There is almost an equal split of Premier League games over the weekend with five on Saturday and four more on Sunday, and with the exception of Manchester City’s trip to Norwich, most of them are close betting battles.
Tyneside Tussle to Be Full of Goals
The best-looking bet comes on Tyneside, where goals should be on the menu for Aston Villa’s trip to Newcastle. Both teams to score appears to be a cracking punt at 5/8, and those wanting a little more bang for their buck can take over 2.5 goals at 5/6.
Newcastle spent heavily in January in their bid to beat the drop, and back-to-back wins suggest Eddie Howe’s men are beginning to head in the right direction.
Only Manchester City and Chelsea have stopped Newcastle from scoring at home this term anyway, so even during the dark days earlier in the campaign, this was a team under Steve Bruce that would usually score before he was replaced by the more adventurous Howe.
The Magpies’ issue comes at the back. Newcastle have two clean sheets this term, and Villa have scored in 16 of their last 18 Premier League matches, with Philippe Coutinho impressing since arriving on loan from Barcelona.
Villa’s last five league games have featured 18 goals, and more of the same seems likely.
Liverpool Likely to Grind Out the Victory
Leicester against West Ham looks a tough one to call, and Tottenham doesn’t make a great appeal at odds-on for the visit of Wolves. However, Wanderers are short on goals, so head to Turf Moor for a second Sunday wager in the form of Liverpool to win and under 3.5 goals at 20/21.
Bottom-of-the-table Burnley has recently held Arsenal and Manchester United to draws, and seven of their last ten in the league have finished with a share of the spoils.
But one win all season tells its own sorry story, and a lack of goals – 17 in 20 matches – suggests relegation is on the cards.
Liverpool will likely have to grind it out, and they can do that part of the job well enough to stay solid before any one of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, or new boy Luis Diaz unlocks the home defence.
Spy Value With Leeds Bet
Frank Lampard’s Premier League debut as Everton manager fell flat in a woeful 3-1 defeat at Newcastle, and they could be sucked right into relegation trouble with Leeds fancied to win at odds of 39/20.
Leeds have scored three times in each of their last two away league games and are beginning to get key players returning to fitness even if England internationals Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford remain sidelined.
Everton, with 11 defeats in 14 league games, are missing players too, and Lampard could be in for a rough ride against a Leeds team with whom he had many run-ins as manager of Derby.
Manchester United are 10/17 to beat Southampton, but they have scored more than once in just one of Ralf Rangnick’s seven home outings as manager and are easy to swerve at those odds, particularly as Saints performed so well in Wednesday’s 3-2 win at Tottenham.
Consider the draw at 2/1 and 9/4 respectively in the matches between Brentford and Crystal Palace and Watford and Brighton, but there is unlikely to be an upset at Carrow Road when leaders Manchester City should justify short odds against lowly Norwich.
All odds correct at time of writing
