair share of derby delight, winning their last three in a row against London rivals having beaten Saturday’s opponents at the London Stadium before winning at Fulham and then seeing off Arsenal.
They’ll have their work cut out to make it four in a row as Crystal Palace are still as miserly as ever at Selhurst Park – 11 goals conceded in 12 games is bettered only by Liverpool (seven) and Chelsea (nine). There’s another low number in their goals-for column – eight – and only Huddersfield with five are worse off. A goalless draw has some appeal at 9/1 while any stalemate is 5/2.
Huddersfield v Arsenal
Could this be the week that Arsenal finally keep a clean sheet away from home? Surely. They’re the only team in the division to concede in every away game but returning to the scene of their last shutout on the road, on the final day of last season, gives them a chance.
After all, Huddersfield have scored just five goals in 13 games in front of their own fans. The Gunners are no better than 5/8 for the points but can be backed at 9/5 to win without conceding.
Liverpool v Bournemouth
It is, sadly, not surprising that Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are getting criticised after a couple of draws against Leicester and West Ham. That’s criticism for Liverpool, who are second only on goal difference, have lost just once all season and are still in the Champions League. Isn’t Twitter wonderful.
Klopp and Co have lost their Premier League favourites tag, with City back at the head of the betting at 4/5 and the Reds 13/10. What they haven’t lost is a home match – for ages. Thirty-three games to put a number on it and with Bournemouth having lost seven in a row on the road, conceding at least twice in every one, it’ll be 34 for the Merseysiders by Saturday night.
They’re no better than 1/5 but you can get 4/6 HT-FT. Sadio Mane has scored in his last three games and is 9/2 for the opener.
Sadio Mane is banging them in for Liverpool but they’ve drawn two games in a row
Southampton v Cardiff
Since signing off 2018 by losing to Manchester City, no disgrace in that, Southampton’s only defeat was on penalties to Derby in the FA Cup. They’ve been racking up the draws recently but only a penalty at the death denied them maximum points against Burnley.
It was a win full of emotion for Cardiff last week but a trip to St Mary’s is a much tougher test than entertaining Bournemouth. The hosts are 4/5 to win and 4/1 to win by a couple. If both teams to score is your bet, this is worth sticking down as that has been the outcome in 10 of Southampton’s last 11 games.
Watford v Everton
If there’s a sure thing at Vicarage Road on Saturday it’s that Everton boss Marco Silva, returning to his former club, will not exactly be given a warm welcome. And almost as certain is that Everton will concede from a set-piece. They are the league leaders when it comes to leaking goals this way – it’s happened in their last two games and 12 times this season.
Aymeric Laporte was the latest to take advantage when he headed home Man City’s opener on Wednesday night and if he was watching, Watford’s Craig Cathcart might just fancy his chances of claiming a fourth goal of the campaign. He’s nodded home twice in his last four outings and at 16/1 (bet365) at any time is worth a punt against that Toffees defence.
With the Silva situation and Troy Deeney hoping to ‘kick the s*** out of them,’ this is one with the potential to bubble over. A red card is 9/2 with a few bookies.
If there’s a sure thing at Watford on Saturday it’s that Marco Silva won’t get a warm welcome
Brighton v Burnley – Saturday 5.30pm
It was a brave move sticking this pair in front of the cameras on a Saturday night as their three Premier League meetings so far have produced the grand total of one goal – James Tarkowski delighting the home fans at Turf Moor in early December.
It was all they had to smile about for the best part of a month as Burnley lost the other six games played between November 26 and Boxing Day – three on each side of that narrow win. They’ve turned it round since – losing one in seven, to Manchester City in the FA Cup.
Their last three league games have finished all square and a fourth on the bounce is the pick here. Of Brighton’s seven home defeats in the Premier League (across two seasons) only one has been to a team outside the big six. The draw is 12/5 and 1-1 is 11/2.
Spurs v Leicester – Sunday 1.30pm
Son Heung-min and Tottenham got us off to a flyer last week, the South Korean claiming the only goal in the early game against Newcastle after he was flagged up to open the scoring and for it to be a narrow win for the hosts. It was the second game in a row Spurs needed a late show to take the points and they could find Leicester as tricky as Watford and Newcastle.
It would have been a different story if Lucas Moura and Fernando Llorente had taken their chance as it’s hard to imagine Harry Kane wasting as many. But he’s still out. Memories of Leicester’s back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Man City at Christmas are fading fast as they’ve won just once since but you have to go back to early December and the last time they face Spurs for a defeat by more than one goal.
It was 2-0 then and the same again might not be the daftest bet for correct-score backers. That’s 15/2 while a draw at half-time and a full-time Spurs victory is 4/1 (several firms).
Tottenham striker Son Heung-min is stepping up in the absence of Harry Kane
Man City v Chelsea – Sunday 4pm
Chelsea fans were celebrating last week as Gonzalo Higuain opened his account with a couple of crackers and Eden Hazard gave Real Madrid yet another glimpse of what they’re getting when the most drawn-out transfer saga finally comes to an end. But this was against Huddersfield.
It was an impressive win and much needed for Maurizio Sarri but it came after that 4-0 drubbing at Bournemouth. The Blues would probably have chosen an easier venue for the next away game than the Etihad Stadium, where City have won 12 of their 13 games, scoring 43 goals and conceding just 11.
A home win looks a cert here at 8/15 while City are 21/10 to win with both teams scoring. Sky Bet have boosted their Argentinian double of Sergio Aguero and Higuain both to score from 6/1 to 8/1.
Sergio Aguero (pictured) and Gonzalo Higuain both to score on Sunday is now 8/1 with Sky Bet
Wolves v Newcastle – Monday 8pm
Wolves are looking to do a league double over Newcastle for the first time since 1991-92 after beating them at St James’ Park in December, and over the nine rounds of top-flight fixtures between that game and this weekend, only Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United have collected more points and scored more goals than the men from Molineux.
They’re 8/11 to see off the Magpies and worth sticking on an acca if you can wait until Monday night. A one-goal winning margin for the home side is also worth taking at 5/2.
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