By Antony Jordan
Wednesday evening sees the final six matches playing from this midweek round of Premier League action and this second night of football brings us the biggest clash of the round as two of the top four clash at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea welcoming Man City to West London. The league leaders were upset by Crystal Palace in a massive shock at the weekend to see their gap at the top of the league reduced to just seven points, now can City close the gap even more with a victory of their own?
We preview this massive match at the top of the EPL as well as the night’s other five games with online sportsbook Bet365.com to bring you our biggest and best EPL picks from this round of Premier League action!
Chelsea v Man City: 2.40 – 3.40 – 3.20
Until the weekend’s defeat to Crystal Palace caused us to take a second glance at the league leaders, we would have expected this clash on home ground for Antonio Conte’s men to be a straightforward victory despite the fact that they are facing an expensively assembled Man City team. Chelsea had won 13 straight matches at Stamford Bridge before the weekend loss to their fellow Londoners with them conceding just six goals in that run, but despite taking a fifth minute lead on Saturday they found themselves trailing by the 11th minute and could not turn things around despite dominating the game. They know that they still have a seven point lead at the top of the table, but if Tottenham take an early lead at Swansea and Chelsea fall behind again will nerves creep into their game?
Luckily for the table toppers they face a Man City will highly unimpressive form on the road in recent times as they have won just two of their last five away matches and both of these came against the bottom two sides in the league in Sunderland and Middlesbrough. The other three clashes in this run have seen a defeat to Monaco in the Champions League as well as draws at Huddersfield in the FA Cup and the weekend’s 2-2 at Arsenal that saw them have the best of the action but be unable to kill off their hosts.
History says that this match could go either way with two wins apiece and two draws the set of results for the last six meetings between these sides, including Chelsea’s 3-1 away win earlier this season and City’s 3-0 win on this ground last season. All of these last six matches have seen either both teams find the net or there be at least three goals scored and we feel that goals are the way to go in West London this Wednesday night as while the home win offers value we believe that City could easily snatch a point or even all three of them too.
Our best Chelsea v Man City bet is back Both Teams to Score – Yes AND Over 2.5 goals to be scored at odds of 2.00 at Bet365.com.
Swansea v Tottenham: 5.00 – 4.00 – 1.72
With Chelsea losing at the weekend and now facing a difficult clash against Man City this Wednesday night it is Tottenham who have the most to gain as their 2-0 win at Burnley over the weekend saw them close the gap to the league leaders to seven points and if Pep Guardiola’s men can do them a favour they could end the night just four points off the summit of the Premier League. They have a good game in which to showcase their talents too as they have won nine and drawn two of the 11 meetings with Swansea in the EPL era, including triumphing 5-0 earlier this season, and have not lost to the Welsh side since 1982 so you can be sure that the North London side will be confident as they arrive at the Liberty Stadium.
However, under new manager Paul Clement, Swansea have been impressive on home soil with wins over Southampton, Leicester and Burnley before drawing with Middlesbrough 0-0 at the weekend. These ten points have moved them from what would be bottom of the table to just outside the bottom three, but they know they must keep winning if they are to hold off a resurgent Hull City who sit just one point behind them now.
Tottenham come into this match having won six and drawn one of their last seven games in all competitions and even though they are missing their top striker in Harry Kane they have still managed to see off Southampton and Burnley in their last two matches with them scoring four and conceding just one. We feel that they have the quality of their squad, current form and historical form on their side for this match in addition to knowing that another win will heap more pressure on Chelsea at the top of the league so we see the away win in Wales this Wednesday night.
We are backing the away win in this Swansea v Tottenham match @ 1.72 in the Bet365 Sportsbook!
Arsenal v West Ham: 1.40 – 5.25 – 8.00
Both of these two capital city clubs do not arrive at this Wednesday night clash in the best of forms as the home side have managed to defeat only two non-league sides and relegation threated Hull City in their last ten matches in all competitions and while they did hold Manchester City to a 2-2 draw at The Emirates at the weekend they are still not firing as they were at the start of the season.
