Now that International Football is squared away for the year, we are set for non-stop Premier League action heading into the festive period!
We kick things off in Leicester this weekend, as Brendan Rodgers attempts to right the ship against table-toppers, Chelsea.
Elsewhere, Steven Gerrard returns to the EPL as a manager when Aston Villa takes on Brighton, Ole fights for his Job against the Hornets and Arsenal prepares for an acid test at Anfield!
We’ve taken an in-depth look at all 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend and presented our best betting plays below!
Game week 12 gets underway at King Power Stadium as Chelsea look to open up a 6-point gap on the rest of the competition.
The Foxes find themselves in unfamiliar territory, sitting in the bottom half of the table following a rough run of results which has seen them claim two wins across their last eight matches (3L,3D).
Alternatively, the Blues are undefeated on the road this season (4W,1D) and have won their last three away fixtures without conceding (7-0).
In recent history, this fixture has been anything but one-sided, with both sides claiming two victories across their pair’s last eight PL meetings (4D).
Despite leading the league, the Internation break has been a Godsend for Thomas Tuchel, who will likely welcome back Lukaku, Kovacic, Mount, and possibly Timo Werner from the physio room.
The Blues are currently a force to be reckoned with and I can’t see the Foxes turning their season around here.
Crystal Palace are out to claim three league wins on the trot when they travel to Turf Moore this weekend.
Standing in their way is a rejuvenated Clarets outfit, who have only suffered one defeat across their last six games, most recently taking a point on the road against league leaders Chelsea!
Burnley and Crystal have struggled to finish teams off of late, with both sides playing out draws in four of their last six league outings.
The Eagles have been playing a more enterprising brand of football under the watchful eye of Patrick Vieira, though I don’t think they have quite enough edge to snatch all three points on the road here.
Eddie Howe has been gifted an ideal fixture to kick off his tenure as the Toons new manager this weekend.
Newcastle remains the only side in the league without a win this season and sit above the bottom-placed Norwich on goal difference alone.
Howe will take solace in the knowledge that Brentford has recently handed both Burnley and Norwich their first and only wins of the season.
Following a flying start to the season, the Bees are starting to come back down to earth, losing their last four outings with an 8-3 aggregate.
Eddie is getting the old band back together, reuniting with ex-Cherries, Callum Wilson, Matt Ritchie, and Ryan Fraser.
A new manager will be a breath of fresh air for the Toons, and although they have a long way to go to turn their season around, I believe they’ll get off to a start at the expense of Brentford here.
Manchester United enter this fixture in truly pathetic form, claiming one win across their last six league fixtures (4L,1D).
Despite this, Ole has somehow retained the confidence of the board during a week where four other managers lost their gigs.
They are due to face the Hornets, who have lost their last two league matches 1-0 against Arsenal and Southampton.
As bad as the Red Devils have been of late, they should outplay Watford across every position on the ground here.
Games involving United have averaged a league-high of 3.5 goals this season, I’m backing the onion bag to bulge on multiple occasions here as Ole buys himself another month a the wheel.
West Ham are out to consolidate their position in the top four and they can do so by securing their fifth straight league victory here.
The Hammers come into this match off the back of a massive performance against the Reds, seeing off the Merseysiders in a five-goal thriller!
Alongside Chelsea and Brighton, West Ham are one of three sides yet to lose on the road this season (4W,1D).
Meanwhile, after seeing off Newcastle and Everton at Molineux, the Wolves are looking to win three straight home top-flight fixtures for the first time since 1980!
West Ham completed the double over Wolverhampton last season, outscoring their opponents 7-2, Jarrod Bowen scored three times across both fixtures and is carrying decent form into this weekend.
I’m backing the Irons to continue their terrific form on the road with another win at the expense of a resurgent Wolves squad.
One Teams’ trash is another Teams’ treasure!
After losing to the Saints in GW11, Dean Smith was shown the door by Aston Villa, fast forward a week and he’s found himself in charge of the cellar dwellers Norwich!
His first task? To take down the Saints at home!
That’s right, Smith has been given two bites at the same apple, though I sense it will be Ralph Hasenhüttl who will be the beneficiary of this strange scenario!
Southampton are on an upward trajectory towards the top half of the table, winning three of their last four PL fixtures (1D).
The Saints have kept three clean sheets across their last four games and I’m backing them to ease their way to another low-scoring victory here.
Speaking of Dean Smith, his old side is set to begin life under EPL legend Stevie G, when they welcome Brighton to Villa Park.
Gerrard joins the Villans from Scottish outfit Rangers, where he won them their first league title in 10 years and did so without losing a single game!
The former Liverpool captain will have his work cut out for him at Villa, as his new side stares down the barrel of six straight league defeats.
With all the narrative surrounding the home team heading into this fixture, it’s easy to forget that Brighton is in far better form here, in fact, they are yet to suffer defeat on the road this season (2W,3D)!
The Seagulls’ last away fixture was against Liverpool, who they held to a 2-2 draw, only Man City has been able to better Graham Potter’s side across the last eight game weeks.
With all the hoo-ha surrounding Villa at the minute, the price for Brighton in the H2H market has drifted to huge overs at $2.90, and although I believe Gerrard will eventually turn the ship around, I can’t see it happening for Villa overnight.
The match of the round arrives on Sunday morning (AEST) when Liverpool takes on the form side of the comp, Arsenal.
The Reds snapped their 20-game unbeaten run after losing to the Hammers last week, leaving the Gunners holding the longest current undefeated run in the league at 8 games!
The North Londoners have achieved this feat through resolute defending, keeping six clean sheets across their previous nine away fixtures, including their last three road trips.
They’ll have their work cut out for them against the Reds, who have found the back of the net in each of their last 32 games across all competitions, in fact, Klopp’s side has only scored under two goals once this season when they were held to a 1-1 against the league leaders Chelsea.
There is no denying the Gunners have gone to another level this season, though looking back at their 8-game undefeated run, they’ve played six teams in the bottom half of the table, four of which were in the bottom five and their toughest fixture came against the seventh-placed Seagulls, who they were lucky to hold to a 0-0 draw.
Arsenal has won just once across their last 15 fixtures against Liverpool in all comps, with 12 of those games seeing over 2.5 goals scored.
Klopp will no doubt have stuck a boot up the backside of his entire squad following their disappointing performance against the Hammers, as such I’m backing the fallen champs to give Arsenal Fan TV something to rant about again.
The battle of the Blue, well maybe less of a battle and more of a massacre.
Manchester City has won the last seven Premier League meetings with the Toffees, outscoring their opponents 21-5 across the trip!
Following a promising start to the season, Everton has failed to win any of their last five fixtures (2D,3L), as injuries continue to plague their squad.
Meanwhile, the Sky Blues rebounded from a surprise defeat to Crystal Palace to dominate their Red neighbours 2-0 in the Manchester Derby last time out.
City’s dominance in this fixture has been reflected in the market, with the Toffee currently sitting as $19 outsiders!
I’m backing the Citizens to strike early then hold out the Merseysiders to nil for the third straight time across all comps.
Antonio Conte will be looking to build on his 0-0 draw against Everton last time out when he takes charge of his first Tottenham home fixture.
He’ll be faced with the task of seeing off the out of sorts Leeds United, whose only two wins this season have come against newly-promoted outfits, Watford and Norwich.
The Spurs saw off the Whites across both home and away fixtures last season, and were last bettered by their opponents at home in 2001 (4W,1D).
Harry Kane looks to have played himself into form for England, bagging multiple goals against a few semi-pro footballers.
With a couple of weeks to take the whip to his squad, I’m backing Conte to capture his first win with the Spurs.