The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are TOTTENHAM versus BRIGHTON and CRYSTAL PALACE versus CHELSEA. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these and all game week 24 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication
Game Week-24
This set of fixtures is the reverse of Game Week-19 which took place just after Christmas 2023.
Saturday 10th
MAN CITY v EVERTON
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
Man City kick off the weekend’s football, 3 days before the Champions League reconvenes with Pep’s High Flying Blues entertaining Sean’s Toffees, then heading to Denmark to face FC Copenhagen on Tuesday in the 1st-leg of the last-16.
City continued their unbeaten run on Monday that stretches back to the beginning of December when Pep’s Blues suffered a defeat against Unai’s Claret and Blues.
Against Brentford at the GTech Stadium, after conceding a goal, Phil Foden scored on the stroke of half-time to take both teams in level at the break.
Phil then scored twice more in the 2nd-half to not only complete a superb hat-trick but give Man City the victory over Brentford by a 3-1 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
The 3 points gained leave Man City in 2nd place, with the same 49 as Arsenal, both now only 2 points adrift of Liverpool at the summit following the weekend’s results.
Pep’s Treble Winners have a game in hand over the other two, which is against Brentford that will take place on the 20th of February.
With Man City gaining the comfortable victory in Brentford’s backyard, it’s more than likely that it will be much the same at the Etihad, which would possibly mean that City will jump to the Top of the Premier League come the end of the month.
Ominous for Liverpool and Arsenal.
After not scoring in the previous 3 Premier League games, Everton scored twice in the fixture against Tottenham on Saturday to gain a point from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The opening goal was credited to Jack Harrison after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header hit Jack on the way into the back of the net.
That was to equalise an earlier Tottenham goal, which Spurs added to leaving the Toffees trailing going into the final few minutes.
With 4 of the added up on the clock, Jarrad Branthwaite tapped home to earn the point.
In truth, Everton did play well against a good Tottenham side that had the better players but couldn’t cope with Everton’s aggression, who certainly had a game plan to harass the Tottenham Goalkeeper at every opportunity.
The point gained temporarily lifted the Toffees out of the relegation zone, however, following Luton’s bizarre draw against Newcastle, Everton remain in 18th place with 19 points from 23 games completed.
At Goodison Park just after Christmas, it was City who gained the away day victory by a 3-1 scoreline.
Jack Harrison scored first to give Everton a lead at the interval.
Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and Bernardo Silva all scored for City in the 2nd-half to give Pep’s Treble Winners all 3 points.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 1/5, the draw at 6/1 and 12/1 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Kevin De Bruyne Scores Anytime and 21/20 that Man City Win To Nil.
Home Win 3-0- Get 13/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
FULHAM v BOURNEMOUTH
15.00 in England
Fulham played in a great game against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Goals from Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Muniz gave the Cottagers a comfortable lead at the break.
However, it was the Clarets that finished the stronger, scoring twice late on to give both teams a point from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The Archbishop was happy.
Fulham occupy the 13th place in the table with 26 points from 23 games played, now just 15 remaining.
The Cottage faithful would like more points with 26 being only 7 more than the drop zone, however, there really isn’t much to worry about as Fulham are not one of the 3 worst teams in the Premier League and will accrue enough points to stay up.
That said, this will be a tough ask against a resurgent set of Cherries.
Bournemouth gained a point from a draw by a 1-1 score against Nottingham Forest at the Vitality on Sunday.
Justin Kluivert scored early on to settle the Cherry faithful nerves, however, when it looked like there would be a lead at the break, Forest scored an equaliser on the stroke of half-time to make the Pie and Bovril taste a little sour in the Bournemouth end.
With no further goals in the 2nd-half, both teams shared the points.
Philip Billing, who was introduced as a substitute just before the hour mark, saw Red in the 86th minute following a rash challenge on the Forest goal scorer.
The on-field referee Rebecca Welch, had no choice but to show a straight Red.
One thing on that is although there is conjecture about Women in Football at the moment, Rebecca is a top-class official and each scenario, whether it be a female commentator or official, should be treated on an individual basis.
