We have nine Premier League matches to come on Saturday with some tasty looking live TV matches spread out over the course of ten hours. Wives and girlfriends have been alerted. Meanwhile, @bobreaksbookies has covered all of the action, including those three tasty looking live matches with Everton and Chelsea kicking the action off followed by Spurs trip to Burnley and finally wrapped up with an interesting looking clash between Claude's Leicester and Jose's Man Utd. 12:30 Everton vs Chelsea – Prediction 1.1
Current Form
Past Meetings
Final Verdict - Expect a tight match I expect a close contest when Chelsea visits Goodison Park on Saturday lunch-time with the Blues performing much better following the arrival of the former Newcastle and England boss, Sam Allardyce. Ultimately though, this fixture is really tough to call with Chelsea winning their last 4 against Everton but losing 2 of their last 3 at Goodison. Current form also suggest Everton will make it very hard for Chelsea and really this one could go either way, depending on who turns up on the day. My prediction, for what it’s worth is a 1.1 draw but really, I can’t pick a winner, or a goals selection with a great deal of confidence so perhaps this fixture is best avoided. Best Bets – NO BETS 15:00 Man City vs Bournemouth – Prediction 4.0 Past Meetings
Final Verdict - Handsome home win on the cards Can anyone stop Man City? Perhaps, but it certainly won’t be a Bournemouth side that crashed to a 4.0 home loss to Liverpool in their last league outing and look well short of confidence as they travel to face the unstoppable league leaders who are going for a stunning 17th straight victory in the Premier League. The blue half of Manchester have been scintillating over the past 3 months and that form showed no signs of abating in their most recent outing as they smashed Spurs 4.1 and I expect them to win by at least 2 goals here and probably more against a Bournemouth side that don’t seem capable of defending well in numbers, which they would surely need to do here in order to keep the score down to anything bordering on the respectable. I expect City to score anywhere between 3 and 5 goals here with Bournemouth conceding 9 goals in their last 2 visits to the City of Manchester Stadium. With Bournemouth not offering a great deal of attacking threat either, having failed to score in 5 of their 9 away games so far this season, I expect City to keep a clean sheet and score at least 3 to bring up the -2 selection @4/6. While, the hosts are expected to be without the influential David Silva, they should still have more than enough in the tank to see off a Bournemouth team that looked really poor in their 4.0 whipping by Liverpool last Sunday and with the Cherries conceding 9 goals on their last 2 visits to Manchester, it could be a long afternoon for Eddie Howe's men. City -2 @4/6 seems pretty reasonable to me while the hosts to score 4 or more goals @1/1 is certainly short but quite likely given what we have seen lately from both sides and in previous meetings. Best Bets Man City -2 @4/6 – 3.5 stars City over 3.5 goals @1/1 – 3 stars 15:00 Southampton vs Huddersfield - Prediction 1.2 Current Form
Final Verdict - Don't write off the visitors here Huddersfield will travel to Southampton with renewed confidence following their fabulous 4.1 win at Watford last weekend to take on a Saints side that have failed to win any of their last 5 Premier League contests as well as losing 5 of their last 8. Indeed, Southampton have only won 5 of their last 26 PL matches since April, with their last home fixture producing a comprehensive 4.1 loss at the hands of Leicester and while Huddersfield have been poor on the road this season, the Saints surely can’t be backed at 4/7 odds on to claim the 3 points having only won 3 of their last 15 at home in the division. The visiting Terriers will certainly come into this match as the more confident team, having won 2 of their last 3 in the league and I fancy them not to lose at the tasty price of 7/5 odds against. Best Bets – Huddersfield or draw @7/5 -2 stars 15:00 Swansea vs Crystal Palace – Prediction – 0.2 Current Form
Past Meetings
Final Verdict - Palace on a roll Going on recent form, Palace have to be backed for the 3 points in Wales on Saturday with Swansea struggling terribly in recent weeks, culminating in the sacking of manager Paul Clement on Wednesday with the Swans rock bottom of the league having taken only 12 points from 18 games. Whether the home side are lifted by the decision to remove the former Derby boss remains to be seen but for Palace, their improvement under Roy Hodgson has been dramatic, going unbeaten in their last 7 in the league and they will view this fixture as an eminently winnable one. One worrying aspect for Palace is their recent record against Swansea which is certainly not great with The Eagles not winning any of their last 5 against the Swans or in Wales since 2009, but this is surely the weakest Swansea have been in all their Premier League years while Palace have looked really dangerous in recent fixtures with Wilfred Zaha starting to show the form that got him his big money move to Man Utd in 2012 and I do fancy the visitors to be too strong for an ailing Swansea side. Of course, Palace struggled badly on the road in the earlier part of the season, losing their first 6 away fixtures without scoring a single goal, but they regained some confidence with successive 0.0 draws at Brighton and WBA and followed that up by thrashing Leicester 3.0 at the King Power Stadium last weekend and I expect them to continue those improvements by seeing off a Swansea side that have lost 6 of their last 9 at the Liberty Stadium. Under Hodgson, Palace suddenly look like a decent team again with England internationalists Loftus-Cheek and the aforementioned