With a weekend full of FA Cup action now finished, the next period of fixtures in the Premier League will come thick and fast. Week 25 is a round of mid-week action ahead of an full round of fixtures this weekend. For those sides that have had to navigate their way through the 4th round of the FA Cup, the next little period is going to be pretty tough. It’ll be even more difficult for those sides in European action but with the extra workload means opportunities will be created for some upsets and dips in form.
Week 25 Best Bet: Huddersfield vs Liverpool Over 2.5 goals at $1.67
Week 25 Best Value Bet: Huddersfield vs Liverpool Over 3.5 goals at $2.84
Week 25 Head to Head Multi Bet: Liverpool Win ($1.33), Chelsea Win ($1.25), Everton/Leicester Draw ($3.1), Southampton Win ($1.72) = $8.86
**Odds from Sportsbet.com.au as of 28th January
Swansea vs Arsenal
Although they are still struggling to find their way off the bottom of the table, Swansea are coming out of a decent little period that has seen them take 7 points from their last 4 matches. Their last win 1-0 over Liverpool at home was particularly impressive from a defensive standpoint and puts them in a good mindset prior to hosting Arsenal this weekend. The Gunners still have a lot more to do to claw their way back into the top 4 though their 4-1 win over Crystal Palace last time out did their morale no harm. It’s a tricky period for Arsenal after the sale of Sanchez, a world class player, and battling through a period of results that has seen them win just two league matches from their last ten. This is a match to be wary of that whilst Arsenal could win quite easily, there’s every chance that Swansea will put in another strong performance like they did against Liverpool.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $2.13
Best Value Bet: Swansea to score exactly 1 goal at $2.5
West Ham vs Crystal Palace
The Hammers have been a little hit and miss the last few weeks with a draw at home to Bournemouth that was followed up with a disappointing 2-0 away loss to Wigan. That’s the feeling with West Ham at the moment though that although they’ve looked better under Moyes, they still have work to do to improve their consistency of performances. Palace will sense that and they’re coming off their best away run of form for the season despite losing their last away fixture against Arsenal last week. Prior to that, Palace were on an unbeaten run of away fixtures winning twice where up until then they hadn’t taken a point on the road this season. Expect a pretty good contest here but one that’s also hard to separate.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: BTTS – Yes at $1.8
Best Value Bet: BTTS & Draw at $4.2
Huddersfield vs Liverpool
Liverpool were a little shocked after they couldn’t manage to find the back of the net away at Swansea last week, but it was one of those matches where things went really well for Swansea and the chances for Liverpool just didn’t come off. That’s not to say Swansea didn’t deserve the result, they absolutely did. You’d expect however a difference in performance from Liverpool this week particularly after losing their FA Cup fixture 3-2 at home to West Brom at the weekend. That spells danger for Huddersfield too who although have had a decent home record this season, have had big blowouts as well with losses of 4-1 to West Ham, 3-1 to Chelsea and 4-0 to Tottenham. This feels like a bit of bad timing for Huddersfield and Liverpool should be winning this comfortably with Klopp putting a bit of a rocket up his players.
Predicted Result: Liverpool 4-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.67
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $2.84
Chelsea vs Bournemouth
Bournemouth have been on a nice little run lately with 5 matches undefeated but an away trip to Stamford Bridge may be the end of that. It’s not to say they won’t make this competitive, they will, but Chelsea don’t often drop points at home and despite their up and down run of results lately, they should win here.
Predicted Result: Chelsea 2-0
Best Bet: Chelsea to lead at half-time at $1.62
Best Value Bet: Chelsea to win to Nil at $2.1
Everton vs Leicester
Everton have now not won a league match since 19th of December and the visit of Leicester will be a really tough match. In all competitions, Everton have lost 4 of their last 5 so they really need to find some form and quickly. The former title holders will be feeling pretty good about their chances here and this looks like the perfect type of match for them to frustrate Everton. Leicester are on a run of 3 straight wins in all competitions and haven’t lost in their last 6 in all competitions. On the road too they have been very competitive losing just 4 matches in the league with all but 1 of those losses being separated by just the 1 goal. Everton may have to just put up with out a W for another week.