For example, in last Monday’s FA Cup tie between Blackburn and Wrexham, the female commentator stated and one quotes,
‘The guy has 2 good feet for a taller man.’
Hello!
What does that actually mean?
This is sometimes the reason that folk (Joey Dumbarton) make comments about Women being in the Men’s game.
Bournemouth sit in 12th place with 27 points from 22 games completed.
On Boxing Day at the Vitality, goals from Justin Kluivert, Dominic Solanke and Luis Sinisterra gave Bournemouth the post-Christmas present of 3 points from a victory by a 3-0 score.
Betfred offer Fulham at 11/8, the draw at 13/5 and 15/8 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Raul Jimenez Scores Anytime and 8/5 that Dominic Solanke Scores Anytime.
Draw 1-1- Get 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
LIVERPOOL v BURNLEY
15.00 in England
In the words of Eminem,
‘Would the real Liverpool please stand up?’
A lacklustre set of Jurgen’s Reds suffered a devastating defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday by a 3-1 scoreline.
Even the goal Liverpool were credited with wasn’t scored by a Reds player and was as a result of an Arsenal own goal.
Klipperty Klopp decided to leave Darwin Nunez on the bench for the opening hour which did make a difference to the energy of the team, or one should say lack of!
Added to the loss of Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool were simply a different team and it showed.
There was a 1st-half stat that said Liverpool had not had a shot on target but still went in level at the interval.
Ibrahim Konate was shown 2 Yellow Cards and the subsequent Red, leaving the Purples (away kit colour) a man-lite for the last few minutes but in truth, that didn’t really affect the result as Arsenal were simply the better team.
The fact that Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk made a couple of errors to gift Arsenal 2 goals just compounded the problems on the day.
Maybe the real winners on Sunday were Man City who sat at home and saw Arsenal reduce Liverpool’s gap at the summit to 2 points, which meant that following City’s victory against Brentford on Monday, Man City are also just 2 points adrift of Liverpool and have the added bonus over both teams of a game in hand.
Liverpool remain at the top with 51 points from 23 games completed.
Burnley conceded 2 early goals against Fulham at Turf Moor that left them trailing going into the final 20 minutes.
An inspired substitution from Vincent Kompany in sending on the ex-Chelsea Striker David Datro Fofana just after the hour mark produced 2 goals from DDF to
earn Burnley a point from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The point gained wasn’t enough to change the position in the relegation zone, leaving Burnley in 19th place with 13 points from 23 games completed.
This means that the Clarets are still 7 points adrift of safety.
Goals from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, 1 in each half, gave Liverpool the away day victory over Burnley at Turf Moor by a 2-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 2/11, the draw at 13/2 and 14/1 for Burnley to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Mo Salah Scores Two Plus Goals and 21/20 that Liverpool Win To Nil.
Home Win 3-0- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
LUTON v SHEFFIELD UNITED
15.00 in England
You know the game is going to be a cracker when the highlights are first up on the popular BBC 1 programme, Match of the Day.
Gary Lineker didn’t disappoint as Luton went up to St James Park and outplayed the hosts in their backyard by scoring 4 times, with goals from Gabriel Osho, Ross Barkley, Carlton Morris (penalty) and Elijah Adebayo, at one point giving the Hatters a 4-2 advantage.
Unfortunately for the away team, Newcastle rallied and scored 2 more to give both teams a share of the points from a very entertaining draw by a 4-4 scoreline.
Gary Lineker and his studio mates, then went a bit over the top by suggesting that Ross Barkley should be in the England Squad.
‘Calm down Mr Walkers Crisp!’
Ross isn’t a bad player and stands out for Luton but there are at least 5 better Midfielders that are ahead of him in the England pecking order, at least 5, if not more.
Mr Barkley is 30 now and unfortunately, even if it is only this EveryTip contributor informing the lad, is past the Three Lions entrance stage.
Luton sit in 17th place with 20 points from the 22 fixtures completed.
The way the Hatters play should see Luton be good enough to move away from the relegation zone.
