Manchester United’s home clash with Everton kicks-off another busy Saturday of Premier League action before Chelsea look to put a disappointing week behind them when they host Southampton.
In total, there are six top-flight games on Saturday with in-form Everton’s trip to Old Trafford the 12:30 kick-off in what should be a tight clash between two teams locked together on 13 points in a congested top six.
United Not Firing
United were poor last weekend when Aston Villa deservedly claimed all three points in a 1-0 win and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had to rely on a very late Cristiano Ronaldo goal as they struggled to beat Villarreal in the Champions League in midweek. The Red Devils will be without key centre-back Harry Maguire so, all things considered, Everton should approach the game with a fair bit of confidence.
Rafael Benitez will need no extra motivation to get one over United as the former Liverpool boss continues to impress in charge of the Toffees, who have won four of their first six matches. While an away win is tempting at 6/1, a safer bet might be to back Everton or Draw in the Double Chance market at 37/20.
Norwich out of Their Depth
At 3pm, Burnley should be the latest club to see off Norwich as the Canaries’ nightmare return to the Premier League continues. Daniel Farke’s side have lost their first six games with a goal difference of minus 14 and are already staring relegation in the face. This represents one of the more winnable matches for them with the Clarets just a place above in 19th, but while Norwich have been routinely beaten so far, Sean Dyche’s side have been somewhat unlucky not to have picked up a win as yet.
Last weekend they should have got the better of Leicester only to draw 2-2 late on, so this should be a home win, which is on offer at 20/23.
Chelsea Should Bounce Back
Chelsea were talked up as genuine title contenders after a great start but their form has dipped in the past week. A strangely subdued display against Manchester City saw them slip to a deserved home defeat and they followed that up with a similar performance and result when going down to Juventus in the Champions League. Worryingly for Thomas Tuchel, the Blues lacked creativity and punch up front in both games, managing just one shot on target across the 180 minutes.
Southampton represent tricky opponents too, considering they recently held Manchester City to a 0-0 draw at the Etihad, but surely Chelsea will get their act together this weekend?
Anything other than a home win would be a shock but the value might lie in backing the Londoners to grind it out rather than blow Saints away with Draw/Chelsea in the HT/FT market appealing at 17/5.
Leeds Struggling
Leeds are having a troubling second season back in the Premier League so far and, despite being 10/13 favourites at home to Watford, are unlikely to have a straightforward afternoon at Elland Road.
Marcelo Bielsa’s open style of play is allowing opposition plenty of chances and they have conceded the most amount of shots of any team in the top flight this season with a whopping average of 18.7 per game so far. That’s a stat that should be a concern and Watford will look to take advantage.
The Hornets have not been freescoring, hitting just seven from their first six, but they should have enough to at least claim a draw, available at 3/1.
Gunners Bang in Form
Finally, the 5:30pm kick-off on Saturday sees in-form Arsenal go to Brighton with the Gunnners looking to build on their much-improved form.
Mikel Arteta has now overseen three straight wins and things seem to be finally clicking for the Spaniard with last weekend’s impressive 3-1 North London Derby success arguably being their best display since he took charge.
In recent years, following up a big win like that was the problem but there seems to be a new-found steel in the side and the likes of Emile Smith-Rowe, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all seem to be buzzing with confidence.
Brighton have picked up a superb 13 points so far from a possible 18 to sit sixth but they were lacklustre when only scraping a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on Monday and Arsenal should fancy their chances of making it four wins on the spin. An away win is a tempting 6/4.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