Predicted Result: Draw 2-2
Best Bet: BTTS – Yes at $1.83
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $4
Newcastle vs Burnley
Their last win at home in the league came in October so this is a pretty important match for Newcastle to give themselves some breathing space on the drop zone. There is now just 3 points separating Newcastle in 15th to Swansea in 20th so depending on results over the next few weeks, Newcastle could find themselves in the bottom 3 very quickly with their season looking a lot more grim than it is now. Burnley are a very good side too and have made some good signings in attack in recent weeks that will serve them well. Lennon adds width, a bit of zip, and experience whilst N’Koudou adds the same albeit with a lot less experience. Regardless of those additions though, Burnley will take something from this match and are very hard to beat when on the road (just 3 losses so far).
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.46
Best Value Bet: Draw at $3.1
Southampton vs Brighton
The Saints are in the bottom 3 but they’ve been showing plenty of fight lately and are looking due for a win. Last time out they disrupted Tottenham’s run of form by claiming a 1-1 home draw which makes it 4 draws in their last 6 matches. It’s quite a contrast to Brighton’s run of form lately too given they’ve now just taken 1 point in their last 6 on the road. If there was ever a time Southampton were going to kick-start their season it’ll be this week particularly after adding a fresh face in Guido Carrillo who gives them another option up front ahead of the out of sorts Gabbiadini who’s scored just 3 times this season whilst their only other fit option, Shane Long, has scored just once. Carrillo isn’t exactly prolific but he’ll bring energy and that’ll be a boost for this Southampton side who are a better side than their ladder position shows.
Predicted Result: Southampton 2-0
Best Bet: Southampton to win at $1.72
Best Value Bet: Southampton/Southampton Half-Time/Full-Time at $2.63
Manchester City vs West Brom
Results in the form of W’s seem to be the norm now for Manchester City after bouncing back from their first loss of the season to dispatch Newcastle 3-1 last weekend. West Brom can often present a stubbornness and the odd upset as shown by their 3-2 FA Cup win over Liverpool away from home, but this will be hard to back up. The euphoria of such a result at the weekend will be difficult to maintain from a mentality perspective and that may seem the produce a bit of a hangover type performance here.
Predicted Result: Manchester City 3-0
Best Bet: Manchester City to score 3 or more goals at $1.72
Best Value Bet: Manchester City -2 Handicap at $2.25
Stoke vs Watford
This isn’t exactly the most exciting matchup on paper, but there’s enough here in context to make something of this one. Stoke will be backing themselves to make it 2 in a row after their home win over Huddersfield last time out whilst Watford will be eager to put in a solid display after the sacking of Marco Silva after they lost 2-0 at Leicester last time out. As we’ve seen many times, a side that parts ways with a manager after a run of poor results can tend to produce a good one pretty soon after, or at the very least be more competitive than previously. Watford will no doubt put in a competitive performance here but they may need to wait for a home fixture to rebuild their season because Stoke will be feeling pretty confident about themselves at the moment.
Predicted Result: Stoke 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.79
Best Value Bet: Stoke to win at $2.2
Tottenham vs Manchester United
This is a real danger match for Tottenham and is setup to be a tough day. Spurs are coming off two pretty disappointing displays with draws against Southampton and Newport. Their draw with Newport at the weekend they’ll be feeling particularly down about as for the most part they looked like they were outrun and outworked for the majority of the match. How they bounce back here against Manchester United will be interesting and whilst they typically can get up for the big sides, United look like they are feeling pretty good. Alexis Sanchez has signed and had a good first hit out with his new teammates in the FA Cup and is poised to be the hero this weekend. That will particularly hurt Spurs fans with an ex Arsenal player taking the game away from them but right now United look the better side. One positive for Tottenham though is the potential return of Toby Alderweireld in defence. He’s an immense player for Spurs and more often than not they win more with him than without him.
Predicted Result: Manchester United 2-1
Best Bet: BTTS – Yes at $1.8
Best Value Bet: Manchester United Draw No Bet at $2.34
