This weekend sees the third round of matches for Premier League sides in a week following the third round of the FA Cup last weekend and then a mid-week set of EPL fixtures. With the games coming so thick and fast it will be the bigger and fitter squads that do the best this weekend, but who’ll be the sides that claim victory this weekend?
We preview the seven EPL matches playing this Saturday with online sportsbook Bet365.com and bring you our best EPL picks from round 22 of the 2015/16 season.
Aston Villa v Leicester: 3.60 – 3.40 – 2.20
The first match we’re looking at is the final game of the day as Aston Villa look to build on their morale boosting 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Tuesday night by upsetting the odds against the side currently sitting joint top of the league. Bet365 certainly see this match going the way of the away side in this Midlands derby and although Villa upset the odds against a toothless Crystal Palace thanks to a howler from Eagle’s stopper Wayne Hennessey the away side ended their four game winless streak with a win at Tottenham on Wednesday and they’ll be confident for this game too.
Even though the home side claimed just their second league victory of the season during the week they have managed just 17 goals in 21 matches this season and with Leicester having conceded just one goal in their last four EPL matches we feel that this game is likely to go the way of the visitors to Villa Park this Saturday evening.
Our best Aston Villa v Leicester bet is back the away win @ 2.20 with Bet365.
Chelsea v Everton: 1.80 – 3.80 – 4.75
Although these teams are two of the biggest names in the EPL they come into this 22nd league encounter of the season sat 14th and 11th respectively while they both had surprising results during the week. Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea side were held to a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge despite leading the match on two occasions, while the free scoring Everton drew 0-0 with the league’s top goalscorers Man City. Both teams will be hoping to go one better this afternoon and take all three points but will Everton get back to back wins over the Londoners for the first time since 1994 or can Chelsea continue their resurgence with a sixth unbeaten EPL clash?
After two wins and three draws in their last five games since the departure of Jose Mourinho from Stamford Bridge the defending champions are slowly turning things around, but their clear defensive frailties are still on show. Their last four home matches have seen them concede goals as they lost to Bournemouth, defeated Sunderland and then drew 2-2 with Watford and West Brom. These are sides that last season’s Chelsea would have seen off with ease and with this Saturday’s guests having the league’s top scorer in Romelu Lukaku, whom they bought from Chelsea, leading the line we can see them breaching the Chelsea defence too. As a result of this we’re backing goals in West London this weekend.
Our top Chelsea v Everton tip is back Over 2.5 goals to be scored at odds of 1.80 in the Bet365 Sportsbook!
Man City v Crystal Palace: 1.40 – 5.25 – 8.50
With Crystal Palace having failed to win away at Manchester City since 1990 while suffering a 1-0 home loss thanks to a late, late goal in the league and a 5-1 hammering on this ground in the League Cup to City this season it is not a surprise that the home win is the massive favourite for this weekend’s clash. Add to this the fact that Palace are in serious need of a striker as their lack of goals – 23 in 21 games leaving them the lowest scoring side in the top 13 places of the EPL – and the only surprise is that City are not an even shorter price to take all three points at The Etihad Stadium this weekend.
City have won five of their last six home matches in all competitions since suffering a 4-1 defeat to Liverpool in November and they have scored 17 goals in this run. This is even more surprising considering that they drew 0-0 with Everton here during the week, but with Palace having scored no goals in four EPL matches we cannot see them getting anything from this game.
Our money is on Man City to win by at least two goals (Man City -1) @ 2.00 at Bet365.com.
Tottenham v Sunderland: 1.36 – 5.25 – 9.50
The first match of the weekend comes from North London as Tottenham look to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Leicester at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night as a defensive error from an 83rd minute corner allowed Robert Huth to grab the winner for the away side. Things will be tough for them as they face a Sunderland side that has won back to back EPL games as they defeated fellow relegation strugglers Aston Villa 3-1 and Swansea 4-2 with former Spurs striker Jermaine Defoe bagging five of those seven goals.
