The Premier League heads into the final furlong of the season as clubs begin to jokey for key positions.
Game week 35 gets underway on Saturday night when Liverpool looks to climb to the top of the league table, be it momentarily, with a win against the in-form Toons.
Elsewhere, City travel to Elland Rd hoping to put another seven goals on Leeds, while West Ham hosts Arsenal in a high stakes London Derby.
We’ve previewed every Premier League contest across the weekend and provided our best betting plays below!
Manchester United plays host to Chelsea in a Game Week 37 fixture brought forward to accommodate the Blues’ birth in the FA Cup final.
The Red Devils head into this fixture following back-to-back defeats, both against current top four sides (Liverpool 4-0 & Arsenal 3-1).
While the Blues are looking to secure their fifth straight PL win on the road and move eight points clear of the Gunners in fourth.
Surprisingly, Chelsea hasn’t tasted Premier League victory at Old Trafford since May 2013, in a game which was decided by an own goal from Phil Jones!
Despite spending over one billion pounds on players since winning the 2013 campaign, United are have failed to even get close to winning the league since and are arguably the worst version of themselves since the late 80s.
Everyone at United has conceded that a massive rebuild is set to take place during the off-season, as such the current crop of players seem to have lost all motivation to perform under Rangnick.
I can’t see Man U’s excuse for a backline holding Chelsea out here, as such I’m backing the visitors to claim all three points in a high scoring affair.
Newcastle plays host to Liverpool in a fixture that on the surface looks like a one-sided contest, though upon closer inspection the Toons might be able to mount a case for a result here.
Since Jan 1, 2022, only Liverpool (38) has secured more competition than the Toons (32), Eddie Howe’s team has scaled from the depths of the relegation zone to the top half of the table in an unprecedented turnaround in form!
Despite the Toons’ terrific run, they are coming up against the only side that is in better nick, the Reds are hunting down the elusive quadruple this season and are more than a puncher’s chance of pulling it off.
Liverpool has led at the half in 19 of their 24 victories this season, a record I am backing them to build on here.
Aston Villa plays host to Norwich in a fixture any level-headed neutral would do well to avoid.
Both sides trot into this fixture in underwhelming form, Villa are winless in five PL appearances (1D,4L), while the Canaries have claimed one victory across their last 11 starts (2D,8L).
Villa has been kept scoreless in three of their last four league fixtures, while Norwich has failed to score in 18 fixtures this season, including a 2-0 defeat to the Villans.
A clean sheet has been kept in four of the last five PL fixtures between this pair, and with neither side in scoring form at the minute, I’ll be backing against the goals here.
From one stinker to the next.
Relegation destined Watford takes on relegation-threatened Burnley in a battle for the ages.
The Clarets are out to claim three league wins on the trot for the first time since 2019, with interim manager Mike Jackson looking to become the only Burnley coach to navigate their first four top-flight fixtures without defeat.
On the flip side, Watford are desperate to avoid becoming the first side to lose 11 straight Premier League fixtures at home!
Despite sitting just two spots above the Hornets on the league table, the visitors enter this fixture in far superior form and represent excellent value in the H2H market!
Gee whiz, the PL has done its best to schedule all the dud fixtures into the same time slot, with Southampton and Crystal Palace set to lock horns at 12am Saturday (AEST).
Both the Saints and the Eagles appear to have checked out of the season, sitting 13th and 14th respectively on the league table there is not much left to play for here.
Southampton comes into this fixture off the back of their 13th draw of the season, only two other teams have been involved in more stalemates, Brighton and their opponents, Crystal!
The reverse fixture between this pair finished 2-2, a result both sides would be happy to settle with again here.
The action begins to simmer up as the Wolves play host to Brighton in a mid-table showdown.
Wolverhampton are staring down the barrel of three straight league defeats following narrow losses to both Newcastle and Burnley recently.
Under 1.5 total goals has been my favourite play for Wolves fixtures this season, which has hit an incredible 17 times in 33 games, seven more than the next stingiest team in Burnely.
More surprisingly, 14 fixtures the Wolves have been involved in this campaign have ended with a 1-0 scoreline, including their reverse fixture against the Seagulls!
There is plenty of value to be had backing Under 1.5 Goals @$2.55, but I am going to go out on the limb here and take on the exact goal market for the first time this season, with a 1-0 result set to pocket you 3.75 on the dollar.
Man City heads to Elland Rd with the aim to reclaim their top spot in the league (pending the Liverpool result).
The Citizens destroyed the Whites 7-0 in the reverse fixture earlier this season, with six different players finding their way onto the scoresheet.
Since that defeat, Leeds is a much-improved outfit and are currently enjoying a run of five games without defeat (3W,2D), although they have only faced one club sitting inside the top 10 during that run (Wolverhampton).
Gabriel Jesus has forced his way back into Pep’s starting 11, scoring a vital goal against title contenders Liverpool, before netting four against the Hornets and bagging one in City’s UCL Semi vs Real Madrid!
City are understandably <$1.30 in the H2H market, though there is a bit of fun to be had building a Same Game Multi for this fixture.
I’m backing the current champs to take the lead early and go on to secure their 19th Half-time/Full-time result of the season, combined with multiple shots on target from inform duo Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus!
The Toffees continue their comical bid for survival when they welcome a plateauing Blues outfit to Goodison Park.
Everton currently sits one point adrift of PL safety with six games left to play, though current forms suggest they’ll hit the 2022/23 Championship season at a canter.
Chelsea has begun to stall a little themselves, Tuchel’s side has lost two of their last five league fixtures (2W,1D), almost putting themselves in danger of dropping out of the top four!
Five of the past six EPL fixtures between this pair have seen over 1.5 goals scored, and although I’m not inpired by the Blues’ current form, I can’t see them giving this atrocious Toffee’s side a leg-up to the safety zone here.
The fixtures begin to get interesting now as the fight for UCL qualification comes into play.
Tottenham can return to the top four should they secure a result against a side they have enjoyed playing in the past.
The Spurs have won seven of their last ten league fixtures against the Foxes (3L), with Harry Kane scoring 16 goals against the side he formerly laced up for.
Tottenham are looking to secure their third straight league victory over the Foxes here, with the last two clashes seeing over 4.5 Goals scored and a pair of Harry Kane strikes finding the onion bag.
I’m backing the English striker to test the keeper on multiple occasions on the way to his side collecting all three competition points.
West Ham and Arsenal are set to meet in what has historically been a one-sided London Derby.
The Gunners have only tasted defeat against the Hammers once across the pair’s previous 13 outings (9W,3D)!
After a brief hiccup in form, the Gunners have pulled out a couple of top drawer performances to see off top-four rivals Man United and Chelsea in consecutive PL fixtures.
They’ll face an Irons side who are limping to the end of the season, with just two wins from their last seven games, the Hammers’ European dreams are becoming unattainable.
West Ham comes into this fixture off the back of a short turnaround following a Friday morning defeat to Frankfurt in the Europa Cup, another deflating result.
Arsenal are playing with twice the energy and belief of the Hammers at the minute and should take this fixture with relative ease.
Game Week 35 comes to a close on Tuesday morning (AEST) with another sad appearance from Manchester United.
The Red Devils have only bettered league bottom-feeders, Norwich, across their last six fixtures (1D,4L).
Meanwhile, the Bees have only fallen to a single loss across their last seven league fixtures (5W,1D), defeating Chelsea and West Ham, while keeping Tottenham scoreless last time out.
United have been carried to a top-half finish this season by a 37-year-old, and as good as Ronaldo still is, I can’t see the Old Trafford legend rescuing another point here.