EPL Picks: Can Leicester take all three points without Jamie Vardy this Sunday?

EPL Picks

There are just three matches remaining to be played this Sunday and Monday from round 35 of the 2015/16 EPL season and they’re all big matches at the top of the league. Sunday sees Leicester and Arsenal in action against Swansea and Sunderland while Tottenham make a second successive appearance on Monday Night Football as they aim to run in more goals against West Brom as they did against Stoke last week.

We preview all of this trio of matches with online sportsbook Bet365.com to provide our top EPL picks from these Sunday and Monday games.

Leicester v Swansea: 1.72 – 3.75 – 5.50

The league leaders had a difficult time of things last weekend as they drew 2-2 with West Ham in an up and down match that saw them take the lead, have top scorer Jamie Vardy red carded, concede two goals and then level up from the penalty spot with almost the last kick of the game. The dropped points combined with Tottenham’s 4-0 win at Stoke has seen their gap at the top of the league reduced to just five points and with Vardy suspended for this clash they will find this match much tougher than expected. Will this cause further dropped points? This may be devastating for The Foxes with clashes against Man United and Chelsea to come in two of their final three games of the season.

Leicester come into this match having won six of their last eight matches, drawing the other two since losing to Arsenal more than two months ago after seeing Danny Simpson red carded, and five of these six victories have seen single goal victories, while all six have been done without conceding, so even with them missing their top scorer for this game against the Welsh side they will be confident of all three points.

However, this will be the first time that they play without the England striker and this in itself will cause issues for a side built around Vardy’s clinical style in front of goal. But with Swansea having looked like they’re already on the bench as they were taken apart 3-0 at Newcastle last weekend and have won just three away matches all season we feel that The Foxes will have enough in front with Ulloa and Okazaki to win this game.

Our best Leicester v Swansea bet is back the home win @ 1.72 in the Bet365 Sportsbook!

Sunderland v Arsenal: 4.50 – 4.00 – 1.80

With Newcastle coming back from 2-0 down at Liverpool to secure a point and move level with Sunderland the home side in this match know that they must secure at least a point against The Gunners if they’re to remain ahead of their local rivals and move towards safety. A point today will see Sam Allardyce’s men move out of the bottom three and ahead of Norwich with both sides having four matches left in the season, but with Arsenal looking to secure their place in the top four they will be desperate for victory too. Arsenal have won eight of the last 12 EPL clashes between the sides since losing 1-0 on this ground in 2009 and have defeated them 3-1 on two occasions this season as they took three points in the league and eliminated them in the FA Cup, but can they make it three in a row this Sunday?

The Black Cats have lost just one of their last six matches coming into this game as they were beaten 2-0 by Leicester two matches ago, but four of the other five games were draws and they have only defeated the relegation threatened Norwich in more than two months of football. Arsenal, on the other hand, have looked good since their elimination from the Champions League a month ago as they have won three and drawn two of their five EPL matches, including see Alexis Sanchez rediscover his goalscoring form with five goals in his last four appearances.

With Sunderland having kept just a single clean sheet in their last 20 matches and having conceded six goals already against Arsenal this season we see Sanchez continuing his goal scoring form by bagging at least one at the Stadium of Light this Sunday.

We are backing Alexis Sanchez to score anytime against Sunderland at odds of 2.30 with Bet365.com.

Tottenham v West Brom: 1.22 – 7.00 – 15.00

With them having collected 40 points and being ten points clear of the drop zone the season is all but over for West Brom and their last five matches have seen four defeats, one draw and just a single goal scored. They travel to North London for the second time this week following a 2-0 loss at The Emirates Stadium where they were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal to face a Tottenham side that is in the exact opposite form.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men are unbeaten in six EPL matches, winning four and drawing two, and have scored seven and conceded none in their last two. However, there has not been a home win in the last seven meetings between these sides, but with Tottenham ripping both Manchester United and Stoke apart in recent matches they will easily do the same to a West Brom side already thinking of laying on the beach or avoiding injury to ensure that they’re fit for the European Championships in just over a month’s time.

Our top tip for this Tottenham v West Brom match is back Tottenham to win by at least three goals (Tottenham -2) @ 2.60 at Bet365.

Bonus Pick:

Crystal Palace v Watford: 2.45 – 3.25 – 3.25

One of these two mid-table EPL sides will be returning to Wembley for the second time this season to face Manchester United in the final of this competition on May 21st. Whichever side secures victory in this semi final match will make their second appearance in the final of the FA Cup following Watford’s 2-0 loss to Everton in 1984 and Palace’s 1-0 loss to Manchester United in 1990 in a replay following a 3-3 draw. Both sides have claimed a single win against each other this season, with Palace winning 1-0 at Vicarage Road and Watford claiming a 2-1 away win at Selhurst Park, but who’ll edge this season with victory in their third meeting?

As well as these meetings the two sides do have history of clashing at Wembley as they met here in the Play Off Final at the end of the 2012/13 season and the two sides could only be split by a penalty kick at the end of the first half of extra time to see Palace promoted ahead of Watford, who needed to wait until the another two seasons before they would reach the top flight. The sides have not been separated by more than a single goal in five meetings and with both sides resting players in respective 2-0 and 3-1 away losses at Manchester United and West Ham they will be both up for this match, especially knowing that they will be 90 minutes away from lifting a trophy.

Palace have already eliminated Southampton, Stoke and Tottenham en route to Wembley while Watford’s biggest result was knocking out Arsenal in the last round to progress to this clash, and although they have both not had the best of results in recent times they will not know when they will have the chance to play in a cup final again so this promises to be a thrilling match. We see Palace being the better of the two teams lately, both in attacking and defensive senses, and we are backing the Alan Pardew’s men to progress.

Our money is on Crystal Palace to beat Watford in normal time at Wembley @ 2.45.