The Premier League moves swiftly from Game Week 30 to 31 as we enter into the final straight of the season.
The action gets underway at Goodison Park, where the Toffee’s look to take advantage of a Gunners side distracted by the Champions League.
Elsewhere, Ipswich meet the Wolves in a last chance saloon fixture, Notts Forest continue their push towards UCL action with a trip to Villa Park, and Old Trafford plays host to a Manchester Derby.
The Offside Oracle has previewed all 10 Premier League fixtures over the weekend and provided his best betting plays below.
The Gunners look to extend a run of six games without defeat (3W,3D) when they travel to Goodison Park on the weekend.
Arsenal will have one, possibly two eyes on their midweek UCL clash against Real Madrid, with heavy squad rotation expected against the Toffees, especially considering the almost unattainable gap to Liverpool in the league standings.
A midweek defeat in the Merseyside derby broke a spell of four straight draws and nine league games without a loss for Everton (4W,5D), who have looked much improved under the watchful eye of David Moyes.
No team is playing harder or are as physically intense as the Toffees are at the moment, I can’t see Arteta risking his few remaining weapons against Everton’s cavalry.
I’m backing the home side to come away with at least one competition point, possibly all three!
The Eagles lock talons with the Seagulls, as two of the comps in-form outfits take to Selhurst Park.
Only Liverpool (26) and Arsenal (21) have picked up more competition points than Crystal Palace (20) across the last 10 games, while only the Reds (13) boast more over the last five (10).
Similarly, Brighton compiled the fourth most points across the last 10 league fixtures (19), and tied with Palace over the last five, although they have dropped points in each of their previous two starts (1D,1L).
Astonishingly, the last five H2H between this pair at Selhurst Park have all finished as 1-1 draws, while both teams have scored in this fixture in the past seven meetings.
It seems as though the script has already been written for this game, I’m backing history to repeat itself, with both sides scoring on the way to another stalemate.
Two sides who aren’t in great form are West Ham and Bournemouth, who have both taken one competition point away from their last three respective league fixtures.
Defence seems to be the issue for the Cherries, who have conceded two goals in each of their last four games across all competitions (1D,3L).
Meanwhile, the Hammers have struggled at the other end of the field, scoring just once across their last three games (1D,2L).
‘Both Teams to Score’ has hit in each of the last three PL games between this pair, with all three games resulting in a scoring draw.
I’m backing both sides to concede once again, combined with under 4.5 total goals.
This is an absolutely massive fixture in the context of Premier League survival, with the Tractor Boys currently sitting 18th on the table, 9 points adrift from safety and their opponents Wolverhampton.
This game represents Ipswich’s only realistic chance of survival, a six point swing could either have them six or 12 points behind the Wolves with seven games remaining.
The Tractor Boys got the job done in Wolverhampton earlier in the season thanks to a 94th minute winner from Jack Taylor.
I’m taking the minnows here, if not for the storyline alone.
Much like Arsenal, Aston Villa have a massive contest against PSG in the midweek to consider, as they prepare to take on this season’s fairytale outfit, Notts Forest.
Forest are now unbeaten across their last six games in all competitions (5W,1D), and have kept four clean sheets over the trip.
Similarly, the Villans have won six straight competitive games, while also keeping four clean sheets across the trip.
The Tricky Trees hold the 3rd best road record in the league, claiming points from 10 of their 15 away fixture (8W,2D).
Meanwhile, Villa are one of three teams that have lost just once at home this season (Liverpool & Arsenal), saying that, no side has drawn more home fixtures (7).
Nothing separates this pair on current form, and I like them to share the points here.
The Bees welcome the Blues to the Brentford Community Stadium, with both sides looking to break winless spells.
Chelsea have failed to win a league fixture on the road this calendar year, with their only away victory since Christmas 2024 coming in the European Conference League (2D,6L).
Meanwhile, Brentford have failed to win a game at home since the 8th of December last year, losing six of the eight ensuing fixtures (2D), kept scoreless in five.
Unfortunately we can’t back both outfits to lose here, but we can back both sides to fail to win.
If the Spurs lose this match, Ange might as well jump on the next flight back to Australia.
Despite a midweek draw, the Saints are still one point behind the worst ever Premier League season return (Derby 2007/08, 11).
Tottenham battered Southhampton 5-0 earlier this season, and with a host of players returning from injury, the north London outfit will be aiming for a repeat effort.
I’m backing Ange to keep his gig for the time being, with the Spurs winning this one by 2+ goals.
Fulham go from taking on Arsenal at the Emirates, to hosting Liverpool at Craven Cottage, a task not for the feeble minded.
Craven Cottage has been a happy hunting ground for the Reds in recent history, going unbeaten in their last six league visits, claiming all three points in four of those fixtures.
The Last time Fulham defeated Liverpool at home was in 2011, thanks to an 85th minute strike from Clint Dempsey following a red card to Reds’ midfielder Jay Spearing.
Despite getting knocked out of every other comp of the last two months, Liverpool’s league form has remained steadfast, and I’m backing them to rack up another win at the expense of the Cottagers.
Manchester City might be enduring their worst season in 15 years, but they are still 14 points clear of their annoying neighbours.
Strong league runs home are synonymous with Pep managed outfits, and I can see City making a hard push towards a top two finish.
Meanwhile, a top half finish is about as much as the Red Devils faithful can hope for, and even that seems a touch farfetched.
Man City has won three of their last four trips to Old Trafford and I’m backing them to prevail there once again.
Game week 31 comes to a close on Tuesday morning when Leicester host Newcastle.
The Foxes have lost eight straight games across all competitions, and have been defeated in each of their last seven home league fixtures without finding the back of the net!
Alternatively, the Toon have won three games on the trot across all comps, including a 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the EFL final, lifting their first domestic trophy in 70 years.
The Magpie rolled the Foxes 4-0 in the reverse fixture, with Alexander Isak scoring one of his now 20 Premier League goals.
Isak has score six goals in his last seven games for club and country, and I have him netting again on the way to another Newcastle victory.