There’s plenty of mid-week Premier League action to keep us entertained after an interesting week 13 over the weekend. The title race still has a clear leader with Manchester City maintaining their 8 point lead whilst the chasing pack scrap for top 4 positions. It’s certainly looking like it’ll be a scrap for those 4 coveted spots after Tottenham were stunned to a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom to drop into 5th spot whilst Arsenal managed a very late win thanks to a penalty away at Burnley. Perhaps the biggest result of the weekend though belongs with Southampton as they ran away 4-1 winners over Everton. It’s really intriguing to see how Everton are struggling this badly after such a big off-season with some quality additions brought in but they are well and truly getting into a scrap for survival at this rate and hosting Huddersfield won’t exactly be a guaranteed result either.
Week 14 Best Bet: Arsenal to win to Nil at $1.91 vs Huddersfield
Week 14 Best Value Bet: Everton vs West Ham Over 3.5 goals at $3.7
Week 14 Head to Head Multi Bet: Manchester United Win ($1.62), Liverpool Win ($1.57), Everton/West Ham Draw ($3.3), Chelsea Win ($1.17) = $9.82
**Odds from Sportsbet.com.au as of 27th November
Headline Fixtures
Watford vs Manchester United
This looks like one of the games of the week with Manchester United clearly not playing their best football (despite getting the results) and Watford really starting to get on a bit of a run again. Watford have won their last 2, albeit against West Ham and away to Newcastle, but United have shown some weaknesses lately that opens up the door for a potential upset of sorts here. It’s clear that United won’t be easy to score against though having conceded just goals in 13 games thus far but their scoring output of late has really dropped off. Lukaku has scored just once in his last 10 appearances in all competitions and the club have scored just 7 in their last 6 league games compared to 21 in their first 7. It’ll be interesting to see how United go then against a Watford side that looks likely to be n the attack here because they really have little to lose. In the end it does seem like this one points to a low scoring affair unless Watford manage to break through early for the lead.
Predicted Result: Manchester United 1-0
Best Bet: Manchester United to win at $1.62
Best Value Bet: Manchester United to win to Nil at $2.8
Leicester vs Tottenham
This is a must win for Tottenham and looks crucial to their momentum heading into a busy period of fixtures in December and January. They’ve won just 1 of their last 4 league games and so the pressure is building as they look to revaluate their title ambitions given they are now 13 points behind Manchester City. Leicester are one of those tricky sides to play and will be up for the challenge against a top 6 club. It’s a dangerous type of side for Tottenham because if they concede early like they did against the Baggies on the weekend then it puts a lot of pressure on Spurs who then seem to struggle to break down a side that sits well behind the ball. Perhaps on the plus side though, Leicester haven’t really performed that well at home taking just 7 points from 18. You’d also expect a reaction from Tottenham as they push to get their season back on track and whilst it’s gong to be a tight call, Tottenham should scrape through here. Harry Kane is still in good enough form to pull his side through for a win.
Predicted Result: Tottenham 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.73
Best Value Bet: BTTS in the first half – Yes at $4.25
Remaining Fixtures
Brighton vs Crystal Palace
Brighton have been fantastic in their first 13 games this season and are rightly sitting in the top half of the table. They were unlucky not to get more on the road at Manchester United on the weekend but they can take a lot of confidence out of that performance regardless. It’ll be a tough game against Palace here who are building their own form with a draw against Everton and a come from behind win over Stoke over the weekend. The biggest question though is can they get their first away points of the season?
Predicted Result: Brighton 2-1
Best Bet: Brighton to win either half at $1.8
Best Value Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $2.35
West Brom vs Newcastle
West Brom will be buoyed by what was a really good (albeit ugly) result to get a draw at Tottenham on the weekend. Newcastle were well beaten by Watford so you’d expect a bit of a response from them here. The Baggies have lost only twice at home this season but they haven’t really been all that convincing of late taking just 2 points in their last 4 home games. No clear winner here.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.51
Best Value Bet: Correct score – Draw 1-1
Everton vs West Ham
Everton have truly been horrible this season but West Ham have been just as bad. West Ham at least had a positive result at the weekend and it’d be no surprise that Moyes will want a positive result at his former club. West Ham will be frustrating here for Everton and there’s no real confidence in backing Everton for a win at the moment, they have a lot of work to do.
Predicted Result: Draw 2-2
Best Bet: BTTS – Ye at $1.72
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $3.7
Arsenal vs Huddersfield
The Gunners got away with a late win at Burnley in what was a tough contest. Huddersfield are capable of being just as frustrating but their best football is unsurprisingly at home. Arsenal will be looking to build on their recent move into the top 4 and should win here.
Predicted Result: Arsenal 2-0
Best Bet: Arsenal to win to Nil at $1.91
Best Value Bet: Arsenal to win both halves at $2.4
Bournemouth vs Burnley
Disappointing result for Burnley last time out but their away record is just as good as their home record. They’ve lost just 1 match away this season and they’ll have a real good chance to upset Bournemouth here. Bournemouth had to settle for an away draw last time out and they may find it another frustrating day breaking down this Burnley side. Burnley are capable of an upset here which would be a fantastic result on the road after a disappointing home result against Arsenal.
Predicted Result: Burnley 1-0
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.67
Best Value Bet: Half-Time Draw at $2
Chelsea vs Swansea
The Blues have only beaten Swansea once in their last 4 meetings with the other results even with 2 draws and a Swansea win. Chelsea are building some form though having won 4 of their last 5 and although Swansea have a decent recent record against Chelsea, they still don’t look like they have fully replaced Llorente and Sigurdsson.
Predicted Result: Chelsea 3-0
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.51
Best Value Bet: Chelsea to win both halves at $2.3
Manchester City vs Southampton
There’s really no stopping Manchester City right now even if they only just scraped through against Huddersfield at the weekend. Southampton had a really good result against a struggling Everton but this is whole different level and although they should be competitive enough it’s too hard to see City dropping points just yet.
Predicted Result: Manchester City 3-0
Best Bet: Manchester City to lead at Half-Time at $1.5
Best Value Bet: Manchester City -2 Handicap at $2.37
Stoke vs Liverpool
These are the games where Liverpool tend to struggle and although they’ve won the last 4 meetings, there is every chance that their defence switches off here. Stoke on the other hand will be bitterly disappointed to have let a 1-0 lead slip against Palace at the weekend and that may be hard to bounce back from if Liverpool get a jump here – on Salah’s form alone, Liverpool should not be losing this.
Predicted Result: Liverpool 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.56
Best Value Bet: Half-Time Draw at $2.3
