The Premier League returns on Saturday morning (AEST) when Crystal Palace and Newcastle kickoff proceedings in Game Week 10.
Never have we seen a more competitive start to the PL season, with only seven competition points separating Tottenham in 1st and Arsenal in 12th!
Chelsea have the opportunity to claim top spot when they host the Spurs in a highly anticipated London Derby, while City face their whipping boys Burley, United contend with the red-hot Saints and Liverpool hit the road to take on Lallana and the Seagulls.
As usual, our in-house dead-ball diviner has previewed every Premier League fixture across Game Week 10 and provided the punters with his best betting plays along the way.
Crystal Palace and Newcastle kick off proceedings in Game Week 10, with both sides looking to bounce back to winning ways.
Despite dominating both possession and chances created, Palace were unable to find the back of the net in GW9, ultimately handing Burnley their first win of the season.
The Toons were dealt a tougher assignment, taking on the red hot Blues at home, a task which Steve Bruces men failed to rise to.
Six of the last seven fixtures between this pair have gone under the 1.5 goals line, with the host claiming victory on four those occasions (2D, 1L).
Both sides are coming off a goalless performance, with this one shaping as a ‘first to score’ wins type contest.
You could be forgiven if you thought the mighty Reds might drop a few competition points against the Foxes last time out, but from the opening whistle the 3 points never looked like leaving Anfield.
Diogo Jota continued his impressive form, becoming the first ever Reds player to score in each of their four opening home matches.
Brighton put on a thrilling performance themselves, knocking-off Aston Villa 2-1 thanks to strikes from Danny Welbeck and Solly March.
The Seagulls have only been kept scoreless once in the last nine league fixtures, and although I can’t see them coming away with any points, I’m sure they’ll be able to stretch the Reds’ injury riddled backline.
Two bottom eight sides are set to scrap it out when Burnley travel to Etihad Stadium to take on Manchester City!
The Sky Blues endured a frustrating night against the Spurs in GW9, Pep’s men had the lions share of possession and generated 22 shots on goal to Tottenham’s four, but eventually went down 2-0 after getting caught on the break twice.
Alternatively, the Clarets claimed their first W of the season, seeing off the Eagles 1-0 in a less than convincing fashion.
Man City has dominated this fixture in the past, outscoring Burnley 15-1 across their last four outings, with the previous two home fixtures finishing 5-0!
Pep will no doubt have he’s side primed for a massive response following last weeks failure, I’m expecting the Sky Blues to have this one wrapped up within the first 20 minutes.
The Whites march into Goodison Park on Sunday morning (AEST) to take on the Toffees in what promises to be a spectacular contest.
Leeds have produced spells of exceptional football, unfortunately Marcelo Bielsa’s have failed to convert their periods of dominance into competition points.
Similarly under Ancelotti, Everton have transformed themselves into one of the most entertaining outfits to watch this season, no side within the top ten has conceded more goals than the Toffees, fortunately they’re also knocking them into the oppositions net at a frightening rate as well.
With defence a mere after-thought in this contest, I’m going to back both sides’ leading men to continue rich spell of form, with the home side to claim the spoils after 90.
Oh dear…
West Bromwich Albion’s form:
L L D L D D L L L
Sheffield United’s form:
L L L L D L L L L
There is literally no case to be made for either side to win this match, as such I’m tipping the Draw, but in all honesty it might be best to steer clear of this one.
The Saints are out to extend their unbeaten run to eight matches when they welcome the Red Devils to St. Mary’s Stadium.
This is shaping up to be an interesting contest, naturally United head into this fixture as slight favourites, yet form suggests the Saints should be in the box seat.
Only Liverpool (5W) can boast better home form than Southampton (3W 1L), although two of the Saints three home wins have come against the Toons and West Brom.
Alternatively, Manchester United are a perfect three from three on the road, and play their best football when the onus is on the Homeside to play positive football.
Recent history strongly points towards a draw, with nothing separating the pair in four of the last five meetings.
Match of the round materialises early Monday morning (AEST) when league leaders Tottenham head across the road to take on 3rd placed Chelsea in the most anticipated London Derby this season.
The Spurs fly into this contest off the back of a huge result against City in GW9, Mourinho’s men perfectly executed his game plan to claim all three points and take their unbeaten run to eight matches.
Meanwhile, the Blues saw off a lacklustre Newcastle outfit 2-0 to extend their own unbeaten run to seven league fixtures.
Tottenham have won all four of their matches on the road this season, and will fancy themselves against a side like Chelsea, who flood forward at every given opportunity.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min are in a rare vein of form at the moment and should give Chelsea’s backline their first real test since their GW2 defeat against Liverpool.
Top 6 hopefuls are pitted against one another on Monday morning (AEST), as the Gunners play host to Wolverhampton.
Since arriving, Arteta has brought a level structure to the Gunners game play, with his side proving far tougher to break down compared to seasons gone by.
Unfortunately, the Spaniard has stifled the Londoners ability to create, this is evident with the Gunners last open play goal coming way back in game week 4!
Meanwhile, the Wolves have slowly been warming into this season, Nuno’s side have fallen to defeat just once since GW3 and will fancy their resolute backline to hold strong against the Gunners stuttering forwards.
I’m backing the Wolves to have their breakout performance of the campaign here, leaving Arsenal TV with plenty of ammunition.
After being thoroughly outplayed by the Reds 2nd string side last weekend, Leicester have been dealt an extremely friendly rebound fixture against league’s easy beats, Fulham.
The Cotters are equal 1st in the PL for Goals Against (18), despite yet facing a top 5 side!
Alternatively, the Foxes have scored 11 goals across their three matches versus sides sitting inside the bottom 8!
Leicester’s clinical nature coupled with Fulham’s reckless desire to push forward at all costs should result in a high scoring affair at King Power Stadium!
Game week 10 is capped off in fitting fashion as 7th placed Villa take on 8th placed West Ham at London Stadium.
Both sides have come up big against the league’s top dogs this season, Villa taking points away from Liverpool, Leicester and Arsenal, while the Hammers have surprised Leicester, City and Tottenham.
Villa seem to have bought into their own hype across the weeks gone by, dishing up subpar performances against a few of the league minnows.
I’m siding with the home team in this one, the Hammers are building nicely and should leapfrog their rivals with a well rounded performance here.