Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are all in Premier League action on Saturday as the battle for supremacy in the English top flight continues.
First up on Saturday is the 12:30 KO between Leicester and Liverpool at the King Power Stadium and defeat in this match could spell the end of the Reds’ hopes of defending their Premier League crown.
Solid Foxes to Edge Past Reds
Jurgen Klopp’s men head into the contest sitting fourth in the table, one place and three points behind Leicester, and the reigning champions are reeling after back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Manchester City.
Liverpool’s standards from their title-winning season have dropped significantly and this is partly down to the injuries at the back, with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all sidelined.
To make matters worse, Fabinho has been ruled out of the trip to the East Midlands, meaning captain Jordan Henderson is expected to be partnered at the heart of defence by Nathaniel Phillips.
Leicester, who are on a three-game unbeaten run across all competitions, will relish this make-shift combination at the back and former England international Jamie Vardy, who has 11 league goals this term, will especially be hoping to take advantage.
Brendan Rodgers can exact revenge on the team he managed from 2012-2015 and the Foxes, who have won three of their last four home games, look good value at 5/2
to clinch all three points.
Low-Scoring Affair at Selhurst Park
At 15:00, Crystal Palace take on Burnley at Selhurst Park and, judging by recent performances, it doesn’t look like this one will be a cracker between two sides struggling at the wrong end of the table.
The Eagles were without star man Wilfried Zaha for the 2-0 loss to Leeds United last time out and it really showed in their attacking play, which was pretty much non-existent throughout the contest.
Zaha has scored nine times in the league this season, accounting for exactly a third of Palace’s goals, and if he is missing again on Saturday then the hosts may struggle to create.
However, Burnley are in no great shakes right now and they head into the game on a four-game winless run in which they have scored just once and conceded seven times.
Backing under 2.5 goals at 5/8
looks to be the betting route to go down.
City to Exact Revenge on Spurs
Since losing 2-0 to Spurs back on November 11 last year, City have embarked on an incredible 22-game unbeaten streak, a run of results that has seen them open up a five-point lead at the top of the table.
The Citizens overcame Swansea City 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, making it 15 wins in a row, and Pep Guardiola’s men look hard to back against to beat Tottenham on Saturday at 20/59
.
Spurs’ form has dropped off massively in the last few weeks, losing four of their last five encounters across all competitions, the most recent of those a 5-4 FA Cup defeat to Everton to exit at the fifth-round stage.
Jose Mourinho’s men are under severe pressure and their away issues, which has seen them win just one of their last seven on the road, suggest they are in for more misery when they travel to the Etihad Stadium.
Villans to Down Plucky Seagulls
Villa remain one of the big success stories of the season and they head to the AMEX Stadium on the back of a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, a game in which Ollie Watkins netted his 10th of the campaign.
Brighton have improved of late and are unbeaten in their last five league games, a run which has moved them clear of the relegation zone, but they are suffering from injuries problems and this is likely to hurt them on Saturday.
The Villans are still in the hunt for a European finish and, at 8/5
, they look good value to claim the spoils on the south coast.
*All odds correct at time of writing