Sheffield United now have the honour of conceding the most goals from the opening 23 games, surpassing the previous record holders of Barnsley FC from their one and only appearance in the Promised Land back in 1997/98.
After the Five-Starless performance against Aston Villa at Bramall Lane on Saturday evening, the Blades have now conceded a record 58 goals from the opening 23 fixtures.
Barnsley had conceded 57 from 23.
That said, following the loss against Villa by a 5-0 scoreline, Sheffield United remain at the foot of the table with 10 points.
Back in 1997/98, Barnsley, although they had conceded 57 goals, did have 21 points from the opening 23 fixtures.
The Super Reds were eventually relegated but had accrued 35 points, conceding 82 goals throughout the 38 games.
In the 2007/08 campaign, Derby County were relegated with just 11 points and conceded 89 goals.
The most goals conceded in the Premier League era was by Swindon Town back in the 1993/94 season eventually finishing with 30 points and conceding 100 goals, however, that was from a 42-game campaign, not 38.
The unwanted record needs addressing quickly otherwise the target of 100 may be achieved.
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and Little Jimbo is looking for ideas on how to treat the lovely wife-to-be on the day.
Jade definitely wants an upgrade on last year’s present and night out.
The loveable Blunt bought the girl some flowers (well one says bought!), found is more the word after walking through the local cemetery.
There was chocolate involved, however, Jade only got the Bounty from a Celebration box left over from Christmas.
Jim did book a table for the two of them though but like he says,
‘How did I know, she doesn’t play Snooker!’
Due to the impending arrival of the New Baby, the lovely couple have been thinking of names and were talking recently to a few who had named their kids after important dates in the Calendar.
One couple had a little boy coincidentally called Valentine, beautiful.
Another had a girl called Christmas, lovely.
A third set of parents turned up and pointed to the baby in the pram thing and said to the lovely Jade and Jimbo,
‘This is our Pancake!’
There was a 5-goal thriller at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day, with Luton coming away with the points from a narrow 3-2 scoreline.
Alfie Doughty scored for the Hatters to give Luton a lead at the break.
Ollie McBurnie and Anel Ahmedhodzic then scored for the Blades before 2 own goals from Jack Robinson and Anis Ben Slimane gifted Luton the away day victory.
There was an interesting stat that stated the Luton players only had 2 shots on target but had 3 goals on the board.
Betfred offer Luton at Odds On 8/11, the draw at 3/1 and 18/5 for Sheffield United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Carlton Morris Scores Anytime and 9/2 that there are Over 4.5 Goals.
Home Win 4-1- Get 28/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
TOTTENHAM v BRIGHTON
15.00 in England
Tottenham host Brighton following a very entertaining performance against Everton at Goodison Park last Saturday.
The ex-Toffee Richarlison scored 2 stunning goals and respectfully didn’t celebrate which was good of the Brazilian considering the manner of the goals.
Unfortunately for Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs, Sean Dyche had a game plan of upsetting the Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario at every opportunity, that did work and produced 2 equalisers, the 2nd being in the 94th minute to give both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
It was an intended plan as Guglielmo had struggled with set pieces against several other clubs this term.
Son Heung-Min is still away with South Korea, who progressed to the Semi-Final of the Asian Cup, so will be missing again.
The Semi-Final of that specific tournament takes place on the 6th of February with the Final being next weekend so if South Korea continue, Nice-One Son should be back for the Game Week-25 set of matches.
Although it was a point gained, Tottenham slipped back to 5th in the Premier League table with 44 points, 2 adrift of Aston Villa who gained a victory over the weekend to swap places with Spurs.
Both with 15 games remaining.
After 6 of the previous 9 fixtures between Brighton and Crystal Palace ended in a draw by a 1-1 score, it was a surprise to see the Seagulls gain an emphatic victory over the Eagles on Saturday by a 4-1 scoreline.
Goals from Lewis Dunk, Jack Hinshelwood, Facundo Bounanotte and Joao Pedro gave Roberto De Zerbi’s team all 3 points from the M23 Derby.