The diminutive former England front man is on fire at the moment and these goals have almost single-handedly moved The Black Cats out of serious trouble and to within a point of safety. However, with Tottenham having conceded zero or one goals in nine of their last ten home EPL clashes this season Sunderland are sure to find it difficult too, and with 15 goals conceded in their last five away clashes in all competitions we see their leaky defence letting them down this Saturday.
Back Tottenham to beat Sunderland and Over 2.5 goals in the game at odds of 1.95.
Bournemouth v Norwich: 1.90 – 3.60 – 4.50
The memories of their six game unbeaten run that saw Bournemouth defeat Manchester United and Chelsea at the end of November and during December are now distant memories as they come into this game against fellow promoted side Norwich 16th in the table and just three points above the drop zone. They are without a win in four games, losing two and drawing two, with just a single goal scored in that time. Manager Eddie Howe has boosted his side with the spending of more than £16m on Benik Afobe and Lewis Grabban, as well as bringing in Juan Iturbe on loan from Roma, up front for his side after his striking options have been decimated, just like much of his biggest named players, by injury. Will this trio be able to return home team goals at The Vitality Stadium this weekend?
Norwich are hot and cold at the moment as their last six games have seen three wins and three defeats, with the losses seeing them concede nine goals and score one while they have netted five and conceded just one in the three victories. They are just two points ahead of their hosts in this relegation six pointer and they will be desperate to win to put some more space between them and the bottom three but with six defeats in their seven away EPL games are they capable of winning this game?
We do not think so despite Norwich winning at home earlier this season and on this ground last season in the Championship, but with these two games as well as the clash at Carrow Road last season seeing goals from both sides we are backing this pattern to continue as both sides battle desperately to stay in the top flight.
Our top Bournemouth v Norwich tip is back Both Teams to Score – Yes @ 1.83 in the Bet365 Sportsbook!
Newcastle v West Ham: 2.50 – 3.40 – 3.00
Steve McClaren and Slaven Bilic do battle once again on English soil following the infamous 3-2 win for Croatia at Wembley that saw England miss Euro 2008, and after positive results during midweek both managers will feel that they can emerge with the upper hand at St. James’ Park this weekend. Newcastle came back from 2-0 down at home to Manchester United to draw 3-3 with an injury time goal to end a run of four successive defeats, while West Ham bounced back from 1-0 down to thump Bournemouth 3-1 now who’ll take the points this weekend?
Newcastle secured their place in the EPL this season with a 2-0 win over The Hammers here last season, but they were on the end of a 2-0 beating in East London earlier this season and with the away side having won all of their last four games and unbeaten in nine the momentum is certainly with West Ham. However, they are missing Andy Carroll, Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho up front so Newcastle will hope this will disrupt their plans and allow them to end their six match winless streak. They welcome Jonjo Shelvey and Henri Saivet to the squad for the game, while Rolando Aarons and Emmanuel Riviere are back from injury but with the trio of Victor Moses, Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate back for the away side to add to the quality of Dmitri Payet and Enner Valencia we cannot see past an away win in the North East this Saturday.
Our best Newcastle v West Ham bet is back West Ham to win at odds of 3.00 with Bet365.com.
Southampton v West Brom: 1.72 – 3.75 – 5.50
Only goal difference separates these two sides coming into the final Saturday match that we’re taking a look at and both sides will believe that they can win this one to move ahead of the other as well. Southampton caused a surprise by winning 2-0 at home to Watford during the week to collect just their second victory in nine matches while The Baggies went four games unbeaten in league and cup with a battling performance at Stamford Bridge to draw 2-2 with Chelsea and took just their second point from the defending champions in 27 years.
Despite the two matches for these sides during the week seeing six goals in total we rarely see goals in matches between The Saints and West Bromwich Albion as ten of the last 16 meetings have seen zero or one goals while all of the last five games have seen a total of three goals with two 0-0 draws, two 1-0 wins for Southampton and one 1-0 win for West Brom. However, with the home side having won two in a row in the league at home for the first time since March and April 2015 while scoring six goals and West Brom playing with plenty of freedom at the moment we can see this recent lack of goals being blasted into a distant memory.
Our money is on Over 2.5 goals to be scored at St. Mary’s @ 2.25 at Bet365.