6 EPL Fixtures on Saturday to consider with 2 more to come on Sunday as well as the Carling Cup Final. While the more attractive fixtures are set for Sunday, I am still confident we can find some nice winners from the 6 games on offer. So here is my preview for Saturday's action from the best league in the world. No really, it just is. La Liga? Hahahaha 13:45 West Ham vs Crystal Palace - Prediction - 1.1- Best Bet - Palace not to lose - 4/5 The early kick off comes from Upton Park between West Ham and Crystal Palace in a London derby that should be highly competitive. Sam Allardyce is back under pressure at the Hammers following their 4.0 cup exit to WBA 2 weeks ago and while they took a fine point at White Hart Lane last week against Spurs, I am not convinced they are going to win this one at home to one of their London rivals. Palace have won their last 2 on the road and are unbeaten in 4 away games as well so for me, this one could be a share of the spoils. Under Alan Pardew their form has picked up and while West Ham remain the better team, with this being a derby, I feel it is going to be keenly fought contest where ultimately the points could be shared. BTTS @ 5/6 is a good possibility here but i like the 4/5 on offer that says Palace won't lose and I will also be going with the draw in my small stakes coupon at 12/5. 16:00 Manchester United vs Sunderland - Prediction 2.0 - Best Bet - AVOID Just how can you back Man Utd with any confidence at 1/3 odds, even if it is against Sunderland? Well the short answer is, you can't. Or at least I won't. United are still a bit of a mess under Van Gaal and still seem to be struggling to adopt his so called philosophy. 150 million was spent in the summer and what do they have to show for it? Rojo and Blind have settled in well but beyond that it is slim pickings. Falcao has been a shadow of his former self, Di Maria played out of position hasn't looked good for many weeks now and the form of existing key players such as Robin Van Persie and Juan Mata has been poor to say the least. Well, Mata doesn't even get a chance to be rubbish and that really is a damning indictment on the failure of Van Gaal to get this team playing good football. The shape and system are ragged while the passing has been laboured and pedestrian and while LVG has been getting an easy time in the media thus far, his bizarre response to Sam Allardyces taunts about "long ball Unied" was unnecessary and made him look quite silly really. Especially when you consider that he leaves the talented Mata out of his side and resorts to bringing on his 7ft battering ram in Marouane Fellaini. Long ball United? of course not. It is one thing to respond to the mind games of Jose Mourinho but when you let Big Sam get under your skin about your style of football, you know something is wrong. Perhaps Sam's jibe was just a little too close to the bone. However, Sunderland are awful and while you would assume this to be a home banker, Gus Poyet's lot are the kind of crap team that could just frustrate LVG again on Saturday and the visitors have been known to pull out a surprise result when you least expect it and of course the Uruguyan manager has been known to leave his dirty business in the bathtub when you least expect it as well but you would imagine that LVG simply won't put up with that kind of behaviour in the Theatre of Dreams. I don't think that fits into his "philosochophee" Of course despite all that, United should win here and deny Poyet any celebratory defecating but i just will not touch it. The bet that is. Avoid and perhaps also avoid shaking hands with Gus should you ever be so fortunate to meet the man. 16:00 West Bromwich Albion vs Southampton - Prediction 1.0 - Best Bet - WBA Draw no bet at 5/4. Under Tony Pullis, WBA have predictably turned their season around, losing only 1 in 8 and keeping a lot of clean sheets in the process. The Pullis effect was expected and with an out of form Southampton coming to town, I fancy the home side to avoid defeat at the least here and perhaps snatch the points. Saints have really come into a rough patch of form and while they remain good on the road, their home form has been poor lately with 3 defeats from 4. There are 3 options if you fancy WBA to get something. You can back the win, or the draw no bet, or WBA not to lose. The respective prices of these 3 bets are 21/10. 5/4 and 2/3. It would be a fine result if they could get the points here and I feel they are more than capable of doing just that. 16:00 Burnley vs Swansea - Prediction 2.1 - Best Bet - Burnley to win @ 8/5 Burnley were expected to be cannon fodder this season but have certainly surprised a few people with the quality of their play and some of the results they have achieved along the way and while they are still one of the favourites to go down, they need to win games like this if they are going to stay up and I have a feeling they will do just that on Saturday. Swansea have really not impressed me of late and the loss of Wilfried Bony has undoubtedly impacted on their danger in the final 3rd. Bafatembi Gomis is nothing more than a temporary stop gap and is expected to leave the club at the end of the season having failed to make an impact since his summer move from France and I have a feeling that Burnley are going to get a much needed 3 points in this one. Danny Ings is proving to be the key man for Burnley and I fancy the much wanted striker to be the difference again here for Sean Dyche's men. 16:00 Stoke vs Hull - Prediction 1.1 - Best Bet - Avoid (or draw at low stakes) Really tough match to call here with Stoke hardly great at home entertaining a Hull side that have been rotten for much of the season but 7 points from 9 says the Hull City Tigers (as the owner would say) should beat the drop and Steve Bruce can be linked with the England job once more. Happy days for Roy. Stoke are far too inconsistent this season and seem to be feeling the absence of Bojan Krkic who is out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury and in his absence they certainly seem to be lacking that little bit of magic that the former Barcelona man had injected into the side. Should be a close and drab encounter here with a share of the spoils my call for this one. 16:00 Newcastle United vs Aston Villa - Prediction 1.1- Best Bet - BTTS @ Evens This is a particularly tricky looking fixture with Tim Sherwood taking charge of Villa for the 2nd time against a Newcastle team fresh from a 5.0 thumping at Man City and who seem as rudderless as ever under new boss, John Carver. If it wasn't made clear last week, I am no fan of Tim. It is one thing to be stupid and one thing to be arrogant but when you combine these two "qualities" what you end up with is Tim Sherwood. in other words, a bit of a...well, I'll let you use your own adjective. Might I suggest knob? That being said, Sherwood will at least attempt to get his team playing a more attractive blend of football which considering his predecessor, is hardly splitting the atom. Under Lambert, Villa were a laughing stock. Can it get any worse? Time will tell. I think this one is going to go BTTS at decent odds of even money and expect the spoils to be shared as well with Sherwood getting his first point on the board. It seems only fair, because I dislike the man so much to include this quote from a small talk interview on the guardian a few years ago; "What was the last book you read Tim?" "I don't read books. I read the Daily Express and The Star" "Not the Guardian? "Nah, Too much writing in it" You can't really follow a quote as insightful as that. Good luck Tim. You may well need it. EPL BEST BETS West Ham v Crystal Palace - Palace not to lose - 4/5 West Brom v Southampton - West Brom - draw no bet - 5/4 Burnley to beat Swansea - 8/5 Newcastle v Aston Villa - BTTS @evens Comments are closed.
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