Palace did score a consolation goal when Brighton had 3 on the board.
The victory leaves Brighton in 8th place with 35 points from 23 games played.
At the Amex just after Christmas, it appeared that both teams had partaken in a bit too much Turkey and Stuffing with the game finishing in a victory for Brighton by a 4-2 scoreline.
11′ Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton 1-0)
23′ Joao Pedro-penalty (Brighton 2-0)
Half-Time Mince Pie
63′ Pervis Estupinan (Brighton 3-0)
75′ Joao Pedro-penalty (Brighton 4-0)
81′ Alejo Veliz (Tottenham 4-1)
85′ Ben Davies (Tottenham 4-2)
Full-Time Baileys and Ice
Betfred offer Tottenham at slight Odds On 5/6, the draw at 16/5 and 11/4 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Brighton offer 6/1 that Dejan Kuluseveski Scores First and Evens 1/1 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
Home Win 3-1- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Emiliano Martinez- Aston Villa
RIGHT-BACK- Kieran Trippier- Newcastle
CENTRE-BACK- Lewis Dunk- Brighton
CENTRE-BACK- Ethan Pinnock- Brentford
LEFT-BACK- Toti- Wolves
MIDFIELDER- Ross Barkley- Luton
MIDFIELDER- Martin Odegaard- Arsenal
MIDFIELDER- Kevin De Bruyne- Man City
FORWARD- Phil Foden- Man City
FORWARD- Richarlison- Tottenham
FORWARD- Ollie Watkins- Aston Villa
STAR MAN- Phil Foden- Man City
WOLVES v BRENTFORD
15.00 in England
After gaining a victory over Chelsea at Molineux on Christmas Eve, Wolves did the double over the Blues by inflicting a defeat on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday by a 4-2 away day score.
Chelsea did score the opener but a brilliant Matheus Cunha hat-trick and one credited as an own goal gave Gary O’Neil’s Gold and Blacks the points from a stunning performance.
Chelsea then scored a 2nd late on but by that time, the game was virtually over.
There has been just 1 defeat for Wolves in the last 6 Premier League games and that was a narrow loss by a 4-3 scoreline against Manchester United last time out.
Added to that, Wolves have played 3 FA Cup games, drawing once and winning twice, meaning 1 defeat in the last 9 games.
The victory against Chelsea lifts Wolves above the Blues into 10th place with 32 points from 23 fixtures completed.
Just brilliant for Wolves who must send a nice little gift down the road to the Vitality and thank the Bournemouth hierarchy for sacking Gary O’Neil.
Cheers, Cherries!
Brentford suffered the expected defeat against Man City on Monday Night Football, with City gaining the points from a 3-1 scoreline.
Ethan Pinnock did have a particularly good game considering the result and kept the returning Erling Haaland quiet.
That loss needs to be quickly forgotten as most will suffer a defeat against Pep’s High Flying Blues.
Brentford remain in 15th place with 22 points from 22 games completed.
It is only 22 but the game in hand is against Man City which takes place at the Etihad on the 20th of February.
Good luck Bees!
Wolves gained an emphatic victory over Brentford at the GTech Stadium back in December.
Goals from Mario Lemina, Hwang-Hee Chan (2) and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde gave Gary O’Neils Gold and Blacks the post-Christmas points from a 4-1 scoreline.
Yoane Wissa with the Brentford goal when the score was 2-0 in favour of the away team.
These two have met twice since, in the FA Cup with the initial game finishing in a draw by a 1-1 score, then the replay going the full 120 minutes, the score being 2-2 at full-time, with Wolves progressing from a 3-2 scoreline.
Betfred offer Wolves at 11/10, the draw at 13/5 and 12/5 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Pedro Neto Scores Anytime and 9/2 that there are Over 4.5 Goals.
Home Win 3-2- Get 22/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
NOTTINGHAM FOREST v NEWCASTLE
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Nottingham Forest gained a valuable point against Bournemouth at the Vitality on Sunday.