Zaha really impressing for Palace. With Christan Benteke also ending his goal-scoring drought,, Palace seem to be heading in the right direction and they can win in Wales @13/10 odds. In contrast, Swansea have really gone backwards both on and off the pitch since the sacking of Michael Laudrup and a club that was once famed for both its attractive style of play and their continental approach to managerial appointments have lost all sense of identity with a succession of managers from Guidolin to Monk to Bradley and beyond all failing to reignite a team that now looks certain to be heading for the Championship next season. Whether Clement deserved his sacking is certainly open to question with the Swansea board surely responsible for the clubs demise this season. When you sell your two best players and replace them with Wilfred Bony, you are asking for trouble and this club has simply failed to invest sufficiently in its playing squad and for that, both the now former manager Clement and the club have paid a heavy price. Relegation seems distinctly probable for a team that are now looking for their 6th permanent manager in just 4 years. I expect Palace to win @13/10 and they may just continue their run of scoring at least 2 goals at the attractive price of 13/8 with Swansea conceding 2 or more in 7 of their last 11 league matches. Best Bets Palace to win @13/10 –2.5 stars Palace to score 2 or more @13/8 – 2 stars 17:30 Burnley vs Tottenham – Prediction 1.1 Current Form
Past Meetings
Final Verdict - Tight contest on the cards A tight encounter should be expected when Spurs travel to Burnley on Saturday with the hosts currently, and most certainly surprisingly, a point ahead of their more illustrious rivals in the Premier League standings after 18 games played. Burnley always make it difficult for every side that visits Turf Moor and I don’t see why Spurs should be the exception here with Pochettino’s side hardly in the best of form, losing 4 of their last 5 on the road while their earlier meeting this season was another tight affair with Burnley leaving London with a point following a 1.1 draw at Wembley. Under 2.5 goals looks more than likely when we consider Burnley’s home stats which have seen only 2 of their last 17 matches going over 2.5 goals and I expect a similar outcome here with Sean Dyche;s men sure to make life difficult for a Spurs side that have only won 1 of their last 4 visits to Burnley in recent years while none of the last 3 meetings at Turf Moor went over 2.5 goals either. It really has been a remarkable season for Burnley and quite why Spurs, without a win in 5 away PL matches, and a point behind their opponents are odds on @1/2 to win. Of course Spurs have better players, but I really don’t think Burnley should be under-estimated in this fixture. They are a well organised, highly disciplined group of players that know how to edge out narrow victories and I am confident they can make this a close and tight fixture with a low scoring draw my prediction for this fixture. Therefore, I’m taking under 2.5 goals @8/11 while Burnley not to lose @13/8 certainly seems over-priced considering their fine recent form and Spurs own troubles lately. Best Bets Under 2.5 goals @8/11 – 4 stars Burnley or draw @13/8 – 2 stars 19:45 Leicester vs Manchester United - Prediction 1.2 Current Form
Past Meetings
Final Verdict - Both can score in entertaining contest Our final Premier League fixture before Christmas should be a decent one with Leicester welcoming Jose Mourinho’s Man Utd to the King Power stadium as we get a taste of live Premier League football on a Saturday evening before its permanent inclusion in the 2018 season. Both sides will fancy their chances of a good result here and I expect an entertaining contest with BTTS having every chance @4/5 odds with neither side particularly adept at clean sheets in recent weeks. United have been scoring and winning on the road, but with only 1 clean sheet in their last 8 away matches, Leicester will be optimistic of a positive result in front of their own fans while United will expect to continue their winning PL form despite a shock midweek loss at the hands of Bristol City in the Carabao cup. The visitors are certainly favourites though and 5/6 seems about right when you look at recent seasons with United winning each of the last 4, and scoring 2 goals or more in all 4 contests, including a 3.0 win on their most recent visit to Leicester in January and I expect them to claim the spoils again here but my preferences are for the 2 goal selections highlighted with United looking a bit less confident defensively in recent performances. United can win though @5/6 and score 2 or more @5/6 as well having done so in each of their last 3 on the road and their last 4 against Leicester and I expect them to do so again here with Leicester making a good game of it to bring up both the BTTS and over 2.5 selections. Best Bets BTTS @4/5 – 3.5 stars Over 2.5 goals @19/20 – 2.5 stars Man Utd to score 2 or more @5/6 – 2.5 stars Other Matches 15:00 Stoke vs West Bromwich Albion - Prediction 1.1 Final Verdict - NO BETS Stoke usually see goals in their home matches but WBA are pretty stout on the road and I fancy this one could finish with a low scoring draw but this isn’t a fixture I have a great deal of confidence in so it won’t be making an appearance in any of my Saturday lines. 15:00 Brighton vs Watford – Prediction 1.1 Final Verdict - NO BETS I can’t call this one with Watford really struggling for away form in the last month and Brighton struggling to score goals. Another low score draw could be on the cards but once more, I don’t feel confident enough to make any selection from this PL scrap. 15:00 West Ham vs Newcastle United - Prediction 1.0 Final Verdict - NO BETS Comments are closed.
|
Categories |