The best thing about mid-week EPL rounds is that it means we’re generally treated to three matchdays within seven days and with it, thirty opportunities to find a winner.
City are primed for a big run home and Liverpool are undoubtedly primed to bottle it. As always, results in Week 28 of the Premier League could prove vital to who wins, who scores a Euro berth and who has to rebuild in the second tier.
If big matches are what you’re looking for this week, be sure to look further than Wednesday morning’s Leicester vs Brighton fixture at King Power Stadium. Both clubs have been terrible since Christmas and have each managed only a solitary draw in what has otherwise been a sea of Ls. Given that Aaron Mooy will almost certainly be relegated at the end of the season, it would be nice to think that Mat Ryan can lock in another Premier League campaign, but his Seagulls are falling perilously close to the drop zone. A draw looks likely.
A glimmer of hope was restored when they went two in a row, but Cardiff City came crashing back down to earth last weekend when they conceded five at home to Watford. They do remain out of the drop zone by a solitary point, but they simply must win matches like this one against Everton if they are any shot of surviving and I simply do not think that they can. Though they’ve lost their last three, the Toffees have been doing what the Toffees do best – hanging around the middle of the ladder. They should be winning this one, though.
The down-and-out Terriers will have their hands full again on Wednesday morning when they host a consistent Wolves side that is undefeated in their five most-recent league games. Boy they showed a lot of promise in their first Premier League campaign, but there is no denying that Huddersfield have been a class below every other club this season. They dead set look like an A-League club at almost every appearance. I simply cannot understand why Wolves aren’t $1.10 favourites here and I am more than happy to take the $1.80 that is currently on offer.
While there is certainly a case to be made for Arsenal, Newcastle are probably the league’s toughest team to trust from a betting perspective – they can somehow beat City on a Saturday but field a full-strength team against Bury in the FA Cup on a Wednesday and get done. They did win last weekend, but it was against Huddersfield and they only put two away. Burnley meanwhile are seeking a third-consecutive win and enter this one off the back of a huge away win over Spurs. $3.75 to win this? Yes please.
Any time is see Arsenal as an odds-on favourite I get worried. Given that is the case virtually every week, it’s fair to assume that I am on the verge of resembling Peter Griffin’s hairless brother. All the jokes about the Gunners constantly finishing fourth aside, they do current sit fourth on the ladder and have recorded a couple of fair, though less than impressive wins over Huddersfield and Southampton most-recently. This Cherries team is certainly their toughest opponent of the last three weeks, but they’ve also slipped out of form and face too great a task here, surely.
This is probably going to be one of the more tightly contested matches of the round, but the 18th-placed Southampton playing the 19th-placed Fulham certainly doesn’t scream game of the round. The Saints have become a Premier League stalwart since finding themselves back in the first division in 2012, but they were bad last season and even worse this time around. As one of the league’s new boys, Fulham have excuses for being terrible but at the end of the day, that won’t save them from falling straight back down to the Championship. The equations is simple for both clubs – win everything you can and you might survive. Tipping this ends in a draw.
Now here is a match that you can set your watch to (and to watch). There’s always something in a London Derby, but particularly when it’s two of the clubs that are actually good. To add even more this match, Chelsea will be eager to put behind them that bizarre night and loss to Manchester City on Monday morning, while Spurs will be eager to respond to a shock loss to Burnley. I can’t imagine Kepa Arrizabalaga is going to get a run and that could prove the difference. Not really, but I think that Spurs will win.
It was only a draw, but it was enough for Liverpool to return to the top of the Premier League ladder and they will be eager to consolidate their position at the expense of Watford. The trouble is, Watford have also returned to form recently and are flying high after demolishing Cardiff last week. This is obviously a big step up in class for the Hornets, but no one is expecting anything of them and that could be the making of them. I am one of the people that is expecting nothing of them and I think Liverpool will jog it in.
On Monday morning, City won the first of what will probably be several pieces of silverware this season and they will be eager to keep the pressure on Liverpool, if not leapfrog them by dispatching West Ham. There really isn’t a lot to say here, other than they probably will without breaking a sweat.
We have to wait until the final fixture on Thursday for the bet of the round, but I am very eager to get around the price on offer for United to beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The Eagles produced one of their better performances of the season to down Leicester away last weekend but anyone comparing the Solskjaer United to Leicester needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. Palace have been a thorn in the side of several big clubs this season, but I think that United will prove to be a bridge too far for the London minnows this week.