After conceding an early Cherries goal, Callum Hudson-Odoi equalised for Forest on the stroke of half-time to take both teams in level at the break.
With no further goals, both shared the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Although it wasn’t a victory, a point is always a point gained that leaves Nuno’s Tricky Trees in 16th place with 21 from 23 games completed.
Newcastle played in a very entertaining game against Luton at St James Park on Saturday where at one point were trailing by 4 goals to 2.
Sean Longstaff scored twice in the 1st-half which were both equalised by the Hatters to take both teams in level at the break.
Luton then added 2 more to take a convincing lead, however, fair play to the Magpies who saw Kieran Trippier and Harvey Barnes score to give both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 4-4 score.
Harvey’s goal was scored in the 73rd minute so maybe it was a surprise that the remaining 20 or so went without another.
It was good to see Young Harvey Barnes back on the pitch after suffering a serious injury back in September, coincidentally in another game that saw 8 goals, although that time it was all 8 for Newcastle against Sheffield United.
All the best HB.
Newcastle sit in 9th place with 33 points from 23 fixtures completed.
Probably the surprise in the reverse fixture at St James Park on Boxing Day was the fact it was the away team that gained the victory by a 3-1 scoreline.
Alexander Isak converted an early penalty that should have settled the nerves of the Toon Army in attendance, however, it was the ex-Magpie Chris Wood who scored a superb hat-trick to give Forest the win.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 11/4, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 19/20 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Taiwo Awoniyi Scores Anytime and 3/1 that Kieran Trippier Scores Anytime.
Away Team 1-2- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Sunday 11th
WEST HAM v ARSENAL
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
West Ham suffered a defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday by a 3-0 away day score.
Despite having a couple of clear-cut chances, Emerson and Jarred Bowen couldn’t take advantage and failed to find the back of the net.
In fairness, it was a better United team that turned up which is like a lottery these days as to how the particular set of Red Devils perform.
The defeat drops West Ham down to 7th with 36 points from 23 games played.
Arsenal gained a brilliant victory over Liverpool on Sunday, even scoring an own goal to help the Purples along on the day.
Bukayo Saka scored first before an error from Gabriel who, reminiscent of the great Diego Maradona, punched the ball into the net to gift Liverpool an equaliser just before the break (ok maybe not a punch but still went in off his hand that would have been a penalty anyways).
Gabriel Martinelli then took advantage of an error from Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk to tap home the 2nd before Leandro Trossard smashed in a 3rd through Alisson’s legs to give Arsenal the points from a 3-1 scoreline.
Arsenal were simply the better team on the day but it could be said that it was more a case of Liverpool being poor than Arsenal being brilliant.
That said, it was still a victory for the Gunners who temporarily jumped to 2nd with 49 points but remain in 3rd following Man City’s subsequent victory on Monday.
Pep 1 and Pep 2 now both sit 2 points adrift of Jurgen’s Reds at the summit, with Man City having the added extra of a game in hand.
With 15 games remaining (16 for Man City) John Newsome does think that it will be Pep Guardiola’s Treble Winners who retain the Premier League Title and as mentioned in previous columns, are like Frankel, sat in the slipstream of Liverpool, waiting for the optimum moment to pull out, flick the whip and saunter into the lead, which could happen on the 9th of March when Liverpool host Man City at Anfield.
Goals from Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos, 1 in each half, gave West Ham the victory over Arsenal at the Emirates by a 2-0 away night score.
Said Benrahme missed a late penalty that would have seen the scoreline increase.
Betfred offer West Ham at 9/2, the draw at 10/3 and Odds On 4/7 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 2/1 that Mohammed Kudos Scores Anytime and 7/5 that Bukayo Saka Scores Anytime.
Away Win 1-2- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ASTON VILLA v MANCHESTER UNITED
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Aston Villa put in a Five Star performance against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday, with Unai’s Claret and Blues inflicting the defeat on Chrissy’s Blades by a 5-0 scoreline.
Added to that, there were 5 different goal scorers, John McGinn, Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans scored in the 1st-half, with Alex Moreno adding the 5th in the 47th minute.
