By Antony Jordan
Saturday’s return of the EPL saw a number of thrilling matches with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all winning 4-0 while Norwich took the lead three times against Newcastle, including in the 90th minute, to win 3-2 to leave The Magpies in deep trouble. The other four games ended in level with West Ham v Palace and Stoke v Swansea ending in 2-2 thrillers while Sunderland dominated at home to West Brom but no goals were produced.
The biggest game in the title race saw Liverpool and Tottenham bag a goal each to draw 1-1 in a very even clash at Anfield that will see the away side feel that they dropped two points in the chase to catch Leicester at the top of the table. However, it will have given The Foxes a massive opportunity for today’s clash with Southampton. Can Leicester take all three points and move seven points clear of Tottenham with a win over Southampton?
We preview this clash as well as the later meeting of Manchester United and Everton as Louis van Gaal’s side look to move within a point of the final Champions League spot at Old Trafford, with online sportsbook 10Bet.com to provide our top EPL picks.
Leicester v Southampton: 2.20 – 3.25 – 3.50
The home side at The King Power Stadium in this clash will know that they have an opportunity to take a giant stride towards sending a shockwave around world football by lifting the EPL title when they were priced at 5001.00 pre-season as victory in this match will see them seven points clear of Tottenham with just seven games left in the season. However, with Southampton just four points behind fifth place and European qualification for next season this match will not be easy for the title challengers.
Despite this Leicester have taken 13 of the last 15 points available since losing to Arsenal on Valentine’s Day and they have kept four clean sheets. Their home form sees them unbeaten in 11 matches since September, and they have kept five clean sheets in their last matches in front of their own fans. Southampton have won two and drawn one of their last three, but are without a clean sheet in five games and this could leave them susceptible to one of the top scoring sides in the league.
Southampton have not won away to Leicester since 2007, losing 3-2 in the Championship in 2011 and then 2-0 last season as The Foxes staged a late season comeback to secure their place in the EPL this season, and with both sides at full strength, except for Shane Long being absent for the away side, we feel the in-form league leaders will once again claim a home win against The Saints, who have shown themselves to be a little inconsistent on the road this season, with five defeats in their last 11 road trips.
Our best bet for this Leicester v Southampton match is back the home win at odds of 2.20 in the 10Bet Sportsbook!
Man United v Everton: 2.05 – 3.40 – 3.85
The final match of the Premier League weekend comes from Old Trafford where the second best defence in the league takes on the highest scoring side outside of the top four as United aiming to push towards the top four and Champions League while Everton just aim to end the season with a flourish. Both teams will feel that with their respective home and away records this season that they can secure all three points in this game, but who’ll emerge triumphant at the full time whistle?
United have only been defeated on two occasions in the EPL this season on home soil with Norwich upsetting the odds just prior to Christmas and Southampton snatched a late winner at the end of January, but Louis van Gaal’s men have won each of the other four home league games in their last five, including defeating Arsenal 3-2. Their last match saw them surprise their local rivals at The Etihad to win the Manchester Derby 1-0 and they will be very confident for this match, despite their tribulations that have dogged them all season long.
Everton will wonder where things have gone wrong for them as with players such as Ross Barkley, Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines as well as Romelu Lukaku why they find themselves occupying 12th place in the league coming into this game. They certainly have the talent to both score and defence, but there is just something missing, especially at home where they have lost six of their last nine games, but will they be able to solve that puzzle in this game? They are unbeaten in eight games on the road and have nine goals in their last three away days so they will want to continue this trend and with them scoring six in their last four visits to Old Trafford, failing to score just once, we can see this being a great match.
We feel that there will be goals in this game and this is where the value lies.
Our top Man United v Everton tip is back Over 2.5 goals @ 2.05 with 10Bet.com.