Luckily for them they face a West Ham side that has lost four matches in a row and is without all three points in their last six encounters. They are without a win in three on the road too and with just six points separating them from the relegation zone they know they must get at least two or three more wins on the board this season to ensure their safety. However, losses at Bournemouth and Hull in their last two away games where they conceded five goals are not the signs a side on the verge of turning things around.
The recent history of matches between these two sides has produced a lot of goals with nine of the last ten meetings seeing the ball hit the back of the net at least three times and with Arsenal the more likely to win this one but not offering any value at their price of 1.40 we feel that goals are the way to go in North London this midweek.
Our money is on Both Teams to Score – Yes AND Over 2.5 goals to be scored at odds of 1.90 at The Emirates this Wednesday.
Liverpool v Bournemouth: 1.36 – 5.25 – 9.50
The Cherries secured their first win against the 19 time top flight champions and five time winners of the European Cup/Champions League earlier this season in a thrilling match at the Vitality Stadium as they came from 3-1 down with 14 minutes to play to secure themselves a 4-3 win and all three points. They have spent much of the season in and around the bottom three places, but eight points in their last four matches from two wins and two draws has seen them open up a seven point gap to sit 11th. Completing the double over Liverpool may push them into the top half of the table, but with three losses and two draws away from home in the league this year will they be able break against run against Liverpool in this match?
Liverpool come into this match in fine form in recent times
as they have gotten over their slow start to 2017 with three wins and a draw in their last four matches and on home soil they are unbeaten in five with a draw with Chelsea followed by four wins, including over Tottenham, Arsenal and Everton. With this form comparing excellently to Bournemouth’s away performances of late we can see this match only going one way and we are backing Liverpool to do it with goals too.
Our top Liverpool v Bournemouth tip is back the home win AND Over 3.5 goals to be scored @ 2.62 with Bet365.
Hull v Middlesbrough: 2.05 – 3.30 – 4.20
This match is vital for both of these sides in this relegation six pointer as the two sides are 18th and 19th in the table separated by four points with the guests to the KCOM Stadium having an extra game in hand. Victory for Middlesbrough would put them within two points of Swansea (of course assuming that Tottenham defeat the Welsh side as predicted!) and safety with their extra game to play, while victory for the home team will elevate them out of the relegation zone at the expense of The Swans. Who’ll grab this lifeline on Wednesday night?
The Bet365.com odds suggest that it is the home side and the home and away form of these two sides backs this up too. Hull have won six and drawn two on home soil in their last eight in front of their own fans in all competitions while Middlesbrough have not yet found the net on the road in 2017. With all of the last six meetings between these two sides seeing just one side find the net seeing these recent performances backed up we cannot see this match going any other way but that of a home win.
Back Hull to beat Middlesbrough at odds of 2.05 in the Bet365 Sportsbook!
Southampton v Crystal Palace: 1.83 – 3.70 – 4.75
The final match from the midweek round of Premier League football we’re taking a look at comes from St. Mary’s Stadium where, despite being the odds on favourites to win this match, Southampton find themselves finding themselves up against one of the form sides in the league. The Saints have managed just one win in their last four matches and were held by Bournemouth on this ground at the weekend, while The Eagles have found their feet under Sam Allardyce recently and have won all of their last four matches. Their victory at the weekend saw them take all three points from league leaders Chelsea so they’re sure to bring plenty of confidence to the south coast. Can they turn that into all three points?
Things have been very nip and tuck between these two sides in recent meetings as both teams have triumphed on three occasions in the last six clashes and even though they were not in the best of form at the time it was Crystal Palace who triumphed earlier this season as they won 3-0 on home soil. The visitors to Southampton have not won away here in a decade, although they win on this ground just over a year ago as they sent The Saints crashing out as they made their way to Wembley (only to lose in extra time in the final).
With Southampton having no wins in three on home soil and just a single goal netted while Palace have won three of their last four on the road we can see there being an upset in the odds in this south coast clash.