Probably the fact that the remaining 43 or so minutes didn’t produce another goal was a surprise to everyone at the Lane.
The brilliant performance plus the fact that Tottenham could only manage a draw, means Villa once again swapped places with Spurs and are back in 4th place with 46 points.
Since the reverse fixture that took place on Boxing Day, United have scored 16 goals and conceded 9 in 6 games (4 Premier League and 2 FA Cup).
Compare that to Aston Villa who have scored 10 and conceded 5 in the same 6-game sequence.
Manchester United gained a great victory over West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday, putting in one of their best performances of the season to inflict the defeat on the Hammers by a 3-0 scoreline.
A Rasmus Hojlund strike and 2 goals from Alejandro Garnacho gave Erik’s Red Devils all 3-points over the ex-Gaffer David Moyes, which enabled United to swap places with West Ham and move into 6th place with 38 points from 23 games completed.
The Hammers have 36 points.
It still leaves Manchester United 6 points adrift of Tottenham in 5th place and 13 points away from Liverpool at the summit.
Without going over old ground, it’s noticeable that United have improved over the past 5 games, which have produced 4 wins and a draw.
In those 5 games, Scott McTominay has only started 1 of them, the FA Cup tie against Wigan
It’s been stated many times in this EveryTip column that the continuous picking of Fred and Scott McTominay has taken United backwards.
It’s not just an opinion, it’s based on fact.
Granted Scott will get the odd goal and is in fact the leading scorer for Manchester United (6), however, that could say more about the others (Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund to name two) who need to contribute more.
Marcus has 5 Premier League goals and
Rasmus has scored 5 in the last 6 he’s played, (4 in the Premier League) so both are starting to produce but need more.
Alejandro Garnacho has 5 Premier League goals too.
Darwin Nunez gets criticism for supposedly not scoring enough but has scored 7 goals in the Premier League which is more than any of the United players.
Cole Palmer is playing for a rubbish team called Chelsea but has 10 goals to his name.
There has been confirmation that Lisandro Martinez is injured again and will be missing for around 8 weeks with knee ligament damage.
It’s no coincidence that United have improved since Lisandro returned from the last injury.
In the 4 games since coming back into the team, United have won 3 and drawn 1.
As mentioned above United have conceded goals with the Argentinian present, however, in the 4 games that Lisandro featured, there were 2 goals conceded when starting against Newport in the FA Cup and 2 against Wolves (granted United conceded 3 but only 2 whilst Mr Martinez was on the pitch) and although 2 goals were conceded against Tottenham, Lisandro wasn’t introduced until it was 2-2.
United do look more secure with Lisandro Martinez in the team, especially with Luke Shaw as the Left-Back and are better going forward, so it will be a big miss for the Red Devils.
Somehow, it was Manchester United that gained the victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford post-Christmas.
One says ‘somehow’ as goals from John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker had given Villa a comfortable lead at the break.
Alejandro Garnacho scored twice in the 2nd-half to make the game even, before Rasmus Hojlund popped up with the winner giving United all 3 points from a 3-2 scoreline.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 21/20, the draw at 11/4 and 23/10 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Ollie Watkins Scores Anytime and 11/8 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
Home Win 3-1- Get 14/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Monday 12th
CRYSTAL PALACE v CHELSEA
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
This London clash could be referred to as several things such as,
The ‘El-Rubbisho’ Derby, the ‘Battle of the Useless’ or the ‘Job Centre Destination Derby’ which could be where the respective Managers end up if a defeat occurs.
Roy Hodgson is under increasing pressure following Crystal Palace’s devastating defeat against Brighton on Saturday.
The Eagles succumbed to the Seagulls by a 4-1 scoreline at the Amex which brought a chorus of jeers against the club which is increasingly being heard each week following not only poor performances but bad decisions being made.
One of the bad decisions was allowing Michael Olise to be in the squad, who was clearly unfit.
Whoever made the choice to include Michael, whether that be Michael himself or the Medical Staff, saw Mr Olise, come on at half-time but last just 10 minutes before breaking down and having to go off.
