This Sunday afternoon sees the final three matches from round 37 of the 2015/16 Premier League campaign play out and the biggest clash from this trio of games sees Man City and Arsenal clash at The Etihad with the result of this match going a long way to deciding who’ll finish in the top four this season.
Tottenham v Southampton and Liverpool v Watford are the other two big clashes this Sunday and we’re previewing all three matches with online sportsbook Unibet.com to bring out our top EPL picks for these penultimate fixtures of the season.
Man City v Arsenal: 2.50 – 3.50 – 2.83
Following Manchester United’s 1-0 win at Norwich on Saturday to move within a point of their local rivals, this third versus fourth placed clash at The Etihad Stadium this Sunday afternoon becomes even more important for both sides as defeat could cost them a place in the Champions League next season. Arsenal lead City by three points coming into this match and with Manchester United facing West Ham on Tuesday night Louis van Gaal’s side could easily find themselves with a massive chance of taking a Champions League place from either of these two teams going into the final day, but which of these two giants of the EPL will stand their ground in Manchester this Sunday and stake a claim for the Champions League next season?
The Gunners lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain through a knee injury in the build up to this game but even for a side that is regularly mocked for the number of injuries that they collect they are not in as bad shape as their hosts. City are missing Vincent Kompany again after the Belgian limped out of their Champions League semi final against Real Madrid while David Silva, Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov are also missing due to injuries. On top of this the lacklustre performance in the Spanish capital that saw the EPL side eliminated will see fans of the team from the blue half of Manchester concerned that they could welcome new manager Pep Guardiola with a place in the Europa League if they’re defeated again.
City are without a win in three matches, losing both of the last two, but their home record will see confident for this game as they are unbeaten in four and three successive clean sheets at The Etihad Stadium. They have played 12 home matches in 2016 in all competitions and they have seven clean sheets in these matches and they have conceded more than one goal on home soil on just two occasions in the second half of this campaign. Arsenal are inconsistent on the road with just three away wins in 2016 and they’ve kept five clean sheets in these ten games but conceded two or three in the other five matches. Which side will we see?
The Gunners will be hopeful it is the side that has done in recent meetings with City as they have won three and drawn two of their last five clashes. The Gunners have the best record against sides at the top of the Premier League this season, including beating City 2-1 earlier this season, and we can see them continuing their recent run over Manuel Pellegrini’s men by defeating a Man City side sapped by their exertions in Madrid on Wednesday night.
Our best Man City v Arsenal bet is back Arsenal on the Draw No Bet market @ 2.05 in the Unibet Sportsbook!
Tottenham v Southampton: 2.00 – 3.65 – 3.75
Although they cannot win the title following their collapse against Chelsea last Monday night there is still plenty for Tottenham to play for as they welcome Southampton to White Hart Lane just three points above their North London rivals Arsenal and, if as we believe, they can take all three points in Manchester then Tottenham’s title challenging season could be undermined by finishing behind Arsenal. They will not want that at all, but with emotions getting in the way of things for Tottenham with incidents seeing both Dele Alli and Moussa Dembele banned for this match, the midfield options for the home side in this game are severely reduced.
Tottenham have the better head to head record in meetings between these sides in recent times with six wins and a draw in the seven fixtures over the last decade, including winning 2-0 at St. Mary’s earlier this season. They were last beaten at home by The Saints in 2003 and have since won the last four home matches against Southampton, who were previously managed by Mauricio Pochettino before Ronald Koeman came in to replace the Argentine who left for the capital city.
However, with back to back draws costing Tottenham the title and Southampton winning five and drawing two of their last eight games – suffering a solitary defeat to champions Leicester in this time – and they have netted eight goals in their last two matches, including putting four past Man City. Both sides will be up for this match and we feel that both sides are more than capable of taking the points in at White Hart Lane. As a result of this we feel that there is more certainty and value on goals in North London and we are backing this outcome instead.
Our money is on Over 2.5 goals to be scored at White Hart Lane at odds of 1.77.
Liverpool v Watford: 1.52 – 4.40 – 6.50
The first meeting of these two sides earlier this season saw the teams clash for the first occasion since 2007 and it was the home side at Vicarage Road that ran riot as they a goal from Nathan Ake and a brace from Odion Ighalo saw a 3-0 triumph and their biggest win over the Merseysiders in more than three decades. With Liverpool having very little to play for and this being their second of three games in under a week following their progression to the Europa League Final on Thursday night Watford will be hopeful that Jurgen Klopp will rest his key players for this match, especially as this tactic did not work well for the side in red as they were beaten 3-1 by Swansea last weekend.
Watford’s victory at home to Aston Villa was just their second victory since the middle of February, but with both of these wins coming in their last three matches they are ending the season well and will be confident of putting a rested Liverpool side to the sword as they did earlier this season. We feel that Watford will certainly find the net in this match and with Liverpool’s second string wanting to show their talents to try to force their way into the squad for the upcoming European final we feel that this will be an entertaining match with plenty of goals from both sides.
Our top tip from this Liverpool v Watford clash is back Both Teams to Score – Yes @ 1.72 with Unibet.com.