These are the things that make the fans disgruntled, especially when a defeat occurs against the fierce rivals.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the Palace goal, however, Brighton had scored 3 at the time and then added a 4th to inflict the defeat on Roy’s Boys.
The loss leaves Crystal Palace in 14th place with 24 points from 23 games completed.
If Roy Hodgson is under pressure, then the same has to be said about Mauricio Pochettino whose lacklustre Chelsea team are just rubbish at the moment.
Liverpool scored 4 against them last week, granted at Anfield, however, Wolves scored another 4, this time at the Blues home which wasn’t a good day for the faithful in attendance.
Cole Palmer opened the scoring after 19 minutes, with Thiago Silva adding a 2nd in the 86th, the problem being though, was Wolves had scored 4 in between the 2 Blues goals to eventually inflict the defeat.
Despite the opening gambit in this preview, at the moment there isn’t talk of Mauricio losing his job but Chelsea are renowned for getting rid of the Gaffer and the Blues fans, like the Eagle Ultras, are becoming disillusioned with their team, who don’t appear to have any leadership.
It banes one to think this but is Thiago Silva now too old for the team and is beginning to hinder the Blues instead of enhance them?
The Brazilian is a class act but at 39 years old, maybe the dynamic of the team isn’t right.
Is Mauricio Pochettino big enough to say to Thiago,
‘It’s time for a break kid!’
John Newsome may be miles off with this assumption and has always been a fan of Thiago Silva but all good things come to an end and TS could just be spoiling the progression of the team, who may see the Defender as a Shadow over the club.
Fortunately for John, it’s not his decision to leave out Thiago, that is left to Mauricio Pochettino who does need to change the fortunes of the club, especially with the Final of the Carabao Cup coming up at the end of February.
Chelsea will not want to get outplayed by Liverpool in the showpiece game at Wembley.
The Blues sit in 11th place, with 31 points, swapping places with the Gold and Blacks following the loss on Saturday.
Chelsea gained the victory over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge back in late December.
Mykhailo Mudryk scored first for the Blues before Michael Olise equalised for Palace to take both teams in level at the break.
With time running out, Chelsea were awarded a penalty, which Noni Madueke coolly converted to give the home team the points from a 2-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 3/1, the draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 9/10 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Eberechi Eze Scores Anytime and 6/5 that Cole Palmer Scores Anytime.
Draw 2-2- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
There was a slight change up North in the Pub League with Celtic remaining at the summit, however, now only by 3 points following a draw against Aberdeen (who?)
The arch-Glasgow rivals Rangers inflicted a defeat on Livingston (who?), Doctor one presumes, to leave the Green and White Hoops with 58 points, which as mentioned, is now only 3 more than the Teddy Bears in Blue, who still have a game in hand over Celtic.
The goal difference at the top is Celtic have a plus+39 (scored 55 and conceded 16) and Rangers have a plus+37 (scored 48 and conceded 11)
Both will have been out again in midweek with Celtic taking on Hibernian (who?) on the 7th and Rangers facing Aberdeen (who?) the day before.
A quick note regarding Aberdeen (who?) the Pittordrie outfit have appointed Neil Warnock as their New Manager.
No, it’s not April the 1st!
So it could mean that Rangers will jump to the summit if a victory by more than 2 goals is achieved in the extra game.
Exciting!
That’s for the future, for now, the loveable OzScot is over the moon in Melbourne, with the usual Braveheart regalia on, spinning around, singing,
‘Simply the Best!’
Valentine’s Day was mentioned earlier and comes up on the 14th which is next Wednesday.
The loveable OzScot is blessed with the fact that his beautiful Wife has a birthday on the 15th, so doubles up on the presents for the Special Days.
Last year, the Wife received a new Ironing Board for Valentine’s Day, then the day after, a new Iron.
Kylie is all heart.
Related Reading
Best betting site for accumulators
Bet365 review
Best cash-out betting sites
Best low or no minimum deposit betting sites